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The headline Deciding to come clean: Green Amendment will give New York voters the chance to improve health of the state," March 21, pretty much says it all. New York has for far too long allowed corporations and businesses to greedily pollute our air, water and land in the name of corporate profits. Meanwhile, the residents of New York have paid the price with deleterious effects on their health and safety.

The proposed Green Amendment to the states constitution will guarantee us the right to clean air, water and to enjoy a healthy environment. Once this amendment is approved by the voters: No longer will the burden of living next to pollution-spewing facilities fall mostly on the backs of low-income residents and people of color. No longer will public housing complexes, such as Albanys Ezra Prentice Homes, be built in an industrial-zoned area of a city. No longer will landfills, such as the S.A. Dunn landfill in Rensselaer, be allowed to be built next to a school. No longer will incinerators such as Norlite be allowed to operate within city limits.
Bosses from leading UK airlines are asking the Prime Minister to give them the green light for international travel within weeks (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Bosses from leading UK airlines have urged the Prime Minister to 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.

When it is lifted it will be replaced by a risk-based traffic light system with red, amber and green ratings for countries around the world.

... 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 Airline chief executives

Airline chiefs said in their letter, published by The Sun and seen by the PA news agency, 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

Expand Close Prime Minister Boris Johnson will reveal more of the Governments plans for a return to normal life on Monday (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Prime Minister Boris Johnson will reveal more of the Governments plans for a return to normal life on Monday (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The PM is expected to on Monday outline the Governments approach for easing restrictions on foreign travel when its global travel task force reports on April 12.

The traffic light system will be based on a range of factors  including the proportion of the population that has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants and the countrys access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.

Travellers arriving from countries rated green will not be required to isolate  although pre-departure and post-arrival tests will still be needed.

For those classed as amber or red, the restrictions will remain as they are with arrivals required to isolate or enter quarantine.

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.
Pakistans Karachi on Saturday witnessed the hottest April in over 70 years as the temperature reached 43.6 degrees Celsius with 6 per cent humidity. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued warnings of the heatwave currents across several parts of the country as the dry winds swept on one of the most scorching days in decades. Karachis Met Office said, according to ANI that cited local broadcaster GEO TV.

As summers set in, Pakistans Karachi crossed the maximum temperature threshold of 40 degrees celsius resulting in heatwaves and extremely dry conditions. The Sindh government issued an advisory to the residents to avoid non-essential travel between 11 am till 4 pm mainly due to heat and soaring temperatures. It also directed authorities to take necessary precautions to avert loss of life, issuing the alert. A PMD spokesperson and the chief meteorological officer of Sindh province, Sardar Sarfaraz said that the highest temperature was recorded within the port metropolis.

A weak western disturbance is on the horizon. It will affect the upper parts of the country, but when it passes, it will bring more hot days for the southern parts, including Karachi, the chief meteorological officer of Sindh told reporters. His remarks came as weather forecast reports predicted that the maximum temperature will prevail at least throughout the week as a result of dry continental air due to the extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region.

'Highest temperature record' in Asian subcontinent

The region worst impacted by the scorching temperature in Pakistan is Nawabshah in the Sindh province, southern Pakistan, approximately 180km to the northeast of Karachi. It inhabits a population of 1.1 million. The city, however, has shattered records of maximum temperature on more than one occasion with the mercury hitting as high as 53 degrees Celsius or 122.4 degrees Fahrenheit during May in 2018, prompting warnings from French meteorologist Etienne Kapikia, and setting new highest temperature record in the Asian subcontinent. As many as 65 fatalities resulted in that year due to heat strokes in the southern city of Karachi as heatwaves coupled with electricity outages made life miserable and devastated the residents of Karachi. In 2015, similarly, Pakistan registered 1,300 deaths, mostly from low-income Landhi and Korangi areas around May due to heat.

(Image Credit: ANI)
The giant could assume the character of comic-book superheroes, such as Spider-man

The Giant Company, a firm that has developed a 10-storey-high digital moving statue that doubles as a visitor attraction, has received interest from cities worldwide about building the statues, according to its owner.

The company has been set up by entrepreneur Paddy Dunning, the man behind Dublins National Wax Museum. He currently hopes to bring the patented tourist attraction concept to 21 cities this year.

Speaking with the Sunday Independent, Mr Dunning named 23 different cities which have already expressed interest in running with the idea. They include Berlin, Dubai, New York, Singapore, Las Vegas, London, Belfast, and Dublin.

Expressions of interest are coming in from cities every day, he said. In the coming weeks we will be selecting the 21 sites in the best cities, chosen from the many cities that have expressed interest.

The Giant Company, which is backed by Enterprise Ireland, has hired commercial real estate firm CBRE to identify possible suitable sites for the moving statue.

Each giant  including the exhibition at the base, the patented skin, scanning system and all the moving parts  will cost 15m, excluding the cost of the site.

Dunning said the money would be raised through bank debt and investors in each city.

Mr Dunning said the inspiration for his idea came from Jonathan Swift's book Gulliver's Travels.

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Inside each exhibition space, visitors would engage with the giant experience  a series of exhibits which could include legend and mythology, celebrations of extraordinary men and women, or of unsung heroes from the city and country where it is located.

This could include inventors, scientists, artists, leaders or athletes  or even comic-book superheroes such as Spider-man.

The visitor attraction can be built as a temporary or permanent structure for cultural and commercial use.

According to a release last month, each giant is projected to draw approximately 500,000 visitors each year, generating potential annual revenues of around 12m.

Mr Dunning has been working with Berlin-based architecture studio Dan Pearlman on the creation of the exhibit.

The entrepreneur also had support from global advisory, engineering, planning and design firm Arup during the early stages of design development.

Speaking about securing interest last month, Florence Stanley of CBRE Ireland said: Were looking for prime locations, and we are also open to more off-beat sites that need to drive footfall. We are very excited to be working on this project sourcing sites in 21 cities around the world.

Our immediate priority is securing appropriate locations, and from there finding investors who will see the huge benefits of situating this iconic attraction in their city. Franchising the giant is also an option.
Prime Minister is meeting senior civil servants in Delhi to review rising Covid-19 cases in the country and the vaccination campaign, multiple reports said on Sunday.

The cabinet secretary, the principal secretary to the Prime Minister, the health secretary, and Dr Vinod Paul, a NITI Aayog member, were among officials attending the "high-level meeting", according to NDTV.com and news agency ANI.

India reported a record 93,249 fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday pushing the overall tally to 124,85,509, according to government data. The death toll from the disease increased to 164.

India's biggest cities braced for stricter lockdowns and other Covid-19 curbs as infections hit a six-month high, as a month-long surge continued in the country third-worst hit by the pandemic.

on Saturday reported 49,447 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest rise in a day so far, taking the tally to 29,53,523 while 277 fatalities pushed the toll to 55,656, the state health department said. Maharashtra, which has the largest number of cases among states, may on Sunday announce fresh restrictions to contain the disease.

Chief Minister Udhhav Thackeray on Saturday 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 Karnataka, 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.

New Delhi recorded more than 3,500 cases, its highest this year, but its chief minister ruled out another lockdown for now.

(With inputs from ANI and Reuters.)
An unruly man on a New York City-bound Greyhound bus stabbed a fellow passenger several times early Sunday morning, the Warren County Prosecutors Office said.

The incident began about 1 a.m. with the man screaming and arguing aboard a bus on Interstate 80 in Warren County, Prosecutor Jim Pfeiffer said later Sunday morning.

The driver called police and pulled off at the Hope Township exit, which is across the street from a New Jersey State Police station, Pfeiffer said.

Troopers arrested Quientell Donaldson, 37, of Syracuse, the State Police said Sunday evening.

The assailant suffered a severed finger in the attack and was taken to Morristown Memorial for surgery, Pfeiffer said. The victim was also flown to the Morristown hospital for treatment, Pfeiffer said.

A 6-inch knife was recovered, the prosecutor said.

Donaldson is charged with with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, police said. He was released from the hospital and was taken to the Warren County jail pending a court appearance, police said.

Editors Note: This story was updated Sunday evening with the suspects name.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription.

Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.
Managing Editor of the Dispatch Newspaper, Mr Ben Ephson has attributed the current disquiet among supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the failure of the leadership to be factual in their commentary on issues with the vetting of President Akufo-Addos ministerial nominees to their followers.



Mr Ephson said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 3 that the leadership of the NDC should have told their supporters that they do not have the numbers in parliament to enable them to get away with some decisions they expected.



His comments follow the internal wangling ongoing in the NDC after the approval of all of President Akufo-Addos ministers.



A lawmaker for North Tongu Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa resigned from the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

He said in a letter addressed to the Speaker, Alban Kingsford Bagbin that the decision was taken after days of careful reflection and thoughtful considerations.



Mr. Ablakwa resigned from the Committee on Wednesday, March 31.



I shall like to state that the reasons for this difficult decision are both personal and on principle.



Mr. Epshon told the host of the show Abena Tabi that The leadership of the NDC should have told their supporters the fact that the NDC does not have the numbers. Some NDC supporters have forgotten that that is that animal called secrete which makes Bagbin the speaker. The same animal was exploited that is why many of the ministers were passed after vetting.



Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NDC Ade Coker has rejected the claim saying the leadership speaks the fact to their followers.



He further dismissed suggestions that the leadership of the NDC in parliament should be changed following the approval of all ministers of President Akufo-Addo when some of them were not qualified by their answers during the vetting.



According to him, any such move will rather disturb the NDC as a party.



He suggested on the Key Points programmes Saturday, April 3 that the party must rather remain focused and go back to the table to correct the wrongs.



Mr. Coker said There is no need to change leadership now. It will rather muddy the waters. We need to remain focused and also be circumspect. It is premature to attempt to change leader.



He further noted that there a lot of speculations regarding what led to the resignation of Mr. Ablakwa from the Committee.



This is a result of the failure of Mr. Ablakwa to give reasons for his resignation, he said.



To that end, Mr. Ade Coker said there is the need to know the voting line of Mr. Ablakwa when he was on the Committee during the vetting of President Akufo-Addos ministerial nominees.



Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 3, Mr. Ade Coker told host Abena Tabi that In future, your voting record in parliament can be pulled out. If you go to the US, there is nothing like consensus.



We will have to find out during the vetting process what his [Ablakwas] voting line was. That will determine and help us to make a judgment on what he is saying about principles.



If you had consistently voted against the nominees then it looks like well, then you can say is of no use for me to still be on the committee.



I want to know how the voting pattern went. if the voting pattern went in such a way that you lost, then you are obliged to accept the results of what has taken place but here we are they only come and tell us it is consensus.



He added, the resignation gives room for conjecture, it gives room for a lot of rumours against the NDC.





Source: 3news









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A top epidemiologist who has advised President Joe Biden on the COVID-19 pandemic says its time Americans accept that the country is starting to enter a fourth surge of the coronavirus. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said that as far as the world is concerned, we really are in a Category 5 hurricane status, and the next few weeks will see a surge in cases around the world. And the reality will start to become evident to Americans soon. In terms of the United States, were just at the beginning of this surge, Osterholm said on NBCs Meet the Press. We havent even really begun to see it yet.

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Previous surges have followed a familiar pattern across the country, and that now appears to be repeating. Were now, I think, in that cycle where the Upper Midwest is just now beginning to start this fourth surge, he said. When Michigan reported 8,400 new cases yesterday, it was a wake-up call to everyone, particularly because of the rising number of severe cases for people who are between 30 and 50.

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"We are now seeing increasing number of severe illnesses [and] ICU hospitalizations in individuals 30 to 50 years of age who have not been vaccinated." pic.twitter.com/5KlflS2MoW  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 4, 2021

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Osterholm was critical of the way people in the United States seem to be ignoring the risks posed by the new, more infectious variants of the virus. That lack of concern is at least in part due to the way in which U.S. leaders are not pushing to take the threat seriously. We are the only country in the world right now experiencing this increasing number of cases due to this variant and at the same time opening up, not closing down, he said on Fox News Sunday. The two basically are going to collide, and we are going to see substantially increased number of cases. Osterholm recognized that may not be what people want to hear, but the bottom line message of the virus is its going to do what its going to do, and we are going to have to respond somehow. Of particular concern, Osterholm said, is how the new variants make children much more vulnerable to infection. Please understand, this B.1.1.7 variant is a brand-new ballgame, he said. In fact, right here in Minnesota, were now seeing the other aspect of this B.1.1.7 variant that hasnt been talked much about, and that is the fact that it infects kids very readily.

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Others, however, are more optimistic that a fourth wave can be avoided. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that while young people are driving a new rise of infections in a few areas, that doesnt mean there will be a fourth wave, due to increasing vaccination. You have somewhere around 200 million Americans that have some level of immunity in them already, he said on CBSs Face the Nation. I think theres enough immunity in the population that youre not going to see a true fourth wave of infection.
A chef, who was like a loaded gun shoplifting in Dublin knowing he had tested positive for coronavirus, has been jailed for four months.

Wesley Geraghty, 43, with a hostel address at Marys Abbey, Dublin 7, was also given a 200 fine after he pleaded guilty to theft and leaving his residence in breach of the Health Act.

Garda Sergeant William Quirke told Judge Miriam Walsh that Geraghty, who had 97 prior criminal convictions, was arrested at Marks & Spencer on Grafton Street where a security guard stopped him taking 450 worth of cosmetics on Friday.

He admitted to gardai he had Covid-19 and was directed to return to his isolation hostel and told he would be dealt with at a later stage.

However, he went to Boots on Grafton Street that day and attempted to steal 320 worth of cosmetics but was caught again.

Expand Close 4/4/2021 Wesley Geraghty, 43yrs, with a hostel address at Mary's Abbey, Dublin 7, pictured leaving Tallaght District Court after he appeared before the court. Pic: Paddy Cummins / Facebook

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Whatsapp 4/4/2021 Wesley Geraghty, 43yrs, with a hostel address at Mary's Abbey, Dublin 7, pictured leaving Tallaght District Court after he appeared before the court. Pic: Paddy Cummins

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The store had to shut down for deep cleaning after it was established he had coronavirus.

Gardai carried out enquiries with the HSE and Geraghtys accommodation and he should have stayed in his hostel, the sergeant told the court.

He had been tested positive on Thursday evening.

The sergeant said Geraghty appeared to go out the following morning and his sole purpose, knowing he was Covid positive, was to commit thefts. It was accepted that he was easy to deal with on arrest.

The Health Act charge carried a possible six-month sentence and a 2500 fine.

Pleading for leniency, the defence said Geraghty was a qualified chef who fell into drug addiction. He was remorseful and realised he was facing jail.

Sentencing, Judge Walsh said Geraghty was wandering around the streets when he was supposed to be in quarantine. He was a loaded gun basically in relation to the Health Act, she remarked.

The case was transferred from Dublin District Court in the Criminal Courts of Justice to a special weekend sitting of Tallaght District Court. It takes cases that require extra precautions for defendants with Covid-19, or who have been exposed to the virus, or have symptoms.

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The sorrow, pain and anger over George Floyds death at the knee of then-police Officer Derek Chauvin radiated across the nation last summer. Last week, the start of Chauvins murder trial drew us back to East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, the Minneapolis intersection Floyd never left. Thats where he died after nearly 10 excruciating minutes of asphyxiation, where a few forever-changed witnesses saw his killing not on video but in person, and where they became the first of legions of Floyds fellow Americans to see and all but feel his last desperate moments.

Christopher Martin, the teenage store clerk who believed Floyd had given him a counterfeit $20 bill, testified to his guilt and disbelief at the monstrously disproportionate events that followed his boss decision to call the police. Im kind of like the big domino that fell, Martin said in a subsequent interview, and ... now all of the small dominoes are just scattered.

Martin was just one of several young people caught up in the killing. I was sad and kind of mad, a 9-year-old witness testified. We all knew it was wrong, recalled a teenager who watched Floyd die. There really wasnt anything I could do as a bystander, said another. Darnella Frazier, the then-17-year-old whose video showed the world those minutes, told the court amid tears, When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad, I look at my brothers, my cousins, my uncles  because they are all Black.

It was a scene to make a grown man cry, too, as 61-year-old Charles McMillan did after rehearing Floyd  described by his girlfriend as a mamas boy  calling out for his late mother. I dont have a mama, either, McMillan said. I understand him.

Like other bystanders, McMillan testified that he felt helpless, as did even those most equipped to help: the off-duty firefighter who pleaded with police officers to let her administer first aid or do so themselves, who testified, I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities, and this human was denied that right; the paramedic who arrived to find Floyd in a dead state from which he couldnt be revived, who recounted, Hes a human being, and I was trying to give him a second chance at life.

At the center of all these peripheral players remorse, somehow, sits the defiantly unfeeling figure of Chauvin, interminably kneeling on another mans neck. The defenses case has yet to be presented, but its already taking shape as a counterprosecution of the victim and, perhaps more incredibly, the witnesses. Floyds drug use, his health conditions and even his proportions have already figured in the defenses arguments and questioning, as if they had any bearing on the fact of a government employee kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes. Even innocent bystanders were accused of being excessively angry and upset, as if there were any more appropriate response to what they saw.

Far from diminishing the death that shocked and galvanized a nation, the idea that a mans demeanor, physique or medical history could possibly excuse the taking of his life under color of law only amplifies the point of the protests: that what Derek Chauvin did to George Floyd represented a broader American dehumanization of Black people that continues to defy its necessary undoing. The rare prosecution and still rarer conviction of a police officer caught killing a man who could and should have lived is only the beginning of that project.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
The PSNI at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey following sporadic outbursts of disorder. Picture date: Sunday April 4, 2021.

A DUP MP has issued an appeal for attacks on police in Northern Ireland to stop and also condemned Sinn Fein arrogance amid scenes of disorder.

Gregory Campbell was speaking after 30 petrol bombs were thrown at officers in Co Antrim in what has been termed an orchestrated attack.

Police were attacked in Newtownabbey on the outskirts of Belfast on Saturday, after violent scenes in the Sandy Row area in the city as well as in Londonderry on Friday.

There was further disorder on Sunday night at the Cloughfern roundabout and also on the North Road in Carrickfergus where bins were set alight and left in the middle of the road. Police were in attendance at both locations.

Expand Close The scene in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim where police came under attack with 30 petrol bombs on Saturday (Rebecca Black/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp The scene in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim where police came under attack with 30 petrol bombs on Saturday (Rebecca Black/PA)

On Saturday police said it was the fifth consecutive night of disorder in Derry on Friday, when 12 officers were injured by a large group throwing masonry, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks.

Some 27 police officers were injured on Friday night across Belfast and Derry.

Mr Campbell called for calm on Sunday and urged attacks on the police to stop.

Those attacking the police should stop, he said.

Rioting and injuring rank and file officers will only result in young people being criminalised.

Expand Close Police Service of Northern Ireland officers come under attack at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey (Peter Morrison/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Police Service of Northern Ireland officers come under attack at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey (Peter Morrison/PA)

The East Londonderry MP also criticised Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly for comments on Saturday about the disorder.

Mr Kelly claimed the disturbances were a direct consequence of the actions of political unionism and accused DUP rhetoric of sending a very dangerous message to young people in loyalist areas.

Tensions have soared within the loyalist community in recent months over post-Brexit trading arrangements which have been claimed to have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Anger ramped up further last 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 Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (left) and deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill during the funeral of Bobby Storey at the Republican plot at Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (left) and deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill during the funeral of Bobby Storey at the Republican plot at Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA)

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

Meanwhile in Co Antrim, a recent series of drug seizures against the South East Antrim UDA  a renegade faction of the main grouping  have caused particular ill-feeling towards police. The faction is believed to have been behind the disturbances in Newtownabbey on Saturday.

Mr Campbell accused Mr Kelly and Sinn Fein of arrogance and not recognising the major part they played in creating anger in the community.

Riots on the streets, just as they must be condemned, it also has to be realised that they are a symptom of the manner in which Sinn Fein has played fast and loose with the Covid rules. Gregory Campbell

Sinn Fein helped organise an IRA mans funeral where 2,000 people attended when other people couldnt even have some of their own children at the funeral of a loved one, the DUP man said.

Gerry Kelly and co need to get real. People arent taps that some politician can turn on or off.

Riots on the streets, just as they must be condemned, it also has to be realised that they are a symptom of the manner in which Sinn Fein has played fast and loose with the Covid rules whilst zealously demanding everyone else obey them.

Earlier, the PSNIs North Area Commander Chief Superintendent Davy Beck said 30 petrol bombs were thrown at officers and three cars set alight in Newtownabbey on Saturday.

He said from around 7.30pm to 10.30pm a crowd of 20 to 30 people, including young people and older men, some of whom were wearing masks, gathered in the ONeill Road/Cloughfern area.

In total 30 petrol bombs were thrown at police and three vehicles were hijacked and set on fire, he said.

Expand Close A man walks past a burning car that was hijacked by loyalists at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey (Peter Morrison/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp A man walks past a burning car that was hijacked by loyalists at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey (Peter Morrison/PA)

Mr Beck said it was an orchestrated attack on police.

We are living in unprecedented times, dealing with a global pandemic, no-one needs the added pressure of disorder in their community, he said.

I would appeal to those who are taking to the streets to stop immediately, their actions are causing nothing but harm and distress to the very communities they claim they are representing.

On Sunday evening the PSNI announced that a 47-year-old man has been charged in connection with rioting, and throwing a petrol bomb in Newtownabbey.

He is due to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court on Monday April 26.

Meanwhile seven people have been charged after the disturbances in the Sandy Row area.

Four adults  three men aged 25, 21 and 18 years old, and a woman aged 19  have been charged with riot.

All four are due to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court on April 30.

Three teenagers, aged 17, 14 and 13, have also been charged with riot.

They are due to appear at Belfast Youth Court on April 30.

As is normal procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.
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Tito Bradshaws grandmother taught him how to ride a bike when he was 2 years old, living with his family at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.

He grew up to be an avid biker in Copperas Cove and later San Antonio, where he often rode an antique penny-farthing bike in parades. He became a co-owner of the Bottom Bracket Social Club on Colorado Street, which was both a bike shop and a bar until it closed its doors.

But Bradshaw wasnt able to share the craft he loved with his son. Instead, Valentino, now 7, had to learn how to ride from his fathers friends.

Bradshaw was killed in April 2019 by an alleged drunken driver while riding his bike on the East Side. Linda Collier Mason, charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection with his death, is scheduled to go to trial May 3.

The family mourns Bradshaws loss, but they feel it especially keenly for his son.

Its just hard seeing him grow and seeing him accomplish things and just feeling like his fathers missing out, said Jennifer Pena, the boys mother. Valentinos already had two birthdays without his father.

On ExpressNews.com: Tributes, petition penned in honor of San Antonio cycling community 'pillar' Tito Bradshaw

Dozens of Bradshaws family members and friends gathered in the 1900 block of East Houston Street on Saturday for a memorial event. There, a white ghost bike embellished with flowers sits on a post on a vacant plot of land, a stark reminder that he died nearby.

Pena and others spoke fondly of Bradshaw, how he was charismatic, uplifting and kind. In high school, he helped raise his baby twin nieces, Sylvia and Encar Dinger, who are now 21. The two honored their uncles memory by getting a tattoo of a penny-farthing bike with Tito spelled out in the large front tire. Sylvia on her arm; Encar on her foot.

As soon as it happened, I had to have him with me forever, Encar Dinger said.

Bradshaw is also remembered in other ways, through various social media videos and posts shared this week, which brought his mother, Bernice Bradshaw, to tears.

Hearing him speak is bittersweet, Bernice Bradshaw, 62, said, adding, however, sharing his memories keeps him alive.

The University of Texas of San Antonio honored Bradshaws memory by naming its bike repair shop after the avid cyclist. Additionally, murals of Bradshaw can be found throughout the city.

At the memorial Saturday, family and friends advocated for safer bike infrastructure to prevent tragedies like his death from happening again.

On ExpressNews.com: Volunteers help build UTSA bike and pedestrian path

Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who attended the memorial along with a handful of council hopefuls, said the city hasnt done enough to provide safe paths for cyclists.

The city is not going to be let off in the hook in creating a safer environment for bicyclists, Nirenberg said, with several different bike infrastructure proposals coming to the table for future bond funding.

He did acknowledge, though, that action is needed.

There have been plenty of plans on paper, we now have to put them actually on the street, Nirenberg said.

Family members are upset that Mason is out on bond as she awaits trial in Bradshaws death.

Jury trials have been on hold for about a year now because of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said, but they are slowly resuming. Masons trial has been postponed several times and the family is hoping the May date will stand.

Near the end of the memorial, family and friends released white, green and blue balloons into an overcast sky. Harry Bradshaw, the cyclists father, spoke at 3:50 p.m. to commemorate the moment he died two years ago.

We miss him, wed much rather have him here than to be doing this celebration, Harry Bradshaw said. But at the same time, its a bittersweet moment, we want to keep him alive.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com | Twitter: @liz_hardaway
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: ByteDance logo is seen in this illustration

By Abhirup Roy and Aditya Kalra

MUMBAI (Reuters) - China's ByteDance has told an Indian court that a government freeze on its bank accounts in a probe of possible tax evasion amounts to harassment and was done illegally, according to a filing seen by Reuters.

ByteDance in January reduced its Indian workforce after New Delhi maintained a ban on its popular video app TikTok, imposed last year after a border clash between India and China. Beijing has repeatedly criticised India over that ban and those of other Chinese apps.

An Indian tax intelligence unit in mid-March ordered HSBC and Citibank in Mumbai to freeze bank accounts of ByteDance India as it probed some of the unit's financial dealings. ByteDance has challenged the freeze on the four accounts in a Mumbai court.

None of ByteDance India's employees have been paid their March salaries due to the account freeze, said two people familiar with the matter. The company told the court it has a workforce of 1,335, including outsourced personnel.

In the 209-page court filing lodged on March 25, ByteDance told the High Court in Mumbai the authorities acted against the company without any material evidence and gave no prior notice, as required by Indian law, before such "drastic action".

Blocking accounts "during the process of investigation amounts (to) applying undue coercion," ByteDance argued. It is "intended, improperly, to harass the petitioner."

India's Directorate General of Goods & Services Tax Intelligence, and the finance ministry which oversees it, did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the weekend.

The details of the tax investigation have not previously been reported. The tax agency told ByteDance last year it had reasons to believe the company suppressed certain transactions and claimed excessive tax credits, the filing shows.

ByteDance declined to comment on its court filing but told Reuters on Tuesday it disagrees with the decision of the tax authority. HSBC declined to comment, while Citibank did not respond.

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ADVERTISING, OTHER DEALS SCRUTINISED

The court declined to grant ByteDance immediate relief in a brief hearing on Wednesday. The next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

The investigation centres on potential evasion of taxes related to online advertising and other financial dealings between ByteDance India and its parent entity in Singapore, TikTok Pte Ltd. TikTok did not respond to an email seeking comment.

ByteDance told the court its India workforce includes 800 people working in its "trust and safety" team that supports activities like content moderation overseas.

The company has "robust business plans in India and is not contemplating winding up," it said, urging the court to lift the freeze on the accounts.

The tax agency started investigating the company in July. It inspected documents at the company's office and summoned and questioned at least three executives, the filing says. Authorities also asked ByteDance to submit documents, including invoices and agreements signed with some clients.

ByteDance representatives "appeared multiple times" before tax officers and provided documents, the filing says.

TikTok, one of India's most popular video apps before it was banned, has faced scrutiny around the world.

Under then-President Donald Trump, the United States alleged the app posed national security concerns. The new administration of Joe Biden has paused a government lawsuit that could have resulted in a de facto ban on TikTok's use there.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Mumbai and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Editing by William Mallard)
A 28-year-old Reconnaissance Marine is being held in the brig at Camp Pendleton after he was charged with six counts of larceny and military property-related offenses involving missing ammunition from the base, military officials said Friday, April 2.

The charges against Sgt. Gunnar Naughton, with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, follow an Article 32 fact-finding hearing held on March 19 at the Western Judicial Circuit Court, said 2nd Lt. Kyle McGuire. If Naughton's case is referred to a general court-martial, a redacted charge sheet will provide more details on the materials that are missing, McGuire said.

A second, unidentified Recon Marine is awaiting a similar Article 32 hearing, McGuire said, adding he couldn't discuss specific details on possible charges or the Marine's identity prior to the hearing. McGuire added that the Camp Pendleton investigation is unrelated to 10 pounds of C-4 explosives that were reported missing from Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in March.

More details are not being released because the case is under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigation Service.

An ABC 10News report in San Diego on March 25 stated, "At least five reconnaissance Marines allegedly stole thousands of rounds of military-grade ammo and explosives. Then, one Marine allegedly tried to sell the ammo online but got caught in a sting operation that was set up by federal agents."

McGuire said he could confirm that only Naughton is being held in custody on the base.

According to military records, Naughton, of Kansas, started as a recruit at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in January 2015. In May 2015, he went to training at U.S. Army Training Center, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

From September 2015 to November 2019, he trained as part of the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, Marine Corps Forces Command, Indian Head, Md. There he trained as a chemical, radiological and nuclear specialist. He joined the elite 1st Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp Pendleton in November 2019.

This article is written by Erika I. Ritchie from Orange County Register and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
Egypt's first female ship captain says she was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal despite being on a different ship hundreds of miles away.

Marwa Elselehdar was working as a first mate in command of the Aida IV in Alexandria when the Ever Given became wedged in the canal, bringing the major shipping route to a halt.

But online rumours and fake news headlines spread the falsehood that she had caused the container ship to run aground in Suez.

Egypt's first female ship captain Marwa Elselehdar says she was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal despite being on a different ship hundreds of miles away

Edited photos and fake social media accounts pushed the lies which she fears have damaged her reputation.

The doctored headline was based on a genuine story by Arab News profiling her success as Egypt's first female captain.

The 29-year-old does not know who started the rumours but believes she was targeted because of her gender.

She told the BBC: 'I was shocked. I felt that I might be targeted maybe because I'm a successful female in this field or because I'm Egyptian, but I'm not sure.'

Women only make up two per cent of the world's seafarers according to the International Maritime Organisation.

Online rumours and fake news headlines spread the falsehood that she had caused the container ship to run aground in Suez

The Aida IV is owned by Egypt's maritime safety authority and runs supply missions to a lighthouse in the Red Sea.

Cadets from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) are also trained on the ship.

Marwa says she was inspired to join the merchant navy after her brother enrolled at AASTMT, having always had a passion for the sea.

The academy only accepted men at the time but she still applied and after a legal review by then-president Hosni Mubarak, she was granted permission to join.

But Marwa said she endured sexism during her studies which she said she had to overcome alone.

The Ever Given became wedged in the Suez Canal, bringing the major shipping route to a halt

She said: 'People in our society still don't accept the idea of girls working in the sea away from their families for a long time.

'But when you do what you love, it is not necessary for you to seek the approval of everyone.'

She rose to the rank of first mate and captained the Aida IV when it became the first vessel to cross the Suez Canal after it was expanded in 2015, also becoming the youngest and first female Egyptian captain to navigate the waterway.

When the rumours spread about her involvement in the Ever Given crisis, she said she feared it would undo all the hard work she has put in.

She rose to the rank of first mate and captained the Aida IV when it became the first vessel to cross the Suez Canal after it was expanded in 2015

Despite the many negative comments on the articles, she says some of the responses were encouraging.

She said: 'I tried so hard to negate what was in the article because it was affecting my reputation and all the efforts I exerted to be where I am now.'

Marwa will taken her final exam next month to gain the full rank of captain and she hopes to continue to inspire women.

In 2017, she was honoured by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to mark Egypt's Women's Day.
The resounding success of Jathi Rathnalu has catapulted Naveen Polishetty into a league of his own. A rank outsider, Naveen says that the success of Jathi Ratnalu is validation that hard work and persistence always pay off.

The actor, who is currently enjoying a holiday in USA, shares that he had slept for hardly three hours a day in the last 45 days. I have been extensively promoting the film. Im exhausted, but also super happy for the blockbuster success, he says..

This success is so important in many ways. Firstly, it reinforces the fact that the middle class and outsiders can also dream big. Secondly, it gives filmmakers the confidence to cast newcomers, he says. The outpouring of love he gets from the audience is a memory he will cherish forever, the actor says.

A hat-trick of hits

Naveen debuted as a lead actor with Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya (2019), which went on to become a super hit. In the same year, he played a significant role in Chhichhore. And then came Jathi Ratnalu.

Its an incredible feeling; but I ascribe these successes to putting a lot of effort at the script level. Many asked me why I slowed down after Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya thats because I take my own sweet time. I had to make sacrifices like letting go a few lucrative offers too, he reveals.

Persistence and grit

These super successes didnt come overnight for Naveen. In fact, every step of his long journey has been a challenge. Behind the successes, there lie years of hard work.As a young aspiring actor, Naveen went to Mumbai.

Life in Mumbai was so difficult; I did all kinds of odd jobs to survive. There were times I gave 5-6 auditions on a single day. I have given more than 1,000 auditions and faced several rejections. There were days when I didnt have money to pay rent, my bills or buy food, recalls Naveen.

But his passion for acting was so strong that he continued to give audition after audition even while doing the jobs that came his way, to keep himself afloat.

Thats why this success is so much sweeter  I have gone through a tedious journey. Competition is razor sharp In Mumbai, he says, and adds on a lighter note, Looking back, I feel my journey itself can be material for a film.

In pursuit of a passion

Born and raised in Hyderabad, Naveen was very active in his school plays. He later pursued engineering at NIT Bhopal, and got a chance to showcase his talent at college fests. He subsequently worked for a Telecom major at London.

But I returned to India because I wanted to pursue my dream of becoming an actor. I did four years of theatre and acted in several plays, he says. I did theatre because it teaches you a lot about acting. I am not an actor by accident, but by choice, Naveen asserts.

National award for Chhichhore

Its a big recognition that the first film I was part of went on to win a National Award. I always wanted to be part of a film where my character talks. I am glad that my role, Acid, was widely appreciated. In fact, recently, during our Jathi Ratnalu success tour, people in Guntur were screaming Acid, Acid...

Naveen would have loved to share the happiness with the late Sushant Singh Rajput, his co-star in Chhichhore. I wish he was here to share the madness and euphoria and all the magical moments. Its a hollow void that cannot be filled, he says.
PeterHermesFurian

President Joe Biden recently ended U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen, but he should go farther and announce that he will end all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. For six years, starting with drones in the Obama administration, the United States has been active in this devastating war that has resulted in the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

Here in Albany, we should accept some responsibility for the 2 million Yemeni children under the age of 5 who suffer from malnutrition and the 400,000 that may soon die from it. Yemen (already the poorest country in the Middle East before this war) relies on imports for 90 percent of its food yet Saudi Arabia and the UAE have blockaded air and sea access to Yemen. More than 16 million Yemenis are food insecure and 12 million lack access to water and sanitation.
A promising green energy solution that has been developed by an inventor from south Dublin has raised 1m in seed funding and is being championed by the global head of renewables for advisory giant KPMG, Irishman Mike Hayes.

Caren Meicnics patented turbine design is driven essentially by a chain of reactions caused by water vapour in humid air.

It has the potential to produce limitless power and a by-product of clean water once it has been initially powered up using an external power source, its inventor, Dubliner Colm Caren says.

The Dun Laoghaire art school graduate, who previously dropped out of UCD describes himself as an expert in maths, physics and IT, and previously engineered alterations for disabled drivers cars, having also made money from selling a franchise business.

Im not an engineer, and none of us who have worked on it are. But we are experts in this technology.

"This is in the process of being proven, where we now have enough data to take to the right R&D or engineering partner to help build a full-size prototype for commercial application.

He has spent over 25 years working on the Caren Meicnic turbine in his spare time with assistance from his father Des, and his brother Rory, who worked for IBM for 31 years.

Des (93), a former lecturer, chairman of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and management consultant is actively involved in the Caren Meicnic business.

He played a key role in helping to raise the 1m funding, which mainly came from friends and family.

Some early evaluation of the computational fluid dynamics used in the turbines design were made by Dr Colm Costello, a former senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at IT Tallaght.

Costello helped Colm Caren simulate the turbines power and water production potential using an Enterprise Ireland innovation voucher, with the help of Dr Karl Odie, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) expert and former associate lecturer in fluid dynamics at IT Tallaght.

We looked at how the turbine would react in terms of the shocks and condensation produced in certain humid conditions. Although I recall being sceptical at the time, we concluded that it might produce some power. Even if it didnt, it might be valuable for its clean water production, Odie said.

The report from the tests concluded: Designed to operate in desert conditions of 5pc relative humidity and 30C, this device [of a given size] will produce 133KW of power and 81 litres per hour (1,944 litres per day) of water. The fuel for this device is humid fresh air [which is free,] and it produces minimal CO2.

Four other academics in Ireland and Vienna did initial evaluations of the theory behind the turbines design, with all concluding it had potential and was worth building.

Read More

A test seen by the Sunday Independent of a proof-of concept small turbine model to examine the effect of water vapour on it found that power production was positive in the right conditions, and were as predicted by the CFD simulations the Carens had run.

Im championing this promising technology on a pro-bono basis because companies like KPMG have a responsibility to support climate tech innovators like the Carens.

We very much want to highlight them in the run-up to the COP26 climate talks in November, said Hayes, who is now helping to connect them with potential investors and engineering partners with a view to licensing the technology .

The climate talks will be held in the UK. This has so many potential applications. Providing power and clean water in humid climates where it will work. 800 million people dont have access to electricity or clean water right now, said Colm Caren.

Enabling green hydrogen and synthetic jet fuel production. As a water, heat and power source beside a house. The turbine could also power a hybrid car and reduce the amount of batteries needed for future car production.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Sunday disclosed through a social media post that he has recovered from

Rawat had tested positive for COVID-19 on March 22 and had been in self-isolation since then.

"My COVID test report has come out negative twice in the past 48 hours," Rawat said in the social media post.

He thanked the almighty and all his well-wishers for his recovery.

(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 spring cleanup and decor refresh have always been able to lift moods. But after this long pandemic winter, theres special satisfaction in clutter removal, extra joy in being creative, particular pleasure in making a space even more your own.

This time of year, I can often feel buried after so much time indoors, and with many of us working from home, this is even more crucial, says designer Mel Bean.

Or as designer Thom Filicia puts it: Be brave. The new year is a chance to create spaces that allow you to live your most beautiful life.

Some suggestions from the experts on bringing a sense of harmony and happiness home this spring:

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CLEAR OUT

Bright and light is my motto, and when the days get warmer, I cant wait to purge and donate some things, says designer Michael Wood. He gives to a non-profit fighting AIDS and homelessness.

Wood takes the change of season as an opportunity to get a professional firm in to deep clean.

Every piece of furniture is lifted and cleaned by the crew  all lighting fixtures, fans, walls, blinds/drapery and ceilings are wiped, he says. They clean the outside, inside and behind all appliances, inside closets, shelving and cabinetry, all windows inside and out. Everything feels new again!

Hiring pros might not be doable for all of us, however. Thankfully, cleaning can be free therapy.

Organizing expert Marie Kondo says that visualizing what a happy home would look like to you is a good first move on the de-cluttering, cleaning journey.

Think about what kind of house you want to live in, and how you want to live in it, she says. When you imagine your ideal lifestyle, you are really clarifying why you want to tidy and envisioning your best life. The tidying process represents a turning point.

Decluttering might spark some new ideas for old belongings, says Lance Thomas of Thomas Guy Interiors.

Heirlooms are a great way to accessorize and bring happiness into a home. Those ancient trinkets and doodads found while spring cleaning could make for a wonderful coffee table conversation piece, he says. Theres something special about preserving memories and respecting history that feeds the soul.

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LITTLE IMPROVEMENTS

Not up for anything big? After youve done a declutter, reward yourself by bringing home some green.

Plants are known to boost mood and productivity, says designer Jay Jeffers. Add a floor plant in ample natural light to elevate your space, and put smaller plants where you spend most of your time, like your kitchen or your desk.

There are lots of easy-care options, like succulents (including aloe and jade plants) and pothos. Or try cut flowers.

Investing in a pretty vase and making a commitment to fresh flowers is a great way to bring happy into your space, says designer Mary Patton. Even if youre Instacarting, you can have inexpensive flowers delivered. Flower arranging is an easy, creative activity.

Filicia advises paying attention to the pieces you touch most every day. Your home should not only be a place where you feel inspired and energized, but also where you can kick back and relax. Create an environment that allows you to recharge, he says.

Bedding, pillows and throws create those welcoming environments.

Paint or paper a wall, replace a rug, or reupholster a chair, he suggests.

Color is a simple way to create an upbeat feel, says John Cialone of Tom Stringer Design Partners. The firm recently completed a project in which it brought in a vibrant kiwi green. Cialone also likes coral on walls or furniture for giving you a healthy glow.

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BIGGER FIXES

Changing finishes or buying larger furniture costs more, but packs a punch.

Jeffers suggests drawing inspiration from your favorite destinations. Think about the places where you feel happiest. Whether its a beach with tranquil blue water and warm white sand, or a cozy cabin surrounded by evergreen trees, incorporating design elements from your most-loved destinations will mentally bring you back, he says.

At-home gyms have been one of his most requested additions this year. Whether you set up a few pieces of equipment or just some mats and pillows, that private oasis can pay off in both your fitness level and your mindset, Jeffers says.

Changing the finish or color of kitchen cabinets can be a big job, but the payoff, Cialone says, is also big.

As the pandemic waged on, Lisa and Peter Kinsman got fed up with their kitchens dark cherry cabinetry and black countertops. Inspired by a photo Lisa saw of a kitchen designed by Studio McGee, the couple chose a creamy gray paint to cover the cabinets, and changed out the counters for crisp white Silestone. The updates brought more light into the smallish, back-of-the-house space and improved the vibe in many ways, Lisa said.

The light, definitely, but were surprised how much bigger it looks, she says. Hard to say if thats why I find it more pleasant, or if its because it looks so much more current.

Interiors firm Marguerite Rodgers added a playful, cheery red pocket door to a recent kids room project on the Jersey Shore.

The pop of color really ties the space together, says designer Kaitlyn Murphy. You can easily refresh existing millwork by adding a wallcovering, textile or a fun paint color.
The has put in charge of a plant that ruined 15 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine and has stopped British drugmaker Plc from using the facility, a senior health official said on Saturday.

J&J said it was "assuming full responsibility" of the Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore, reiterating that it will deliver 100 million doses to the government by the end of May.

The Department of Health & Human Services facilitated the move, the health official said in an email, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has not been approved in the United States, said it will work with President Joe Biden's administration to find an alternative site to produce its vaccine.

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The development, first reported by the New York Times, further hampers AstraZeneca's efforts in the The government has criticized the drugmaker for using outdated data in the results of its vaccine trial. It later revised its study.

Workers at the Emergent BioSolutions plant several weeks ago conflated ingredients for the J&J and vaccines, the Times said earlier in the week.

J&J said at the time the ruined batch had not advanced to the fill-and-finish stage.

The government's move to have the facility make only the J&J single-dose vaccine is meant to avoid future mix-ups, the Times said, citing two senior federal health officials.

The top U. S. infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday the country may not need AstraZeneca's vaccine even if it wins approval.

The has loan deals to send Mexico and Canada roughly 4 million doses of the vaccine, made at its U. S. facility.
COLUMBIA  In an effort to better handle non-criminal calls, the Richland County Sheriff's Department has been operating a crisis intervention team since February that pairs a deputy with a state Department of Mental Health clinician, who arrive at scenes together.

The duo has responded to incidents such as when a person is suicidal or worries they may hurt someone else at least 70 times in the past two months.

Being mentally ill does not mean youre a criminal," Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said at a Feb. 24 press conference where he introduced the teams creation. "And unfortunately for too long, its been treated that way."

His department, one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the state, is among several in South Carolina integrating mental health response into its daily work.

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office, city of Greenville police department and Oconee County Sheriff's Department all have initiatives of their own, and officials expect those services to be in greater demand following a spike in mental health-related calls through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Richland County fielded 232 monthly non-criminal service calls related to mental emergencies in 2020, compared to 69 a month over the prior year.

Now, when dispatchers receive a call from somebody in the middle of a mental health emergency, Sheriff's Capt. David Soto and a state Department of Mental Health counselor take over.

Soto is currently the only deputy on the newly formed team, so his availability is limited, but Lott is hoping to add more officers, which would also help improve response times in a county thats 772 square miles.

The team arrives in plainclothes and an unmarked car to help defuse tension.

There are certain things that are a learning curve for law enforcement, but we're catching up, Soto said.

The intervention by Soto and the counselor are not done in lieu of arrests. Lott said people who break the law will be punished. But the team could identify people who need treatment and long-term support rather than a trip to jail.

"This pairing allows us not only to respond in a very evidence-based way, but also to provide some preventions so things don't escalate," said Allison Farrell, director of emergency services for the S.C. Department of Mental Health. "We don't want people to end up in jails. We don't want them to end up in emergency rooms unless that's where they need to be."

It can save on medical expenses, since ambulance trips can cost upwards of $600.

The state Department of Mental Health has had mobile crisis units in all 46 counties since 2018, but most of those workers dont travel to scenes with law enforcement.

Were meeting people in the community literally where they are, and sometimes its their front yard, said Denise Morgan, director of the Columbia Area Mental Health Center. We can provide care and evaluate them right in the community.

Lisa Broderick, who runs an Arizona-based nonprofit focused on improving relations between the public and police, said programs like Richland County's are a new frontier of law enforcement.

"If you give the police the tools to do a different job, they will do that job," said Broderick, founder of Police2Peace.

Another of South Carolina's biggest law enforcement agencies has placed a newfound emphasis on the interplay between mental health and policing.

At the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, where more than 90 percent of its 900 deputies have received training to handle situations involving people with mental illness, an almost decade-old collaboration with a local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness has brought innovative approaches to law enforcement, said Capt. Roger Antonio, a department spokesman.

Cruisers in the agency's therapeutic response team, created in the early 1990s as a way to transport people to area hospitals, are outfitted with DVD players that can help calm children and others caught in stressful situations. Deputies are trained in methods such as active listening, which relies on non-verbal cues, body language and timing to help avoid conflict.

"Every law enforcement officer deals with people in crisis, and they do so every day, and they do so well, but doing something well doesn't mean that they're doing the best job they can," Charleston County Master Deputy Don Frichtl said in an October promotional video highlighting the agency's work with NAMI. "We're starting to see that mental health services are key. On every single police car you see 'serve and protect,' and how do we get there? We can't get there by doing what we've always been doing."

The city of Greenville's police department launched its crisis intervention team in 2010, and 154 of its officers have completed a 40-hour training course to de-escalate potentially volatile situations, according to information on its website.

Creating a response team in the capital region made sense as the nation begins a gradual return to normalcy after more than a year of quarantines, social distancing and isolation that has increased the number of people in need of mental health care.

Our world has endured a very stressful event. It's been prolonged. It's resulted in a lot of isolation, economic stress for families, so really, we won't know the effect on mental health until we really begin to recover, said Farrell with the state mental health agency. I would expect that whatever we've seen in the past would underestimate the need going forward.

Early studies suggest thats true.

A February Kaiser Family Foundation health tracking poll found that 41 percent of adults surveyed at the start of the year reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, compared to just 11 percent during the first half of 2019.

Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw said practices being used in the state's metropolitan areas can be more difficult to implement across rural parts of South Carolina because of budget constraints and geographic isolation, though police agencies like his are doing their best.

"I do hope going forward smaller counties such as mine and others would have what our larger counties have. I think that's a great thing that Richland County has, but we need that in every county in South Carolina," said Crenshaw, who is also president of the S.C. Sheriff's Association governing board.

Last year, his department won a $560,000 federal grant that will bring a state Department of Mental Health clinician into the Oconee County Detention Center to assist with case management and referral services to treatment courts.

Crenshaw's 115 deputies have all completed 40-hour training courses created by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. It helped to defuse a situation earlier this month that allowed police to get a man into treatment rather than arrest him, Crenshaw said.

"Years ago, people would end up (in jail) instead of getting the help they needed," Crenshaw said. "I think our state wants to move in the right direction, but we've still got a ways to go."

Lott also hopes the work of his team will remove the stigma around mental health  an issue close to his heart because his father waged a lifelong battle against depression, which the sheriff never learned about until he was in college.

My family kind of mirrored what society is when it comes to mental illness, which is you just dont talk about it and keep it hidden, which I think is a huge mistake, Lott told The Post and Courier. My dad was not a criminal.

Lott said the expected post-pandemic uptick in non-criminal calls will present more challenges than ever before for law enforcement, and he wants his squad of 700 deputies prepared to avoid tragedy.

NAMI estimates 2 million people a year with such conditions are booked into jails, and the population is 16 times more likely to be killed during police encounters, a 2015 Treatment Advocacy Center report found.

We haven't had it in Richland County where we've responded to someone in a mental crisis and then we've ended up having to shoot someone, but we've seen it across the United States, Lott told reporters on Feb. 24.

A 2018 paper by one of the worlds leading law enforcement professional development groups says partnerships like Richland Countys are considered best practice.

Because it is not possible for officers to diagnose mental illness or understand the degree to which some persons may need professional care in order to avoid violence to themselves or others, use of a trained mental health professional is often a preferred option, an International Association of Chiefs of Police report states.

Broderick said Lott's department is "tip of the spear" when it comes to this more empathic policing strategy.

"Introducing mobile mental health crisis response is the next wave of compassionate public safety in this country," she said.
President Biden thinks that they can change the way people see the situation at the borders. Some Democrats and many Republicans are saying that it's getting worse.

The administration wants to convince their critics that it's no huge crisis. The president, nor his vice-president Kamala Harris, has not visited. There are speculations that both are avoiding questions.

President Biden and his migration policy flip-flop get criticized.

This administration faces critics slamming what they call bad policy that has led to a surge of migrant minors. It is a flashpoint that is getting way beyond the government's control. Oddly, the reaction is to convince critics of the border chaos. It is not something to be concerned about, as reported by Politico through MSN, regarding the administration's perception of the problem.

According to the White House, the increasing problems at the borders are not a threat to America. However, the border problems are a bunch of errors building up. One of these concerns is the spread of COVID-19 among minors.

The White House has been trying to promote its version of events at the border to Capitol Hill. They are attempting to convince the divided Democrats because the choices of the administration are justified. The new administration was inaugurated, and it inherited a problem with migration.

President Biden is trying to explain away Washington's most divisive and controversial topics that create a massive backlash. The White House rejects any migration issues pointed out by the Republicans.

Rep. Cuellar Releases Another Batch of Pictures of the Situation in the US Border

Biden administration officials repeatedly stated in calls with House lawmakers this week the source of the problem. They claim it is a crisis from the Trump administration. What is happening now is a step to solve the problem.

In a separate call with Democratic communications aides on Capitol Hill, White House officials emphasized that the problem is with Central America. Biden and his team are focusing on the "root causes" of migration surges, as well as their renewed diplomatic efforts with Central American countries, which had ended under Trump's administration.

The White House has conducted calls with other organizations and staff for high-profile Democrats off the Hill to coordinate messaging, an intention of keeping everyone on the same track. Many Democrats also praised the coordination, as well as the acknowledgment of the severity of the situation.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) scrawled "hallelujah" on a piece of paper alongside his various notes after joining House Democrats in a private virtual meeting. It was joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said the following statement about the botch border management:

"Because they were saying, 'look, this is not the problem of HHS or DHS but that every federal agency was now going to be involved' in this project."

"It was important to hear that the administration does not believe that it has already reached Nirvana. We've got a long and persistent problem on our Southern border."

How President Joe Biden will the change the way people see the crisis at the border is a challenge to the administration. Many questions pop but one thing is for sure, the border problem is too visible for the naked eyes to see.

Joe Biden's Policies to Blame for Sending Children to U.S. Border

Biden Administration to Use Taxpayers' Money to Pay for Migrants' Hotel Accommodations

Biden Promises Migrants Entry at the Border

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
From farce to the more farcical View(s):

If the pre-Geneva performance by some of our leading actors seemed like scenes out of a diplomatic Keystone Cops episode, the post-resolution drama was even more hilarious. For that was joined by other political and politically-committed actors crowding the stage not wanting to be left out of the modern nadagam.

Those in power cannot claim that they were unaware Sri Lanka would figure at the March 2021 sessions of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Anyone seriously concerned about what the Ides of March could bring would marshal their existing forces and try to rally new diplomatic allies in readiness to meet the attacks which would most probably come on many fronts.

Yet what does Sri Lanka do? It begins to undermine the relationship with one of its most important friends and neighbours knowing only too well that geographically we are stuck where we are, whether we like it or not, next to India, an influential and rising world power, a nuclear nation and with close cultural, religious and ethnic affinities between the two countries.

Having committed itself at the highest political level to a trilateral development project in the Colombo Port along with Japan we renege on it just a month or two before the Geneva meeting.

If that is not bad enough, Colombos rulers then lease, sell or give away summa -- as they say  three islands or islets in the north to the Chinese for power projects within spitting distance, so to say, of India.

It cannot be crass ignorance that led our power wielders to not only long-lease terra firma to China but even the northern most islands within hoo kiyana distance as they used to say, to Indias main rival with which it had clashed militarily in the snow covered mountainous frontiers not too long ago.

All this while in the early days of this government, Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage, a former admiral, was pontificating on Sri Lankas new foreign relations strategy and its India First policy.

Since then the strategy appears to have been changed to Drop India First policy, though even now Foreign Secretary Colombage maintains his boast as he did in a newspaper interview the other day saying that since the government came to power it did quite a lot to make India comfortable and repeated it saying, We did quite a lot to make India strategically comfortable.

India must indeed be elated at the special attention and the great reverence the grandmasters of Sri Lankan diplomacy have paid to their neighbour as did visitors to the Chinese Emperors court in the time of the Ming dynasty.

If India was let down with broken promises so was Japan whose Light Rail project was abandoned after it had been agreed to and then the Colombo Port deal was dropped showing the world how Sri Lanka treats nations near and far.

To professional diplomats and others knowledgeable in international affairs, Sri Lankas conduct must surely come as a shock not merely because both India and Japan are longstanding allies and friends but both are member states of the UN Human Rights Council and carried votes that would have been crucial to Sri Lanka.

But instead of supporting Sri Lanka as Colombage said India had assured it would, both countries abstained. Not that it ultimately mattered because the political head of the foreign ministry and Colombages boss, Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, had already counted them as voting for Sri Lanka arbitrarily swelling its total vote.

Though Foreign Minister Gunawardenas venture into modern applied maths might earn him encomiums, even belatedly, from his alma mater by the former Colombo Race Course, he is not the first to outwit the ancient Egyptians who introduced the subject to the world.

Perhaps Education Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris might be better prepared to educate the uninitiated like his parliamentary colleagues whose educational qualifications are being kept a deep dark secret by parliament officials whose own qualifications remain obscure.

Before we turn to other more farcical episodes from the post-Geneva voting which, by the way, Sri Lanka won according Minister Gunawardena, state minister Ajith Cabraal an account and a cluster of others, a couple of more points of interest from the Colombage interview deserve a hearing.

While Foreign Secretary Colombage claims in the interview referred to above that the Resolution was in a real sense.adopted thereby debunking the Gunawardena-Cabraal higher math theory, Colombages constant reference to white countries having been instrumental in initiating the resolution underscores a racist inclination and hides the real content of the resolution.

Those better versed in diplomatic vocabulary and balance would have resorted to describing the divide in Geneva as Global North and Global South. If it was a matter of colour than politics and ideology then surely the non-white member states that outnumber the white nations should have voted against the resolution.

One other point that needs to be stressed is Secretary Colombages current claim that he was misquoted about India, saying it would support Sri Lanka on the resolution. In case I am accused of quoting him incorrectly as well let me quote his words directly from the interview.

Asked by the interviewer about the India remark, Colombage says:

Well, to begin with, I never said that India will support us. I think I was misquoted. I was echoing the words of the honourable Prime Minister of India. He said India will not do any injustice to Sri Lanka. These are the exact words that I used. But in the Sinhala translation, unfortunately, one of our journalist friends took it as me saying that India will support us. Then it was headline news in Sri Lanka, and Indian news also picked it up and said that the Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary said India will support.

It is of course not uncommon for politicians, bureaucrats and uniformed men to blame the media in a ham-fisted attempt at the clawback. In trying to do so he exposes himself even more. He blames the Sinhala translation which obviously means he spoke in English unless he resorted to Hindi or another language which required translation.

If the fault, Dear Brutus is in the translation, how is it that the English-language media in Sri Lanka and Indian print media such as The Hindu quoted Colombages words as having been said by him  all saying the same thing.

Moreover if he was misquoted on such an important issue at this crucial time one would have immediately issued a release correcting the mistake and setting out exactly what he now says he said. Did he do that? If he did which media carried the correction and where is the proof. If he did not why not for in retrospect could this remark have contributed in part to Indias abstention just as Security Minister Sarath Weeraseakaras unwanted and untimely remarks on Muslims helped in self sabotage.

This surely is a serious mistake that no professional diplomat or experienced official would have ignored and let pass.

There was another glorious faux pas in a twitter by State Minister Ajith Cabraal which one must keep for the next Geneva saga because a little space is required for another issue that the government has been mum over possibly because it will wound the vanity of the government.

Readers will remember how couple of thousand or so Ukrainian tourists were brought to Sri Lanka via Mattala while the Coronavirus was raging in the country and locals were under various restrictions. The Ukrainians were brought here supposedly for some pilot project given red carpet treatment and even various discounted facilities, the man behind all this being Sri Lankas former ambassador there Udayanga Weeratunga.

Lo and behold. Glance at the Geneva voting. Ukraine has voted for the resolution. Pity Sri Lanka.

(Neville de Silva is a veteran

Sri Lankan journalist who was Assistant Editor of the Hong Kong Standard. Later he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Bangkok and Deputy High Commissioner in London).
ROTTERDAM Messiah Lutheran Churchs Trinity Community Center is partnering with Schenectady County Health Department to administer 200 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 7.

The vaccination site will be held at Messiahs Trinity Community Center located at 705 Curry Road in Rotterdam.
Officials with the Alberta Standardbred Horse Association wish to advise horsemen that an upcoming session of qualifiers will be held at Century Downs Racetrack and Casino.

Qualifiers will be conducted on Tuesday, April 6. Entries close on Monday, April 5.

(ASHA)
Ahora | El presidente @FSagasti, junto con los titulares del @Minsa_Peru y @MininterPeru, supervisa el inicio del proceso de vacunacion contra la COVID-19 a los integrantes del Cuerpo General de Bomberos Voluntarios del Peru.#PongoElHombro

?? En vivo: https://t.co/0m6JnxePTN
New Delhi, April 5 : Sharpening its attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the BJP claimed that sensing her imminent defeat, she made the state Assembly polls "an ugly fight" to capture minority votes.

BJP's West Bengal co-incharge Amit Malviya said: "The battle for Bengal boils down to an ugly fight to capture minority votes! The TMC and Abbas alliance (the Left-Congress-ISF coalition) have reduced the majority community to second grade citizens. As if they don't matter. Bengal is watching this brazen appeasement politics and will respond on the ballot.

"There is a reason for this desperate appeal as ever since the news of Mamata Banerjee's imminent defeat from Nandigram has gone across the state, there is growing buzz in the minority community to vote for the Abbas coalition. This means that TMC could well end up in third position." Addressing a election meeting, Banerjee had said: "A friend of the BJP has come from Hyderabad (Asaduddin Owaisi). They have also engaged a youth from Furfura Sharif (Abbas Siddiqui). They have joined hands. BJP is spending crores of rupees on them. They are trying to divide the minority community. Do not support them. Voting for them will mean voting for the BJP." A senior BJP leader said that Banerjee is making such appeal only after knowing that minority votes are going to split as huge crowds are seen at public meetings of Indian Secular Front (ISF) chief Siddiqui and the Sanjukta Morcha.

"Seeing the huge crowd, especially Muslim youths in Siddiqui's meeting has rattled Mamata Didi. Initially she did not gave any importance of Siddiqui but situation in ground has changed after he joined Left and Congress and became part of Sanjukta Morcha," a BJP leader said under condition of anonymity.

The ISF chief has influence in Hooghly, Nadia, and the North and South 24 Parganas and Owaisi's AIMIM has presence in Murshidabad and Malda.

A saffron party leader said that Banerjee's main concern is 26 seats in minority dominated rural belt of south Bengal where the Sanjukta Morcha is banking on Siddiqui's popularity and Owaisi also giving her a headache in Murshidabad and Malda.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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.

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 being inoculated

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.

A senior Government source said the pilot scheme had been ordered 'because clearly there's a crossover between hesitancy among ethnic-minority groups and large-family, multi-generational households. We're trying to do what we think really does work well.

'Early evidence has shown it is effective, by going to multi-generational households and saying, 'You've got some very elderly or vulnerable people living there. Why don't we vaccinate the whole house for you?' ' Health bodies worked with local authorities to compare households with vaccine uptake postcode by postcode. An insider underlined the 'massive' value of the analysis, saying: 'For every 20 over-80s we protect, we save one life.'

In Luton, 87.6 per cent of over-50s have had their first vaccine, while Bradford has a rate of 90.6 per cent. However, hesitancy among ethnic-minority communities has meant both towns have jab rates lower than the English regional averages, which are in the mid-90s, apart from London.

An open letter organised by Sir Lenny Henry (pictured) and signed by actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton, the writer Malorie Blackman and the Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Bishop of Dover, encouraged black people to have the vaccination against coronavirus

About 12 per cent of adults in the most deprived areas of England have reported hesitancy, compared with 3 per cent in the country's least deprived areas, the Office for National Statistics said. Last week, new data on vaccine take-up showed a 'huge improvement' among black people. The Government insider said more families should now expect to have health workers 'literally door-to-door and saying, 'We can offer you the vaccine' '

Meanwhile pop-up vaccination sites offering night-time jabs will be available throughout the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins on April 13 and runs until May 12 and requires Muslims to fast from sunrise to sunset.

Government surveys have started to show growing confidence across most ethnic groups. A source said the Bangladeshi community, for example, has recently moved to become one of the most vaccine-confident groups, despite initially low take-up data.

Faith leaders and celebrities have also been urging minority communities to get the jab. Last week, an open letter organised by Sir Lenny Henry and signed by actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton, the writer Malorie Blackman and the Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Bishop of Dover, encouraged black people to have the vaccine.
The ANA Inspiration is Patty Tavatanakits to lose after she extended her lead to five shots on Saturday.

The 21-year-old was only one shot clear headed into the third round, but wasted little time in giving herself some space as she birdied her first three holes at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.

She picked up four more shots throughout the day, with two late bogeys bringing her final score to a five-under 67.

Americas Ally Ewing and South Koreas Mirim Lee are both second on nine under after carding scores of 66 and 68 respectively.

Meanwhile Englands Charley Hull was left to rue a costly triple bogey on the third as she fell to equal-fifth with a one-under 71.

Read more

Irelands Leona Maguire had a rough day at the office, giving up an early eagle advantage with five late bogeys to drop to two under overall alongside Englishwoman Mel Reid.

Her compatriot Georgia Hall also had a disastrous outing on Saturday, falling 41 spots to equal-47th after carding a five-over 77.

PA
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

N.Y. writes: My wedding was due to take place last August at The Brewery in London, with a reception for more than 300 guests.

The contract for venue hire and catering was with Veer Gold Limited in Ilford in Essex, and they contracted with The Brewery. We paid Veer more than 22,000  including 12,000 for The Brewery  but the wedding had to be cancelled because of Covid restrictions.

Veer says that The Brewery is refusing to refund the 12,000, though both companies have declined to provide any confirmation that the 12,000 actually changed hands.

Contract: The Brewery

Tony Hetherington replies: You have been wrestling for months with a situation which has left you more than 22,000 out of pocket. You paid Veer Gold 11,497 in 2019, and 3,000 of this went to The Brewery, a well established upmarket event and conference centre in the City of London. You were due to pay a second instalment of 10,676 on April 27 last year, by which time the pandemic had struck.

On April 24, Veer emailed to say you still had to pay the second instalment, because Veer itself had to pay The Brewery. Veer told you: 'They will require 75 per cent of your total venue costs (9,000).' And Veer added: 'We are bound by their Ts and Cs.'

You replied to Veer: 'So does that mean we need to pay the 10,676 so that you can pay the 9,000 to The Brewery, or just pay the 9,000?' And Veer answered: 'Yes, please pay the full amount.' You then paid Veer the full 10,676.

As things went from bad to worse last year, with big weddings banned, it became clear your reception could not take place. You asked Veer about the fees you had paid to book The Brewery, and on July 21 Veer told you: 'The Brewery is currently not returning any monies paid to it for venue hire.'

And when you asked for evidence that your full 12,000 had been handed over to The Brewery, Veer replied on August 12 that it was 'awaiting an official document from The Brewery confirming receipt of payments made'.

It is worth noting that the Government-run Competition & Markets Authority has already looked into the whole weddings industry and ruled that couples whose booking could not go ahead because of Covid should be refunded in full, except for modest deductions to cover expenses that companies had already incurred.

With this in mind, I approached both Veer Gold and The Brewery. At first, Veer refused to comment, but quickly contacted you, offering to repay you 500 a month. There was no starting date for payments, and no explanation of where your money had gone or what had been paid to The Brewery.

I think there was some shock at finding that Veer gave you the impression it had handed over 12,000 which The Brewery was refusing to return.

Later, Veer added that it would begin paying in June, which would then take more than three years. You reluctantly agreed, but concluded  not unreasonably  that Veer had simply spent your money.

The reaction from The Brewery was far more helpful and honest. I think there was some shock at finding that Veer gave you the impression it had handed over 12,000 which The Brewery was refusing to return.

Director James Varah told me he had every sympathy with couples whose wedding plans were disrupted, but the fact was that Veer had only paid The Brewery a deposit of 3,000.

He explained last Wednesday: 'The 3,000 were the only funds paid to us in relation to this wedding, and this can be verified with documentation. We are disappointed that our position in this matter appears to have been misrepresented and, regardless of contractual arrangement, we will pay the 3,000 we received directly to the gentleman concerned. Our relationship with the catering company concerned is now under review.'

So, thanks to The Brewery, you are guaranteed the quick return of 3,000. But where does this leave Veer Gold? It is run by Mr Gopal Singh Luther, known as Paul Luther.

He finally admitted to me that his company had not passed on any more of your money to The Brewery. He told me this was 'a clerical error' and claimed that you were 'very understanding of this'  an idea you immediately rejected, pointing out that you would never have forked out more than 10,000 if you had not been told it was essential to pay The Brewery.

Like the rest of your money, it was never Veer Gold's to spend, yet it has been spent.

Will Paul Luther stick to his offer to repay you 500 a month? Time will tell, but I can tell him now that if he fails to repay you, he and his company will be back in print here, and that is a wedding vow he can rely on.

I was 150 in credit... why did Amazon block my account?

Ms J.O. writes: I tried to buy a gift card on Amazon and it immediately blocked my account, saying this was due to 'suspicious activity'.

I tried calling but staff say they cannot access my account until Amazon's own investigators unlock it.

Concern: Amazon said it suspected an unauthorised person may have accessed the account, so it blocked it while this was investigated

Tony Hetherington replies: When your account was blocked it was in credit to the tune of about 150 and you had purchases in the pipeline for another 200, so you were more than 300 down. I asked Amazon to explain, and in less than 24 hours your account was open again.

The company told me it suspected an unauthorised person may have accessed your account, so it blocked it while this was investigated.

Your orders were cancelled without the 200 being charged, and your unspent credit is still there.

Amazon says it is now satisfied your account is secure, and it has added 25 to your balance to make up for the inconvenience.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4)  An organization of hospitals is urging the Department of Health to train private individuals to collect their own specimens for COVID-19 testing.

According to Dr. Jaime Almora, president of the Philippine Hospitals Association, the process could help decongest laboratories and hospitals.

"Sinuggest ko sa DOH na turuan ang mga tao mag-perform ng self-swabbing para kung available na 'yung rapid test, 'pag nakita naman na high sensitivity rate, pwede na gamitin as surveillance tool. Pero ang problema wala pang license," Almora says.

[Translation: I suggested to the DOH to teach people how to self swab so when the rapid tests become available, when it has a high sensitivity rate, it can be used as a surveillance tool. But the problem is there is still no license.]

He said it could also ease the workload of physicians needed for other matters.

According to Almora, the DOH needs to train people on the anatomy of the nose and the throat, the location of specimens needed for the RT-PCR test.

"Yung parang pregnancy test, parang lahat ng gusto nila malaman ang status nila -- they can self swab themselves para malaman nila kung positive o negative para di makahawa ng iba," Almora says.

[Translation: It's like a pregnancy test, for anything they want to know about their status -- they can administer the self swab and find out if they are positive or negative to avoid infecting others.]

The RT-PCR is considered the gold standard in COVID-19 testing.

In his letter to the DOH dated March 22, 2021, Almora cited the United States and South Korea, which have approved at-home testing.

On the shortage of healthcare workers, the DOH said more nurses and doctors are coming to the National Capital Region this week to augment manpower in an effort to stem the surge in COVID-19 cases.

In a text message to CNN Philippines, Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said 67 healthcare workers are coming this week from the Visayas and Mindanao.

Forty-two volunteer healthcare workers earlier arrived from other Luzon regions.

Meanwhile, the DOH confirmed the ongoing addition of modular tents to increase the coverage of COVID-19 emergency rooms and triage areas.
(Natural News) Slovenian restaurant Pakerna in Upper West Side, Manhattan was forced to close two weeks after its opening in December last year not for lack of customers but for lack of workers.

Waitresses that worked there left to become contact tracers, while bartenders went on unemployment. Owner Dean ONeil was never been able to establish a solid workforce. On most nights, hes only had one chef working in his kitchen.

I couldnt work out really why. And then I found it was basically they could receive money without having to work. Then they wanted to be paid only in cash. Its unacceptable said ONeil.

His workers took advantage of the $300 weekly enhanced unemployment insurance included in the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) stimulus package signed by former President Donald Trump on December 27 last year. President Joe Biden extended the $300 per week unemployment insurance supplement up to Sept. 6 when he signed the $1.9 trillion stimulus package on March 11.

But long before the stimulus packages were signed, the CARES Act enacted in March 2020 provided a $600 weekly benefit on top of regular unemployment insurance benefits. Following the expiration of the supplemental benefit in July 2020, the Trump administration authorized an extra $300 per week federal payment.

Small businesses struggle to fill job vacancies

Owners of small businesses are starting to complain. They say it is now difficult to make people go back to work because of the generous federal aid.

A monthly survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) showed that job openings in February reached an all-time record high, with 40 percent of businesses saying they are struggling to fill openings.

Mark Owens, who owns an insulation and a trucking company in Indiana, said the inability to hire people has put a burden on his businesses.

Nobody wants to come and work, said Owens. He said his businesses ran roughly 150 job advertisements from December last year until Feb. 15. Only three people showed up for an interview during that time, Owens said, and they only came to get proof that they were looking for a job and be eligible to claim benefits. (Related: Jobless claims fraud on the rise as coronavirus boosts unemployment.)

Mike Williamson, operations manager of a seafood restaurant in Washington, said he hasnt even received any applications. Like other business owners in the area, Williamson has jobs available but few people are responding to the job postings.

Getting extra money is not an incentive to work, Williamson said. When things were bad, I got it. But Im convinced that is a problem now.

Civil Knox, general manager and marketing director at Washington Crown Center, agreed.

Our tenants are hiring but are short staffed, she said. Its because theres free money out there. You keep giving free money, why work? Its beyond sad.

Ron Smith, operations manager at Uniontown Mall, said that there were several instances where a candidate skipped the interview set up by the management. People dont want to work if theyre getting government money, said Smith. We cant get employees.

David Lamatrice, owner of Bistecca Steakhouse and Wine Bar, said his restaurant in the Meadows Racetrack & Casino has been looking to add staff with no success.

We looked to add staff, but have had difficulty getting people to apply. Weve had a problem with people who were to show up for an interview, but dont, after fulfilling a UC requirement. I think some people are happy to get their unemployment and make it last, said Lamatrice.

UC refers to unemployment compensation.

According to American Action Forum, a center-right policy institute, 37 percent of workers could make more on unemployment at the $300 level than they would earn by returning to work.

Lawmakers to introduce bill that will encourage people to work

Republican lawmakers led by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) announced that they would introduce legislation to help local businesses that face difficulties in hiring workers during the pandemic. The bill would encourage work by allowing states to turn enhanced unemployment benefits into a one-time hiring bonus. (Related: Coronavirus pushes unemployment to highest levels since the Great Depression.)

Other states can also follow the blueprint used by Idaho to offset the negative impact of the $600 weekly supplement last year.

Alex Adams, budget director for the state of Idaho, said that his state implemented return to work incentives.

He said the state paid a $1,500 bonus to each person who went back to work to incentivize work and help local businesses. Idaho distributed a total of $36 million in bonuses, which was paid for by the states discretionary portion of the CARES Act resources.

The states unemployment rate is among the lowest in the country  dropping to 3.4 percent in January from 11.6 percent in April 2020.

Follow Pandemic.news for more news and information related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

Fox5NY.com

TheEpochTimes.com

Observer-Reporter.com
Vjosa Osmani, who was elected Kosovos new president on Sunday, is a law professor who belongs to a new political generation in the Balkan territory vowing to eradicate widespread corruption.

The charismatic Osmani, 38, is one of Kosovos most popular politicians notably among the young and women, who see her as a role model in the patriarchal society.

She is the second female president of majority-ethnic Albanian Kosovo, which proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after their bitter war.

Along with newly-elected Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Osmani opens a new chapter on Kosovos political scene, dominated for years by former rebel Albanian commanders who made their names during the 1998-1999 war.

Running on an anti-corruption ticket, Kurtis anti-establishment Vetevendosje in coalition with Osmanis Guxo (Albanian for Dare) party scored a landslide victory in the February parliamentary elections.

Osmani won more than 300,000 votes, nearing the record 350,000 ballots gathered by late father of the nation Ibrahim Rugova.

Osmanis results also reflect the growing influence of women on a Kosovan political scene dominated by men, especially in leadership positions.

One-third of members In the 120-seat assembly are women.

And women hold six ministerial posts in the 15-member government, the highest number ever in the conservative society.

We must fight the mentality where women are not treated on an equal footing with men, and it starts with governing differently, Osmani tweeted recently.

The multilingual president does not miss an opportunity to publicly raise her voice on womens rights.

 Fearless 

Local media have described Osmani as fearless as she was among the first to boldly speak out about the ruling corrupt elite  not easy given the respect they earned by their wartime roles.

Kosovo cannot move forward unless we tear down the big and strong wall of crime and corruption that has been built throughout the years, she told AFP recently.

Such statements led many Kosovars to perceive Osmani as a driving force for change for the better.

Osmani has captured the hearts of many Kosovo citizens, as she is charismatic, confident and a 21st-century role model for women, one law journal described the president recently.

Her rare critics argue she lacks experience.

Those who have pledged allegiance to Vetevendosje have nothing else to offer than criticism and have a basic lack of the knowledge necessary to govern, said former head of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Isa Mustafa, who quit due to his partys poor electoral result.

But Osmanis supporters have faith she will succeed in implementing badly needed reforms.

Without any doubt, she will know and dare to fight every criminal and illegal phenomenon that threatens to hold as hostage our future, our children, our new state, said Ilir Ferati, a former student of hers.

Until the February vote Osmani served as acting president, standing in for Hashim Thaci, who has been detained in The Hague since November awaiting a war crimes trial.

Born in the divided city of Mitrovica, Osmani studied at Pristina University, going on to teach there from 2006 and later earning a PhD in the US.

She entered politics as an advisor of the then president Fatmir Sejdiu of the centre-right LDK.

An international law expert, Osmani was first elected to parliament in 2011 with the LDK and was the partys candidate for prime minister in the 2019 parliamentary election.

But she quit the LDK as it entered into a coalition with former ethnic Albanian guerillas gathered in the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).

Osmani is married and has twin daughters.
Six Stunning Facts About Oregon Coast Spring: Whales, Best Photos, Lowest Tides, More

Published 04/04/21 at 6:55 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast)  Theres so much more going on during spring along this coastline than most ever know about. Lucky for you, April and May are still among the lowest density months for travelers here, and that leaves these beaches even more to yourselves for things like real Japanese glass floats, watery and phytoplankton pyrotechnics, glowing sands, and more.

Also, Oregon coast hotels and rentals are at lower prices as well.

Coast At Its Most Photogenic

A little known fact about spring on the coast, especially April, is that this season can yield the best photographs of the whole year. This can begin in late March, though it usually really kicks into high gear in April and May. (Above: Arch Cape in April. You don't normally get stunning pastels like this any other time of year)

In spring, conditions are ripe for some of the most stunning sunsets and sky conditions during daylight. You'll find big, fat puffy clouds and quickly-rotating weather patterns that can create some remarkable colors and sights you may not find any other season. Colors can be more intense and the shapes in the sky downright jaw-dropping.



Oceanside in June

It has to do with denser, wetter air and the way some clouds affect lighting. Many will argue fall with its Second Summer is the best for photos, and then it becomes a matter of taste, really. Or maybe they just havent experienced this.

Whales, Whales, Whales



Orcas rocketing through the waters, photo courtesy Edith Hitchings

To paraphrase that Motley Crue song, there will still be plenty of whales...whales...whales in spring.

Late March is generally the peak migration as they wander past, but fairly large numbers of gray whales continue for a good month before they mostly taper off in May. However, right about now  in April  is when you start to see the Killer Whales wandering through, looking to make dinner out of the baby gray whales in tow. They keep following the grays up and down the Oregon coast, appearing and disappearing at random, along any area from Brookings up into the Washington coast.

However, there are generally more of them on the central coast (Lincoln City to Yachats) because there are more grays meandering around. Normally, the Whale Watch Center in Depoe Bay would be keeping track of these sightings, but its currently not operational because of COVID restrictions. So unfortunately we dont know whats really happening in terms of numbers now.

Real Glass Floats





Another little known secret is that actual Japanese glass floats  now quite rare  will still show up periodically after the storms of February and March. However, you have to know what to look for along the beaches and the right conditions. Its quite a skill.

This past year has been a doozy for wave action, so its a good idea to periodically scour the beachgrass farther up the beaches. Many spots on the south coast which are more remote are where these things are left unpicked, such as around Ophir, Charleston or Arizona Beach.

Lowest Tides

Port Orford and Cape Blanco, courtesy Oregon State Parks

Also fun to look for: the years lowest tides can happen in May through June, with the latter having a tendency to be the lowest. This allows greater exploration of tidepools and other sights not always visible.

For instance, in Lincoln City, theres a minus low tide on May 25, 29 and 30 all around minus one foot. Theres lots of negative tides in June and some over minus one foot later in the month.

Crazed Weather Interludes



Shore Acres, courtesy Oregon's Adventure Coast

March and April bring some truly unpredictable weather, often switching back and forth abruptly between sunny and squalls within the same day, sometimes within a half hour. You get an interesting mix of increasingly nice days, with occasional winter-like storms still possible.

Real winter-like storms with howling winds are still possible through April, and even some beach warnings. Generally, however, the southern coast  especially closer to Gold Beach  tends to calm down sooner.

This means big wave situations could still be seen in areas like Coos Bays Shore Acres or Yachats.

Those storms create some wild possibilities, especially when paired with the larger blooms of phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton Magic





Those tiny little plant-like creatures at the bottom of the food chain in the ocean can put on a big show. In spring, there are larger blooms of phytoplankton  which also are largely the basis for the sea foam you see on any given day at the beach.

If youve got a sizable storm going, sort of enclosed places like the Devils Churn near Yachats or the steep cove walls of Otter Point on the south coast could result in wild, weird sights, like thick blobs of foam flying upwards. It looks like snow going the wrong direction, caused by giant masses of the stuff getting shoved inland by winds forcing them into a tighter place and then creating kind of an updraft upwards.

Finding a lot of phytoplankton (foam) on beaches and in the waves is also a good sign you could see glowing sand at night. That is caused by a type of phytoplankton called dinoflagellates which are bioluminescent.



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Irans Deputy Foreign Minister Sayed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday ruled out any direct or indirect talks with the US one day before heading to Vienna for much-anticipated talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, Anadolu agency reports.

Araghchi told reporters that there is only "one step", which is Washington lifting sanctions imposed, re-imposed and relabeled" over the years.

"Our main condition is that the United States first fulfills all its obligations and removes all sanctions, and then we verify them and return to full compliance," Araghchi said, terming the Vienna talks as "purely technical".

Negotiations in Vienna between representatives of Iran, France, the UK, Germany, Russia, China, and the EU will begin on Tuesday in what could be a lengthy process to bring the US back to the nuclear deal and pave the way for Iran's reversal of recent measures.

The framework for Vienna talks was laid during the virtual meeting of the joint commission of the deal, also known as JCPOA on Friday.

Araghchi, who represented Iran in the meeting, underlined that Tehran will not attend any meeting in which the US is present, including the meeting of the joint commission of the nuclear pact.
Its awkward when a journalist is thrust into a story as a player, not an observer. We belong on the sidelines.

But Esther Suarez, the prosecutor in Hudson County, just used the tools of her office to accuse me of personal misconduct, dredging up an incident from two years ago. The accusation came just as I wrote two critical columns about her in the last month, opposing her nomination as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.

That job is immensely important to the state. Suarez would be in charge of the fight against political corruption, terrorism, organized crimes, and much else. And this episode deepens the concerns about her ethics and offers another potent reason she should not get the job.

Sen. Robert Menendez, the states senior senator, has already sent Suarezs name to the White House, according to several sources, so the decision now falls to President Biden. If he takes a close look, hell find that New Jersey has many great lawyers, of all races, whose integrity and skills are beyond question. And you cannot reasonably make that claim about Suarez.

Some background: When news broke that Menendez chose Suarez, several prominent lawyers and politicians who know her expressed alarm to me, mostly regarding her ethics.

Suarez worked for years as chief counsel to the infamously corrupt Bergen County Democratic chairman, Joe Ferriero, who was eventually jailed on bribery charges. Later, working in Hudson County, Suarez was penalized more than $9,000 by the state for hiding the identity of donors to a political fund she managed as treasurer. Her political alliances in Hudson, ground zero for corruption in the state, were a deep concern, especially regarding Menendez, who was tried on corruption charges in 2017 and survived it when the jury couldnt agree on a verdict.

The history of corruption in Hudson and Bergen makes it very problematic for someone who has been a functionary in those political environments to manage corruption investigations, says Ed Stier, former director of the Division of Criminal Justice, who has prosecuted more than his share of corrupt politicians and organized crime figures. Her ascent as a lawyer has been based on the connections shes had to those political machines, and particularly Ferriero.

More recently, Suarez was widely criticized for mishandling the investigation into the rape complaint of Katie Brennan. A volunteer for Gov. Phil Murphys 2017 campaign, Brennan said she was sexually assaulted by a senior staffer in Murphys campaign, Al Alvarez, who was not charged in the end. Suarez personally knew Alvarez, so the case should have been moved to another county, as it later was. She claims she had no idea her office was investigating the case, though she was copied on four memos discussing the details. She claims she didnt read the substance of the emails, whatever that means. Brennan remains dissatisfied.

Her charge of misconduct against me stems from that period. In early 2019, I wrote two columns arguing that she mishandled the Brennan case, but Suarez would never return my calls. A few months later, in April, I saw her at a political conference in Jersey City and did what obnoxious reporters are paid to do  walked up to her and tried once more to get a comment.

She didnt respond, and I couldnt tell if she heard me in the crowded hallway. I reached and touched her elbow, and she turned to me and said, Dont touch me! I walked away.

In retrospect, I am sorry I touched her elbow that day, as I told Suarez this week in writing. Its wrong to ever touch a stranger in any way, especially a woman. I get that, and my regret is bone-deep. Lesson learned.

Now, fast forward from 2019 to the present, and the plot thickens. This is the part that should concern anyone who believes in a free press.

Enter David Wildstein, the blogger without a soul, the man who ordered those lanes shut on the George Washington Bridge in the Bridgegate scandal, then turned against his two close friends, Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly, testifying against them in return for a plea deal. On the stand, Wildstein described a lifetime of pint-sized dirty tricks, like stealing Sen. Frank Lautenbergs jacket just before a debate, to make him uncomfortable.

On Monday, he blogged about me, saying Star-Ledger journalist put his hands on Hudson prosecutor, witnesses say. He linked to a surveillance video of the two-year-old encounter, claiming Moran is seen hovering over Suarez and raising his hands as if to touch her.

On Tuesday, it escalated when a spokeswoman for Suarez, Jennifer Morrill, told Wildstein that this was no touch of the elbow, but something much rougher. This was not a gentle tap on the prosecutors elbow as stated but rather her arm was grabbed with such force she could still feel it several minutes later, Morrill said. This was documented and corroborated at the time by law enforcement who witnessed the incident.

I got the police reports and the video, and dug in.

On that day in 2019, Suarez was escorted by two officers, who both filed incident reports a week after my encounter with her. Both were close by and offered first-hand accounts. Neither claimed they saw the elbow touch, let along rougher treatment Morrill suggests.

Prosecutor Suarez stated that the male who touched her arm was a reporter named Tom Moran who was attempting to ask her a question, wrote Sgt. Joseph Walsh of Jersey City Police.

From my vantage point, I was not able to see exactly where he touched or came into contact with the Prosecutor, wrote Gene Rubino, a senior investigator in Suarezs office.

So, I asked Morrill what in those documents backs her claim that I grabbed the prosecutors arm. No comment. I asked why the officers didnt talk to me about the incident before filing reports. No comment. I asked why the officers filed reports at all, and if Suarez requested them. No comment.

Now, lets go to the security video. Im on screen for about six seconds, starting at 10:45:40, and its posted on YouTube. You can judge for yourself.

What does all this add up to? It seems clear to me, and to several who expressed concern to me about the Suarez nomination, that she is retaliating against a media critic, using her spokeswoman to make these inflated charges.

I cant prove that she is the source for Wildsteins blog posts, but theres good reason to suspect she is, or perhaps someone in her inner circle. Wildstein got the police documents and video after filing an open records request that specified my name, and the date of the event, two years earlier. How did he know about it? He wont say, but who but Suarez and her inner circle would have that information?

The most disheartening moment of the week for me was to watch Murphy breathe life into this after a reporter for Wildsteins blog asked him about it at a press conference. The governor said, We always have to start in the place of believing women who come forward and criticized The Star-Ledger for failing to investigate the claim.

This from a governor famous for enforcing gag orders on women, for mistreating Brennan and breaking promises to her, and for failing to hold his own crew accountable after more than a half dozen women complained of mistreatment while working on that notorious 2017 campaign.

As for the Ledger, the first thing the bosses did after I told them Wildsteins story appeared was to ask me for a detailed account of what happened in writing, which I provided right away. I shared the police reports and videos as soon as I got them as well. Did Murphy ask his frat boys to do that when they were accused?

But the week did have its moments. Sen. Loretta Weinberg was aghast that the governor would say believe women as if this were a case of sexual harassment or assault. Id remind the governor this is not that kind of case, she said. And yeah, women should be believed, starting with Katie Brennan.

Attorney Nancy Erika-Smith, who represented Gretchen Carlson in her groundbreaking harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes and Fox News, said the video shows no inappropriate touching and that Suarezs attacks on me were Trumpian.

Katie Brennans lawyer, Katy McClure, tweeted that Suarezs claim against me was ridiculous and that Murphy was rewriting history to cover his failings in the Brennan case.

But whats really kept my spirits up is the hope that something good will come of all this, that Suarez has just shown us again why she is unfit for job. Maybe Bidens team will see that he would be stepping into a big mess if he nominates someone with all her baggage.

As for Wildstein, please note that no major media outlet is repeating his charges against me, beyond a short blurb on the web site of the radio station 101.5 -- even after the governor tried to lend them credence. The reason is that no one trusts the Bridgegate blogger. Now you know why.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Online services prove popular but plans for new building shelved

A NEWBURY church has seen its congregation soar during the coronavirus pandemic, which has also resulted in plans to expand being shelved.

People from around the world have been tuning in to Newbury Baptist Church services throughout the pandemic since they started a year ago.

The Cheap Street church has been running services, meetings and social get-togethers online, with the first pre-recorded message from minister Rev Richard Littledale loaded on to YouTube via his phone.

Livestreamed services are broadcast from the church at 10am every Sunday, followed by a social catch-up on Zoom at 11.30am.

And for the last year Rev Littledale has been leading BBC Radio Four services once a month.

The online and radio activity is drawing in people from far and wide.

One participant sent a message to the church website, saying: I have been attending NBC virtually every Sunday morning since March 2020.

I would like to send my sincere gratitude for such wonderful and encouraging Sunday mornings which helped me so much during this time.

Another person said: I live in the south of France and found the whole service brought tears to my eye. Thank you.

Newbury Baptist Church had been preparing for a major redevelopment after plans for a 5m state-of-the-art community hub were approved last April.

More than 1m had been raised through donations and the sale of a property, but further financial support did not come through as expected, and the scheme had to be shelved.

Instead, the church invested in cameras and technology to allow for high-quality livestreaming from the building.

Regular live broadcasts were up and running from the end of 2020, and since then a team of five people have been delivering Sunday services every week.

With the redevelopment scheme at an end, the church said it was now considering other ways to engage with people and support much-needed services.

Rev Littledale said: Knowing what we know now, it seems as if 2020-21 was not the time to invest in a significant building project.

Instead, we have built our online community  and weve broadened and grown our reach both locally and further afield.

The building may be closed, but the church is very much still open.

Im so pleased that people have found hope and comfort by being part of our online services over the past year.

Well be livestreaming for the foreseeable future, and Id love more people to join us at 10am on Sundays.

Simply visit www.newburybaptistchurch.org and follow the links.
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It is with a happy heart that I announce the return to school on April 6 for every family that wishes for their child to return.

The journey to this day has been bumpy, with U-turns and detours, but weve arrived. As the science and the understanding of COVID-19 have evolved, so have the guidance and directives that weve received on everything from sanitization protocols to surveillance testing.

It seems we are ending this school year with the same philosophy in which we started this journey almost a year ago: to remain flexible, be prepared to pivot, have contingency plans, take feedback, continuously work on improvement, and prioritize safety for students and staff in our decision-making.

As this wont be business as usual, weve prepared a document, called the Family Checklist: Planning for In-Person Learning, which is available on our website in English and Spanish. Here are a few things to consider:

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Most teachers will be coming back, but we still have a cadre of teachers who wont have had their second vaccine yet. By April 19, the majority of our teachers who are returning will be back. Some teachers will continue teaching remotely because of medical accommodations. Until April 19, some students will be supervised by substitutes and district-level personnel who will be in the schools providing support and supervision while their teacher teaches remotely.

All students, regardless of income, will receive FREE breakfast and lunch. If a child is in remote learning, curbside service will be available. The link for specific information is Meals During COVID-19.

It is critically important for parents to complete a daily check-in with their child, ensuring they dont have a temperature of 100 degrees or higher, are not exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 and have not been exposed to someone who has tested positive.

Students will be in school five days a week and transportation services will be provided. Parents may check their childs eligibility for to-and-from school transportation by going to our Transportation Homepage.

Dress in layers and prepare for cooler temperatures in the classrooms because of increased outdoor air exchange; classrooms might be nippy in the mornings.

Bring your devices and laptops to school every day and take them home at night; dont forget your chargers.

Bring a filled water bottle in the morning. Students will be able to refill them at water filling stations, but water fountains are disabled.

Masks remain critically important. A shield is OK if worn with a mask. No gators will be allowed. Masks must be worn at all times, except when eating or drinking.

Remind students that frequent handwashing is critical; they will be allowed to bring small personal hand sanitizers, but outside cleaning products are prohibited.

Mental health and social well-being remain critically important. Talk to your child about how school will look different. For example, teachers will be keeping their distance. Continually check in with your children about how they are feeling and remind them to talk to their teacher or school counselor if they are feeling worried, confused or anxious. And, parents, please feel free to reach out to your principal, teacher or counselor if you have concerns.

Im convinced that SFPS has gone above and beyond to ensure that the districts schools are ready and safe to welcome back our students. Lets finish this year as a milestone to fulfilling our collective wish to get our kids back to school and closer to a sense of normalcy.

To our students, welcome back! Weve missed you.

Veronica Garcia is superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools.
Namibia and Orlando Pirates winger Deon Hotto (L) playing against South Africa in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Al Ahly Benghazi will become the first Libyan club since 2010 to host a CAF club match when they tackle South African visitors Orlando Pirates Sunday in the Confederation Cup.

Deadly violence in the post-Moamer Kadhafi era forced Libyan national teams and clubs to stage home matches in other north African countries, mostly Tunisia and Egypt.

A recent United Nations-supervised deal has restored calm to the country and Benghazi hosted an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tunisia last week.

Here, AFP Sport previews matchday 3 in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League with the first and second seeds in the four groups meeting.

Group A

Former Pirates star Joseph Makhanya has advised German coch Josef Zinnbauer to sharpen his attack and lay siege to the Benghazi goalmouth in pursuit of maximum points.

Makhanya told the Sowetan newspaper that the experiment of using Namibia winger Deon Hotto as a central forward must end, and he wants Tshegofatso Mabasa and Malawian Frank Mhango chosen as a twin strike force.

"The way Pirates have been playing is like going to war and leaving your weapons at home," said Makhanya of a team that has netted seven times in five CAF matches this season.

Group B

Title-holders Renaissance Berkane of Morocco will look to 35-year-old Mouhcine Iajour for goals as they seek to bounce back from a loss at Coton Sport of Cameroon when they host leaders JS Kabylie of Algeria.

The Orange Boys have scored four goals in their latest African campaign and three have come from the veteran forward, who played in Switzerland, Belgium, Qatar and Saudi Arabia before returning home.

It is win or bust for bottom club NAPSA Stars of Zambia when they host a Coton team with an impressive CAF away record this season of three wins from four matches.

Group C

The clash between Etoile Sahel and frontrunners CS Sfaxien in Rades pits Tunisian clubs with outstanding Confederation Cup records against each other.

Sfaxien have won the competition a record three times and Etoile twice and both have also been runners-up since the competition launched in 2004.

Story continues

Both sides hope leading scorers -- Souleymane Coulibaly of Etoile and Firas Chaouat of Sfaxien -- can put recent barren outings behind them.

Group D

Something has to give when Raja Casablanca of Morocco face Pyramids of Egypt as they are the only clubs among the 16 in the group phase with 100 percent records after two matchdays.

Both north African outfits have beaten Namungo of Tanzania and Nkana of Zambia to create a six-point gap between them and their rivals.

Soufiane Rahimi is an in-form Raja attacker while nine of the Pyramids team have scored at least once, including Burkinabe Eric Traore, Palestinian Mahmoud Wadi and Uruguayan Diego Rolan.

dl/pb
State Rep. Michael Finn recalls the last legislative breakfast he attended at the Holyoke Soldiers Home before the pandemic.

It was January 2020, just weeks before an outbreak transformed the state-run facility for aging veterans into a frightening show of the power of COVID-19. The event featured the usual menu of coffee, scrambled eggs, retail politicking and speeches.

While the gathering hinted at nothing of what was to come, Finn, a six-term Democrat from West Springfield, noticed an odd dynamic: Bennett Walsh, superintendent of the Soldiers Home, and Francisco Urena, the states secretary of veterans services, were pointedly ignoring each other.

It was weird. They didnt talk, Finn remembers. They stayed on opposite sides of the room. There was no eye contact. It was uncomfortable to watch. I didnt know what to think of it.

In retrospect, the chill between the two carries a very different meaning, Finn says. Hes not alone.

The rancor between the two men also featured in a 174-page report by Boston attorney Mark Pearlstein, appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker to conduct an independent review of how the coronavirus began ravaging the Soldiers Home one year ago.

Gov. Charlie Baker, right, swears in Bennett Walsh as superintendent of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in July 2016. Looking on are Health and Human Services secretary Marylou Sudders and Francisco A. Urena, then the secretary of Veterans' Services.The Republican file

In addition to claiming the lives of at least 77 veterans and sickening dozens of staff, the catastrophe also revealed a historically dysfunctional facility with a flawed governing structure. A year after the first veteran died of COVID-19 at the Soldiers Home and after many months of scrutiny by federal and state investigators and legislators, questions over accountability linger.

The Legislatures review will continue in the coming week as a new chapter for the home unfolds. The revamped board of trustees voted unanimously Thursday to appoint Rick Holloway, administrator for the Idaho State Veterans Home in Boise and a 30-year licensed nursing home administrator, to take the helm in Holyoke.

Last year, in the months after the gravity of the virus outbreak became public in late March, both Walsh and Urena were forced to resign over their handling of events. Walsh was blamed for a series of missteps, including combining two locked dementia units with both well and sick veterans on March 27, 2020  which, investigators concluded, accelerated the spread of the virus.

Walsh argues the state essentially abandoned the home and ignored his requests for help from the National Guard when more than a quarter of its workforce called out sick. The facility had long suffered labor problems including being starved for adequate staff, and having poor relations between management and front-line workers.

Urena told investigators he had long suspected Walsh, a career Marine Corps officer from a politically-connected Springfield family, was unqualified for the job. The secretary, also a Marine veteran, described Walsh as a political hire without the healthcare chops to effectively run a large facility with an infirm population.

The pandemic just proved that, Urena told Pearlstein. For his disclosure, Urena resigned at the governors request on June 24, the day the Pearlstein report was publicly released. He has not responded to repeated requests for comment.

Many others, including some past trustees of the home, have groused that Walsh was scapegoated as state officials mostly fled from responsibility.

Thats on us, Baker told reporters during a press conference the day the report was released, lamenting that his administration should have kept a closer eye on Walsh, but stopping short of taking any more ownership for the outbreak. Baker and Marylou Sudders, his secretary of health and human services, appointed Walsh as superintendent in 2016.

State Rep. Michael Finn during a legislative hearing on the Soldier's Home at Holyoke Community College in October. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

Finn would not go so far as to say Walsh had been scapegoated in a wholesale fashion.

I cant say that Bennett has been totally scapegoated because, at the end of the day, he agreed to combine the two units, said Finn, one of 17 members of the Legislature appointed to a special oversight committee investigating the outbreak. It was a bad call.

But, Finn adds, he is hard-pressed to take every passage of the Pearlstein report at face value, even after seven public hearings of the committee, the most recent of which featured Pearlstein himself. Among the most hotly debated points in the report and the entire Soldiers Home saga is whether Walshs initial call for help from the National Guard stalled with Urena. The report concludes Walshs request was not urgent enough.

I have a hard time believing the Pearlstein report is accurate in that the request ended with Francisco (Urena), Finn says. I just dont believe that. It doesnt make sense. A career military guy is calling for the National Guard for staffing issues...what else do you need? Its insane.

Indeed, Maj. Gen. Gary W. Keefe, the states National Guard commander and new chairman of the Soldiers Home Board of Trustees, testified during one of the oversight committee hearings that he didnt get the call until March 30, 2020  three days after Walsh made the ask.

We never received that request, Keefe told the panel on Jan. 21.

Baker and Sudders continue to insist neither was aware of the dire circumstances at the home until veterans began to die at an alarming speed. And, when the Guard did finally arrive, Walsh was escorted from the building and placed on leave.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou SuddersHealth and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders

Weeks before the Pearlstein report was released and months before Walsh and former medical director Dr. David Clinton was charged with criminal neglect by a statewide grand jury, Walsh released a series of emails his attorneys say hold the key to the question of the National Guard.

Here is a summary of the timeline chronicled by those emails:

The earliest emails available outlining the run-up to the official start of the crisis as far as the Pearlstein report is considered looped in undersecretaries at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, including Daniel Tsai and Catherine Mick, Urena, along with his chief of staff, Paul Moran, as well as media liaisons for three departments;

On March 22, 2020, Walsh concluded an email after sending a critical incident report marking the first conclusive diagnosis with: Thanks for all your support;

On March 25, 2020, Lindsey Tucker, of the state Department of Public Health, informs, among others, Urena and Catherine Starr, a human resources official for the health and human resources secretariat, Holyoke is doing everything they can and consistent with (Department of Public Health) recommendations;

By March 27, Soldiers Home legal counsel Mark Yankopoulos sends Colleen Arons, strategic communications director for Sudders, an updated report on COVID-19 cases at the home (nine residents positive, one staff, unspecified number of tests pending, one resident death);

Later the same day, labor relations specialists with the state begin weighing in. Suzanne Quersher, a labor specialist under the umbrella of Sudders secretariat, sends an email entitled Holyoke situation and sympathizes with Walsh over his staffing woes. I understand that Holyoke needs as much help as it can get now. We have asked how to request assistance from the National Guard;

And, hinting at the growing number of sick calls from staff that further taxed a crumbling situation: The Unions are aware of our view on the frequent call outs. Quersher offered recalling retirees and enlisting help from other community resources to mitigate the crisis, but those became a non-starter because of the quick intensity of the outbreak. Her email went out at 1:03 p.m.;

Less than an hour later, at 1:40 p.m. the same afternoon , Walsh emailed Urena, copying seven others, including two people from the Executive Office of Health & Human Services, three more from Veterans Services, Cheryl Poppe (who succeeded Urena as veterans services secretary and was then superintendent of the Soldiers Home in Chelsea) and Debra Foley, his own communications and volunteer director. Mr. Secretary - We would like to formally request national guard assistance (medical personnel wise) to assist in our staffing for this pandemic, Walsh wrote, requesting a timeframe for procurement of Guard help;

Three minutes later, Urena responded, We are exploring all options at this time. Where are you with your recent retirees who can come in as 120? referring to short-term labor options. Urena copied only Walsh and his own chief of staff;

Roughly three hours later, Walsh sent another email to finance undersecretary Alda Rego, also part of the Executive Office of Health & Human Services team, and others whom hed copied on earlier emails, including Sudders communications director Colleen Arons, Urena and two more of Sudders undersecretaries, Catherine Starr and Catherine Mick: New confirmed positive COVID cases  2. New total confirmed positive COVID cases in the facility - 9 total. We passed that the veteran who expired today was a positive COVID -19 case;

On March 28, 2020, Arons advised Yankopoulos to hold off on sending daily updates on positive COVID-19 diagnoses and deaths. Our due date for these reports is 3pm and given the fluidity of the situation and your pending tests, I imagine you may get more by 3, so I will wait on adding your info in until we get closer. In general, you might want to consider holding on sending your report to me until closer to 3 each day.

On Sunday, March 29, 2020, 9:52 a.m. Walsh, Urena and Poppe exchanged a series of texts. Good morning - Im jumping on a call with (Health & Human Services) at 1130. Ill be asking for more support for the homes. Can I get the information I requested above? I will created (sic) a spreadsheet to track this, will share via email, Urena wrote to the others. Will send prior to the deadline, Walsh responded at 10:019. Urena also asked for the number of staff who called out sick;

At 11:09, Walsh reported. 28 tested; 10 positives; three negatives; 15 awaiting results. 2 veterans who expired were covid positive, he wrote, while three staff members also tested positive and six staff were quarantined. Number is squishy as we are confirming the call-outs, Walsh added;

The same day, legal counsel Yankopoulos reported the latest to the state, and, later in the evening, Walsh held a conference call with the Soldiers Home trustees;

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse told the public he was called by staff at the Soldiers Home on Saturday (March 28, 2020) and alerted Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito to the burgeoning crisis on Sunday (March 29, 2020);

On Monday, March 30, the state dispatched the National Guard as part of an emergency response. Walsh was suspended and escorted from the grounds that day. Fire him. Ill deal with the fallout, secretary Sudders wrote to an unnamed state official, according to the Pearlstein report.

Attorney Mark W. Pearlstein testifies before the Special Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the Holyoke Soldiers Home COVID-19 Outbreak, March 19, 2021.

Finn said he has carefully reviewed the emails and doesnt accept that Urena had the unilateral power to squash the request from Walsh for National Guard help.

They want everybody to think it stopped with Francisco (Urena), Finn says. I dont believe the Francisco had the authority to nix that.

When Finn pressed Pearlstein with the email chain at last months oversight hearing, the attorney dismissed the number of names on Walshs emails. Those were labor people, Pearlstein reasoned. The request didnt get to the right people and Walsh didnt make a convincing enough argument.

That was the moment, Pearlstein testified, referring to the decision to combine the units, when a nurse manager told her staff, Outside help isnt coming.

Pearlstein also told the oversight committee he and his researchers looked pointedly to Boston, but concluded the lions share of the blame remained with Walsh.

State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, co-chair of the oversight committee, joined in Finns skepticism over the ignorance in the upper ranks of state government to the Soldiers Homes struggles.

Some of this should not have been news to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Services, Campbell said during that hearing.

The committee will host its eighth hearing on Monday, with an emphasis on expert opinions from the long-term care industry. A March 31 deadline to submit the committees recommendations for reform and possible legislation has been relaxed for two to three weeks, Campbells staff says.

That deadline is running parallel to an even more urgent deadline for the state to pass a $400 million bond bill to secure federal funding for a new Soldiers Home in Holyoke. The proposal is still being considered by various legislative committees and has yet to make it to the full House and Senate. The deadline to submit the states proposal to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is April 15. If the state misses the deadline, the bond bill must be shelved until at least next year.

Other oversight committee members, including state Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, say they will reserve judgment on the validity of the Pearlstein report until the committees work is complete.

The committee overall is committed to going beyond the Pearlstein report and investigating these underlying circumstances and policies that may have contributed to this tragedy, Domb says. Were beginning to chip away at that report ... to see where its value lies and where it may have stopped short.

Related content:
Its not a surprise to artist Ibraim Nascimento when a conversation with his friend Kelsey Johnson leads to a brainstorming session.

The two work together at FAM Houston, a faith-based nonprofit that empowers refugees and immigrants. They also collaborated on the childrens book When Clouds Bring Rain. Johnson wrote the story, and Nascimento illustrated the pages.

Last month, the two were signing copies of their book at Westbury United Methodist Church.

We were talking about installations and creating spirituality in art, Nascimento said. Anytime were talking it can transform into an idea in one second.

Suddenly, he had a vision for an interactive art piece, perfect for Holy Week. They walked outside to find a place where they could build the creation.

Nascimento, a Pearland resident, explained that the structure symbolizes both a birds nest and a tomb, referring to Jesus entombment before resurrection.

We think about God, looking down on us and seeing we were lost, Nascimento explained. He said, Im going to give you my son to die and give you salvation. He gave a part of Himself to save us.

MORE INFORMATION For more information about the artist, visit ibraimnascimento.com. To learn about Westbury United Methodist Church, visit westburyumc.org and about FAM Houston, famhoustontx.org. See More Collapse

Jesus dies and also gives new life, the artist continued.

MORE FROM LINDSAY PEYTON: In its second pandemic Passover, Houston Hillel saves seder  again

A nest is a symbol of new life, he said. Its also about transformation.

Nascimento explained that a nest is made out of twigs, the remnants of living trees.

The dead trees become a house, a home for new life, he said. I think about Jesus death and resurrection. He needed to die to become new. He couldnt be new while still being the same. We needed to close the door to be open for new life.

The next step for Nascimento and Johnson was to propose the concept of the art installation to Westburys the Rev. Hannah Terry, also the founder and executive director of FAM Houston.

When we come together with an idea, we run to Hannah, Nascimento said. And were like, We have a crazy idea. Shes like, Lets do it.

Pastor Terry said the Holy Week installation was just what she wanted: a chance to create community around art after a year of so much isolation and virtual gatherings.

Were always looking for ideas that bubble up, she said. My passion is building community, particularly with young people in Houston.

The music and worship pastor at the church, the Rev. Bodie Gilbert, is also focused on the youth and helping them access faith, using the arts as a tool.

It helps them on their own journey to discover God, Gilbert said.

The congregation has a Kids Music and Arts Troupe and Youth Collective dedicated to the arts.

The art installation seemed like an ideal opportunity to engage younger members of the church, Gilbert said. On Palm Sunday, Nascimento led the way as youth in FAM Houstons programs created the sculpture.

The interaction continues Easter Sunday, when guests will place flowers over the nest, similar to the tradition of the flowering of the Easter Cross, which symbolizes the blossoming of hope and life after Jesus resurrection.

The Easter service is open to the public, and guests are invited to use provided flowers or bring their own.

The sculpture will stay up on the churchs lawn until April 7.

The arts are something to be celebrated and embraced in church, Gilbert said. Anything that brings us closer to God is valuable  and most importantly for our youth.

MORE FROM LINDSAY PEYTON: A church and hospital race to grant COVID patients dying wish: Baptism and eternity with his wife

This project, he added, is a unique opportunity.

Youth can discover faith with this beautiful experience  and then were empowering them to be leaders and to teach us, Gilbert said.

Terry said the experience and the resulting visuals offer a powerful way to retell the Easter story.

Youre retelling it and finding your place in it, she said.

Creating the nest together is part of the art, Nascimento explained. The process itself is key.

He encourages participants to use the structure as a repository for prayers.

People put their prayers inside, what they need to release in their lives, Nascimento said. Thats what God asks us: What is too heavy for you? Let me take your sins, your pain. Let me help you.

On Easter Sunday, the nest will blossom.

The thorns go down, and the flowers come up, Nascimento said. The idea of the installation is to bring new life and accept the cycle of life. Its a big nest where we can think about life, and the life that is coming.

Weaving together the twigs to form the structure is significant, the artist explained. He describes it as messy and tangled.

Thats the way God works, Nascimento said. God doesnt give us a straight line and say, Go there. God makes us work it out, to live and learn from this journey.

How can a tomb become a nest, and how can eggs break and become a new life? That question is central to Easter celebrations, he explained.

We can find God in everything, he said. We just need to open our eyes and look around. We are trained to look down, to keep our heads down, to keep to ourselves. But when we look up, what is above us?

Lindsay Peyton is a Houston-based freelance writer.
Ravi Exports wins awards at NCE Awards 2020, FCCISL View(s):

Ravi Exports (REPL) clinched the National Chamber of Exporters (NCE)of Sri Lanka Silver Award in processed food sector and Silver Award for National and Provincial categories at the Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year Awards at the (FCCISL)Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka held recently.

REPL was founded in 1998 and principally exports processed food, spices and agri based products to South Korea, Japan and other connected. Its well-equipped factory is situated in Rambukkana, Kegalle, Sabaragamuwa Province.

The company said in a media release that its most significant achievement was that REPL has shown 18 per cent top line growth during the crisis of the pandemic situation in financial year 2020/21.
The Government has been urged to introduce a 'twin-track approach which would see gardai, teachers and frontline workers being vaccinated against Covid-19 while it also rolls out its age-based vaccination programme.

There was anger last week after it emerged that the Cabinet agreed to change the national vaccination programme to an age-based system, once those aged 70 and over and people considered vulnerable and with those with underlying conditions were immunised, meaning some groups were pushed down the priority list.

Antoinette Cunningham, general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said today: "What we are proposing and asking the Government to consider is an occupational vaccine roll-out programme for frontline high-risk jobs such as An Garda Siochana to be run side-by-side with the age-based vaccination programme.

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She said the association could not see any reason why, in a mass vaccination centre such as Citywest, that the age-based vaccination programme could not be taking place, alongside an occupational vaccine roll-out programme for gardai and front line workers who need vaccination as a matter or "urgency.

I think the Government are reading the mood of the people wrong here, she said.

"Everybody that we encounter supports gardai being vaccinated, everybody sees the reasons why members of An Garda Siochana who have no choice but to go into a house, rush into a house, as my colleagues in the north-west of the country did two days ago, to an urgent domestic violence situation where somebody rang in extreme distress.

"You can't stop at the door of that house and say 'oh excuse me, wed like to fill out a Covid checklist sheet with you here. You go to that scene, you enter it, you try and do your best in a confrontational high-risk environment to help where you see people in distress, children crying.

"You go in, you do the best you can, you deal with the incident, somebody is arrested, they are taken into custody, and it later transpires that they are Covid positive, and now four gardai are isolating because of that, she said on RTEs This Week radio programme.

Meanwhile, John Boyle, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), said the twin track approach has already worked for healthcare staff alongside the elderly.

"We could run these together over the next number of months, he said.

He also suggested that given the scale of vaccination seen recently, gardai and teachers could be vaccinated within a matter of a few days if the will was there.

Mr Boyle predicted there would be a lot of ire and frustration expressed at the teacher trade union conferences which start next week.

The strategy of the three teacher unions will be to make sure that Government does another u-turn on this and comes up with a creative plan to make sure that the 30pc of the population to be vaccinated first includes teachers, frontline staff in education, secretaries, caretakers, SNAs and of course the gardai and other occupations that are at risk.

Meanwhile, HSE CEO Paul Reid said that the number of vaccine doses administered will reach one million this week.

"As we reach out into April and May, what we are going to continue to do is complete the programme for the over-70s, go through the programme, which is the next group, the medically vulnerable and we are working through that, we will then be tackling the age group 65 to 69, and then we will start to move through the new prioritisation based on what National Immunisation Advisory Committee have recommended, so then moving down to sixties and downwards.

As the programme moves through April and May and certainly into June, you are now beginning to see it reach really widely into the community, and I think the levels we are at this weekend of our highest day done on Good Friday of over 30,000, really demonstrates to the public that this is ramping up very seriously now.

Meanwhile, the latest figures show that the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 has stabilised at 242 recorded this morning, which was the same level as on Saturday.

It was the lowest level since before Christmas when 239 people were hospitalised on December 23.
A woman convicted of the manslaughter of her six children in a horrific house fire has been given a treat McDonalds meal for her 40th birthday after being freed from prison.

Mairead Philpott tucked into a 5.19 McChicken sandwich and fries meal which was delivered by bicycle to a bail hostel where she is staying in the south of England.

The killer - who was release from prison in November after half her 17-year sentence - also enjoyed a pink birthday cake, The Mirror reports.

She was jailed over a 2012 fire in Allenton, Derby, that killed Duwayne Philpott, 13, his sister Jade, 10, and brothers Jack, nine, John, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five.

Her husband Mick led her and their friend Mosely in a scheme to get a bigger council house by burning down the home and framing ex-lover Lisa Willis.

His intention was to rescue the sleeping children through an upstairs window but it went disastrously wrong and the youngsters all died from smoke inhalation.

Mairead Philpott was jailed over a 2012 fire in Allenton, Derby, that killed their children. Her husband Mick (pictured together) led her and their friend Mosely in a scheme to get a bigger council house by burning down the home and framing ex-lover Lisa Willis

The couple's six children - Duwayne, 13, Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, seven, Jesse, six, and Jayden, five - died from smoke inhalation as a result of the blaze

Mick's intention was to rescue the sleeping children through an upstairs window (the house, pictured) but it went disastrously wrong and the youngsters all died from smoke inhalation

Mairead was said to be 'delighted' at being given her earliest possible release date from HMP Send in Surrey in November. Pictured: The coffins of her children after the blaze

Mick, who had previously been jailed for stabbing his schoolgirl lover 27 times, wove a web of lies trying to get away with the crime. Pictured: The aftermath of the fire

The Philpotts' devious plan to frame an ex for killing their children Mairead and Mick Philpott married in 2003 and shared a cramped three-bedroom council house in Derby with his lover Lisa Willis and their children. Mick led his wife and accomplice Mosley into a scheme to get a bigger council house by burning down his home and framing Ms Willis for the crime after she walked out on him. He also hoped to win back custody of his five children who had recently moved out of the home. His intention was to rescue the sleeping children through an upstairs window but the plan went disastrously wrong after too much petrol was used and the fire burned out of control. The blaze claimed the lives of Duwayne, 13, Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and Jayden, five. Mick - who had previously been jailed for stabbing his schoolgirl lover 27 times - wove a web of lies trying to get away with the crime and even plotted to 'get rich quick' off generous donations from the local community meant to pay for the funerals of his children. In the days that followed the fire, Mick began his elaborate ruse to appear blameless and even appeared at a press conference appealing for information. During a fortnight of surveillance at the hotel where they were put up by police in May after the fire, the couple were heard whispering about the case, with Mick recorded telling his wife to 'stick to your story'. They were charged by police on May 30 in connection with the deaths and Mosley was arrested in the months afterwards, having told a friend the plan had been for him to rescue the children. Police initially charged the trio with murder but downgraded this to manslaughter because while their actions were sickeningly reckless, the defendants had not intended to kill the six. However, Mick was found guilty of the horrific crime at a trial in April and sentenced to life behind bars. The judge described the plot as 'a wicked and dangerous plan' that was 'outside the comprehension of any right-thinking person'. Advertisement

Mairead was said to be 'delighted' at being given her earliest possible release date from HMP Send in Surrey in November.

She was due to stay at the hostel - which is said to offer yoga and arts classes - for three months before being freed under a new name. She had a 7pm to 7am curfew.

Earlier this month, Mairead was seen enjoying a shopping trip while sporting a new darker hair colour.

She needed help stuffing a grey Peugeot full of items - including wrapping paper - as she left the hostel.

Pictures show Mairead still has a tattoo to Jayden - who she called 'miracle baby' during her trial because he came six weeks premature.

Two of her friends helped her as she left the hostel in boots, leopard-style trousers and an oversized t-shirt.

She covered her face with a blue mask but her new hair was on show and struck a stark change from her former red locks.

A source told The Sun: 'She is being eased back into life in the community.

'If she continues to comply with her probation requirements she will be able to slip back into life somewhere largely undetected. She's very much hoping for a fresh start.'

News of her release was slammed by the Centre For Crime Prevention think-tank, which said in November: 'This is not justice.'

The taxpayer covered the thousands of pounds worth of costs for her to stay in the hostel with a new identity.

Initially, Mairead and Mick Philpott received an outpouring of sympathy, and wept at a press conference as they appealed for help to find the culprits.

But their behaviour later aroused suspicions and the pair were subsequently charged alongside Mosely.

At Mick's sentencing, the judge described the plot as 'a wicked and dangerous plan' that was 'outside the comprehension of any right-thinking person'.

She said there was 'no precedent' for the case, describing it as a 'uniquely grave set of offences'.

The Philpotts and Mosely were found guilty of manslaughter. Mick was sentenced to life in prison and Mairead and Mosely to 17 years. The killer couple later divorced.

The father-of-seventeen, who married Mairead in 2003, used his children to rake in an astonishing 60,000 a year in benefits.

Mick, who had previously been jailed for stabbing his schoolgirl lover 27 times, wove a web of lies trying to get away with the crime.

He even plotted to 'get rich quick' off generous donations from the local community meant to pay for the funerals of his children.

David Spencer at the Centre for Crime Prevention said in November: 'It makes an absolute mockery of the UK's criminal justice system.

'She has served barely more than a year for each of the six innocent lives she callously took away.'



Duwayne Philpott, 13, died in a special burns unit in Birmingham. Family liaison officers had to persuade Mick to go visit his dying son

From left to right: Jade, ten, John, nine and Jack Philpott all died in the fire from smoke inhalation

Jess Philpott, six, left, and Jayden Philpott, five, were the two youngest of the Philpott children to die in the fire

Mairead and Mick roused the suspicions of journalists and investigators with their 'crocodile tears during a press conference about the blaze in May 2012

Paul Mosley, 54, was jailed for 17 years in 2013 for the manslaughter of six innocent children
Kosovos parliament failed to confirm a new president, despite backing from the reformist camp that swept this years elections, with politicians resuming the vote Sunday after a night of deadlock.

Albin Kurti and his leftist movement Vetevendosje claimed more than 50 percent of Februarys vote, promising to eradicate corruption in the poor nation that has been undermined by political instability.

The election of Kurtis candidate  law professor Vjosa Osmani  was kiboshed after the opposition and Serbian minority boycotted the vote, leaving parliament short of the 80 out of 120 MPs needed for a quorum.

Due to the lack of a quorum, the session will continue tomorrow, Parliament speaker Glauk Konjufca announced after several hours of stalemate.

Under the constitution failure to elect Osmani, 38, would see parliament dissolved and legislative elections held within 45 days.

It would be the sixth general election in the former Serbian province since declaring independence in 2008, in a move still not recognised by Serbia.

Ahead of parliaments adjournment Kurti and Osmani were able to count on 58 votes plus several MPs from minor parties.

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.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  The seed of Kirstin Valdez Quades clear-eyed debut novel, The Five Wounds, is her stand-alone short story of the same name. Both are set in northern New Mexico.

Quade has been living with their principal characters since before the short story came out 12 years ago in The New Yorker.

After its publication, Quade figured she was done with those folks. Then an editor asked if she had considered turning the story into a novel. She hadnt, yet, but two years later Quade began working on story drafts.

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 Oh wow, I thought, Im not done with these characters, Quade said in a phone interview.

Meet five generations of the fictional Padilla family. At the heart are Yolanda, the big-hearted, forgiving matriarch; Amadeo, the unemployed, sometimes drunk, 33-year-old son who lives with her; and Angel, Amadeos estranged 15-year-old daughter, who, unannounced, comes to live with them weeks short of giving birth. Angel had been with her mother, Marissa.

The novel is largely set in a fictional northern New Mexico town, maybe above the Espanola Valley, named Las Penas. Translate that as the pains, the afflictions.

The name fits. Everyone in the Padilla family is hurting in some way, emotionally, psychologically, physically. Theyre also trying to better themselves, which is why Quade said shes rooting for them. Readers will, too. The realism of their lives leaves indelible impressions. A member of a Penitente Brotherhood, Amadeo portrays Christ during Semana Santa (Holy Week). The books title refers to the wounds Christ suffered.

For Amadeo, building a rough oak cross, adding extra nails for support, carrying the cross and having the stigmata experience  the nails in his palms  are more about personal redemption than sacrifice. To show hes finally growing up, Amadeo plans to run a mobile windshield repair business.

Meanwhile, Yolanda returns home from what was supposed to be a leisurely time in Las Vegas, Nevada. Instead, she learns she has a brain tumor the size of an almond and its giving her unbearable headaches.

How to tell her family?

The pregnant Angel  with a belly as hard and round as an horno  is desperately seeking attention from her parents, though grandma Yolanda is her comfort. Angel is practical: Shes attending classes in a program on teen parenting and high-school equivalency. Angels Aunt Valerie, an Albuquerque school counselor, brings her a pile of baby clothes that were her two daughters. Valerie suggests maybe Angel shouldnt have the baby. She does; its a boy.

In all, the story watches over the Padilla family over a year.

Quade injects an aside about a religious figure from New Mexicos Spanish Colonial history as seen through Yolandas eyes. On some lunch hours, she walks from her secretarial job in the state Capitol to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Though Yolanda avoids looking at La Conquistadoras statue, she ruminates about her: The conquistadors brought her from Spain, hauled her around with them like a lucky charm as they invaded the peoples of the New World, and she served as a placid, unmoved witness to the violence they wrought. Yolanda thinks of her in both revered and disapproving terms  Blessed Mother  Our Mother of Excuses and Turning a Blind Eye 

Quade said in the interview that she loves La Conquistadora and it was important to go with her grandmother to light candles at the statue.

I also think shes a complicated figure. Her name. Theres violence in that name, in that history.  Its a history we have to contend with, the author says.

A reckoning with such painful narratives is beginning, Quade believes.

The Five Wounds is one of Oprah Magazines Most Anticipated Books of 2021. Born in Albuquerque, Quade is an assistant professor in the creative writing program at Princeton University.

Her 2015 book Night at the Fiestas: Stories won the National Book Critics Circles John Leonard Prize. Quade has also received the Rome Prize.

Book of the week
https://www.aish.com/ci/a/Louis-Armstrong-and-the-Jewish-Family.html

Why the famous jazz musician wore a Star of David.

Louis Armstrong, popularly known as Satchmo, was a towering, influential and beloved jazz musician. His career spanned five decades and different eras in the history of jazz. And for most of his adult life, the Baptist wore a Star of David necklace, the quintessential symbol of Judaism.

Why? What was Louie Armstrongs connection with the Jewish people?

Louis Daniel Armstrong was born in 1901 in New Orleans, an environment that was anything but promising, long before the Civil Rights movement would irrevocably transform the social strata of the city. Segregation was strictly enforced.

On the day that he was born, his father, William Armstrong, abandoned the babys mother, 16-year-old Mayann Albert. For the first five years of his life, Louis was brought up by his grandmother. Later, he moved into a one-room dwelling with his mother, whom he adored, and a younger sister.

Segregation was rampant in New Orleans. Degrading and debasing, for most segregation effectively precluded social or economic self-improvement.

When Louis reached the fifth grade, he had no choice but to quit school and go to work to help support his mother and sister.

At age six or seven, Louis was already scouting out the neighborhood after school hours, in search of ways to make a penny or two. This was standard procedure for most of the Black children he knew.

To his great good fortune, across the tracks, in a run-down, low-class White neighborhood, he discovered a cluster of Jewish families who had arrived from Lithuania. Most of the families were related, at least by marriage. They formed a close-knit community who clung together and helped each other weather the blatant anti-Semitism they encountered in their new homeland.

As Armstrong described it years later, in a short memoir Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La, the Year of 1907, the Jews had suffered over the course of history even more than the Blacks. As he tells it, Jews were having problems of their own  along with hard times from the other white folks nationalities who felt that they were better than the Jewish race I was only 7 years old, but I could easily see the ungodly treatment that the White Folks were handing the poor Jewish family whom I worked for.

Regardless of local anti-Semitism, the Jewish families considered themselves lucky. Compared to the pogroms they had encountered under the rule of Russias czar, life was now full of hope. They were free to live wherever they chose (and could afford) and to make a living however they wanted.

The Karnofskys, one of these Jewish families, were determined to improve their lot in their new homeland. Each morning, at 5 AM, one of the older boys, either Alex or Morris, set out on his daily rounds as a junk collector. He gathered bottles, bones and rags people sold to him for pennies, then sold or bartered them for more profitable goods

When Louis approached the Karnofskys asking for work, they had no objections to hiring a Black child to help them with their profession. Thus, at age seven, early each weekday morning, Louis found himself perched next to either Alex or Morris on the Karnofskys horse wagon.

Louis worked for them in the evenings, as well. They would load their wagon with coal and make the rounds, selling it for a nickel a bucket.

It was Morris who gave the child what might well have been the most significant present he would ever receive.

In Armstrongs words: Morris bought for me a Tin Horn. To blow and blow, the kind of Tin Horn they use at parties to make noises, while celebrating. The children loved it.

One of Louiss tasks was tooting away on his horn to announce the arrival of the junk wagon, or, in the evenings, of the coal supply. For Louis, this was more an amusement than a work assignment. And even at that tender age, the future trumpeter, vocalist and song-writer, displayed his bent for improvisation.

As Armstrong tells it:

One day  I took the wooden top off of the horn, and surprisingly I held my two fingers close together where the wooden mouth piece used to be, and I could play a tune of some kind. Oh [sic] the kids really enjoyed that. Better than the first time. They used to bring their bottles, Morris would give them a few pennies, and they would stand around the wagon while I would entertain them.

Conceivably, it was the first time in his young life that Armstrong tasted sweet success. He became the center of attention of an admiring audience, and he drank in the exhilarating experience of giving joy to others.

That tin whistle from Morris Karnofsky was the first step toward a lifetime career of innovative music.

One day, as Morris and his young helper made their rounds, Louiss keen eye spotted a tarnished cornet in the window of a pawn shop. What a find! His heart beating with excitement, he asked Morris to stop. He and Morris went to ask the price of the precious horn. It was five dollars, a tidy sum in those days.

Morris lent his prodigy musician two dollars for the down payment. Louis then paid another fifty cents a week until he had made the precious instrument his own. He learned to play it well, and later graduated to the instrument that brought him into the spotlight of American jazz, the trumpet.

That small loan and unforgettable act of kindness proved to be a significant step forward on Louis Armstrongs road to international fame.

And the warmth and security Louis found in the Karnofsky home perhaps made an even greater impact.

The family dubbed him Cousin Louis, making him a part of the family, the color of his skin notwithstanding.

Mrs. Karnofsky insisted that he eat dinners with them. Knowing that his mother would be hard-pressed to provide him with even a modest meal, she would insist on his joining them at the table. To spare him embarrassment, she would offhandedly say that by the time he got home, there would probably be nothing left to eat, so he must sit down and enjoy a meal with them.

Cousin Louis blossomed from the emotional support the Karnofskys extended to him. The best part of his day came in the evening when he and all the children would gather around Mother Karnofsky as she put the baby to sleep.

Decades later, the scene remained vivid:

 Russian Lullaby, he wrote tenderly, is the song that I sang when I was s even years old  with the Karnofsky family when I was working for them, every night at their house when Mother Karnofsky would rock the Baby David to sleep we all would get our places and sing it. So soft and sweet  We all sang together until the little baby would doze off. Then we bid each other good night. Then I would go home  across the tracks town to Mayann and Mama Lucy , my mother and sister.

What a new world this was for the child who had been abandoned by his father as soon as he came into the world.

At age 11, Louis played with a gun that belonged to his step-father. When he shot blanks into the air, he was arrested and sent to the Colored Waifs Home, a detention facility. The living conditions were far from comfortable. There were no mattresses to sleep on and the meals were sparse. Discipline was tough and punishment was corporal.

But there was one redeeming factor that eased Louiss new life. The home had a band. Louis was allowed to join and was even given lessons to improve his playing. At age thirteen, he was appointed as the bandleader.

After his time at the Home, he gradually moved up the ladder as a trumpet player, rung by rung, until he was recognized as a bright star on the horizon of jazz. Wherever he turned, he showed respect and affection for the Jewish People.

For years, Joe Glaser was his Jewish manager; he also became a close friend. It was Joe who presented him with a the Magen David, the Star of David. Armstrong said he would wear it proudly in honor of all that the Jews had done for him.

For years, Louis Armstrong continued to follow the work ethic that had made such an impression on him as a youth. He made over 300 appearances a year. He appeared in over thirty films. By the 1950s, he had become an American icon who represented his country in performances in an international tour that touched down in Sweden, Copenhagen, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Vienna, Israel, Lebanon, and Egypt, in an average of two shows a day.

Eventually, his hectic pace led to a heart attack from which he never fully recovered.

In 1969, Dr. Gary Zucker, a Jewish friend and his personal physician, tended to Satchmo at New York Citys Beth Israel Hospital. While confined to bed with the severe heart disease that eventually claimed his life, Armstrong penned his final memoir about his relationship with the Karnofskys.

In the 75-page document, Armstrong describes the evening ritual in the Karnofsky home. Savoring these moments once again, he relates how a Jewish family opened their home and their hearts to him, and he credits them for the innovative music style that he developed.

He also praised the other members of the Jewish community who treated him with respect, as a fellow human being, regardless which side of the tracks he came from.

He admired the Jews family solidarity and described how each new child was a precious gift in which to delight.

He also attributed to his Jewish benefactors the energetic work ethic that guided him throughout life. He followed the example they set for him, demanding more and more of himself, until he reached the top of the ladder.

He notes that the Karnofskys worked and lived as a team with a common goal. They responded to the challenge of supporting themselves with continuous hard work, mutual help and caring. The familys solidarity made a deep impression.

The Jewish people has such wonderful souls, he wrote. I always enjoyed everything they sang and still do. Of course, I sang the Lullaby Song with the family  I did not go through every song they sang. But I was a good listener. Still am.

He writes that how he admired the fact that they banded together to fight prejudice against them by bettering their lot through hard work. Rather than expending energy on protests, they simply got on with their lives and made progress.

I will love the Jewish people all my life, he declared in Louis Armstrong and the Jewish Family. They were always warm and kind to me, which was very noticeable to me  just a kid who could use a word of kindness.

He stressed how much he had learned from them  how to live, real life and determination.

But perhaps above all, Louis Armstrong was an advocate of loving ones fellow man. His broad, beaming smile became his hallmark. Countless people had demeaned him and mistreated him, but he never sought revenge. Rather, he encouraged his fans to focus on the half of the cup that was full, to find pleasure and satisfaction in it, to work hard, and spread happiness and good will.
Chuck co-hosts a remote lesson for area schoolchildren with Berkshire Museum education specialist Mariah Baca last year. PreviousNext

Berkshire Museum's Chuck the Tortoise Was Aquarium Favorite



A diapered Chuck interacts with children at the museum. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Chuck the red-footed tortoise, the Berkshire Museum's beloved aquarium resident of 35 years, died on Monday at the venerable age of about 80 years old.

"He gave so much for so long, we just can't overlook that part of his contribution to our community," Executive Director Jeff Rodgers said, who referred to Chuck as an "ambassador" for the local museum.

"I can't imagine how many people's lives were touched by their interactions with Chuck and hopefully it helps them to pursue their connection with the natural world in new and better ways."

Visiting Chuck was a favorite activity for visitors of all ages. He was an integral part of the museum's educational programs, teaching children about reptiles and sparking joy at birthday parties. Chuck often roamed around the outside of his enclosure  sporting a diaper  for children's lessons.

"He was a very, very social tortoise," Marketing and Brand Manager Kimberly Donoughe said. "He was the centerpiece of children's birthday parties and he was a staff favorite."

The affectionate, mild-tempered tortoise could also be seen soaking up some rays on the museum's front lawn during favorable weather.

Chuck became a Pittsfield resident in 1986 after spending the first half of his life in a New York City apartment. Because he was raised as a pet, museum staff said he was always curious about people and the world around him and loved interacting with people. He enjoyed fresh fruit treats and a good shell scrub.

Donoughe noted that he recognized aquarium staff and was always excited to see them.

"Chuck's origin is a little bit mysterious, he was living as someone's pet in a New York City apartment before he came to the museum and so it's some combination of what we were told when he came to us, how long he's been with us," she said.

"And then Thom Smith, who worked in the aquarium for many, many years, estimates, given his experiences with him and his knowledge, that Chuck was about 80 years old but nobody is really sure because we didn't have Chuck when he was a baby."

Rodger said he found himself taking the "long way" back to his office on a regular basis just to drop by and see what Chuck was up to.

"Boy, did he have a personality, and he really drew you in," he said. "I know that was true for me and true for so many other people, and it became part of what you looked forward to at the museum."

In the time leading up to Chuck's passing, he was reportedly "slowing down." The life expectancy for red-footed tortoises is around 30 to 50 years, which he triumphantly passed.

Donoughe pointed out how many generations grew up Chuck because of his extended time in the aquarium. The museum is trying to make followers aware of the sad news, as he was family to many.

"He's a friend to a lot of people," Donoughe said. "and you never want to find out about your friends passing from the newspapers, we were trying to ensure that we notified a lot of people and our followers and our members."

Chuck will be cremated and his ashes returned to the museum, which is currently determining the best way to honor his legacy. Memories and photographs of the special tortoise are being collected to create a small memorial at his enclosure site.

Members of the community are encouraged to email info@berkshiremuseum.org or visit berkshiremuseum.org/remembering-chuck.



"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Chuck the Tortoise. He was a unique and cherished member of the museum and our community," Rodgers wrote in a press release. "Some animals are ambassadors for their species and for the natural world. Generations have come to understand and respect our connections to the living world through their interactions with Chuck. He'll be missed, but his legacy will live on."
Noor Riyadh, an annual light festival to exhibit illuminative artworks across the Saudi capital, will help discover and nurture local talents and artists, said an official at the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC).

Hosam Alqurashi, adviser with the RCRC, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the Noor Riyadh festival is part of the larger Riyadh Art project that aims to turn the city into an open gallery without walls and build a creative economy in the kingdom.

Running until April 3, the festival features an interactive show with outdoor installations, sculptures, workshops, cinematic shows and educational talks, with the participation of over 60 international and Saudi artists.

About 40 percent of them are Saudi artists, Alqurashi said, "discovering, nurturing and turning them into international artists will allow Saudi Arabia to export art to the rest of the world and not just to consume it".

Speaking of the importance of the festival, Alqurashi said that Noor Riyadh's 2021 theme, Under One Sky, expresses hope and brings people together as social distance keeps everyone apart during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Art is universal language that everyone loves and appreciates," he added.

The citywide festival inaugurated its first edition on March 18. For 17 days, the city of Riyadh has been transformed into an open-air art gallery with more than 30 light installations.

The festival of light and art is the first program launched by Riyadh Art, one of four mega projects inaugurated by Saudi King Salman in 2019 as an initiative to promote culture and art in the kingdom.

Making the city more beautiful, Riyadh Art also aims to build a creative economy in the country, which brings investment, sponsorship of different sectors that are interested in art, and job opportunities, Alqurashi said, adding that there are 12 programs listed in Riyadh Art project which will come in phases.

In another bid to promote Saudi arts scene, the Ad-Diriyah Biennale Foundation has announced on Monday the theme for Saudi Arabia's first contemporary art biennale titled "Feeling the Stones" which is inspired by the idea of "crossing the river by feeling the stones," a slogan that emerged during the 1980s as a metaphor for action at a time of social and economic transformation.

Set to open from Dec. 7, 2021 to March 7, 2022, the biennale, featuring over 70 international and Saudi artists, will take place in Diriyah, the birthplace of the first Saudi state and home to one of the kingdom's ambitious heritage developments.

Philip Tinari, director and chief executive of UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, China and curator of the biennale, expressed hope that this exhibition will expose new generations of viewers to global contemporary art, "not just as a mode of visual expression but as a space for critical thinking."

"The art scene in Saudi Arabia finds itself at a crucial juncture, and art has an important role to play in reflecting on key issues of the moment," Tinari noted.

The biennale is one of many new platforms that will make Saudi art accessible, providing Saudi artists the opportunity to showcase their works to local and global audiences, a statement by the Ministry of Culture said on Monday.

To support the ministry's efforts to develop the cultural sector and enhance creative knowledge and education, the Saudi Cabinet on Thursday approved the establishment of the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts, signifying a major step forward in the development of the kingdom's culture and art industry.

The institute will help develop an advanced cultural ecosystem and enable talented Saudis to pursue successful careers in a thriving and competitive private sector, while driving demand for their products at home and abroad, the statement added.
DNC Chair Says Party Must Seek to Restore the Democratic Brand

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Jaime Harrison said the party has to attempt to restore the brand of the Democratic Party.

Its not even just with Republicans, the Democrat brand with some of the folks who are core at the base of our party is not the greatest. And so I want to spend a lot of time, energy, and effort understanding why the brand is where it is, what it is and how, and what we can do in order to improve it, Harrison told The Daily Beast over the weekend.

Harrison made a reference to his unsuccessful bid to unseat Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in South Carolina in November 2020.

I experienced it on my own race, Lindsey [Graham] and his crew of dark money effectively labeled me as somebody who believed in defunding the police. My grandfather on my stepfathers side was in the Detroit police department for 40 years. So I dont believe in that, Harrison told the left-wing news outlet.

Since the Nov. 3 election, some Democratic lawmakers have lamented the defund the police rhetoric that was used by Black Lives Matter and other left-wing groups during last summers riots and protests. Republicans were able to brand the Democratic Party of embracing socialism and cancel culture in the midst of the violence.

But they were able to do it because the Democratic brand had been so tarnished in South Carolina that people would believe anything. If they said, Jamie kicked a puppy the other day, they would have believed it, Harrison added. We have to take credit and claim the things that we will have gotten done over the course of these next two years. Were going to do a lot for rural America.

A recent poll from Ipsos/USA Today found that only 18 percent of Americans support defunding the police.

Dont defund the police department. We need them here to keep law and order, Kevin Hayworth, 66, of Garner, Iowa, told USA Today. We need our police department just as they are.
It recalled for me the long history of demonstrative displays against Black people in America. The enslavers performed barbaric acts on the bodies of so-called disobedient enslaved Africans, as a punishment to the person deemed guilty, but also as a deterrent to the fellow enslaved people who saw or heard of it.

It was the flaying of flesh, the human beings torn apart by hounds, the stiff bodies dangling from the stiff branch of a tree. The display was the thing. The theatrical production of pain, to the point of mutilation, was the thing. The transmission of trauma was the thing.

When the enslaved rebelled, this theater was taken to even higher levels. The German Coast Uprising of 1811 in Louisiana, one of the largest slave revolts in United States history, ultimately failed, but so intent were the white enslavers to terrorize the remaining enslaved never to repeat the attempt that, as Leon A. Waters wrote for the Zinn Education Project:

Some of the leaders were captured, placed on trial and later executed. Their heads were cut off and placed on poles along the river in order to frighten and intimidate the other slaves. This display of heads placed on spikes stretched over 60 miles.

When Nat Turner staged his revolt some 20 years later, the response took on a similar expression. As Daina Ramey Berry, a professor of history and African diaspora studies and the chair of the history department at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote for The New York Times in 2016 about Turners 1831 hanging:

Those who came to witness his death then decapitated and skinned him. They bragged about it for decades. One participant, William Mallory, also known as Buck, gloated so much about having skinned Turner that it was listed in his own obituary.
Postcard from normalcy in Floridas Clearwater Beach

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Walking the sugar-white sand that forms the beachfront in Clearwater was a journey to the return of normalcy.

And not just for me.

Clearwater Beach, a barrier island about 30 minutes from Tampas airport on the west coast of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico, was busy with mostly families over my four-day visit at the end of the traditional spring break calendar. While there were crowds, it was never so busy that distancing from others and just relaxing wasnt possible.

Calling the beach spectacular is an understatement.

Outside the isolated beach at Ritidian Point on the isolated Pacific island of Guam, an American territory 8,000-plus miles away, the soft sand and crystal-clear water of Clearwater Beach is the best beach anywhere in the lower 48 states. Dont take my word for it. TripAdvisor named it the countrys best beach for two consecutive years.

Of course, there is more to do and see than just the beach.

In recent years the entire area has been transformed with a promenade that comes alive at sunset. The focal point is the 1,080-foot Pier 60, about halfway between the so-called north and south beaches, where different artisans, crafters and street performers set up every evening, year-round.

Families will also enjoy the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which recently expanded its visitor center. Among the numerous rescued and rehabilitated marine animals are dolphins Winter and Hope from Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2 stardom.

Another hidden gem is the dining scene, where restaurants serve the freshest of fresh seafood. As one waiter told me, if its not fresh it isnt served.

It should be a crime to visit Clearwater Beach and not eat at Bob Heilmans Beachcomber, which first opened its doors in 1948. Located on Mandalay Avenue  main street in all but name  everything about this place is old-school. Think 1950s or 1960s wood paneling, leather banquettes, crisp white tablecloths and a piano player. Then there is the double-sided wine list, which features around 650 selections. Noticeably, there is no dress code  gentlemen should make an effort and wear a blazer  and baked Alaska, the epitome of retro desserts, is missing from the menu.

Other places to eat at include Saltys Island Bar & Grille, known for its casual Key West or Caribbean atmosphere and some of the best mahi-mahi around, and the nearby Sand Key outpost of Columbia, a family-owned Spanish restaurant that first opened in Tampas Ybor City back in 1905.

If you go

I initially booked at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach, a Marriott branded hotel. However, the hotel didnt take coronavirus seriously as several staff, including housekeepers, ignored the requirement for masks. I left for the Holiday Inn, an older but clean hotel, with a beautiful location overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway and Gulf of Mexico. For a hotel directly on the beach stay at the Hilton.

When at the beach be sure to get one of the lounge chairs or cabanas, which are rented on a first-come, first-served basis. Just sit in any unoccupied blue chair or cabana and eventually an attendant will come by to collect payment. Prices start at $30 for two chairs and an umbrella.

Normally, I wouldnt rent a car because parking in a place like Clearwater Beach is almost always a major hassle. While pretty much everything to do and see is within walking distance of most hotels, you will need a car for the ride to and from Tampa International Airport. I tried Uber, but drivers were routinely unavailable. Consider either a rental car or alternative round-trip airport transportation.

Spires and Crosses is a weekly travel column. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter and Instagram.
Which? analysed motorway service stations around the country. (PA)

A "dirty" and "depressing" motorway service station has been named the worst in Britain.

Bridgwater services on the M5 in Somerset  a popular stop off for tourists heading to and from Cornwall and Devon  scored just one star out of five in a ranking of service stations across the country.

The Moto-owned site received an overall customer score of just 32% in the ranking, which assesses elements including cleanliness, range of facilities and prices.

Visitors described it as "dirty" and "depressing", while some complained of a urine smell and toilet paper strewn on the floor and one person said it "should be demolished".

The findings were based on around 5,600 experiences by 2,700 consumers at 68 motorway service areas.

Gloucester Services was voted the best according to the Which? ranking. (PA)

Gloucester Services, also on the M5, was ranked number one, receiving four out of five stars for all categories, with a customer score of 86%.

One visitor said it was as far from a typical motorway stop as you can imagine, while customers praised its fabulous farm shop.

Tebay services on the M6 in Cumbria was ranked second (83%), followed by Cairn Lodge in Lanark on the M74 (69%) and Norton Canes on the M6 Toll in Staffordshire.

Read more: Firefighters urge Peak District visitors not to have BBQs after moorland fire

Rory Boland, editor of magazine Which? Travel, said: The results of our survey show that it pays to plan ahead to avoid some of the UKs worst motorway services.

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

Whether youre zipping down the M5 towards the beaches on the south-west coast, or up the M6 towards the Scottish border, make sure your journey isnt spoiled by a stop at a shoddy service station.

Moto CEO Ken McMeikan said: I am appalled by the score at our Bridgwater site.

This does not reflect the standards we aspire to across all of our sites and I can absolutely guarantee that all of the issues raised will be dealt with immediately to ensure we get Bridgwater back to the standard we know our customers expect and deserve.

Story continues

 Here are the top five service stations according to the Which? ranking, with their customer score in brackets:

1. Gloucester (86%)

2. Tebay (83%)

3. Cairn Lodge (69%)

4. Norton Canes (65%)

5. Wetherby (61%)

 And here are the bottom five:

64. Keele (42%)

65. Sandbach (42%)

66. Newport Pagnell (41%)

67. Gordano (40%)

68. Bridgwater (32%)

Watch: Andy Dunlop & Fran Healy talk about that magic moment with the crowd whilst headlining Glastonbury festival...
To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

When Mike Park first heard about the recent shootings in Atlanta, he felt angry and afraid. But almost immediately, he had another thought.

We cant just sit back, he said. We cant sit in our little enclave anymore.

Born in South Carolina to Korean immigrants, Mr. Park grew up wanting to escape his Asian identity. He resented having to be the one student to speak at Asian-Pacific day and felt embarrassed when his friends did not want to eat dinner at his house because of the unfamiliar pickled radishes and cabbage in his refrigerator.

Now 42, Mr. Park embraces both his Korean heritage and an Asian-American identity he shares with others of his generation. The Atlanta shootings that left eight dead, six of them women of Asian descent, made him feel an even stronger sense of solidarity, especially after a surge in bias incidents against Asians nationwide.
Armenia Investigative Committee launches criminal case regarding keeping of bodies and remains of deceased servicemen

Opposition "Armenia" bloc representative: Authorities are actually busy bribing voters

Armenia legislature passes law to help ease requirements for future teachers

Russia ambassador visits Meghri, Armenia border checkpoint (PHOTOS)

Armenia ruling party's candidate for anti-corruption commission member not elected

Armenia acting premier: There will be statement in coming days about exposure of high treason

Dollar loses value in Armenia

Armenia acting PM: Our task is to support our farmers so that engaging in agriculture is planned activity

China Daily: Water tribe prospers ashore in Fujian

China calls for closer security, economic cooperation with Afghanistan

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: There was proposal from Azerbaijans Aliyev on Meghri issue

CIS Observation Mission continues to monitor snap parliamentary elections in Armenia

Nepal reports first death from 'black fungus'

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

Iran produces trial batches of Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

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

Alaska offers free COVID-19 vaccines to everyone

Two Azerbaijan reporters die in landmine explosion in Artsakhs Karvachar

Over 120 Nobel laureates urge G7 countries to step up efforts to tackle climate change

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

Court fines 12 Australian media outlets 1.1 million for reporting on Cardinal George Pell

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

Turkish actress faces 2 years in prison for 'insulting' rapist

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
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/04/2021



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[ Spoiler Warning: This report features spoilers that reveal if Hazel and Tarik are still married and together or if they broke up at some point after their wedding that aired on .]

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So are Tarik and Hazel still together and married or did the couple split after their wedding?

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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

's eighth season showed Tarik Myers and Hazel Cagalitan getting married, but did the wedding bliss last? Are Tarik and Hazel still together or has the couple split, and what do the latest spoilers reveal about the current status of their relationship?Tarik was a 43-year-old realtor and single father from Virginia Beach, VA, when he first saw Hazel, a single mother from Quezon City, Philippines who is now 28-years-old, on an Asian dating website.Following a three-month courtship, Tarik traveled over 9,000 miles and 36 hours to meet Hazel in-person in the Philippines on : Before the 90 Days' second season.Tarik's family and friends worried Hazel was after a Green Card, money and a better life, but Tarik determined for himself that Hazel liked him for the right reasons and he wanted to marry her.Once the couple got engaged and Tarik returned to the U.S., he filed for Hazel's K-1 visa and she agreed to sign a prenuptial agreement.At the time 's eighth season filmed, Tarik and Hazel had been together for two years and Hazel finally got approved for a K-1 visa.Hazel hoped to one day bring her eight-year-old son Harrey to America, and in the meantime, her goal was to bond with Tarik's daughter Auri, who has high-functioning autism, in America."This is the turning point in my life. It's like everything before her and then everything after her," Tarik said.Hazel was a bit overwhelmed by the United States at first and needed time to adjust.Hazel and Auri also got along great, but problems arose once Hazel discovered a message on Tarik's phone to Minty from Thailand -- the couple's shared ex-girlfriend whom Hazel dumped out of jealousy in three days over Minty's strong connection with Tarik.Hazel asked why Tarik hadn't been honest with her right away, and he acknowledged that she was right and wouldn't contact her again.During quarantine, the couple searched through women's dating profiles together. Hazel told the cameras that she wanted to find a "sexy, brown American woman" to date although her relationship with Tarik was more important.But the couple had trouble in their search for the perfect partner, which resulted in Tarik suggesting they should contact Minty for some dating advice.Tarik said Minty could help them because she understood what the both of them were looking for, but Hazel saw through Tarik's plan and accused him of finding an excuse to talk to Minty again.In May 2020, Hazel agreed they could contact Minty, but only because she wanted to watch the pair interact with each other."I am attracted to Tarik very much," Minty told the cameras. "If Tarik not engaged to Hazel, I think me and him would be together."Hazel made it very clear she didn't want to date or be friends with Minty, and with 18 days left to wed on Hazel's K-1 visa, the couple wasn't in a great place.Tarik was afraid Hazel was going to throw in the towel and refuse to get married, but Hazel felt disrespected and had lost trust in her fiance, who believed he had done nothing wrong.When the couple's wedding was only two weeks away, Hazel still wasn't sure whether she could trust Tarik 100 percent -- and so she was feeling "uncomfortable."Tarik was then shown shopping for wedding attire, and he revealed his wedding date was June 7, 2020. Tarik told his friend that he didn't have cold feet but he and Hazel had been arguing a lot.When a friend asked if he had any lingering feelings for Minty, Tarik hesitated at first and replied, "Umm, no... She's not [in my life anymore]."Tarik determined he should probably delete Minty's number from his phone in order to please Hazel.In May 2020, Tarik and Hazel only had seven days left to wed. During an outing with Tarik's friend Angela, Hazel revealed Tarik had contacted another girl, not Minty this time, which made her really upset.Tarik said a woman in the Philippines -- whom he had previously been friends with for years but lost touch with -- suddenly started calling him a lot and so Hazel apparently messaged the girl asking why she was reaching out to her fiancA.Hazel said Tarik was good at defending himself and added, "Just because I am bisexual, it doesn't mean Tarik is allowed to talk to any girls he wants. I still want to find a girlfriend, but I have to choose the girl, not Tarik."Tarik said Hazel's behavior made him look crazy, but Angela insisted Tarik was acting like "an alpha male" and needed to accept the fact he was wrong. Angela advised Tarik to block the women who made Hazel feel uncomfortable.And Tarik acknowledged he needed to fix his broken relationship or else there may not even be a wedding.In June 2020, Tarik put his powder-blue suit on and decorated the house with rose petals and candles in order to please Hazel and surprise her with a romantic evening. Tarik admitted he had disregarded Hazel's feelings about other women and there was "no excuse for that."Tarik apologized to his fiancee and promised that no one would ever come before her and he wanted to start over.Tarik then got down on one knee and proposed marriage to Hazel again under the new circumstances of their relationship.Hazel apparently felt so much better and concluded, "I can say I am ready to marry you."Hazel noted she was happy to have a future with Tarik, but before getting married, she felt the need to come out to her religious, born-again Christian parents in the Philippines and reveal she's bisexual and would like to have a girlfriend in addition to a husband.Hazel then asked her father via FaceTime, "Would you be angry if I like women? I like women and I like men."Hazel's mother hoped her daughter's feelings would go away, but her father was actually pretty supportive and said he'd be happy as long as Hazel is happy."If my mom never accepts me being bisexual, I will be very sad. But I am happy that I can get married without hiding anything," Hazel told the cameras. "I feel like this is a new life for me in America."One day before the couple's wedding, Hazel celebrated her bachelorette party thrown by Tarik's friends Angela, Kia and Michelle at a hotel room. All of the women had been cleared of coronavirus.Tarik expressed how he felt purely happy, even though he wasn't going to have a bachelor party for himself. Tarik also "cooked up a surprise" for Hazel that he thought she was going to love.Once in the hotel room, Hazel and the girls popped champagne and then had a surprise visit from an exotic dancer, whom Hazel called "sexy."Hazel loved the dancer's moves and gushed about how Tarik had chosen the right girl for her taste.Hazel giggled about how lucky she was to have met Tarik. She said her life was happier than ever before.On Tarik and Hazel's wedding day, Tarik said he was nervous and excited. Tarik was able to book his wedding at the spiritual center where he always wanted to get married because they had just opened up again amid coronavirus pandemic.Although Hazel wanted to get married in a church, Tarik said the churches in his area weren't open.Hazel gushed about marrying the man she loves, a man who accepts her for who she is and wants to be."Coronavirus couldn't stop this day being the most beautiful day for me and Hazel," Tarik gushed.Tarik's older brother Dwain drove from Salt Lake City, UT, to attend the wedding, which apparently filled a void for Tarik, who didn't want to risk his mother coming due to COVID-19. Tarik also said his relationship with his brother Dean was "dead" at the time.Hazel's parents decided to participate in the wedding via Zoom despite the fact her mother didn't approve of Hazel being bisexual. Hazel realized in that moment her parents must have accepted her "somehow."As Hazel walked down the aisle on her wedding day, Tarik teared up and told the cameras, "Hazel looks like an angel. It's hard to feel like I deserve her."Hazel also said Tarik looked handsome and joked that she wanted to bite him, and the pair were married by Tarik's friend Angela.Tarik cried during his vows and told Hazel that he found her shortly after he had given up on love. Hazel also got emotional when promising Tarik that she'd be loyal to him as well as a good mother and stepmother to Auri."I love you both forever and ever," Hazel noted.The couple was officially married and Hazel gushed, "I am wife!... I am the boss now and I am happy!"Tarik and Hazel are still together and their relationship seems to be thriving.In late March, Tarik posted a wedding video on Instagram and captioned it, "I Do," and Hazel shared many photos from her big day with the same caption.Tarik also bragged about Hazel in a subsequent post and wrote, "My wife. She is the strongest person I know. She is the most complex person I know. She did what would terrify others.""Backlash be damned," he added. "Criticism be damned. My loving, shy little braveheart. Tough as nails in light blue heels. I love her."Not long afterwards, Tarik uploaded a photo of Hazel wearing white and captioned it, "When Mrs. Myers is happy, I'm happy. Mrs. Myers. That has a certain ring to it," along with multiple smiling emoticons.In mid-March, Tarik posted a funny blooper-video of Hazel trying to wish someone a happy birthday on Cameo. Tarik even commented about how Hazel's lipstick line would soon be available.Tarik uploaded a video of Hazel and himself dancing together in early March."Men. Wanna get outta the doghouse? Try Wil Smith style dumb dancing. If you're deep in the doghouse, add the running man with jazz hands. Hazel is wearing her own lipstick. Available soon. #Tarzel 4L #90dayfiance #90daybaresall #90dayfiancepillowtalk #beforethe90days," Tarik captioned the video.In late February, Tarik posted a video of Hazel posing as computer-generated snowflakes fell around her face."I remember when you said you'd always wanted to see and play in the snow. I said I had to walk to school calf high in it in Ohio. So I'm very happy without snow but not without you," Tarik captioned the video, before promoting her new lipstick. #Tarzel #allnatural."Tarik posted a video of Hazel driving a lawn mower in mid-February and captioned it, "Hazel doesn't just sit around searching profiles all day. She also nearly crashes the riding mower into the fence lol. Maybe I'm a bad driving instructor."He added the hashtags "Tarzel," "girlpower" and "ilovevirginiabeach."On January 31, Tarik shared a video of Hazel and himself driving in the car, and about a week earlier, he posted a photo of Hazel in glasses and added a funny caption with it."Me : I clearly text Minty to see if she was ok bc there was a big Covid outbreak in her city. Hazel : I put my glasses on to clearly see if this was BS. #Tarzel #90dayfiance #90daybaresall #90dayfiancepillowtalk #beforethe90days #rayban #allnatural," Tarik wrote.On January 16, Tarik posted a photo of Hazel standing in the sunlight with her eyes closed, and he captioned the image, "You are an original. You are misunderstood. You are ridiculed and hated on by many close to you. But you are still perfect."He continued, "I am an original. Misunderstood. Ridiculed and hated on by many close to me. We soak up the sun different. #Tarzel #90dayfiance #90dayfiancebaresall #90dayfiancepillowtalk #beforethe90days #nomakeup #nofilterneeded."Tarik also apparently rang in the New Year of 2021 with Hazel by his side.Tarik and Hazel's posts about one another date all the way back to Fall 2018.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
president on Sunday said all are united in the resolve to combat and her party's government in will continue to provide all assistance to the paramilitary forces in fighting the menace with full rigour.

In a statement, she said the entire country bows before the martyrdom of 22 jawans in a gruesome Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur.

"I pay homage to these jawans who have given their lives, and heartfelt condolences to their families. The nation owes an enormous debt of gratitude to them.

"I fervently hope for the return of our missing soldiers, and look forward to the complete recovery of those injured," Gandhi said.

"We are united in our resolve to combat The government shall continue to provide all assistance to our central paramilitary forces in fighting with full rigour," she added.

A group of around 400 Maoists, armed with light machine-guns (LMGs), ambushed security forces deployed on a special operation, killing at least 22 personnel and injuring 30 others, besides decamping with over a dozen sophisticated arms, officials said on Sunday.

The contingent of about 1,500 troops was drawn from the CRPF'S specialised jungle warfare unit CoBRA, its regular battalions, a unit of its Bastariya battalion, the Police-affiliated District Reserve Guard (DRG) and others. They had launched a search-and-destroy operation along the border of Bijapur and Sukma districts after they got inputs of Maoists' presence in the area.

(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.)
Home and Away viewers have enjoyed watching their fair share of sun-drenched romances take place on Channel Seven's iconic soap.

And just last week, on-set photos showed many bikini-clad characters getting up to all sorts of steamy antics on the beach in scenes set to air later this year.

Newcomer Jacqui Purvis - who previously starred on Neighbours - and Ethan Browne, who plays Tane Parata, were pictured getting hot and heavy under the Sydney sun wearing nothing but skimpy swim gear.

Getting steamy: Home and Away newcomer Jacqui Purvis - who previously starred in Neighbours - and Ethan Browne, who plays Tane Parata, were seen getting hot and heavy under the hot Sydney sun wearing nothing but skimpy swim gear

Jacqui looked sensational in a bright pink bikini, which showed off her jaw-dropping physique and never-ending pins to perfection.

Her character appeared very smitten with the brunette hunk, as she placed a hand on his rippled physique while he gazed into her eyes.

According to IMBD, Jacqui previously played Melissa Lohan in Neighbours in 2019 for 18 episodes.

The genetically blessed pair weren't the only couple to enjoy a cheeky smooch on the beach, as Rob Kipa-Williams and Anna Sampson were also spotted sharing a passionate kiss of their own.

Sizzling: Jacqui looked sensational in a bright pink bikini, which showed off her jaw-dropping physique and never-ending pins to perfection

No stranger to soaps: Jacqui played Melissa Lohan in Neighbours in 2018, for 18 episodes

Pert: Jacqui basked in the sunlight while showing off her pert bottom in the sizzling two piece

Cute: They they weren't the only couple to enjoy a cheeky smooch on the beach, as Rob Kipa-Williams and Anna Sampson were spotted sharing a passionate kiss of their own

Summer lovin': Anna, who portrays Mia Anderson on the show, was seen embracing Rob, who plays Ari Parata, as they strolled along a secluded stretch of sand

Hunks: Both Ethan and Rob were later seen flaunting their muscular arms in tight T-shirts as they basked in the summer breeze

All smiles: The hunky men shared a giggle as they filmed with their co-stars

Anna, who portrays Mia Anderson on the show, was seen embracing Rob, who plays Ari Parata, as they strolled along a secluded stretch of sand.

Both Ethan and Rob were later seen flaunting their muscular arms in tight T-shirts as they basked in the summer breeze.

Sophie Dillman, who plays Ziggy Astoni, was also pictured rocking a zebra-print bikini with a surfboard under her arm.

Sassy lassy: Sophie Dillman, who plays Ziggy Astoni, was also pictured rocking a zebra-print bikini with a surfboard under her arm

Bringing the sass: Of course, Sam Frost - arguably one of the biggest stars on Home and Away - was seen showcasing her sensational curves in active gear while filming her upcoming scenes

Of course, Sam Frost - arguably one of the biggest stars on Home and Away - was seen showcasing her sensational curves in active gear while filming her upcoming scenes.

She looked playful alongside newcomer, actor Nicholas Cartwright.

According to Home And Away's fan website Back to the Bay, he will portray Senior Constable Cash Newman.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP)  A judge has sentenced a man charged with firing a gun during a standoff last year to 21 years in prison.

The St. Cloud Times reports Stearns County Judge Matthew Engelking sentenced 28-year-old Ryan Timothy Kellen on March 30 on one felony count of first-degree assault for use of deadly force against a police officer. Engelking also sentenced Kellen to 10 years on another identical assault charge.

According to court documents, officers were dispatched to a home in Sauk Centre in January 2020 after a woman said Kellen had assaulted her there. A standoff ensued at the home and at one point Kellen fired a shot at a police Humvee with five officers inside.
Hunter Biden has said that he convinced his father Joe Biden to issue a public statement supporting his affair with his deceased brother Beau's widow Hallie, arguing the relationship would 'seem wrong' if his father didn't bless it.

''Dad,' I told him, 'if people find out, but they think you're not approving of this, it makes it seem wrong,' Hunter Biden wrote in his memoir, Beautiful Things, set to be released on April 6, according to an advance copy obtained by Fox News.

In early 2017, just months after his father left office as vice president, the pressure was on Hunter when a reporter called to ask him about his affair with Hallie, which began while he was still married to his first wife.

Hunter argued to his father that it would be devastating to his children if Biden didn't bless the unusual relationship, telling him: ''The kids have to know there's nothing wrong with this, and the one person who can tell them that is you.'

Hunter Biden has said that he convinced his father Joe Biden to issue a public statement supporting his affair with his deceased brother Beau's widow Hallie

Hallie is pictured front standing next to Hunter Biden (left in blue suit and sunglasses) and Joe Biden (right in black) at Beau Biden's funeral on June 6, 2015

Biden was reluctant but eventually issued a statement saying: 'We are all lucky that Hunter and Hallie found each other as they were putting their lives together again after such sadness. They have mine and Jill's full and complete support and we are happy for them.'

Hunter recounts that his relationship with Hallie was born out of mutual grief, and unfolded as he was 'backsliding' into substance abuse after getting out of rehab.

'I was madly trying to hold on to a slice of my brother, and I think Hallie was doing the same,' Hunter wrote.

Hunter recounts that his relationship with Hallie was born out of mutual grief

'If we weren't all in, we worried, the relationship would be perceived as a salacious fling. So we tried to make something work that, in hindsight, was never in the cards,' he continued.

Hunter's relationship with Hallie blew up by 2019, around the same time as a series of his foreign business ventures evaporated. He went on to marry South African filmmaker Melissa Cohen, with whom he has a son.

On Sunday, Hunter spoke in an interview about his drug addiction, his relationship with sister-in-law Hallie Biden, the ongoing FBI investigation into his finances and his decision to join the board of Burisma.

'I spent more times on my hands and knees picking through rugs smoking anything that even remotely resembled crack cocaine. I probably smoked more parmesan cheese than anyone that you know,' the president's son told CBS Sunday Morning with a laugh, as he told Tracy Smith about his battles with addiction.

The younger Biden said his father staged an intervention for him during his time as vice president. 'He sort of ditched the Secret Service,' Hunter Biden recalled, with the now-president telling his son that, 'You're not fine.'

In a teaser released Friday for another portion of the interview, Hunter Biden spoke about a second intervention, in which the then-2020 presidential candidate chased his son down the driveway, sobbing, begging him to stop using drugs.

Photos of Hunter smoking a crack pipe (left) and appearing inebriated (right) that were found on a laptop that made headlines just weeks before the November 3 presidential election

On 'CBS Sunday Morning,' Smith asked about the FBI's current probe into Hunter Biden's taxes, which came to light in December during the transition. Hunter Biden released a statement through the Biden-Harris transition office at the time.

He told CBS that he couldn't discuss much about the case.

'I can say this. I'm cooperating completely and I'm absolutely certain, 100 per cent certain, that at the end of the investigation that I will be cleared of any wrongdoing,' the president's son said.

Reporting on that investigation suggests that it deals with Hunter Biden's business dealings with Chinese firms.

As for his business in Ukraine, Hunter Biden said he didn't believe taking a spot on Ukrainian energy company Burisma's board was a mistake.

'No, I don't think I made a mistake taking a spot on that board,' he said. 'I think I made a mistake in terms of underestimating the - the way in which it would be used against me.'

Smith pushed back, suggesting it was hard to believe that Hunter Biden didn't realize that optics could look bad.

Hunter Biden, pictured with his wife Melissa Cohen and their son Beau Biden Jr. on March 26 as they boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland

Hunter's daughters Maisy, 20, Finnegan, 21, and Naomi, 27, (far left, center left and center right) are pictured with their cousin Natalie (far right) who is Beau Biden's daughter

'I'm being as honest with you as I possibly can,' Hunter Biden replied. 'All I know, is that not one investigative body, not one serious journalist have ever accused - has ever come to the conclusion that I did anything wrong, or that my father did anything wrong.'

Former President Donald Trump made Burisma a household name, floating to rally crowds that Hunter Biden was getting rich off his name - and that Joe Biden intervened and got a Ukrainian prosecutor fired for wanting to investigate Burisma to protect his son.

Hunter's new memoir, Beautiful Things, is out April 6

As he does in his forthcoming memoir, 'Beautiful Things,' he explained what compelled him to start dating Hallie, the widow of Beau Biden.

'I think people were confused by that. And I understand that,' he said. 'It came out of a real overwhelming grief that we both shared. And we were together and trying to do the right thing and that grief turned into a hope for a love that maybe could replace what we lost.'

'And it didn't work. It didn't work,' he said.

He added, 'I made a lot of decisions that I probably shouldn't have made.'

Smith said that Hunter Biden told her that he had been sober since marrying his second wife, Melissa Cohen.

Hunter Biden said that he talked to his father every night - and that the president called all the grandkids daily too.

'By the way, he's always done that,' Hunter Biden said. 'Because he lost - because he, like me, knows what it's like not to be able to pick up the phone and talk to your son,' Hunter Biden said, choking up.

Smith pointed out that, 'He almost lost you.'

'Yeah, yeah. Yeah,' Hunter Biden agreed. 'It's hard.'

'I'm a Biden, we cry too much,' he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-05 00:01:07|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- London police said Sunday that more than 100 people were arrested after protests were staged against the British government's new crime bill in central London on Saturday.

Earlier Sunday, London police said that 10 officers were left with minor injuries after police and protesters clashed in central London on Saturday.

The British capital was swarmed by thousands of demonstrators as a number of protests took place simultaneously.

Many were protesting the British government's proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

If passed, the legislation would give police in England and Wales more powers to impose conditions on non-violent protests, including those deemed too noisy or a nuisance, with those convicted liable to fines or jail terms.

"Kill the Bill" demonstrators were joined by Extinction Rebellion and anti-lockdown protesters. The anti-lockdown rebels were supported by Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the London-based Evening Standard newspaper reported Sunday.

Thousands turned up for the "Kill the Bill" protest alone, marching from Hyde Park to Westminster. The protesters walked past Buckingham Palace and down to Parliament Square, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

The latest demonstrations came after several protests against the British government's new crime bill turned violent last month in Bristol, a populous city in southwestern England.

COVID-19 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.

The coronavirus reproduction number, or R value, in England is between 0.8 and one, 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 31.5 million people have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Britain.

From April 12, non-essential retail, as well as restaurants and pubs, if serving people outdoors, will be allowed to reopen in England.

On Feb. 22, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his roadmap exiting the lockdown, the third of its kind since the start of the pandemic. The four-step plan is expected to see all legal restrictions in England being removed by mid-June.

Experts have warned Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants and the third wave of pandemic in the European continent.

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
MPs elected Kosovos most popular politician Vjosa Osmani as president on Sunday, overcoming an opposition boycott that had kept parliament short of a quorum one day earlier.

The 38-year-old law professor, one of the standard bearers of a younger political generation determined to fight corruption, received 71 votes from among the 82 lawmakers present, meaning she is elected President of the Republic, speaker Glauk Konjufca said.

Osmani was backed by Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his leftist movement Vetevendosje which claimed more than 50 percent of the vote in a general election in February.

The Sunday win followed a stalemate that had prevented her from being elected late Saturday.

Osmani stood in as president for several months for Hashim Thaci, a former guerilla leader who was charged last November with war crimes.

In addition to economic problems and social tension that remains following its war with Serbia in the 1990s, Kosovo has struggled to stem the coronavirus which has killed 1,900 people.
Perhaps you can try a salvage yard. Im sure this is an item thats not very high on the desirable list so finding a couple or one shouldnt be a problem. Also, more than likely, the same item is used on F150s all the way back to the 12th generation.

I'm looking for the black plastic doorknob tip for the back doors of my 2018 F-150 STX crew cab. But all my searches on the internet are coming up (ZERO). Google searches keep coming back with "FOZSZ-5421850-A or Doman 75409" which look right but don't fit.

Posting Quick Reply - Please Wait Quick Reply: Door Lock Knob Replacement

The following errors occurred with your submission Okay

Quote message in reply?
A range of measures to support small companies which were announced in the Budget in 2019, are still not available to firms.

An R&D tax credit rate for small and micro companies was due to increase from the standard rate of 25pc to 30pc.

However, Ireland needs State-aid approval from the European Commission before this measure can take effect.

It is understood that a number of companies were not aware that the R&D measures were not yet available until they attempted to claim the improved rate from Revenue.

According to Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI), Ireland has been actively seeking approval for the improved R&D regime.

A more favourable methodology to calculate the refundable R&D tax credit amount for small and micro companies and a new section of legislation to enable small and micro companies to claim the R&D tax credit before trading commences are not effective until ministerial orders are signed, said CAI.

The enhanced R&D tax breaks would have appealed to companies affected by Brexit, as they would support research into new markets for their business and new product lines.

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Small and micro companies are companies that employ fewer than 50 people, and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed 10m.

Some 65pc of the 1,303 companies claiming the R&D relief in 2018 had 50 or few employees and potentially could qualify for the 30pc tax credit.

A spokesman for the Department of Finance said: Officials initiated contact with the Commission in early 2020, however progress was hampered due to a switch in immediate priorities and the necessity to divert resources in response to the challenges associated with Covid-19 and the end of the Brexit transition period.

Therefore, the measures for micro and small companies have not yet been commenced.

Officials have resumed work on this matter again recently and would hope to have a more specific update in early course.
At least twenty-two soldiers have been killed in the Naxal attack at the Sukma-Bijapur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.



My thoughts are with the families of those martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh. The sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten. May the injured recover at the earliest.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 3, 2021

Meanwhile, search operations are still underway for a missing security personnel.

On ground visuals from the site of Naxal attack at Sukma-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh; 22 security personnel have lost their lives in the attack pic.twitter.com/sVCoyXIRwN  ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2021

According to the latest reports, 32 jawans sustained injuries during the anti-Naxal operation.

7 injured security personnel who were shifted to Raipur are out of danger. 21 personnel are missing & rescue team is searching for them. I received a call from HM Amit Shah. He has sent CRPF DG to the state. I'll return to Chhattisgarh in the evening: Chhattisgarh CM in Guwahati pic.twitter.com/SbPvoj7W5r  ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2021

The ambush took place in the jungles near the border between Bijapur and Sukma districts on Saturday, where security forces numbering over 400 came under attack from the PLGA platoon of the Maoists in Tarrem area, reports state.

The exchange of fire lasted over three hours.

#WATCH | On ground visuals from the site of Naxal attack at Sukma-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh; 22 security personnel have lost their lives in the attack pic.twitter.com/nulO8I2GKn  ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2021

Speaking to the media in Guwahati on the attack, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, A search operation is underway. Both sides have suffered losses. Our jawans have lost their lives. I pay tributes to them. I want to assure their families that their sacrifice will not go in vain.

Shah, who was in Assam for the poll campaign, cut short his visit and returned to the national capital in the wake of the attack to take stock of the situation.

I bow to sacrifices of our brave security personnel martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh. Nation will never forget their valour. My condolences are with their families. We will continue our fight against these enemies of peace & progress: Union Home Minister Amit Shah pic.twitter.com/QzSSsAooPm  ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2021

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also paid tributes to the personnel who have lost their lives in the attack.

"They fought with utmost courage, their sacrifice will never be forgotten. My deepest condolences to their families," Singh said.

Meanwhile, a nation left reeling by the loss of its bravehearts came together on Twitter to pay tribute to the fallen martyrs:

Heartfelt Tributes & Salutations

to the brave jawans who have displayed supreme valour & sacrificed their lives in #Bijapur #Chhattisgarh Naxal attack .



Nation is united against Naxalism

JaiHind #BijapurEncounter pic.twitter.com/TdsgUHXF8p  Sonal Goel IAS (@sonalgoelias) April 4, 2021

Heartfelt tributes to the brave hearts of @crpfindia who sacrificed their lives in the #NaxalAttack in #Chattisgarh !



Prayers for a heavenly abode for the departed & speedy recovery for the injured !#CRPF #Sacrifice #Sukma #SukmaEncounter pic.twitter.com/PbOS68sP2S  RAHUL SRIVASTAV (@upcoprahul) April 4, 2021

Sad

We lost 5 bravehearts in Naxal attack in Chhatisgarh,13 Jawans grievously injured



250 Naxal terrorists attacked security forces column..250 !

Who is providing weapons to them ?

Who is giving them intellectual cover ?

Who fights their cases in court ?



Ans-Traitors of India  Major Surendra Poonia (@MajorPoonia) April 3, 2021

Heart breaking to hear the news of loss of 22 security personnel and injuries to many in the #NaxalAttack in Sukma in Chhattisgarh. Nation is indebted to the jawans who laid down their lives. Naman to the martyrs.  Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 4, 2021

Request to politicians not to play with lives of CRPF Jawans for your Benefit#NaxalAttack  Adnan Khan  (@Kh14245350Adnan) April 4, 2021

Meanwhile, the local police have reportedly recovered bullet-riddled bodies of 17 jawans from the jungles of Chhattisgarh.

The security personnel who were killed in the gunbattle include officers from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), and the District Reserve Guard (DRG).
Imperial Valley News Center

Former Probation Official Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Offenses

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty Monday to multiple counts of receiving child pornography, accessing with intent to view child pornography, and possessing child pornography depicting prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12.

According to court documents, Robert Costello, 53, of Bethlehem, who was employed by the New York City Department of Probation as an assistant commissioner at the time of the offenses in 2020, used an online app to discuss the sexual abuse of children and to receive images of child sexual abuse, and stored images and videos of child sexual abuse on his electronic devices.

Costello is scheduled to be sentenced on July 15, and faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a statutory maximum of 90 years in prison. He also faces mandatory restitution. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas M. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; and Special Agent in Charge Brian A. Michael of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Philadelphia made the announcement.

HSI Philadelphia is investigating the case and received assistance from the Bethlehem Township Police Department.

Trial Attorney Jessica Urban of the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francis Weber and Kelly Harrell of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case.
The Rail and Maritime Transport Union says it is inevitable that New Zealand will eventually stop the importation of phosphate rock mined in the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

It comes after the High Court of New Zealand recently threw out an application for a judicial review into the New Zealand superannuation funds investment into assets connected with mining in the North African nation.

Both Ballance Agri-Nutrients, whose head office is based in Mount Maunganui, and Ravensdown source phosphate rock from the Boucra mine in Western Sahara.

The Polisario Front, representing the indigenous Saharawi people, seek independence and consider ongoing Moroccan rule an invasion of their territory.

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.

A ceasefire, which had been in place since 1991 between the Polisario Front and Morocco, ended in November last year.

The disputed sovereignty has led to the popularisation of the controversial term blood phosphate among activists.

The argument in court was that continued investment from the fund contravened a mandate to avoid potentially prejudicing New Zealands reputation.

The High Court ruled that the Guardians of the superannuation fund have done all they can to minimise any risk to New Zealands reputation by developing policies based on widely accepted international standards to protect the fund from reputational damage.

The Fertiliser Association of New Zealand, of which Ballance and Ravensdown are a part of, acted as an intervener in the case.

They felt the case had no legal merit and suggested the application was a political tactic.

However, the High Court did conclude that a reputational risk to wider New Zealand interests remains and, with reference to that, the RMTU believe an end must be in sight for the importation of what they refer to as blood phosphate.

RMTU National Secretary Wayne Butson says the ongoing importation of blood phosphate is unacceptable and is disappointed the Court dismissed the application for a judicial review.

"However, the Court has sent a clear message by noting blood phosphate imports pose a reputational risk to New Zealands wider interests."

Wayne believes that growing international concern about the plight of the Saharawi people of Western Sahara makes it certain the imports will end.

In 2019, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions passed a resolution condemning Moroccos illegal occupation of Western Sahara and calling upon the New Zealand government to halt importation of phosphates from the area.

The RMTU represents port workers in several New Zealand ports the phosphate is imported into.

As a CTU affiliate, the RMTU has taken a number of actions to raise awareness of the situation in ports.

The RMTU delivered a letter of protest to the captain of the IVS Phoenix, a vessel carrying 56,000 metric tonnes of phosphate rock chartered by Ballance, when it arrived at the Port of Tauranga on February, 27.

The RMTU says its committed to continuing its protest action with the goal of ending the importation of phosphate rock mined in Western Sahara into New Zealand.
Corporate images of SSG.com and W Concept / Korea times file



By Kim Jae-heun



Shinsegae Group's e-commerce firm SSG.com has recently acquired the leading womenswear fashion platform W Concept to beef up its online fashion business.



However, considering that many e-commerce firms including Amazon are struggling to expand their fashion businesses for various reasons, SSG.com does not look it will achieve anything much different from that of its rivals.



The turnover of fashion businesses for local e-commerce firms such as Coupang, Gmarket, Auction and 11STREET is almost 10 percent of the total. This is because fashion brands are hard to manage.



Most e-commerce firms here operate open market platforms where individual dealers sell their products. However, they are not all authentic items, especially when it comes to apparel or clothing of premium and luxury brands.



The world's biggest e-commerce company Amazon also struggles with the fashion business due to the high volume of counterfeit products sold by small traders. The company failed to take stern action against it and in 2019, the world's largest sporting goods maker Nike decided to leave Amazon. This triggered other fashion brands to stop selling their products on Amazon too.



At the same time, established fashion labels do not prefer to sell their products online, especially if they are already doing well offline. Fashion is a field that is very sensitive to trends, and fashion companies do not want to do business with platforms that have no expertise in selling apparel or accessories.



Coupang, the country's most successful e-commerce firm, does not have many fashion brands active on its platform. Both Coupang and Amazon focus on selling daily necessities for their main source of revenue.



However, Shinsegae believes it is different from the e-commerce firms. The retail giant plans to create synergy between its offline and online channel utilizing the W Concept platform.



The shopping mall has its own membership of 5 million customers alone. It sells a number of local fashion brands exclusively while operating its house brand FRONTROW. W Concept has also started selling luxury items and cosmetics recently.



Shinsegae said it will hold onto workers of W Concept and give them access to its own resources. Thus, W Concept will be available to sell its products at Shinsegae Department Stores while making quick deliveries with Shinsegae's logistics service.



Shinsegae has long been importing global fashion brands and targeting customers with purchasing power. Its fashion business focuses on premium and luxury brands.



The takeover of W Concept gave Shinsegae diversified lineups of fashion brands apart from those of designer labels.



"We have secured a number of original Korean designer brands that are favorites of 20s and 30s on W Concept. In addition to high-end fashion brands, we want to be competitive with local label lineups," a Shinsegae official said.



Meanwhile, SSG.com said last Thursday it has acquired full stocks of W Concept owned previously by IMM Private Equity and ISE Commerce. When the Korea Fair Trade Commission approves the merger deal, W Concept will officially be transferred to SSG.com.


PORTLAND, Oregon  Outside Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church Friday night, it was clear how many people felt: never had a Good Friday felt so good.

It's always a blessing to come to the house of the Lord, said Gregory Stewart. I didn't have to be here, but God blessed me.

Fellow church member Catherine Brown agreed.

It's a beautiful day, it's Good Friday, I feel liberated! said Brown. When you see other people that you've been separated from for about a year now, it's just rejoicing.

Before entering the North Portland sanctuary, every guest went through a sanitation booth. Guests planning to attend church on Easter Sunday can expect the same, along with other COVID-19 safety precautions.

People will be happy to be here Sunday, there's no question, said Pastor J.W. Matt Hennessee, "but we have a limit as to how many people will be allowed in the building.

Hennessee said hes thrilled to see his community come together, but takes state health regulations seriously.

Those who come to church, we really do encourage No. 1 to be vaccinated, said Hennessee. No. 2, you have to be distanced; No. 3, recognize youve got to go through the sanitation booth and No. 4, you still have to be willing to wear a face covering.

The holiday weekend comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking people to not let their guard down against COVID-19, warning of a potential fourth wave of the virus. In Oregon, health officials reported that during the week of March 22, the number of cases rose 28% from the week before. Statistics like that have led many faith communities to further postpone in-person gatherings.

We see it as a responsibility in our synagogue to make sure that our congregation is kept safe and the community at large, said Rabbi Michael Cahana of Congregation Beth Israel in Northwest Portland.

Cahana continues to hold virtual gatherings for his synagogue including on Friday night, when they celebrated the last day of Passover. He said he feels a common bond with people of all faiths who are celebrating during this season.

I think we're all giving this message of hopefulness and renewal, said Cahana, That we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

It's a sense of optimism that so many share, whether through a screen or at a social distance.

Appreciate the joy of being alive, said Brown. Being around the people that care about you and that you love.
Bengaluru, April 4 : Taking a stern view of the allegations made during a recent Live session on Facebook and other social media platforms by advocate R. Manjunath, who is representing the victim in the sleaze CD case here, the Karnataka Bar Council has suspended him with immediate effect and issued a show cause notice to him.

On Wednesday, Manjunath had organised a live session on Facebook and other social media platforms, during the course of which he alleged that several lawyers have misused the funds pertaining to the stamps of the welfare fund and damaged the credibility of the Bar Council.

Subsequently, several lawyers complained to the Bar Council about Manjunath's conduct, and demanded action.

In its meeting held on Friday, the Council, under its resolution no. 50/2021 decided to take suo moto action, issue notice against Manjunath, and kept him under suspension with immediate effect, pending enquiry, a statement issued by Karnataka Bar Council Chairman I.Srinivasa Babu read.

The show cause notice issued to Manjunath calls upon him to explain within ten days, why his name should not be removed from the rolls of the Karnataka State Bar Council.

The sleaze CD case erupted in Karnataka more than a month ago, and Ramesh Jarkiholi, the BJP MLA from Gokak, was forced to quit as minister on March 3, after a social activist, Dinesh Kallahalli lodged a police complaint alleging sexual harassment of a woman.

Immediately after he lodged the complaint, video clips purportedly showing their intimate moments surfaced on local News channels as well as social media.
The reason behind this is relatively simple. As the winning side, the Allies managed to get out of the war with a lot of their hardware intact. Not the same can be said about the Axis powers, who not only suffered immense losses during the fighting, but also had to get rid of most of what was left after peace settled in.So finding a Bucker Bu 131 Jungmann not only intact, but also apparently airworthy, is not something that happens every day.The Jungmann was a heavy presence in the life of Luftwaffe pilots as they were getting ready to wage war. The biplane was made in large numbers, with about 5,000 of them rolled out to support the needs of Germany, but also those of most of the countrys allies during the war.The Jungmann may not look impressive on paper, but we all know how talented many of the German pilots turned out to be. The two-seater had a maximum speed lower than what some cars are capable today, 183 kph (114 mph), and had a range of just 650 km (400 miles). Being a trainer, it carried no weapons.The surviving example we have here is located in Switzerland, showing according to the seller on Platinum Fighters just under 2,250 hours of total time since new. The machine seems to still be in working order, but the price for it is only available upon request.
Falun Gong practitioners perform slow-moving exercises at a rally commemorating the 20th anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong in China, on the West Lawn of Capitol Hill on July 18, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Beijing Targets Falun Gong Refugees in US, Tracking Their Whereabouts

NEW YORKChinese authorities are attempting to track down Falun Gong practitioners who fled the regimes persecution by collecting their overseas address and other personal data, a number of adherents told The Epoch Times.

Harassment of the Falun Gong community in China by the Communist Party has been commonplace since the regime began a decades-long eradication campaign against the faith group, subjecting millions to various abuses including torture, imprisonment, forced labor, and even forced organ harvesting. According to its website, Falun Gong is a self-improvement practice rooted in Buddhist traditions. It promotes the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

In the past few weeks, especially around the convening of Chinas politically sensitive Two Sessionsthe regimes most important annual meetingmultiple Falun Gong practitioners in the United States found Chinese police prying for their personal information from their families in China, even obstructing the families normal activities if they refused to comply.

When Ling Jileis parents were selling their house and needed to update Lings place of residence with the local police, the police turned down the routine procedure three times, she said.

The first day, they wouldnt do it. Then they asked for my address and phone number. The next time, they asked me to take a photo with my child along with our IDs, Ling, a Falun Gong practitioner who fled Xinjiang to the United States five years ago, told The Epoch Times.

The local police know me by name, she said. What I am doing, what my job is  which school my child attends. They asked about everything.

Ling is far from the only Chinese person having to live with state monitoring even after having found refuge overseas. Adherents originally from Beijing, Guizhou Province of southwestern China, Guangdong Province in the south, and eastern Shandong Province have reported similar experiences.

Rock Bearing Down on My Heart

The intimidation and monitoring appear to match government instructions seen in a leaked 2015 internal government document from northeastern Liaoning Province, in which officials ordered the comprehensive collection of information about Falun Gong practitioners who had left China, including their Chinese and foreign names, photographs, new identification documents such as green cards, and key details about their families in China.

The document tasked local villages and work units to analyze every individual based on their relations in China and set up customized working plans for the central government authorities approval.

A 2020 document from the standing committee of Chinas rubber-stamp legislature, the National Peoples Congress, showed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to see suppressing Falun Gong as key to its political stability.

Theres never been true rule of law under the CCP, Peng Yongfeng, who was a human rights lawyer before he left China, told The Epoch Times. They have only one ultimate goal: to gather and store as much information as possible from the Chinese communities so as to maximize their control of the populace.

For Lingwho was arrested multiple times for her faith in China, at one point being cuffed to a wooden board and electrocuted by Chinese prison guardsthe police monitoring has rekindled her fears.

It was as if I was back in China that instant, Ling said, recalling how she felt when learning about the incident from her father. That entire night, I felt there was a rock bearing down on my heart. I felt that they could come to arrest me the very next day.

In Xinjiang, Falun Gong practitioners and other ethnic and religious minorities have been placed in internment camps for refusing to renounce their beliefs or to toe the party line. After Ling finished serving time in the labor camp, she still had to report to the local authorities weekly. The police regularly visited or made phone calls to probe about her activities, she said. She said she was lucky to escape overseasshe has a friend, also a Falun Gong practitioner, who was barred from leaving Xinjiang despite holding a U.S. visa.

It gave me the feeling I was being kept in check, she said of the weekly reports to the police station.

A Falun Gong practitioner from Guizhou, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his familys safety, said his hometown village committee recently demanded his birth date, U.S. address, and details about his workplace.

The village officials told his family they were doing a population count. The man, however, left China two decades ago and has not lived in the region for more than 30 years.

Falun Gong practitioner Li Peng from Shandong now lives in New York. She told The Epoch Times that the police in her hometown called her mother insisting to know where she now works and lives, as well as her opinion on China-related issues.

How can the Chinese Communist Party oversee what people think? she said.

What the police demands of Lis family is a testament to the extreme nature of the regimes governance model, Peng said.

Theyre saying that, regardless of whether youre in China or overseas, as long as youre Chinese, youre under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government, she said.

They treat Falun Gong as their enemy because they know whats coming to them when Falun Gongs efforts make people aware of what they are.

Li Xinan contributed to this report.
Good morning. It is Easter today for some, and the last day of Passover for others. In Senegal, it is Independence Day, a celebration of that nations liberation from France in 1960. If a leg of lamb (above) is not on your menu for today, you might look to the Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam for a dinner idea, and to his recipe for chicken yassa in particular. He serves the dish over fonio, but rice or millet would do nicely. And a number of readers have suggested serving the dish with green olives as well.

Thats tonight. On Monday, if youre not eating leftovers from an Easter feast, you should take a look at this marvelous shakshuka with feta, which is a light enough lift that you may have time left over to make some Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins for breakfast the next couple of days. (I like them sliced in half and griddled in butter, with a bloop of plain yogurt on the side.)

Taco Tuesday? I like these picadillo tacos Rachel Wharton learned about from Adan Medrano, a chef and writer whose work focuses on the Mexican-American food he grew up eating in South Texas. Theyre based on the rolled tacos that were served for nearly 70 years at the Malt House in San Antonio, before it was demolished in 2018.

You can take it easy on Wednesday night with a simple five-ingredient creamy miso pasta.

Then ramp back up again on Thursday with this boss recipe for oven-fried chicken that Marian Burros prized out of former Representative Lindy Boggs back in 1985. I like that one with buttermilk-mashed potatoes and, these days, mango coleslaw.
Mia Freedman has opened up about her battle with mental illness and the three strategies she uses to keep it under control.

The businesswoman and digital media entrepreneur credits much of her success to keeping her diagnosed anxiety disorder in check by taking the anti-anxiety drug Lexapro, a strict exercise regime and eight hours' sleep each night.

The 49-year-old knows without the combination of all three, her life could look and feel very different.

'I have anxiety and I treat it each day with Lexapro, which I love,' she said before repeating a rhyme first coined by American author Glennon Doyle.

'Jesus loves me, this I know, because he gave me Lexapro,' Freedman told a crowd of 140 at a women's empowerment luncheon hosted by Entourage Finance in Melbourne.

Mia Freedman has juggled parenting while creating her successful website, Mamamia, and battling anxiety. The Mamamia editorial director was the keynote speaker at a women's empowerment luncheon hosted by Entourage Finance in Melbourne, celebrating the successes of Australian women throughout the Covid pandemic

Mia Freedman in 2015 when she was working as an editor. She says anti-anxiety medication, daily exercise and 8 hours' sleep keeps her mental illness in check

Freedman started to get help for her anxiety after experiencing a nervous breakdown

The Mamamia editorial director was the keynote speaker, celebrating the success of Australian women throughout the Covid pandemic after Entourage Finance found 65 per cent of people they approved to buy houses in 2020 were female.

At 24 years old, Freedman had climbed to the top of her field and was promoted to become the youngest editor of Cosmopolitan magazine.

She has gone on to create her own women's website, Mamamia, has three children and is a published author.

During her speech, Freedman shared her inspiring story of juggling motherhood, her career and her mental health over the years.

When she was 19, Freedman was hired by Lisa Wilkinson as an intern at Dolly magazine.

She rose quickly through the ranks to become a fashion editor at the title before freelancing for a period and then becoming the editor of Cosmopolitan aged 24.

Freedman and Wilkinson maintained a close personal and professional relationship over the years, and Freedman still credits Wilkinson as one of her biggest motivators and inspirations in the industry.

Wilkinson gave birth to her youngest daughter, Billi, in the same week Freedman gave birth to her first son, Luca, and the two children were raised together.

Freedman (right) mingles with some of Australia's most well-known media figures including Lisa Wilkinson (centre) and Jackie O (left)

Freedman with one of her sons when he was going to school

'We always shipped Billie and Luca a little bit to be a couple but it was never to be,' she laughed.

'They're very good friends and both work in the industry too, but they've never dated.'

By 2007, Freedman launched Mamamia, which enables 150 girls around the world to go to school.

She was told that Mamamia was a 'little bit niche' when she first pitched the idea.

While she was fighting to create something unique in the Australian media landscape, she had her children and endured a tragic miscarriage.

Freedman spoke candidly about the difficulties of balancing work and family as a woman and said she relies on Lexapro to get her through daily life.

The drug is also an anti-depressant which helps to balance serotonin levels in the brain but is linked to side effects including mood swings, headaches and a decreased sex drive.

Freedman is the founder, editor and creative director at Mamamia (pictured alongside some of her employees)

Freedman and Wilkinson have maintained a close personal and professional relationship over the years

Freedman congratulated the women in the room before sharing her own inspiring story of juggling motherhood, her career and her mental health over the years. Pictured with her three children and husband

Freedman, pictured with her brother, said her own struggles with body image made her committed to changing how magazines portrayed women

Melbourne-based Freedman first opened up about her anxiety disorder in 2015.

She said years earlier she'd visited a therapist after experiencing abdominal pain, knots in her stomach and an overwhelming sense of 'frantic dread' which felt never ending.

The therapist told Freedman what she was experiencing was a nervous breakdown. It lasted 12 days.

Freedman said the diagnosis made her feel at ease, because at least she had answers.

She said regardless of where her job takes her or how chaotic the days are, she makes time to exercise seven days a week because it has given her respite since that initial panic attack.

'It's a non-negotiable,' she said.

'Its not a punishment, its a sanity-saver.'

During her moving speech, Freedman also touched on her struggles with imposter syndrome - and waged a bet that it was a feeling most women experience at least once in their careers.

Imposter syndrome is characterised as struggling to believe that your own success is deserved or was achieved through personal ability and hard work.

For Freedman, that came as she progressed through the ranks of fashion magazines.

Freedman, pictured with her son, says much of her works is a legacy for her children

Freedman considers much of her work to be a legacy for her children, and is particularly proud of her approach to female empowerment and embracing femininity and women's bodies at every opportunity she could while working at Cosmopolitan.

When preparing her very first magazine cover, Freedman wanted to feature a woman with a realistic body.

She told her fashion editor at the time to find a woman who was a size 14 or 16.

'She was horrified,' Freedman recalled with a shrug.

The woman told her that they'd already fulfilled their quota of women with that body type for the year and that it wouldn't be necessary, but Freedman persisted.

Freedman still credits Wilkinson (far left) as one of her biggest motivators and inspirations in the industry

What is Lexapro? Lexapro is an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drug prescribed to subdue symptoms of the diseases. Side effects include fatigue, nausea, change in sex drive, blurriness, headaches and mood swings. Once a person is prescribed Lexapro, they are urged to take the correct dose and must wean themselves off the medication rather than quit cold turkey. For more information on the benefits and potential side effects of lexapro, consult a healthcare professional. Advertisement

She said women with all body types would feature throughout the magazine in the future, and that they would wear high end, extravagant clothing like the rest of the models rather than the 'cardigans, sensible shoes and slacks' they were limited to up until that point.

'Every week, she came into my office and would give me a new excuse as to why she wouldn't do it,' Freedman recalled.

'And then she quit.'

At the time, designers didn't want their clothes associated with 'bigger girls' and photographers didn't want their names on the images.

'I had no friends in the seven years I was in the fashion industry but I didn't care,' Freedman said.

Freedman said her own struggles with body image made her committed to changing how magazines portrayed women.

'Magazines made me feel terrible about myself,' she said.

'I didn't look like anyone in any of them. Why would you want your audience to feel terrible about themselves when they're consuming your product?'

The decision was a masterstroke, and her detractors eventually quietened when they learned magazine sales were skyrocketing.

Freedman wanted her own children, her daughter in particular, to have positive interactions with female bodies in the media.

'It's so rare as women to look at our bodies and feel nothing. I sometimes still feel fat, old, disparaging... But three babies came out of there, I'm healthy and this is just my stomach,' she said.
NEW HARTFORD, NY (WKTV) - New Hartford Police have charged 44-year-old Dylan Cromp with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Police say Cromp got into a verbal fight with another person at Valley Brook Motel on Seneca Turnpike Saturday afternoon just before 2 pm.

They say Cromp stabbed the other person. That person was taken to the hospital. The injuries are not life threatening.

Police say their investigation revealed both the assailant and the victim are residents of the motel.

Cromp was processed and arraigned at the Centralized Arraignment at the Oneida County Jail.
Hyderabad, April 4 : Telangana Governor, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, on Sunday voiced concern over the spurt in Covid-19 cases in the state and called up Health Minister E. Rajender to enquire about the situation.

Phoning the minister from Puducherry, where she is currently holding an additional charge as Lt Governor, she asked him about the status of the cases and the measures initiated for prevention and treatment.

According to a communique from Raj Bhavan, the minister appraised the Governor of the series of steps like ramping up testing facilities, creating an app to alert and trace the contacts and improving the facilities at the designated Covid-19 treatment hospitals in the state.

Soundararajan has also enquired about the status of large number of patients being put on ventilators in many hospitals. She pointed out that early detection and treatment was vital to avoid further complications.

She appealed to the people to strictly adhere to all the preventive norms like wearing masks, maintaining social distance, not encouraging the public gatherings, and the frequent washing of hands and using sanitisers in order to contain the spread of the pandemic.

The Governor appreciated the Health Department for coming out with an exclusive app to identify and alert all the primary and secondary contacts of the Covid-19 positive patients. The minister explained that the app will help trace the contacts of those who tested positive and help all of them to visit the nearest testing centre to get tested and take the necessary treatment or precautions.

She appealed to all the eligible people to get vaccinated so as to contain the pandemic and utilise the opportunity to get vaccinated at the earliest.

Referring to the surge in summer temperatures, she urged the people to take necessary precautions so as to avoid the sun stroke and other complications.

The Governor is constantly monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic conditions in the state and has been giving necessary advice to effectively contain the spread of pandemic.

She emphasised on the test, trace, and treat formula for the containment of the pandemic and urged all the people to scrupulously adhere to all the preventive norms.
Anthony Fauci has issued a stark warning that the United States could be on the verge of another 'disturbing surge' of Covid-19 cases.

Speaking with CNN's Jim Acosta on Saturday, Fauci said the rising daily cases and easing of restrictions showed the United States was not out of the woods yet.

'Just yesterday, we had over 60,000 new cases in a day. That's disturbing,' Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said.

'That's what happened in Europe, and what is happening, and Europe, for the most part, is going through another disturbing surge.'

As CNN showed live footage of crowds cramming into Times Square in New York, Fauci begged Americans not to drop their guard or take undue risks.

'This is not going to last forever.'

'Double down, just hang in there a bit longer, and the vaccinations of people in this country are going to override the surge of the virus. The vaccine is going to win out.

'It's not going to be easy, I hope we have a degree of success.'

Appearing on Jim Acosta's CNN show on Saturday afternoon, Fauci begged Americans not to let Covid fatigue cause them to take undue risks

Fauci said the US was still at risk of another wave of cases as has been seen in Italy, where a lockdown came into force. Here, officers from the Carabinieri monitor the Coliseum

A graph of Covid-19 cases in the United States shows a worrying climb in cases, with the 7-day average now above 60,000

The number of cases and deaths in the United States has been steadily increasing in recent weeks

Fauci raised the specter of the US having to endure even more lockdown misery as is happening in Europe, where Italy has gone back into lockdown over Easter weekend as authorities try to combat spiraling case numbers.

'There is the danger, Jim, of having a resurgence. And another big surge,' Fauci said.

'So, don't declare, prematurely, victory. Because we're not there yet.'

Fauci said the race was on to get people vaccinated before another surge could take hold.

'And the more people, on a daily basis, you get vaccinated, the better chance you have.

'I plead with you. Don't give back the progress we've all fought so hard to achieve,' Biden said in a brief address.

'We need to finish this job,' he said. 'We need every American to buckle down and keep their guard up in this homestretch.'

Crowds continued to flock to South Beach in Florida on Saturday, even as Spring Break began to wind down

Chicago Cubs fans, many not wearing masks, react during their team's game between the Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field on Saturday in Chicago. The Cubs defeated the Pirates 5-1

The warm spring conditions on Saturday drew large crowds of people to Central Park in New York. The city has reopened cinemas, comedy clubs and music venues at reduced capacity

Last week, CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky warned that she had a 'feeling of impending doom' over the rising U.S. infection rates.

Increasing infections prompted Biden to urge Americans to keep wearing masks and taking other precautions to stop the pandemic that has killed more than 2.8 million people worldwide.

Countries in Europe reporting the most cases and deaths CASES: FRANCE: 38,902 POLAND: 28,721 ITALY: 20,577 GERMANY: 16,344 UKRAINE: 13,466 DEATHS: ITALY: 430 POLAND: 386 RUSSIA: 376 FRANCE: 347 UKRAINE: 293 *Latest 7-day average reported Advertisement

The US has officially vaccinated 100M citizens with one or more dose of COVID-19 shots. Some 40 per cent of the population has had one dose of vaccine.

About 17.5% of Americans are now fully vaccinated against the disease CDC said.

In Europe the rollout has been far slower with only 10 per cent of Europe's total population receiving one vaccine dose, and four per cent receiving two.

Europe has seen delays with vaccine rollout with a production shortage.

A fear of a higher incidence of blood clots with AstraZeneca has led to the halting of vaccinations using that particular brand of jab.

Italy entered a three-day Easter lockdown on Saturday to try to prevent a surge in infections over the religious 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.

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.

All of mainland France is now under a 7pm curfew, with working from home being expected for those than can, gatherings limited, non-essential shops closed and travel restrictions imposed.

The United States reaped the fruits of its vaccination campaign against Covid-19 on Friday with 40 per cent of the population having received their first jab as it became the first nation to reach 100 million people with shots.

But Europe's roll-out has faced fresh obstacles in recent days. Only 10 per cent of Europe's total population, around 75million people, has received one vaccine dose, and four per cent, around 30 million people, have received two, according to the World Health Organization.
What are the steepest streets in San Francisco?

It's a question you've likely been asked a million times by everyone from random tourists in Fisherman's Wharf to your own mother. And if you've dutifully gone to Google to research that question, then you'll likely find the SF Bureau of Engineering's outdated list from the last century.

It looks something like this:

1. Filbert between Leavenworth and Hyde (31.5% grade)

2. 22nd between Church and Vicksburg (31.5% grade)

3. Jones between Union and Filbert (29% grade)

4. Duboce between Buena Vista and Alpine (27.9% grade)

5. Jones between Green and Union (26% grade)

6. Webster between Vallejo and Broadway (26% grade)

7. Duboce between Alpine and Divisadero (25% grade)

8. Jones between Pine and California (24.8 grade)

9. Fillmore between Vallejo and Broadway (24% grade)





But don't be deceived! You'll notice that there are some seemingly very steep streets that are obviously missing from this list. What about Kearny Street just above Broadway, for instance?

We joined forces with Stephen Von Worley, who combined the National Elevation Dataset's data with an Open Street Maps grid, to come up with the real list of San Francisco's steepest streets. You're welcome.





The Real List of the Steepest Streets in San Francisco:

1. Bradford above Tompkins (41% grade)

2. Romolo between Vallejo and Fresno (37.5% grade)

3. Prentiss between Chapman and Powhattan (37% grade)

4. Nevada above Chapman (35% grade)

5. Baden above Mangels (34% grade)

6. Ripley between Peralta and Alabama (31.5% grade)

7. 24th between De Haro and Rhode Island (31.5% grade)

8. Filbert between Hyde and Leavenworth (31.5% grade)

9. 22nd between Vicksburg and Church (31.5% grade)

10. Broadway above Taylor (31% grade)


No Plans to Change Warships Despite PBO Cost Warning, Top Official Says

OTTAWACanadas top military procurement official says there are no plans to change directions on the construction of a fleet of new Navy warships despite a recent warning about escalating costs from Parliaments budget watchdog.

In an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press, Troy Crosby, the assistant deputy minister of materiel at the Department of National Defence, said he remains confident in Ottawas estimated price tag for the 15 vessels.

And he suggested switching things up now to save money would only lead to delays and undercut the Navys ability to protect Canada.

The solution that we have will deliver the equipment that the Navy and Canada require for its surface combatants for the long term, Crosby said. Were going to do the best we can to deliver that in as timely a fashion as possible so the Navy gets the ships it needs.

Crosbys comments come about a month after parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux released a report predicting another multibilliondollar cost increase in what is already the largest military procurement in Canadas history.

While the government says the warships will cost up to $60 billion, Giroux put the figure at more than $77.3 billion.

The vessels were supposed to cost $26 billion when the project to replace the Navys frigates and destroyers was launched in earnest a decade ago.

Despite the parliamentary budget offices demonstrated track record of predicting such costs over the years, Crosby was adamant about the accuracy of the governments current figure, which was set in June 2017.

They use a different model than we do, which is okay, it does provide a comparison, he said. But were confident in the estimates that we wrote.

Crosby also stands by the governments estimates despite recent revelations that the first of the warships, which will be based on the Britishdesigned Type26 model that has yet to be built by any country, wont arrive until at least 2030. That is years later than expected.

Officials previously questioned Girouxs figure, suggesting he put too much emphasis on the ships weight in his calculations and included tax, which they say the government doesnt have to pay.

Crosby also noted the $60billion figure includes contingency funds, adding his confidence in that number is based on having more understanding about the project as it has moved from an abstract idea over the years to a real design.

Weve got far more facts to be able to bring to the cost estimating, he said. Information brought to us by the contractors, and the experience theyve got internationally on the Type26 program, for example, that can all be brought into our own estimating work now.

Giroux and his team also looked at the idea of a hybrid fleet, in which Canada builds three Type26 ships and supplements them with 12 other vessels. That would mimic how the Navy was previously built, with three destroyers and 12 frigates.

To that end, the PBO found that the government could save $40 billion if it built only three Type26 frigates and supplemented them with 12 smaller, less capable Type31s, which is similar to what Britain has decided to do.

Canada could also save $50 billion if it scrapped plans to build any Type26s and went with an entire fleet of Type31s, according to the report, though the PBO noted the Type31 was designed to operate alongside the higherend Type26.

It also found that launching a competition to select a new design could delay delivery of the first ship by four years.

The government has previously said it has no plans to restart the project, while Crosby said a hybrid approach would not meet the needs, would not meet the requirements of the Navy.

One area where Crosby would concede concern was around whether the Halifax shipyard and its counterpart in Vancouver, which is building two Navy support ships alongside several vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard, have enough staff to get the job done.

Potential staffing shortages, as well as the need for more government officials to oversee the shipbuilding projects, were highlighted in a recent report by the federal auditor general.

There isnt sufficient workforce to do all of the work that needs to be done, but thats okay because the work doesnt need to be done today, Crosby said. Its certainly something that we keep an eye on for ourselves as well.

He also suggested some of the projects already underway, most of which are behind schedule, could face further delays as shipyards have been forced to scale back work and otherwise adapt to COVID19.

COVID has caused a challenge in the yards, he said. The full consequences of COVID will be clearer over time.

By Lee Berthiaume
One Offaly county councillor has said there is "deep upset" among lifelong turf savers amid a letter on licencing from Bord na Mona.

Fine Gael councillor Noel Cribbin has been contacted by several local residents and former Bord na Mona staff who all received letters last week from Bord na Mona to say that they are not allowed to cut turf on what Bord na Mona claims as their bogs.

Cllr Cribbin said: "Some of those affected are up to 80 years saving their turf for the family home and are now being told that they are out.

"The people involved are very disappointed with this high handed decision by the Bord and certainly no transition time here. The least the Bord should offer is a reasonable time frame for these 60 families to transition away from burning turf and to change to other forms of home heating.

"I have arranged to organise a Covid compliant meeting with all those who received letters next Wednesday evening, April 7, to discuss the serious issue.

"I will be updating my colleague Charlie Flanagan TD, with the intention of calling a meeting with Bord na Mona to ask them to behave reasonably with the turf cutters involved and not to guillotine a lifelong tradition of turf saving in one fell swoop," Cllr Cribbin concluded.

In the letter to turf cutters, Bord na Mona stated that it owns "approximately 7% of Irish peatlands" and acknowledged that these bogs have been used for milling peat for many years.

The letter added that in 2019, the High Court ruled that peat extraction operations, on bogs over 30 hectares, requires planning permission, adding, "we can confirm that the situation regarding turf cutting will remain the same as it has been since 2019 when we last allowed contractors and licenced operators to cut turf on our land."

It continued: "We are writing to you now, as we are aware that, prior to the 2019 ruling, you were previously granted a licence to extract peat on Bord na Mona lands. The purpose of this letter is to notify you that the company will not be able to grant you any further licence for the purposes of peat extraction on any Bord na Mona land."

Contact information was given to each recipient to discuss the matter further.
Conor McGregor has begun his legal defence of the multi-million euro civil case filed against him in the High Court by a young woman and her mother.

The nature of the allegations made in the women's lawsuits cannot be disclosed at present for legal reasons.

Records exclusively obtained by the Sunday World show McGregor submitted his opening affidavit to the High Court in relation to the older woman's case against him on March 24.

This is the first occasion, bar a memo of appearance, on which documents have been filed in relation to either case by McGregor's legal team.

The contents of the affidavit are sealed until such time as they are opened during proceedings but legal sources say they are likely to contain an unequivocal rejection of the claims made against him.

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The civil case filed by the young woman is a personal injury lawsuit. She is seeking a sum of between 1,475,110 and 1,759,850 in compensation.

A second, smaller claim, also a personal injuries action, has been lodged by the woman's mother.

An associate of McGregor (32) is also named as a co-defendant in the actions, which have been filed in the High Court in Dublin. The UFC fighter and his associate have denied any wrongdoing.

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The matter was previously the subject of an extensive investigation by An Garda Siochana.

However, the Office of the DPP decided no charges should be brought.

In a statement issued after the young woman filed her case last January, McGregor's spokesperson, Karen J Kessler, said McGregor would be fully contesting the woman's claims.

"After an exhaustive investigation conducted by the gardai which, in addition to interviews of the plaintiff, included interviewing numerous sources, obtaining witnesses' statements, examining closed circuit footage and the cooperation of Conor McGregor, these allegations were categorically rejected," she said.

"Mr McGregor will dispute any claims and is confident that justice will prevail."

Asked about the claims, in the run up to his pre-fight press conference ahead of his clash with Dustin Poirier in January, McGregor described the case as 'old news.'

"It's old news, it was investigated thoroughly over the course of two long years and I was cleared of any wrongdoing, and that's it," McGregor said.

Both women suing McGregor are represented by Coleman Legal Partners, a firm which specialises in personal injury, medical negligence and historical abuse cases.

The two women are looking for two separate trials. It is thought each trial would involve several witnesses having to give evidence.

McGregor is being represented by Michael J Staines & Company, one of the country's leading law firms.

One-time plumber's apprentice McGregor is one of the highest paid athletes in the world.

According to business magazine Forbes, he earned 39.6m in the 12 months to May 2020 from winnings and endorsements.

The father-of-two was estimated to be worth 148m by the Sunday Independent 'Rich List' last year when he was riding high on the success of his whiskey brand Proper Twelve, named after the Dublin postcode where he grew up.

He has had a number of scrapes with the law in recent years.

In April 2018, he threw a metal dolly at the window of a moving bus inside Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, injuring a number of fighters who were on the bus. He pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct.

In March 2019, he was arrested in Miami Beach and accused of breaking a man's phone. The case was dropped, as was a lawsuit, after McGregor and the man reached a settlement out of court.

In 2019 he was fined 1,000 by Dublin District Court for punching a man in the face in a pub.

The court heard McGregor had 18 previous convictions, the majority of which were in relation to road traffic offences.

He had a previous assault conviction from 2009 when he was an apprentice plumber.

News of the latest developments in the civil case come just days after McGregor failed in a separate legal action involving a clothing firm over sportswear that bears his name.

He had applied to register his name as a trademark in order to sell clothing in Europe.

This was opposed by the McGregor fashion label, founded by David Doniger almost 100 years ago and now owned by a Dutch company.
The Saturday reduced the 48-hour campaign ban imposed on Assam minister and BJP leader 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 the 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.

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.

In his representation to the on Saturday, Sarma had pleaded to reduce the ban to 24 hours on the ground that he is himself a candidate in the constituency which is scheduled to go for polls on Tuesday.

The EC order said in his representation, Sarma requested the poll panel to "accept my sincere regret and assurance of abiding MCC in future, and, be further pleased to reduce the period of debarment from election campaign from 48 hours to 24 hours".

The EC said after considering his "unconditional apology and assurance/undertaking", it has decided to modify its April 2 order and "reduce the period of debarment from election campaign from 48 hours to 24 hours to the effect that permission may be granted for holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows by the concerned district administration authorities, where you are expected or likely to participate."



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.
Archbishop Eamon Martin has said the dawn of Easter morning marks the promise that pain and suffering can never be allowed to overwhelm us.

The Primate of All Ireland has acknowledged the difficulties of lockdown in his Easter Sunday message.

Archbishop Martin said he is conscious of the victims of the Covid crisis this year.

"We are especially conscious this year of the victims of the Covid crisis, including those who are finding it more and more difficult to cope with lockdown.

"The lonely and bereaved, those who are unable to see or embrace loved ones, those for whom the last year has brought increased financial or business worries, those whose relationships have been under great pressure, those who have found their addictions hard to manage.

"The dawn of Easter morning marks the promise that pain and suffering can never be allowed to overwhelm us or have the last word."

A joint statement from the Archbishops of Armagh said that it has been a tough year since last Easter for many people.

However, they say, people have found ways of making the best of a bad job by helping one another in ways that we havent been used to doing before.

The two archbishops also highlighted who people have shown appreciation and admiration for those we dont usually think about.

They arent sports people, or billionaires or even politicians. They are nurses and delivery drivers and people toiling in cavernous warehouses and food factories for very low wages.
The ongoing probe into the security scare outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house and the alleged murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran has led the NIA to documents that show some payments, suspected to be bribe money, being made to officials in the Mumbai Police and the administration, officials said. They said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is scrutinising the documents unearthed during a raid Thursday on a club at Girgaum in South Mumbai to probe further the role of now-suspended police officer Sachin Waze, who is in the custody of the National Investigation Agency till April 7.

One of the documents shows the name of the office as well as officers by designation and there was an amount mentioned against their names, and the same had been tabulated month-wise, the officials said.

The officials suspect that the amounts mentioned against office and officers could be the bribe money paid every month.

Before sharing further details, the NIA is likely to seek an explanation from the club-owner and others about the documents.

The officials said that if needed the documents would be shared with Income Tax or CBI authorities for further probe as the NIA is mandated to probe anti-terror cases only.

They said the club was frequented by Waze who had even got Naresh Gor and co-accused Vinayak Shinde employed there. Both of them are in the NIA custody at present.

The NIA had Thursday also recovered documents pertaining to SIM cards procured through Gor for his personal use. Gor is alleged to have procured the SIM cards from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and these were handed over to Waze through Shinde, the officials said.

One of these SIM cards was used by Waze to give a call to Hiran, which turned out to be the last call before the businessman was killed.

The body of Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV used in the security scare incident, was found in a creek in the Mumbra town of the neighbouring Thane district on March 5.

Hiran was allegedly killed by Waze after reports started surfacing that the case may be handed over to the central agency for probe. Initial investigations suggested that Hiran was called to a place where he was made unconscious with the help of some drugs before being smothered to death.

His vehicle was found outside Ambani's house in Mumbai on February 25 with gelatin sticks and a threat note.

The NIA has said in the court that Waze had taken the car from Hiran before allegedly planting the explosives and parking it outside Ambani's house on February 25.

Waze was arrested on March 15 by the NIA and is at present in the custody of the agency till April 7.

The Maharashtra ATS, which was initially probing the Hiran murder case, had arrested Gor and Shinde. This case was also taken over by the NIA and the duo are in the custody of the agency till April 10.

Also Read: Ambani bomb scare: Sachin Waze to remain in NIA custody till Apr 7
The sorties began on Saturday night in parts of the restive Arghandab district, Xinhua news agency quoted the provincial police spokesman as saying.

Kabul, April 4 (IANS) At least 82 militants have been confirmed dead as warplanes pounded Taliban hideouts and positions in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, the former stronghold of the militant group, a top police official said on Sunday.

Besides killing 82 armed insurgents including Taliban's key commander Sarhadi, two tanks and several vehicles of the insurgents have also been destroyed, the spokesman said.

Without hinting at possible casualties of the security personnel, he said the clean-up operations backed by warplanes were still continuing in parts of the troubled district.

Taliban militants who are active in parts of Kandahar province are yet to comment on the airstrikes.

--IANS

ksk/
A resident receives nucleic acid testing for COVID-19 at Mengmao Village of Mengmao Township, Ruili City, southwest China's Yunnan Province, March 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

The Chinese mainland on Saturday reported 10 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, all of which were in Yunnan Province, the National Health Commission said Sunday.

A total of 11 new imported COVID-19 cases were reported on Saturday, said the commission in its daily report.

Two new suspected cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported in Shanghai, but no new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported, it added.

Nine COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals following their recovery on Saturday, said the report.

A total of 5,335 imported cases had been reported on the mainland by the end of Saturday. Among them, 5,154 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 181 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 90,273 by Saturday, including 215 patients still receiving treatment, two of whom were in severe condition.

As of Saturday, 85,422 patients had been discharged following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died as a result of the virus.

There were three suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland on Saturday.

Saturday also saw 18 asymptomatic cases newly reported, including one in Yunnan Province and 17 arriving from outside the mainland. On the same day, four asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases.

A total of 299 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation on Saturday.

By the end of Saturday, 11,501 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 205 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 48 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 1,045 cases, including 10 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan.

A total of 11,133 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, while 48 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 992 had been discharged in Taiwan.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2021) Eritrea has started withdrawing its troops from the northern restive Ethiopian region of Tigray, in accordance with an agreement reached by the two countries on March 26, the Foreign Ministry of Ethiopia said in a statement.

"As announced last week, the Eritrean troops who had crossed the border when provoked by the TPLF [Tigray People's Liberation Front] have now started to evacuate and the Ethiopian National Defense Force has taken over guarding the national border," the ministerial statement, published late on Saturday, said.

The Ethiopian armed forces launched a military operation in Tigray this past November after the government in Addis Ababa accused the TPLF, the then-ruling party in the region, of attacking a military base.

Later in the same month, Ethiopian troops ousted the TPLF from the regional capital of Mekelle.

In late 2020, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said that Eritrea, which was technically at war with Ethiopia until 2018, had sent troops across the border in support of Ethiopian government forces.

Thousands of people reportedly died in the Tigray conflict and there is a lack of food and other essentials in the region. The November hostilities also forced over 60,000 Ethiopians to flee to neighboring Sudan.
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.
One of Jesuss last acts before his crucifixion was the incident we know as the cleansing of the temple, when he thew the money changers out of the Temple in Jerusalem for defiling Gods house. That image came inexorably to my mind when I saw the video of a Canadian pastor, through sheer force of will, sending eight COVID cops, many of them armed, out of the church.

Visually, the video is simple but compelling. The church is on the second story of a building with a stairway leading directly from the front door up to the place where the congregation assembles. A masked female spokeswoman has climbed all the stairs. Behind her are seven police officers, in uniform, and all heavily armed with guns, cuffs, safety vests, and the ubiquitous and useless cheap paper masks.

The woman is trying to speak but there is a voice from behind the camera that thunders Get out! No matter what she says, he tells her some variation of Out! And dont come back unless you have a warrant. The police stand quietly watching their spokeswoman as she is repeatedly prevented from saying her COVID shtick.

Every time the woman tries to speak, the man is clear. I dont want to hear anything. Out of this property immediately. I dont want to hear a word. Out! Out!

He doesnt get physical. He doesnt threaten her. He doesnt waste too many words. She backs down a step. And she backs down another step. And the policeman who climbed the stairs with her starts backing down too.

When they move too slowly for him, the man begins to call them Nazis and Gestapo. Now, normally, Im opposed to the operation of Godwins law which holds that, sooner or later, every argument devolves into one side calling the other something to do with the Nazis. (The law is directed at internet arguments, but it applies generally to the world today.) However, what we see in the video is heavily armed police invading a house of worship during Holy Week. Moreover, theyre doing so as part of a year-long complete denial of civil liberties. What makes the loss of civil liberties even more serious is that the experiences of Florida versus New York, and of schools demanding masks versus those that do not, show theres no serious evidence that masks make a difference.

My suspicion is that the masks worsen things because people keep handling them. What really matters is that people wash their hands more and keep them away from their faces  the same as always when dealing with a virus.

But back to that man. Eventually, the police sheepishly retire, completely bested by his refusal to be intimated. In the second video, the man, tells everyone watching that all free people must stand against this tyranny. He describes how Germany has completely given itself over to the vaccine passport madness and says that, if Canadians dont fight back, the same will happen there. He knows he may get arrested (indeed, in Canada, will probably get arrested), but he's willing to take a stand nevertheless.

Will it surprise you to learn that this brave man is Polish? It didnt surprise me. Artur Pawlowski, the Pastor of the Cave of Adullam Church in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is clearly old enough to have lived under the Soviet Unions totalitarian occupation. He knows what ascendent socialism looks like and its not pretty.

Watching Pawlowski, I had to wonder if he was inspired by Jesuss courage in ejecting the money changers from the temple. He knows that he has to answer to someone higher than Justin Trudeau.

As for the rest of us, the window of time within which we can act with courage and integrity (and, youll note, without violence or threats) is closing fast. If we wait too long, all action will be illegal.

IMAGE: The police retreat. Twitter screengrab.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
BRIDGEPORT  The city is seeking an advantage in the debate over which airport  Bridgeports Sikorsky or New Havens Tweed  should receive state support and, more importantly, state and federal investment to expand post-coronavirus pandemic services and flights.

Mayor Joe Ganims administration and a pair of Sikorskys tenants are moving ahead with commissioning a $47,000 study of the airports potential by the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut.

Fred Carstensen, the centers director, told Hearst Connecticut Media this week that scrutinizing whether Sikorsky or Tweed is better situated for increased air travel is not officially part of our remit. But, he acknowledged, Its inherently in the background.

That is thanks to Gov. Ned Lamont. In the fall of 2019  about six months before the global coronavirus crisis struck Connecticut  Lamont unveiled a transportation initiative that essentially set up a competition between Sikorsky and Tweed.

I want to make up our mind on this this year so we can get going, Lamont told Hearst Connecticut Media during a visit to Bridgeport in February 2020. That was just over a month before his and his staffs attention turned to battling the spread of COVID-19, which included temporarily shuttering the economy and limiting travel to keep the public home.

Sikorsky Manager Michelle Muoio on Tuesday told a joint teleconference of the Bridgeport City Councils transportation and economic development committees, Im not sure where that effort (Lamonts review of the airports) is now, but with COVID its not likely in the highest list of priorities.

Muoio went before the council committees seeking support to spend $7,000 on the UCONN centers economic analysis of Sikorsky. She said her two largest tenants  Atlantic Aviation and Three Wing Aviation  would split the $40,000 balance.

Muoio told committee members, who ultimately approved the $7,000, the primary goal is to show what the city, region and Connecticut can get out of the airport if additional investment was made. What kind of additional value could we bring?

She said the decision was in part inspired by the idea that was initially proposed by the governors office in their transportation plan ... to evaluate what would be the better investment between Tweed and Sikorsky.

Certainly I can tout the airport and our proximity to Fairfield County and the city (Bridgeport) being the most populous in Connecticut, Muoio said. But it would be very helpful for this independent resource and expert entity to take that a little further so the city has data to base decisions on.

David Lehman, Lamonts economic development commissioner, on Thursday said the administration was aware of Bridgeports effort to engage Carstensen and his staff and very interested in seeing the eventual findings.

Lehman said while the pandemic has significantly impacted air traffic at regional and large airports, the Lamont administration is still a big believer in the importance of convenient flights to and out of the southern and southwestern region of the state.

Both at Tweed and Sikorsky youve seen incremental movement thinking about the future, he said. Is there the possibility of having multiple viable airports? I think more work needs to be done on that. ... Were continuing to stay close to both airports and ask for and receive more information on what (they) could ultimately look like.

The Ganim administration, after having initially considered trying to sell Stratford-based Sikorsky because it operates at a $500,000 annual deficit, has over the last few years instead focused on returning regular passenger service there. Currently private planes and charters use the two runways.

I definitely see that we could bring back commercial service, Muoio told the two council committees Tuesday, suggesting low cost family and business travel to Washington D.C., Florida and the Midwest.

Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

That goal is outlined in a new Sikorsky master plan recently submitted to and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. Tweed, meanwhile, has its own master plan pending before the FAA to likewise position that facility for future growth.

Tweed in 2019 won a decision in the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, saying a 2009 state law limiting the size of the runways is unenforceable and opening up a path for the airport to expand on its own terms.

Lehman emphasized the importance of engaging the private sector to make sure folks that are perhaps more involved in the industry agree this is a good investment. ... The state plays a role there, but its important the private sector is also at the table.

Ganim and his aides in 2019 hoped to lure a new airline established by JetBlue founder David Neeleman of New Canaan to build a new terminal at Sikorsky. But the FAA-required runway upgrades could not be done in time to seal that deal.

Muoio told the council committees that the UCONN centers analysis might open up other doors, other financial opportunities.

Tweed is similarly aiming for an unidentified private investor to fund its proposed new terminal.

Councilwoman Maria Pereira, who has argued most Bridgeport residents dont care about Sikorsky, questioned whether the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis work would be objective given Bridgeport and two tenants are paying for it.

Are they cherry-picking data and numbers that will reflect the outcome they want the study to produce? Pereira asked Muoio.

Its a legitimate question, Carstensen, who was not part of Tuesdays teleconference, told Hearst Wednesday. He said it is not uncommon for such concerns about bias to be raised, and defended the centers work as entirely transparent and fully replicable.

Carstensen said on occasion the center has had to tell overly optimistic clients we dont think you have a good case because weve run the numbers. You cant make the case you think you could. But, he added, Thats relatively rare because, in most cases, people have a fairly good sense of what the upside potential is.

3 1 of 3 Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3





The UCONN center has previously produced reports on both Sikorsky in 1998 and 2007, and Tweed in 1999 and in 2002.

We have a lot of experience looking at airports, Carstensen said.

He was also upfront that he believes in the role of Connecticuts airports to improve our economic performance, which has been absolutely dismal. ... Its a really important issue.

Robert Christoph, Jr. and his father are the owners of Three Wing Aviation. They are also the developers for much of the harborfront along Bridgeports East Side  the Steelpointe Harbor project  and East End near Stratfords border.

This (study) is an idea of ours and the airport to move this asset forward, Christoph said Thursday. Its a great piece of infrastructure for Bridgeport and Stratford. I just want to see it continue to grow (and) hit its true potential.

State Rep. Joseph Gresko, D-Stratford, is an aide to Ganim but also represents the Lordship section of Stratford, some of whose residents over the years have been opposed to additional growth at Sikorsky. Similarly people living near Tweed harbor reservations about talk of expansion there.

Its a valid concern by the people that live down there, Gresko said of Lordship. However he believes such opposition has quieted down in part because of technological advancements that help reduce plane noise.

And Bridgeport a few years ago agreed not to extend Sikorskys runways, Gresko noted.

Gresko said he will be keeping a close eye on Carstensens economic study. He understands the need to get the airport out of the red but is also looking for any related impact on traffic and the environment.

Commercial service to me is there might be four, six flights out of there a day, he said. Its not going to be something thats going to turn into even Westchester (Airport in New York), I dont think.
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australians were celebrating Easter Sunday in a relatively unrestricted manner as the country reported no new locally acquired coronavirus cases.

Queensland, the epicentre of a recent, small COVID-19 community outbreak, has had only one infection in the past three days. The state has the tightest restrictions on public gatherings.

Elsewhere, Australians flocked to the beaches, capitalising on the warm weather in many parts of the country, or gathered with families, in a stark contrast to last year's Easter when a nationwide lockdown kept people confined to their homes.

While many countries have imposed fresh lockdowns or curtailed services for the major Christian holiday trying to keep the third wave of coronavirus from further spreading, Australia's churches were open and many were attending services during the four-day weekend.

Christianity is the dominant religion in Australia, with 12 million people, and 86% of religious Australians, identifying as Christians, according to the 2016 census.

Australia has been one of the world's most successful countries in curbing the pandemic, with snap lockdowns, border closures and swift tracking limiting coronavirus infections to just over 29,300 infections, with 909 COVID-19 deaths.

The country has had much less, however, with its inoculation drive, missing a March target by about 3.3 million doses as states and the federal government bickered over the blame.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday that the country is on track to give a first dose of the vaccine to all Australians who want it by October.

"As the supply has increased with the sovereign vaccine manufacturing, so has the rollout," he said.

CSL Ltd. began production of 50 million doses of the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in March in Melbourne, with most Australians expected to receive that shot.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by William Mallard)
Anti-coup demonstrators in Myanmar decorated boiled eggs on Easter Sunday in the latest protest against the country's military junta.

Myanmar has been gripped by turmoil since a February 1 coup ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Security forces have sought to quell a mass uprising with lethal force, with the death toll reaching 557 as of Saturday, according to local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

To coincide with Easter Sunday, scores of Myanmar protesters decorated eggs with political messages and left them on neighbor's doorsteps and hanging in bags on front gates.

Pictures posted on social media showed eggs adorned with Suu Kyi's likeness and three-finger salutes -- a symbol of the resistance -- while others said "save our people" and "democracy."

"I am Buddhist but I have joined this campaign because it is easy to get hold of eggs. I spent almost one hour decorating my eggs," one Yangon based egg decorator told AFP.

"I am praying for Myanmar's current situation to get back to democracy."

One Facebook group promoting the egg protest urged people to be respectful of Christian traditions on Easter Sunday.

Myanmar's most senior Catholic, Cardinal Charles Bo, posted an Easter message on Twitter: "Jesus has risen: Hallelujah - Myanmar will rise again!"

Early bird protesters also hit the streets of Mandalay Sunday, some carrying flags and riding motorbikes.

Their demonstration came after four protesters were killed Saturday in the cities of Bago and Monywa.

In Pyay Town in the Bago region, people plastered photos of Myanmar children killed since early February on the town's billboard sign and on fences around neighborhoods.

A 30-year-old protester was killed in the early hours of Sunday morning in a small town in Kachin state.

"They shot him at the road side. He was wounded and died later. They took away his dead body this morning at 6 a.m.," an eye witness told AFP.

The military junta insists security forces are "exercising utmost restraint," as they deal with the protests, state-run newspaper Myawady reported Sunday.

While foreign companies have faced growing calls to sever ties with the junta, French energy giant Total announced Sunday it will not halt gas production in coup-hit Myanmar.

Chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said Total has a duty to stay the course.

"Can a company like Total decide to cut off the electricity supply to millions of people -- and in so doing, disrupt the operation of hospitals, businesses?" he told the Journal du Dimanche.

Pouyanne said he was "outraged by the repression" in Myanmar but would refuse to "act to the detriment of our local employees and the Burmese population who are already suffering so much."

Italian fashion brand Benetton and Swedish retailer H&M have suspended all new orders from Myanmar, while French power group EDF halted its activities, including a $1.5-billion project to build a hydroelectric dam.

Unrest -- supported by a widespread strike by civil servants -- has crippled Myanmar's economy, leaving gas exports as one of the junta's main sources of revenue.

The military-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise has partnerships with Total and US rival Chevron and generates annual revenues of around $1 billion from the sale of natural gas.

Total paid about $230 million to the Myanmar authorities in 2019 and $176 million in 2020 in taxes and "production rights," according to the company's financial statements.

The company has not yet paid taxes -- worth around $4 million per month -- to the junta because the banking system has ceased to operate, Pouyanne said.

But he said Total rejected calls to put the taxes into an escrow account, saying it could put local managers at risk of arrest or imprisonment.

At least 2,658 civilians are in detention across the country, according to AAPP.

This weekend, Myanmar authorities issued arrest warrants for 40 celebrities -- most of whom are in hiding.

Two sisters -- Shine Ya Da Na Pyo and Nay Zar Chi Shine -- who spoke with a CNN correspondent on Friday were also detained, along with another relative.

Local media reported they had flashed a three-finger salute -- a symbol of opposition to the junta -- while speaking to CNN.

"We are pressing the authorities for information on this, and for the safe release of any detainees," a CNN spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, ten rebel groups held online talks Saturday about Myanmar's crisis, fanning fears that a broader conflict could erupt in a country long plagued by fighting between the military and the ethnic armies.

The country's 20 odd ethnic armed groups control large areas of territory, mostly in border regions.

Last week, the junta declared a month-long ceasefire with ethnic armed groups.

This article was from Agence France Presse and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
Ever since 2016, when Ross Poldark engaged in a spot of topless scything in episode three of BBC Ones tale of feuding Cornish folk, the actor who played him, Aidan Turner, has suffered feverish speculation over his love life.

Those perfect pecs. Those rippling biceps. That manly rug of chest hair. Not to mention a six-pack that would be the envy of Brad Pitt in his prime.

Which superwoman was going to persuade this specimen to put a ring on her finger?

Well, now we know. Shes a willowy blonde American actress called Caitlin FitzGerald. It emerged last week that Caitlin and the Irish heart-throb, both 37, tied the knot in secret in Italy.

A few days after the ceremony, the newlyweds were pictured on a romantic dinner date in Rome.

Aidan Turner's new wife is American actress Caitlin FitzGerald whose family is drenched in scandal, politics and intrigue

Due to Covid restrictions, only the grooms parents were present, which prompts the question: who exactly is this beauty?

The answer, it turns out, is a very interesting creature. FitzGeralds grandfather is the late Des FitzGerald, a deputy director of the CIA, who spent years trying to assassinate Fidel Castro with everything from a poisoned pen to a diving suit infected with toxic fungi.

Grandfather Dess first wife, Marietta Peabody, was a bed-hopping beauty who had affairs with director John Huston and U.S. presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson before leaving her husband to marry a British MP, who loaned his grand stately home to Winston Churchill during World War II.

Dess second wife, Barbara Green, was to become Caitlins grandmother. Barbara was a British actress who appeared in Blind Mans Bluff with James Mason in 1936 before becoming a Red Cross nurse during the war.

But while Caitlins family is drenched in scandal, politics and intrigue, Turner is a more salt-of-the-earth proposition.

Raised on a housing estate in Dublin, his father Pat is an electrician and his mother Eileen an accountant who once kept the books at the local carpet store.

Money was so tight growing up that he had to abandon his first love, ballroom dancing, as his parents couldnt afford for him to travel to competitions.

Such scrimping is wholly alien to the FitzGeralds.

Caitlins father Des made millions in smoked fish. Her mother Pam Allen  who split from Des when Caitlin was a child  is a knitwear designer and journalist.

The key figure in the family, however, is Des Sr  Caitlins grandfather. In 1962, Des Sr was made chief of the Cuban Task Force, the body charged by President John Kennedy with killing Fidel Castro.

The U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba had ended in humiliation at the Bay of Pigs a year earlier and the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in 1962.

Dizzy Fitz, as Des was known, had a fertile imagination  when it came to taking out dictators. As head of the CIAs Far East division, he plotted to immobilise communist supporter President Sukarno of Indonesia, by infecting him with venereal disease via an air hostess.

Retired Colonel W Thomas Smith, author of the Encyclopedia Of The Central Intelligence Agency, said of him: He had the grace and manners of a courtier and the imagination of a Renaissance soldier . . . Had FitzGerald lived beyond 57, he may have risen to the Agencys top post.

On his Castro mission, Fitzgerald answered to a committee called SGA chaired by the presidents brother Robert Kennedy, who wasnt an easy boss.

And so Dizzys plots grew ever more outlandish.

A few days after the ceremony, the newlyweds were pictured on a romantic dinner date in Rome

That said, the bar had been set high before FitzGerald took over. One plan involved giving the dictator Cohiba cigars dusted with the deadly botulinum toxin.

Under FitzGerald, however, the zaniness of the plots was ramped up. One brainwave involved giving Castro, a keen scuba diver, a wetsuit impregnated with toxic fungal spores, and breathing apparatus infected with tuberculosis.

This ensemble was to be delivered by a lawyer negotiating the return of Bay of Pigs prisoners but, after concluding America would be blamed, the plan was dropped.

Dizzys finest hour involved Rolando Cubela, a Cuban army officer and one-time comrade of Castro who had turned on him.

FitzGerald met Cubela in Paris on November 22, 1963, to hand over a hollowed-out ballpoint pen containing a syringe so fine that Castro would feel almost nothing as it delivered a fatal dose of Black Leaf 40, a nicotine-based insecticide. But November 22 was the day President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Kennedys successor Lyndon Johnson did not share JFKs appetite for Cold War dirty tricks and the plots were abandoned.

FitzGerald complained the U.S. missed its chance to get Castro. If Kennedy had lived, he grumbled in 1964, we would have gotten rid of Castro by Christmas.

By then his marriage to Peabody was long over.

The dashing Harvard-educated Wall Street lawyer had married this leggy blonde intellectual in September 1939 and they went on to have a daughter, Frances.

Caitlin FitzGerald's grandfather is Des FitzGerald, a deputy director of the CIA, who spent years trying to assassinate Fidel Castro (pictured)

By the end of the war she was deeply in love with John Huston, then riding high on the back of the success of The Maltese Falcon, and wanted out of her marriage.

While getting divorced, however, Marietta met Anglo-American politician Ronald Tree. The grandson of retail magnate Marshall Field  who left $3.5 billion in todays money when he died in 1906  Tree owned Ditchley Park, a country house in Oxfordshire.

Ronald and Marietta married in 1947 but their union was unsuccessful. She found country life boring and, in 1949, left for New York, where she was later joined by her husband. In the Big Apple, she had a 13-year affair with the presidential hopeful Adlai Stevenson.

Fortunately, Ronald didnt mind as he was bisexual and their marriage had become an amicable estrangement. The three of them would holiday together in Barbados, where Ronald went on to set up the Sandy Lane resort.

Meanwhile, Desmond married Barbara (who died in 1973, six years after him). They had two children: daughter Joan and Desmond Jr, Caitlins father. Des Jr did not pick up the family bug for international affairs. After studying biology at Harvard, he moved to Lincolnville, Maine, and made a fortune from fish farming.

His daughter showed a passion for acting from a young age and went to the prestigious Tisch School Of The Arts in New York before crossing the Atlantic to hone her skills at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

While she played Meryl Streeps daughter in the 2009 film Its Complicated, her break came when she got the role of the wife of sex researcher William Masters in the TV drama series Masters Of Sex.

She was romantically linked to screen husband Michael Sheen after they were seen at a concert in 2018, but it seems they have only ever been friends. By this point, Sheen was with his now ex Aisling Bea and Caitlin was with Turner.

She seldom discusses her family but told one interviewer: My grandfather died when my dad was 15. He was deputy director of the CIA then, so my dads memories are of life in [Washington] DC.

I dont know that much about family history. But I do know my grandfathers prized heirloom is a backgammon set. Were all backgammon players.

How appropriate that the FitzGeralds should be fans of a game in high stakes  and what a fascinating clan for Poldark star Aidan to have joined.
A teenager was arrested Friday for a random attack on an Asian couple in November, after footage of the attack resurfaced online and was seen on the news by the victims' daughter.

The attack took place on November 19, 2020 in the late afternoon, in Tacoma, Washington - a suburb of Seattle.

The attack began when the suspect intentionally bumped into the male victim as the couple was walking home, court documents allege.

The suspect, who has not been named by police, then allegedly began punching the male victim, ultimately breaking one of his ribs.

The incident was reported to police at the time, but footage of the attack only emerged online recently, KING 5 reports.

The daughter of the victims called police after seeing the footage shown on the news.

A teen is under arrest over the November assault of an Asian couple

The suspect, who is 15 years old now but was only 14 at the time of the assault, was identified with the help of tips from the community, police said.

The minor faces a second-degree assault charge and his first court appearance was scheduled for Friday. He has not been charged with a hate crime at this time.

The initial report alleged that there were two young Black suspects, though only one person was arrested on Friday.

No motive has been given in the attack.

According to KOMO News, the suspect had a detention hearing scheduled for Friday on an unrelated robbery charge, which is where he was taken into custody.

In an interview with KIRO 7, the male victim said 'I just dont understand why I was attacked'.

The victim also expressed forgiveness to his attacker and asked him to grow from the incident.

The arrest comes amid an increase in anti-Asian violence in the United States.

Last month, six Asian women were among eight people killed during a series of mass shootings in the Atlanta area.

A different motive than hate has been provided in the case, but investigators are still looking at the possibility of a hate crime.

In the video, the suspect can be seen punching an Asian man, leaving him with a broken rib

The suspect in the case has not yet been charged with a hate crime in the incident

Earlier this week, a man was charged with a hate crime in New York City after kicking an elderly Asian women to the ground, then repeatedly kicking her as onlookers watched.

Brandon Elliot was charged with two charges of second-degree assault as a hate crime and one count of first-degree attempted assault as a hate crime.

A spike in hate crimes against Asian-Americans has been reported since March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic prompted shutdowns.

Much of the anti-Asian sentiment has been attributed to inflammatory language about the Covid-19 pandemic, which was dubbed the "China virus" by former president Donald Trump.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday ordered a review of how the Justice Department can best deploy its resources to combat hate crimes during a surge in incidents targeting Asian-Americans.

Garland issued a department-wide memo announcing the 30-day review, citing the 'recent rise in hate crimes and hate incidents, particularly the disturbing trend in reports of violence against members of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community since the start of the pandemic.'

Joe Biden announced recently that $49.5 million from COVID-19 relief funds would go towards programs that help victims of anti-Asian violence.
In a column that ought to give anyone the willies, Axios co-founder Mike Allen sent out this headline, via email, yesterday (no found link):

1 big thing: CEOs, the new lawmakers

...with this in the fill:

American CEOs, forced into politics by cultural trends and staff demands in recent years, are hitting a new phase  actual lawmakers and rule-shapers, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei writes. Why it matters: Every CEO has been hit by the radical transformation of what the country demands of its corporations. And with each controversy comes CEOS scrambling, sometimes clumsily, to handle a power many would rather not have. It's not just Georgia: Corporate America is under growing pressure to put its muscle behind voting rights around the country, Axios' Courtenay Brown and Sara Fischer write.

And this additional commentary, too:

Between the lines: Employees and customers are increasingly looking to corporations to take on a bigger role in social and political issues. Many of them have leaned into that role  and gotten results.

I can't find an actual item from Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei cited by Allen, just the corporate-cheerleading piece by the two Axios writers, but the message is clear as day: We are no longer a democracy capable of choosing our own leaders, we now have rulers, from CEOs of giant corporations, and we don't get a say.

Which, frankly, is disturbing as hell, particularly coming from these guys, with Allen writing this like it's a good thing.

Once upon a time, the far-left used to decry "giant corporations." Today, the giant corporations are all woke, and therefore, according to Axios, our rulers. Never mind elections. Apparently, we can't even boycott them, presumably because they are too big and ominiscent. One thing is for sure right now, yes, they now seem to have power. And it's quite possibly becoming the state.

Which needs so much picking apart it's incredible. Both Allen and VandeHei are very smart guys, and Allen, whom I once shared a panel with, is very nice. But this analysis I see about this being a good thing, or maybe just a trend, has absolutely got to go.

Point number one: A nation of unelected corporate rulers is nothing new. It ought to scare the hell out of anyone who knows anything about history, particularly the history of Italy, Spain or Latin America, where CEOs, too, became the rulers.

It's called the corporate state. Argentina, Mexico, El Salvador, Italy, Spain, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Brazil in one way or another had it up the wazoo. It's sometimes called mercantilism. In Spain and Italy, it was called 'fascism.'

Are we cheering fascism now? Is this the new normal? Like Peronist Argentina, which worked out so well for them? Like Mussolini's Italy? Once upon a time fascism was a bad thing. We fought a war over it. But guess what? Time has passed and wokesters have taken over. All those soldiers and home fighters in the war effort back home, were, according to wokesters, racists, and now need to be erased from history. All that's left is fascism, then. See how this works?

The great Argentine economist Jorge E. Bustamante, author of "La Republica Corporativa" (unfortunately, still no translation into English but it was a best-seller) sat me down in Buenos Aires, no less, in 2002, and explained to me what this was all about. I am not going to try to parse my memory based on the time passed, but I found a tantalizing 1994 summary of his thinking at this ProQuest academic website here:

In focusing on democracy, human rights, and free, open markets, U.S. policy in the Western Hemisphere is on the right course. But the narrower emphasis on economic reform and privatization may lead us to omit a key and necessary ingredient in the Latin American reform process: the need to deregulate and dismantle the pervasive corporative system that serves as a barrier to both economic and political reform throughout the area. The immense, bloated, often corrupt public sector bureaucracies in Latin America, especially the state-owned corporations, surely need to be modernized, rationalized, greatly reduced in size, and privatized. But the freeing up of these historically mercantilist economies, although essential, is only one part of a much larger problem of statism in Latin America. A mercantilist economy is one side of the equation; the other side is state or corporatist control over virtually all social and interest groups as well. In Latin America, a state-run economy has gone hand-in-hand with a corporatist political system; both of these need to be changed if Latin America is to break out of its historic doldrums and underdevelopment. Most Americans, including policy-makers, have little clear understanding of corporatism and the corporative tradition in Latin America. The U.S. tradition has been so thoroughly liberal (free associations), Lockean, and pluralist that we have difficulty understanding a historical system cast in other molds. But the fact is that, even with all the welcome democratizing and free-market reforms in Latin America in recent years, the countries of the area still retain many features of their corporative past.

Which sounds a lot like the America of Joe Biden and all his corporatist oligarchs. Bustamante wrote much about the interaction between special interest activist groups and big corporations, and explained to me how they all were closely linked to the state, all taking state money and licenses -- in Argentina there was even a beggar's union, and operating on state terms. The activists pressured the corporates on behalf of the state and the corporates influenced the rulers, and the circle continued.

Now we have a textbook example of that in the CEO of Delta who first helped craft Georgia's election integrity law and then after pressure from Joe Biden, loudly renounced the law as 'un-acceptable' and 'based on a lie,' refering to voter fraud in Georgia, which was a phony leftist narrative claim that Biden himself has a personal interest in perpetrating, given the skeevy circumstances of his "election" to power. Worse still, in this case, this CEO knew it. But he's part of the corporate state now and its need to perpetrate its permanent power.

And he's our 'ruler,' now, as Axios notes, and sure as hell not our elected leader.

How'd that corporate-state dynamic work out for Argentina? We all know about the economic loveliness of Peronism -- which through government spending, and spending, and spending, depleting the country's entire savings, turned the second-richest country in the world at the turn of the century into a third-world dump.

The corporate effects of corporate-republic, with gargantuan involvement of the state were also notable.

When was the last time you bought an Argentinian-made car? Argentina has a huge corporate-state regulatory apparat within its auto and steel industries. But it's not exactly everywhere. Because the state, activists, and CEOs had such contempt for gaucho farmers and fishermen, they largely went unregulated. Guess what? You sometimes probably buy Argentinian orange juice, Argentinian lemons, Argentinan shrimp, Argentinian wool, or if you are determined, Argentinian steak.

The Axios article by the two reporters linked by Allen is very biased, particularly in what it tries to conceal. They try to frame the issue as one of corporations trying to catch up to "the people" and do the right thing. That's the narrative. But actually, the opposite is true. The corporate-state dynamic is absolutely present here because the corporate leaders are blithely alienating at least half of their customers. The only buyer who matters to them now is the state led by Joe Biden.

As for activists, how many of them nowadays take some kind of federal funding? Yep, corporate state, yet again. Everyone answers to Joe Biden, or whoever the shadowy corporate, political, NGO, or state characters are who control him.

This is why the corporate state is so hard to get rid of. And why, with its hooks in, leads to underdevelopment. Democrats, CEOs, and activists want this, of course. Axios and others write about this like it's a good thing and not a naked threat to America. Corporate state to them all means power. The only people left out of this cruel immutable structure are the people.

Trump's call to boycott these corporations to force them return to their market orientation and pay attention to their buyers might just be more important than it looks.

Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of Needpix and Pixabay / Pixabay License public domain images.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
It is unsurprising that the language used in the cut and thrust of politics can be insulting, but when it moves beyond what anyone might deem as acceptable it becomes abusive and threatening.

Some of this language we recognise immediately as dangerous. It is essential that we all call it out as such.

Other language used around politicians may not be dangerous. But it can be just as effective at reinforcing gender stereotypes about who our politicians should be.

Just this week we see the Mayor of Galway City Council, Councillor Mike Hubbard stepping back from his role following the escalation of threats made against him and his family. Also reported in the last few days is that the Gardai recently increased armed security around Tanaiste Leo Varadkar.

This is not a recent escalation of dangerous abuse. For example, in 2018, Senator Lorraine Higgins was subjected to a two year long campaign of threats, including stalking. In 2014 the then Councillor Catherine Martin had to make a complaint to Gardai following a threat of sexual violence against her.

Increasing numbers of politicians report levels of abuse that it is difficult to imagine being levied at any other profession. Much of this happens online, and is targeted at female politicians.

A 2020 survey from NUI Galway found that 96% of female politicians in Ireland had received social media and/or electronic messages that used foul language; hate mail; or made inappropriate comments about appearance and intelligence. 73% of women politicians had been threatened with physical violence via social media. 38% were threatened with rape or sexual violence.

It is little wonder that Ireland is ranked 101st globally for female parliamentarians. Women account for just 22.5% of TDs and 40% of Senators. Just four of the 15 Cabinet ministers are female. Of the 949 county councillors in Ireland, just 226 or 24% are women and that figure is even lower in rural counties than urban centres such as Dublin.

The SHE (See Her Elected) Programme seeks to empower more women in rural counties of Longford, Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, Donegal and Westmeath to engage in electoral politics and also examines some of the barriers deterring women from entering politics.

One of these barriers is the language used in relation to female politicians. In addition to overt abusive and threatening language, women in public life in Ireland will also encounter language of a more subtle yet equally deterring nature.

The depiction of Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald as a witch in a cartoon featured in a recent edition of the Sunday Independent is one example.

It caused anger and was denounced by many womens groups and female TDs and Senators across the political divide. Why?

On the face of it, the cartoon shows Mary Lou McDonald pouring a packet labelled Sinn Fein frenzy into a bubbling cauldron with electorate written across it. Some would argue that the cartoon was merely satire and that female politicians just as their male counterparts are fit subjects for public scrutiny.

However, when you place this cartoon depiction in the context of how insults of powerful women are used to cut them down to size, you begin to see language being used to amplify a degree of discomfort that persists about women being in power.

We have plenty of examples.

In 2011 the UK Prime Minister David Cameron told MP Angela Eagle to calm down dear in a debate in the House of Commons. His remarks were correctly categorised as sexist and patronising.

In the United States the phrase she was warnednevertheless she persisted became a rallying call for women when it was uttered by Senator Mitch McConnell in relation to Senator Elizabeth Warren.

And talking of witches - Hilary Clinton was described as a witch throughout her career and Australias first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard met with chants of ditch the witch while she was in power.

The connection between women and witchcraft has long been recognised as a deeply rooted misogynistic notion as at its core it suggests that womens perceived lack of intelligence made them submissive to demons.

Closer to home, we have research data with women candidates in the 2019 local elections all reporting incidences of patronising or sexist behaviour, with some women describing this as normal.

Sadly, examples of such everyday sexism in politics are plentiful.

One that sticks out dates to 2010 when Brian Cowens reaction during a heated debate with Joan Burton was to ask her party leader Eamon Gilmore to try and reign her in now and again.

More recently, TD Holly Cairns has spoken about being elected to Cork County Council and watching a male colleague congratulating other newly elected male councillors on their campaign but reserving a well done, you look great for her.

The reality is that patronising language used towards women politicians and candidates reinforces the notion that politics is the preserve of men.

The subtle sexist language and the abuse make it harder for women to see themselves entering a career in politics.

We need to see more women in decision making roles and if our public figures are to truly represent the electorate then we need to have more female representation at Local Authority, Dail and Seanad levels.

It is important to have a female perspective at decision making levels as this will ensure more balanced decisions are made on a range of issues which matter to us as women whether thats climate change, finance, employment, parenting, care or violence against women.

We need to empower other women to achieve and enter the political arena- the unique perspectives of women do not need to be feared but rather embraced as part of a collective strength which can only benefit and enhance the political system.

And thats part of the reason why it truly is Time to Ditch the Witch.
Brian Armstrong, CEO and Founder of Coinbase. Source: A screenshot, Coinbase

Jerry Davis, Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford and Professor of Management and Sociology, University of Michigan.

________

Coinbases plan to go public in April highlights a troubling trend among tech companies: Its founding team will maintain voting control, making it mostly immune to the wishes of outside investors.

The best-known US crypto exchange is doing this by creating two classes of shares. One class will be available to the public. The other is reserved for the founders, insiders and early investors, and will wield 20 times the voting power of regular shares. That will ensure that after all is said and done, the insiders will control 53.5% of the votes.

Coinbase will join dozens of other publicly traded tech companies  many with household names such as Google, Facebook, Doordash, Airbnb and Slack  that have issued two types of shares in an effort to retain control for founders and insiders. The reason this is becoming increasingly popular has a lot to do with Ayn Rand, one of Silicon Valleys favorite authors, and the myth of the founder her writings have helped inspire.

Engaged investors and governance experts like me generally loathe dual-class shares because they undermine executive accountability by making it harder to rein in a wayward CEO. I first stumbled upon this method executives use to limit the influence of pesky outsiders while working on my doctoral dissertation on hostile takeovers in the late 1980s.

But the risks of this trend are greater than simply entrenching bad management. Today, given the role tech companies play in virtually every corner of American life, it poses a threat to democracy as well.

All in the family

Dual-class voting structures have been around for decades.

When Ford Motor Co. went public in 1956, its founding family used the arrangement to maintain 40% of the voting rights. Newspaper companies like The New York Times and The Washington Post often use the arrangement to protect their journalistic independence from Wall Streets insatiable demands for profitability.

In a typical dual-class structure, the company will sell one class of shares to the public, usually called class A shares, while founders, executives and others retain class B shares with enough voting power to maintain majority voting control. This allows the class B shareholders to determine the outcome of matters that come up for a shareholder vote, such as who is on the companys board.

Advocates see a dual-class structure as a way to fend off short-term thinking. In principle, this insulation from investor pressure can allow the company to take a long-term perspective and make tough strategic changes even at the expense of short-term share price declines. Family-controlled businesses often view it as a way to preserve their legacy, which is why Ford remains a family company after more than a century.

It also makes a company effectively immune from hostile takeovers and the whims of activist investors.

Checks and balances

But this insulation comes at a cost for investors, who lose a crucial check on management.

Indeed, dual-class shares essentially short-circuit almost all the other means that limit executive power. The board of directors, elected by shareholder vote, is the ultimate authority within the corporation that oversees management. Voting for directors and proposals on the annual ballot are the main methods shareholders have to ensure management accountability, other than simply selling their shares.

Recent research shows that the value and stock returns of dual-class companies are lower than other businesses, and theyre more likely to overpay their CEO and waste money on expensive acquisitions.

Companies with dual-class shares rarely made up more than 10% of public listings in a given year until the 2000s, when tech startups began using them more frequently, according to data collected by University of Florida business professor Jay Ritter. The dam began to break after Facebook went public in 2012 with a dual-class stock structure that kept founder Mark Zuckerberg firmly in control  he alone controls almost 60% of the company.

In 2020, over 40% of tech companies that went public did so with two or more classes of shares with unequal voting rights.

This has alarmed governance experts, some investors and legal scholars.

Zuckerberg controls almost 60% of Facebook through class B shares. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Ayn Rand and the myth of the superhuman founder

If the dual-class structure is bad for investors, then why are so many tech companies able to convince them to buy their shares when they go public?

I attribute it to Silicon Valleys mythology of the founder - what I would dub an Ayn Rand theory of corporate governance that credits founders with superhuman vision and competence that merit deference from lesser mortals. Rands novels, most notably Atlas Shrugged, portray an America in which titans of business hold up the world by creating innovation and value but are beset by moochers and looters who want to take or regulate what they have created.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Rand has a strong following among tech founders, whose creative genius may be threatened by any form of outside regulation. Elon Musk, Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong and even the late Steve Jobs all have recommended Atlas Shrugged.

The writings of Ayn Rand are revered by many tech titans. AP Photo

Her work is also celebrated by the venture capitalists who typically finance tech startups  many of whom were founders themselves.

The basic idea is simple: Only the founder has the vision, charisma and smarts to steer the company forward.

It begins with a powerful founding story. Michael Dell and Zuckerberg created their multibillion-dollar companies in their dorm rooms. Founding partner pairs Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and Bill Hewlett and David Packard built their first computer companies in the garage  Apple and Hewlett-Packard, respectively. Often the stories are true, but sometimes, as in Apples case, less so.

And from there, founders face a gantlet of rigorous testing: recruiting collaborators, gathering customers, and, perhaps most importantly, attracting multiple rounds of funding from venture capitalists. Each round serves to further validate the founders leadership competence.

The Founders Fund, a venture capital firm that has backed dozens of tech companies, including Airbnb, Palantir, and Lyft, is one of the biggest proselytizers for this myth, as it makes clear in its manifesto.

The entrepreneurs who make it have a near-messianic attitude and believe their company is essential to making the world a better place, it asserts. True to its stated belief, the fund says it has never removed a single founder, which is why it has been a big supporter of dual-class share structures.

Another venture capitalist who seems to favor giving founders extra power is Netscape founder Marc Andreessen. His venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is Coinbases biggest investor. And most of the companies in its portfolio that have gone public also used a dual-class share structure, according to my own review of their securities filings.

Bad for companies, bad for democracy

Giving founders voting control disrupts the checks and balances needed to keep business accountable and can lead to big problems.

WeWork founder Adam Neumann, for example, demanded unambiguous authority to fire or overrule any director or employee. As his behavior became increasingly erratic, the company hemorrhaged cash in the lead-up to its ultimately canceled initial public offering.

Investors forced out Ubers Travis Kalanick in 2017, but not before hes said to have created a workplace culture that allegedly allowed sexual harassment and discrimination to fester. When Uber finally went public in 2019, it shed its dual-class structure.

There is some evidence that founder-CEOs are less gifted at management than other kinds of leaders, and their companies performance can suffer as a consequence.

But investors who buy shares in these companies know the risks going in. Theres much more at stake than their money.

What happens when powerful, unconstrained founders control the most powerful companies in the world?

The tech sector is increasingly laying claim to central command posts of the US economy. Americans access to news and information, financial services, social networks, and even groceries is mediated by a handful of companies controlled by a handful of people.

Recall that in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter were able to eject former President Donald Trump from his favorite means of communication  virtually silencing him overnight. And Apple, Google, and Amazon cut off Parler, the right-wing social media platform used by some of the insurrectionists to plan their actions. Not all of these companies have dual-class shares, but this illustrates just how much power tech companies have over Americas political discourse.

One does not have to disagree with their decision to see that a form of political power is becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of companies with limited outside oversight.

[Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversations newsletter.]

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Once again, Neymar was sent off for Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, as they fell to a 1-0 defeat in a potentially decisive game in the Ligue 1 title race.

Lille visited the Parc des Princes and their win allowed them to leapfrog Mauricio Pochettino's side and pull three points clear at the table's summit. But PSG's problems go deeper than the current Ligue 1 standings, and Neymar's ill discipline has become a persistent problem.

Rushing to get the ball back with a throw in, Neymar pushed Lille's Tiago Djalo while both were off the pitch, and the Portuguese was sent tumbling. It has to be said that it wasn't as aggressive as Djalo made out but, already on a yellow card, Neymar saw a second and was sent off, and then things got heated.

The two had to be kept apart by countless bodies in the tunnel as Djalo soon followed in being given his marching orders, and this was just the latest example of Neymar being unable to keep his cool.

He has now been sent off three times in his last 14 Ligue 1 appearances, going back to February 2020, and he's been dismissed 11 times in his career to date, a total that is considerably high for a forward.

Neymar was signed by Paris Saint-Germain to take them to another level, to show that they could do more than conquer France year after year, but aside from reaching the Champions League final in 2020, he has fallen short of making them any better in Europe.

The manner of his dismissals are more concerning though. His first for PSG came against Marseille, for what was deemed to be a headbutt on now-Sevilla player Lucas Ocampos. In February 2020 he was needlessly sent of late in a win over Bordeaux, and rumours suggested that he did it so he could travel to Brazil for Carnival without missing out on any action. He didn't travel in the end, explaining on social media that he didn't want to cause controversy.

In September of the same year he was involved in a heated exchange with Marseille's Alvaro Gonzalez, whom he accused of racist taunts. In that game, as many as five players ended up being sent off.

Now, as is the case every time he sees red or PSG fall short in Europe, Neymar is being linked with a return to Barcelona, where he was sent off just once.

His talent is undoubted, but his disciplinary problems pose serious questions about his career, and will always be a black mark against him.
Australia will accelerate its Covid jab rollout by doubling the number of clinics administering the vaccine after the nation missed its March target for inoculations by more than three million.

Federal health minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday the number of GPs and special clinics providing the jabs will increase from 1500 to more than 3000 by the end of this week and to more than 4000 by the end of April around the country.

'That means multiple points of presence to give as many people as possible the access to their own doctor, and where that's not been the choice of that practice, then there are the respiratory clinics and the state clinics,' he said.

Mr Hunt added he was confident that as the supply of AstraZeneca vaccine from CSL ramps up, so will the number of inoculations against Covid.

The rollout of that vaccine will continue despite growing fears the jab could be related to a blood clotting condition reported in some patients.

Last Monday more than 55,000 people were vaccinated but by Thursday this had increased to a daily rate of more than 79,000, bringing the national total to 841,855 overall.

Australia will accelerate its Covid vaccine rollout by doubling the number of GPs and special clinics administering the jab. Pictured, a nurse receiving her vaccine on the Gold Coast last month

However, four million Australians were due to be vaccinated by the end of March.

'As we see, supply determines the rollout and as the CSL supply has come on board, we have been able to rapidly accelerate the rollout,' Mr Hunt said.

'Given the great and enormous global competition, the fact we have this domestic supply is fundamental.'

Mr Hunt said a decision by the NSW government to open another 36 mass vaccination clinics in the next week was a significant step in the vaccine rollout.

'We welcome all of the states and territories setting up large vaccination centres. That has always been, always been, part of the plan that was included in the National Partnership Agreements as an option,' he said.

But Labor's health spokesman Mark Butler has again been quick to point out that the government had promised to dole out four million doses of the vaccine by the end of March but has yet to reach a million.

'Per head of population, Australia is not even in the top 100 countries in terms of vaccine delivery,' he told reporters in Adelaide.

Senior federal minister Peter Dutton said the rollout was being done in an orderly fashion as Australia was not in the same state of 'mad panic' as the US and UK.

The federal government has been heavily criticised for the slow rollout of the Covid vaccine, with the March target missed by more than three million. Pictured, an Australian Border Force worker being inoculated

'There will be hiccups from time to time in terms of the rollout of the vaccine but we'll work with the states, we'll work with GPs... as we deal with the virus over this calendar year,' Mr Dutton told Sky News' Sunday Agenda program.

Both sides of politics back the decision to press ahead with the AstraZenaca vaccine which most Australians will receive after a range of local health experts gave their nod of approval after a Melbourne man was admitted to hospital with a rare blood clotting disorder.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration is investigating this case and working with international experts and regulators.

In the meantime, Mr Hunt said anyone susceptible to blood clotting should seek advice from their GP before going ahead with the jab.

Mr Butler said Labor strongly supports the TGA and other health experts and Australians should continue to follow that advice.

Mr Hunt welcomed news there were no new locally-acquired virus infections on Sunday, when there was the risk of a major break in both Queensland and NSW.

Health minister Greg Hunt (pictured) he was confident that as the supply of AstraZeneca vaccine from CSL ramps up, so will the number of inoculations against Covid

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said last week's three-day lockdown was all part of the plan to get enough people tested, identify the close contacts and get them into quarantine to keep everyone safe.

'This meant that we can open up our economy, we can enjoy Easter and it is wonderful to see that our tourism operators are recording record numbers, she told reporters.

But Mr Dutton, a federal Queensland MP, hopes such lockdowns and border closures are a thing of the past.

'It is incredibly disruptive and it makes it very difficult for people to be able to plan,' he said.

There was one new case among returned travellers already in quarantine in each of NSW, Queensland and South Australia.

But South Australia also reported a man in his 40s remains in the Royal Adelaide hospital ICU in a critical condition.
ServeU, a subsidiary company of Union Properties, has been awarded the Human Resources (HR) and staffing services contract for the United Kingdom's pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. The UK Department has been awarded the contract for the Pavilion for International Trade.

As part of the collaboration, ServeU, along with its subcontracting partners Talents UAE, Big Fish, and Beyond limits, will be responsible for providing overall HR and staffing services, including Pavilion and guide management, cleaning, security, administration, and logistics.

Services will be provided to the UK's Department for International Trade and supporting government departments who will be participating in the showpiece event starting this October.

Gary Reader, General Manager, ServeU, said: "This opportunity to be part of the UK Pavilion for Dubai Expo 2020 is a pivotal achievement for ServeU. The HR and staffing services contract is of significant importance, particularly given hospitality is the essence of any World Expo. We look forward to drawing on our integrated Facilities Management experience, gathered over the last three decades, to deliver premium quality services for guests and visitors to the Pavilion."

The stunning UK Pavilion, designed by brand experience specialists Avantgarde with British artist and designer Es Devlin, inspired by Prof Stephen Hawking's 'Breakthrough Message'. A must-see highlight of the Expo 2020 Dubai campus occupies a prime location in the Opportunity District, near the central Al Wasl Dome and Plaza.

Laura Faulkner OBE, UK Commissioner-General, said: "We are pleased to be working with ServeU to provide a world-class experience for visitors to the UK Pavilion as we show the best of the UK to the world in one place."

Expo 2020 Dubai is projected to attract millions of visits over a period of six months, with 70% of visitors expected to come from outside the UAE. -- Tradearabia News Service
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  While the coronavirus (COVID-19) variant first detected in New York is classified as a variant of interest rather than a variant of concern, medical experts affirmed last week that it doesnt make the variant any less important to follow.

Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House COVID-19 task force, explained during a briefing last week that listing a variant as one of interest instead of a variant of concern does not mean we are not prioritizing the variant or that the variant is not important for us to carefully follow.

The New York variant, known as B.1.526, carries similar mutations to the variant first discovered in South Africa  B.1.351  which has been found to skirt some of the protection offered by vaccines.

Experts are still working to understand the variant, gather data on it, and determine its impact on medical therapies, disease severity, and transmissibility, Zients said. Once it gathers this data to characterize the variant, its classification could change.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

In the case of B.1.526  the one most recently found frequently in New York  we continue to assess its prevalence regionally and nationally, its transmissibility, and to conduct studies to understand how its mutations, for example, its E484K mutat-  substitution impact therapeutic and antibody responses. Until those assessments are complete, it will remain a carefully followed variant of interest, Zients added.

Variants, which have been found in some cases to be more contagious than the initial form of the virus that launched the pandemic last year, make up more than half of New York Citys coronavirus cases.

Last month, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Scott Gottlieb, expressed concern that the variant could be responsible for infecting people who previously tested positive  driving up infection rates in pockets of New York City. He said that the South African variant has been known in certain cases to cause reinfection in people who already had the coronavirus, prompting concern that the New York variant could do the same.

VARIANT CLASSIFICATIONS

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), viruses constantly change through mutation and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time. New variants emerge and disappear, or can merge and persist. The CDC said multiple variants of COVID-19 have been documented in the United States and globally during this pandemic.

The CDC established 3 classifications for coronavirus variants: variant of interest, variant of concern, and variant of high consequence.

There are currently five variants of concern in the U.S.:

B.1.1.7 : This variant was first identified in the U.S. in December 2020. It was initially detected in the United Kingdom.

B.1.351 : This variant was first identified in the U.S. at the end of January 2021. It was initially detected in South Africa in December 2020.

P.1: This variant was first detected in the U.S. in January 2021. P.1 was initially identified in travelers from Brazil, who were tested during routine screening at an airport in Japan, in early January.

B.1.427 and B.1.429: These two variants were first identified in California in February 2021 and were classified as variants of concern in March 2021.

These variants, the CDC explained, seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants  which could lead to more COVID-19 cases.

So far, studies suggest that antibodies generated through vaccination with currently authorized vaccines recognize these variants. This is being closely investigated and more studies are underway, the CDC stated.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
Lome, Togo (PANA) - The number of Covid-19 infections is growing every day in Togo with the registration on Saturday of 216 new confirmed cases, saida press release from the Ministry of Health on Sunday
I had a visit from the chief of the 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 that in the meetings that I had been present in or on social media relating to visits that Ive made, theres been criticism of the government or the king. I asked him if I was the one criticizing. He said no. 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. Since then, a number of the people I know  or my friends  have been arrested, my security has been removed, and the internet and phone lines have been cut. This is my last form of communication, satellite internet, that I have and Ive been informed by the company that theyre instructed to cut it. So its maybe the last time Im able to communicate. Im making this recording to make it clear that Im not part of any conspiracy or nefarious organization or foreign-backed group, as is always the claim here for anyone who speaks out. Unfortunately, this country has become stymied in corruption, in nepotism and in misrule. And the result has been the destruction, or the loss of hope that is apparent in pretty much every Jordanian. The loss of hope in our future, the loss of dignity and a life under constant threat, because we simply want to speak the truth or we are trying to express our concerns or our hopes for the future.
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
Apse mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, featuring (LR) St. Vitalis, an archangel, Jesus Christ, a second archangel, and Bishop of Ravenna Ecclesius. (Channaly Philipp/The Epoch Times)

The Rise of Anti-Christian Sentiment in Australia

Commentary

As the followers of Christ across the globe celebrate the death and resurrection of their Saviour over the Easter holiday, it might be appropriate for us to reflect on the role of Christianity (and Christians) in Australias society.

While the role of Christianity in Australias history is irrefutable, strangely, the ongoing decline of Christian morality is also irrefutable. Since our society is viewed largely as secular and multicultural, Christianity is, for the most part, never mentioned much less promoted in political and intellectual discourse.

When it is mentioned among the nations public figures, Christian values and traditions are often critiqued, ridiculed, and brushed aside with contempt. As a result, many Australians are now convinced that there should be no relationship between Christian values and the nations legal-institutional arrangements.

Peter Kurti is director of the Culture, Prosperity and Civil Society program at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney. He is also an ordained minister of the Anglican Church.

In his book Sacred & Profane: Faith and Belief in a Secular Society, he argues that the present move by the intellectual elites and political establishment to defend self-identifying victim groups has produced an undesirable confrontation between existing groups, each of which tend to deny it has any obligation to other groups.

This is not about celebrating diversity but separating citizens along the lines of gender, religion, ethnicity, and so forth. It does so by treating society as a collection of separate groups that are dependent upon government-managed responses to diversity.

In this context, the idea of rights has been weaponised and anti-discrimination laws are increasingly used to stifle expression of opinion, rather than simply challenge bad behaviour. This mounting intolerance poses a threat to individual freedom and the rule of law.

For example, Kurti writes that when same-sex marriage activists urge removal of anti-discrimination exemptions from religious groups committed to a traditional form of marriage, they effectively seek to impose their views and beliefs on those with whom they disagree.

It is now often argued that an unyielding attachment to Christian values inhibits societys progression and evolution. This sentiment has evolved and is presently used to deny the participation of Christians in public life.

Perhaps Australians should carefully consider what they might be losing as a society by abandoning their Christian values and traditions. There is an inevitable consequence in embracing the new understanding of human nature, and turning away from Christianity.

Oxford scholar Sir Larry Siedentop explains that our own understanding of the individual in Western democracies, with all that this implies for fundamental rights and human dignity, proceeds directly from Christianity. He writes:

The fundamental relationship between the individual and his or her God provides the crucial test, in Christianity, of what really matters. It is, by definition, a test which applies to all equally. Hence, the deep individualism of Christianity was simply the reverse side of its universalism.

Greg Sheridan, a leading Australian journalist, soberly predicts that the eclipse of Christianity will be like the eclipse of the sun. Darkness will be the result.

When Christianity is entirely eradicated from our society and culture, it will be simply impossible to ignore the fact that without belief in God, there is no final human accountability.

Life is just what you can get away with, and the ultimate price to pay, Sheridan argues.

Indeed, as Dostoyevsky famously stated in The Brothers Karamazov, If God does not exist, everything is permitted.

In our society, there are those who find any religious argument behind a policy unacceptable. There are indeed many individuals in politics, the mainstream media, and academic circles who simply cannot accept, let alone tolerate, that a politician, or indeed any public figure, should be influenced by Christian values.

The regular displays of animosity towards Christianity can be found in major political parties and are not isolated instances of a broader, leftist bigotry.

In fact, voices that are highly critical of Christianity and suspicious of any Christian influence in politics are becoming increasingly more influential in the so-called conservative side of politics.

Take, for instance, what has just happened in Western Australia.

Soon after suffering its worst-ever election wipe-out and losing its opposition status, one of the two remaining Liberals left in the state parliament, David Honey, had the audacity to blame the Christian Right for his partys loss.

Instead of taking responsibility for a crazy green-left policy that not even the Greens Party would embrace, this new leader of the WA Liberals reportedly put all the blame on the Christian element of the party that upholds more conservative views.

By placing the blame on the small Christian influence in the state Liberal Party, their new leader was simply trying to distract the general public from his own gross incompetence as a shadow minister for industrial development.

After all, what sort of shadow minister holding such an important portfolio in the nations largest resource state rams through a policy to shut down all state-owned coal-fired power plants by 2025 and reach net zero emissions by 2030?

Of course, this attempt to purge Christians from the Liberal Party is nothing less than a modern-day witch hunt. Surely, the electoral landslide the WA Liberals suffered has absolutely nothing to do with a minority of Christians in their party.

To the contrary, their decimation in the last election was primarily caused by the progressive leadership of a supposedly conservative party that embraced disastrous leftist policies and was led by an untested 33-year-old, green-left politicianZak Kirkupwho passionately supports the LGTQI+ agenda, assisted suicide, and extreme climate action.

The founding father of the Liberal Party would be appalled to see what the WA Liberals have become. As our countrys longest-serving prime minister, Sir Robert Menzies saw Christianity as a higher code of moral conduct based on the timely values of unconditional love, and rejection of extreme leftist ideologies entwined with envy, materialism, and hatred of human beings.

As prime minister from 1939 to 1941, and again from 1949 to 1966, Menzies regarded authentic liberalism as inevitably associated with the Christian ethics of brotherly love and personal responsibility, which he regarded as being critical to the flourishing of liberal democracy.

According to his main biographer, David Furse-Roberts, the worldview of the convictions of politicians such as Menzies cannot fully be understood without considering their spiritual principles or religious faith. In a number of Menziess public speeches, his Scots Presbyterian faith was real and he did not conceal the fact that his views on politics, culture, and ethics were informed by Judeo-Christian precepts.

Furse-Roberts also explains that Menzies anti-communism beliefs was largely driven by the hostility of the ideology towards religion and Christianity; his warm rapport with Australias Jewish community was based upon his profound respect for the Hebrew tradition and its contribution to Western civilisation; and, finally, the sacred text of the Bible for him represented the repository of our faith and inspiration.

In The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History (this book won, inter alia, the 2019 Prime Ministers Australian History Prize), award-winning writer Dr. Meredith Lake writes the following about Menzies:

The prime minister himself imagined a Christian Australiaa nation in which we ought to read the Bible. Menzies believed that this great and immortal book was the proper focus of households and the root of true citizenship. It could bind a nation together, providing a point of unity even for those who disagreed on the finer points of theology. In Menziess view, the Bible was the repository of our faith and our inspiration. He thought the Bible was superior to what passed by political discourse, for instance, and recommended the Authorised Version to anyone who wanted to understand English at its finest. Altogether, for Menzies, the Bible was a religious and cultural treasurethe text that defined the Australian people.

Given the sort of vicious attacks Australians can suffer for simply expressing their religious views, it is no wonder so many are reticent to talk about their Christian faith in public life.

However, as Christ himself instructed his followers, You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot (Luke 14:34 NIV).

Christ also commanded his believers to be the Salt and Light of the world. This is part of the Great Commission, meaning that every follower of Christ has the moral duty to serve God and other humans in every sphere of life, including politics.

We can only imagine how much more unjust this world would be if Christians had not fulfilled their Great Commission, if they had privatised their faith and made no impact on the life of their communities.

Think, for instance, of people like William Wilberforce (1759-1833), the English parliamentarian who became the voice of the anti-slavery movement in the British Parliament. Wilberforce was someone who took the Great Commission seriously, and as a result of this belief, he literally changed the world for the better. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass spoke reverently of him as the great pioneer and father of the anti-slavery movement.

When Wilberforce became a follower of Jesus Christ, he had no idea how to reconcile his newfound faith with his political life. Should he leave politics in order to become more religious? Wilberforce thought about retreating from everything and perhaps join a monastery or the priesthood. But a visit to the great John Newton, the author of the famous hymn Amazing Grace, who was then 60, and rector of a church in an area of East London, encouraged Wilberforce to stay in politics.

Who knows? Newton said to him, Whether God has not prepared you for a time such as this?

Newton believed that God would use his young friend mightily in politics, where Wilberforce was needed more than ever. And so it happened, that Wilberforce took his faith very seriously, serving his Lord with his undeniable gifts in the realm of law and politics.

God Almighty, Wilberforce wrote, Has set before me two Great Objects: the suppression of the Slave Trade and the Reformation of Manners. The first object is self-evident but the second relates to Christs Great Mandate; that Christians must reform morality and culture in general. It reveals how Wilberforce became aware that, in order to get the votes that he needed to abolish the slave trade, he would have to first change the hearts and minds of people.

By seeking to marginalise or silence Christians who take their faith seriously, modern western elites are basically rejecting the cultural traditions of their own liberal-democratic societies.

According to former Australian High Court Judge Dyson Heydon, these ruling elites are rejecting a large part of the entire life and history of the nationbecause Christianity is so integrated with the national life and history that to annihilate it is to destroy that national life, which can live only in memory.

Justice Heydon also explained (pdf) that among the elites is a hostility to religion which has not been seen in the West since the worst excesses of the French Revolution.

As a constitutional law professor, allow me to affirm that there is nothing in the Australian Constitution that justifies the suppression of religious discourse in the public sphere. Nor is there anything that can possibly justify the denial of equal rights of freedom of political communication for everyone, religious or not.

By dictating what some people can say and by treating the most essential aspect of their lives as a private matter, those who view the moral duty of Christians to act in line with their conscienceas something that disqualifies them from political lifeare guilty of an undemocratic form of anti-religious bigotry.

This form of secular extremism has no place in a free and democratic society.

Dr. Augusto Zimmermann is professor and head of law at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education in Perth. He is also president of the Western Australian Legal Theory Association, a former law reform commissioner in Western Australia, and author of Christian Foundations of the Common LawVolume III: Australia(2018), published by Connor Court.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
.

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 man tries to hijack a van in Newtownabbey last night as two cars are on fire nearby

Another night of riots and disorder continued in Northern Ireland last night as 27 police officers have been injured.

Eight people were also arrested during the unrest and seven people have since been charged with riot after disturbances in the Sandy Row area of south Belfast on Friday, police said.

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.

Yesterday 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.

The unrest comes after some loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements, which they believe has created barriers between the country and the UK.

This tension escalated this week after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) decided not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending the large funeral of republican Bobby Storey, which flouted Covid-19 restrictions.

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Three men aged 25, 21 and 18, a 19-year-old woman and three youths aged 17, 14 and 13 have been charged and are expected to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court and Belfast Youth Court towards the end of April.

A 19-year-old man was also arrested following the disorder on Friday night has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

Last night a number of hijacked cars were set on fire during a riot in Newtownabbey.

Masked men threw petrol bombs and other missiles at PSNI Land Rovers during the disorder near the Cloughfern roundabout on ONeills Road. The roundabout was also on fire for a period.

The PSNI appealed for calm in the area last night. A police spokesperson said: We would appeal for calm in the area and ask anyone who has any influence in communities 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 tonight."

A care home was damaged in Derry and 12 officers were injured.

The PSNI said the 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.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland has called for an end to the violence.

A spokesperson said people destroying their own communities is "not the way to protest or vent".

The representative body for police officers tweeted: "What is the point in this?

"Destroying your own communities is not the way to protest or vent. Why is it always our @PoliceServiceNI colleagues who face the brunt of this pointless violence?"

Alliance MLA John Blair said the violence should be "utterly condemned".

He said there was a "need for calm and for parents to check where their children are".

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly said the disturbances in loyalist areas were "an out-working of the DUP's rhetoric and undermining of the PSNI and criminal justice system".

"By their words and actions they have sent a very dangerous message to young people in loyalist areas," he said.

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.

With reporting from the Belfast Telegraph
The new book by former GOP House Speaker John Boehner wont make him less popular among the new breed of angry conservatives who have taken over much of the party. They already despise him as a compromiser who would actually work with Democrats on occasion and didnt hate former President Obama enough  or at all, for that matter. But those kinds of irrational positions perfectly illustrate the limitations of the Trumpy Republicans.

Their take-no-prisoners attitude plays well on Fox News and at CPAC conferences, but it will never gain a majority of votes in a national election  as proved by Joe Bidens victory in 2020.

Trump did win in 2016 and deserves all the credit in the world for that upset victory, but that was when a lot of voters were looking for any alternative to Hillary Clinton and thought Trump would be a businessman who could make deals. What they saw over the next four years was entirely different  and frequently dismaying  hence an easy win by a Democratic candidate who had his own truckload of baggage.

An experienced pol like Boehner was not surprised. Early reports about his book, On The House: A Washington Memoir, set for release on April 13, paint a picture of an old school Republican who was a solid conservative by the standards of the time but still knew that Congress had to function.

He describes a futile attempt at teaching the freshman GOP class about governance and the value of working with Democratic colleagues to actually get things done.  A lot of that went straight through the ears of most of them, especially the ones who didnt have brains that got in the way, he writes, adding that the new lawmakers only wanted wedge issues and conspiracies and crusades.

Thats not how Boehner operated, because he knew it wouldnt produce results. Its almost forgotten now, but Boehner orchestrated the last major spending cuts and set up the process of sequestration that was designed to reduce the rate of future deficits. Any real conservative should know how important that was, but the Tea Party Republicans who eventually ousted him as speaker didnt have the discipline to stick with it. Later, they said nothing while deficits exploded in Trumps first term, making it virtually impossible to protest Bidens enthusiastic plans to run those numbers even higher.

Its also worth noting now that one of the star members of the new Republicans in Congress, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, is mired in a sordid, multifaceted scandal that will probably lead to his resignation from the House soon and might land him in prison. Boehner and his mainstream allies, whatever you think of their politics, would never have sunk that low.

This is the dilemma that the Republican Party faces going forward as it tries to recapture Congress in 2022 and the White House in 2024. They need to harness the energy of voters who arent comfortable with Democratic positions but are still disgusted by the Jan. 6 insurrection. Yet so far, most of the Republicans identified as early candidates have far more in common with Matt Gaetz than Mitch McConnell or John Boehner.

One of them, incidentally, is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Boener is particularly scornful of him.

There is nothing more dangerous than a reckless ahole who thinks he is smarter than everyone else. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Sen. Ted Cruz, Boehner wrote. Phew! Im guessing those two wont be exchanging Christmas cards.

But if Republicans recapture the House in 2022 or 2024, their speaker should have a long conversation with Boehner at some point. Well, that is if he or she is more interested in passing meaningful legislation than currying favor with Sean Hannity.

Thomas Taschinger, TTaschinger@BeaumontEnterprise.com, is the editorial page editor of The Beaumont Enterprise. Follow him on Twitter at @PoliticalTom
New system to track false addresses: Ed. Ministry View(s):

The Education Ministry is devising a system with the assistance of the Elections Commission to detect grade one students whose school admission applications contain false information on their permanent address, a senior Ministry official said.

Accordingly the system is currently being developed and the Ministry plans to introduce the scheme by 2023.

Under the programme, the applicants names will be entered into a data base and checked with the Elections Commission data base regarding the declaration made regarding the permanent address.

If we discover that the parent is living in another address during the specified period, the students application will be rejected, the official said.

An estimated 600,000 applications are sent for grade one admissions every year, and the issue usually concerns around 125,000 applications to national schools. A separate team of officials will be appointed to check the applications.

The Ministry also plans to offer an opportunity for students from remote areas to fill in the vacancies of the rejected applications. The selected students will also be entitled to hostel facilities of a national school.

The moves comes after a series of fraudulent cases regarding grade one admissions was reported recently.
Bijapur : , April 4 (IANS) Over 1,000 police personnel drawn from CRPF's elite CoBRA unit, and the state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) walked into a deadly trap of Maoists in deep jungle in a rebel-dominated patch in Chhattisgarh's restive Bastar, purely on an unverified intelligence input that top ultra leader Madvi Hidma was holed up at a hilly site along with his colleagues.

But the input was basically a well-planned trap of the Maoist guerrillas as they gunned down 22 security personnel and walked away with their weapons too. The casualty figure could further rise as at least 31 security personnel sustained multiple injuries and were airlifted to Raipur for better medical attention.

The lengthy gunfight between Maoists militants and security personnel broke out on Saturday at a remote hilly site in Bijapur district, close to Sukma district border in sprawling Bastar division where Maoists are attempting to run a de facto government in deep forests since late 1980s.

"Guerrillas armed with heavy weapons including rocket launchers were waiting for security personnel contingent... once a larger team of the search operation approached a hill, the militants who were positioned on top of the hill started spraying bullets in a flash from three sides," a local DRG policeman who was part of the search team told IANS.

The attack site is located roughly 500 km south of state capital Raipur.

"The security personnel were stunned by Maoists' heavy gunfire... actually, it was an ambush designed in U-shape but the troopers too retaliated hard." Reports say that Maoists brought 3-4 tractors on Saturday night to the attack site to ferry away dead bodies of their comrades.

The local police officials are now claiming that intelligence inputs should have been verified from multiple credible sources before rushing a larger team to catch Hidma, one of the most wanted terror faces in the mineral-rich Bastar.

The brutal killings of troopers have created a widespread anger in the state and people in tribal stronghold Bastar have called for immediate revenge.

Chhattisgarh's Bastar division, which is made up of seven districts including Bijapur and Sukma, has been the epicentre of major Maoist attacks in past three decades. Rebels had killed 76 CRPF men in a single attack in April 2010 in Bastar which is described the deadliest attack by Maoists on security forces in India.

In May 2013, Maoists carried out an audacious attack on a Congress party convoy at Jheeram ghati in Bastar in which entire top-ranked leaders of the party in the state were wiped out including then state chief Nandkumar Patel, popular tribal leader Mahendra Karma and former Union Minister V.C. Shukla.
REDDING  Roughly nine teachers have opted into an early retirement plan to help the district save money and prevent student programming from being cut.

Several teachers, in conjunction with their union, the Redding Education Association, had noticed the district was struggling to meet its budget needs and were concerned student programs would be on the chopping block.

The union negotiated a voluntary early retirement incentive plan with the Board of Education that would save the district an estimated $188,000 in the 2022 fiscal year, as well as create long-term savings and pave the way for nine teachers to retire ahead of schedule in the next two years.

The REA came to me with this idea of this as something that theyd like to propose, recognizing it could have a positive impact on our district budget, Superintendent of Schools Rydell Harrison said.

Herman Whitter, a regional organizer and trainer for the Connecticut Education Association who helped facilitate the negotiations, said only teachers who had been with the district for at least 12 years and stood at the top of the pay ladder qualified for the incentive.

Only one teacher was planning to retire up until this point, but now per the agreement, six teachers will retire early in June 2021 and another three in June 2022. Five of the six teachers departing in year one will be from Redding Elementary, while the other is from John Read Middle School. The teachers in the second year will all retire from John Read.

Those who chose to retire in the first year will be paid $17,000 a year for three years, in addition to their pensions, and teachers who retire in the second year will get an extra $15,000 annually for two years.

The plan was structured to allow them to opt into either of those two lanes, as long as we had notice of an irrevocable retirement by this time this year, Board of Education Chairman Christopher Parkin said.

Under this contract, these teachers would no longer be allowed to continue teaching within the district or any others, said Bonnie Spies, co-president of the Ridgefield union.

Harrison said the deal was meant to provide the retirees with a financial incentive that would carry them for two or three years and help maintain their health insurance until all of their retirement benefits kick in.

Other teachers considered the offer, but werent quite ready to take that step, Spies said.

We truly care about the community and wanted to make sure if we could help the board save money in their budget, that we wanted to be able to participate in that, she said.

Whitter agreed and said the teachers and their respective union wanted to maintain the beneficial programs kids are getting. Without these savings, there was potential for them to be cut.

Similar deals have been hatched in the past, including in 2018. As the board eyed the start of a new contract rolling around in July, Parkin said it seemed like an opportune time, to have such discussions.

The estimated savings are about $188,000, but ultimately depend on who is hired to replace the retirees and what notch of the payscale theyre at.

When a teacher retires at the top of the pay scale, you think about hiring a teacher that is at the start or earlier in their career, Harrison said. Thats a significant amount of savings that could come back to the Board of Ed.

So in addition to yielding budget savings, this plan would also allow the district to permanently retain some of the teachers temporarily filling in for others who took leaves of absence during the pandemic.

The board acted to reduce its budget request by about $188,000 on Monday, lowering the increase from 2.99 percent to 2.16 percent in light of the approved terms.

Whereas this incentive plan is a vehicle for ongoing savings, Parkin said it would be premature to say if any additional reductions would be made to the districts budget.

The Board of Finance will continue its discussions of the schools spending in a meeting on Monday.
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How will the mass testing plan work? Everyone in England will be eligible for two free rapid coronavirus tests a week from Friday. The kits can be collected from local testing sites and pharmacies, accessed through workplaces, ordered for delivery to homes, or completed as part of community testing schemes. Screening will continue to be carried out on-site at schools and colleges. Anyone who tests positive must immediately self-isolate, and seek a PCR test to confirm the result. Advertisement

Matt Hancock faced a backlash today after he claimed a multi-billion pound plan to test everyone for coronavirus twice a week is the only way 'back to normality' - despite fears a surge in 'false positives' could actually derail the lockdown easing.

The PM and Health Secretary have announced a huge expansion of testing with free rapid kits made available to everyone in England from this Friday.

Mr Hancock said: 'Reclaiming our lost freedoms & getting back to normal hinges on us all getting tested regularly.'

But concerns were immediately raised as when used on that scale the tests could wrongly label tens of thousands of people a week as having Covid - muddying the water over whether the disease is making a comeback.

Those individuals would also be forced to isolate and get more reliable PCR checks to show they are clear.

Tories pointed out that vaccines have been billed as the key to returning to normal, saying it was another example of ministers 'moving the goalposts'.

At an Easter Monday press conference this evening, Boris Johnson will confirm the next stage of the lockdown roadmap is on schedule  with shops, gyms and hairdressers allowed to reopen from next week.

Pubs, restaurants and cafes will also be given the green light to return for outdoor customers.

The premier is also set to give a hint on the way forward for foreign holidays, with a 'traffic light' system expected to be introduced for destinations when the blanket ban on travel is dropped - potentially from May 17.

And Mr Johnson will give a 'high level' indication of the government's plan for coronavirus passports, with pilots being held to try to get crowds back at sporting and other events.

But the government faces prospect of losing a vote on the controversial concept as Tory rebels join forces with Labour to raise civil liberties objections.

The fast-turnaround tests, which produce results in just half an hour, do not require lab analysis and will be available for use at home.

Mr Johnson last night said the huge testing programme was needed to ensure that the sacrifices made in recent months 'are not wasted'.

The UK recorded a further 10 Covid deaths on Sunday for the second day in a row - a 47 per cent drop on the previous Sunday. The last time the country's daily death toll was this low was on September 14, 2020, when nine deaths and 2,621 cases were recorded.

Scotland has also reopened hairdressers from today for the first time in three months - though England is forced to wait another week.

It comes as:

The PM will brief the Cabinet today that the conditions have been met to allow shops, gyms and hairdressers to reopen as planned on April 12;

Mr Johnson will set out a new traffic light system for future foreign travel  but warn it is still too early to book a summer holiday abroad;

Government sources confirmed that pubs and restaurants could be released from social distancing rules earlier if they agree to operate vaccine passport schemes;

Scotland reopens hairdressers from today - beating the rest of the UK to the punch once again, although non-essential shops could stay closed for weeks longer;

Hundreds hit Britain's beaches and parks for Easter Sunday amid gloriously warm temperatures in the South of England;

Daily Covid deaths fell to just ten  the lowest figure since September 14, and a reduction of more than 99 per cent since the peak in January.

Boris Johnson will today urge everybody to take two Covid tests a week to help safeguard the unlocking of the country

Today the government will unveil a multi-billion-pound scheme inviting everyone in England to take two free Covid tests per week. The fast-turnaround tests, which produce results in just half an hour, do not require lab analysis and will be available for use at home

In a round of interviews this morning, health minister Edward Argar said the mass testing plan was a 'key part' of getting people back to work

Matt Hancock faced a backlash today after he claimed a multi-billion pound plan to test everyone for coronavirus twice a week is the only way 'back to normality'

Q&A What is being proposed? Ministers want everyone in England to take a Covid test twice a week to help quickly identify any surge in cases as the economy and society are unlocked in the coming months. How will it work? People will be able to order so-called lateral flow tests for use at home, or get tested at work or at sites run by local councils. They are already used by millions of children following the return to school last month. What are lateral flow tests? These pregnancy-style tests can deliver results at home within half an hour. Like a regular test they involve taking a swab from the back of the throat and nose but the samples do not have to be sent for laboratory analysis. Are these tests reliable? They are not as sensitive as a standard PCR laboratory test. One study found they missed 40 per cent of asymptomatic cases. However, they perform much better at picking up cases where people have a high viral load. The Government says they have picked up 120,000 cases which would not otherwise have been identified. What if I test positive? People who test positive will be asked to self-isolate in the normal way, as well as providing details of their contacts to the Test and Trace service. What about false positives? Recent analysis by NHS Test and Trace suggests fewer than one in a thousand lateral flow tests will produce a false positive. However, anyone who does test positive will be offered a PCR test to confirm the result. How much will this cost? Officials were tight-lipped about the likely cost, but acknowledge it will run into billions of pounds. Lateral flow tests are much cheaper than the standard PCR ones, with some reports suggesting the Government can buy them for as little as 5 each. But if 25 million people were to test twice a week, the cost would still top 1 billion a month. What will it cost me? Nothing. The Government will pick up the bill for all tests. Advertisement

Government sources confirmed that the surge in testing was likely to lead to a rise in detected case numbers, which yesterday fell to just 2,297  the lowest figure since September 5.

Experts have warned that when huge numbers of tests are carried out the slightly lower accuracy of the kits - especially when conducted at home - means that thousands of people will get the wrong results.

Tory MPs have voiced alarm that any rise in cases could lead to further lockdown easing being delayed.

Former minister Steve Baker said that the false positives generated by tens of millions of additional tests could be enough to knock the Government's roadmap off course.

Mr Baker, deputy chairman of the 70-strong Covid Recovery Group of MPs, said: 'It is now obvious that in an environment of low prevalence, mass asymptomatic testing makes false positives a real issue.'

Allyson Pollock, professor of public health at Newcastle University, told the BBC that mass testing was a 'scandalous waste of money'.

'When the prevalence rate of coronavirus falls as low as it is at the moment then an increasing proportion of cases are likely to be false positives meaning that cases and contacts will self isolate unnecessarily.'

Prof Pollock said mass testing was 'going to do more harm than good', complained about a lack of evidence from the government.

Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne told MailOnline there was a danger that false positives could cause issues with the lockdown easing.

'This is a year overdue. This time last year the great release was going to be a testing programme... we were going to test ourselves each day before we went out.

'That was the first great hope, that testing would be the release to normality. Now it's back again but in the intervening period haven't we surpassed that?

'Isn't vaccination supposed to have provided us with the release? What is the purpose of us testing ourselves each day if the vaccination programme is a success?

He also questioned how many people 'are really going to test themselves twice a week'.

'We've already discovered it's quite difficult to get people to test themselves at all even if they have symptoms.'

Sir Desmond said the false positive rate was 'small but clearly when you are talking about millions of tests clearly it becomes a significant factor'.

Health minister Edward Argar told Sky News the testing was a 'key part' of getting people back to work.

'In terms of the reliability of the tests, I think recent Test and Trace analysis around this suggests that out of 1,000 lateral flow tests, there was less than one false positive within those 1,000,' he said.

'So that is still a highly accurate test which can play a really important part in reopening our country and our businesses, because it is so simple to take.'

Mr Argar said the costs would be within the existing two-year 37billion NHS Test and Trace budget.

He told BBC Breakfast: 'I suspect in the first instance, a lot of them will be used by people who are starting to go back into their workplace again, as the economy starts opening up again, as pubs start opening for outside drinks and shops start opening again and as people start going back to their offices and businesses.

'So I suspect that will be a very large proportion of people who use these tests.'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was vital that people take up the testing offer, adding: 'The vaccine programme has been a shot in the arm for the whole country, but reclaiming our lost freedoms and getting back to normal hinges on us all getting tested regularly.'

Writing in the Mail, Jenny Harries, head of the new UK Health Security Agency, said twice-weekly testing could 'help us get back to normal'.

She added: 'If we are going to reclaim our lost freedoms for the long term, we must ensure we can withstand expected but unpredictable attacks in the form of variants of the virus.

'That will require us to use the massive testing capacity to discover where variants of concern are and respond to them swiftly.'

The moves comes as thousands of Britons flocked to parks and beaches to enjoy sunny weather over the bank holiday weekend.

Families met in small groups outdoors to celebrate Easter Sunday together, as temperatures reached 64.4F (18C) in the South of England, and northern parts saw highs of 59F (15C).

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson is also set to announce a traffic light system to put holidays back on the table for Britons this summer - but much of Europe looks like being out of bounds as cases surge.

The system will see foreign destinations rated as red, amber and green depending on a range of categories.

Government sources said they will categorise countries using criteria including the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated, the rate of infection, any emerging variants and the country's access to reliable data and genomic sequencing.

Sunseekers returning from countries in the green category will not have to isolate, although they will need to have tests before and after they fly.

Those coming back from red list countries would have to quarantine in a hotel for ten days, while arrivals from amber destinations will have to isolate at home.

The Prime Minister will re-affirm May 17 will be the earliest that foreign holidays can resume and the new system comes into effect.

But he will say he is unable to advise yet whether any countries will be classed as green on this date.

The PM is also fighting on another front, as he faces a burgeoning Tory revolt on proposals to use 'coronavirus passports' to help reopen pubs and get crowds back at events.

Michael Gove has promised MPs a chance to vote on the plans when they are finalised. But Labour says it has 'many reservations' about the civil liberties and practical implications, and more than 40 Conservatives have signalled they are ready to oppose.

Chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs Sir Graham Brady blasted vaccine passports as 'intrusive, costly and unnecessary'.

In a cross-party letter on Friday, 72 MPs - 41 of which were Tories - branded the Covid passport idea 'divisive and discriminatory'.

If more than 60 Conservative MPs vote against the measures - alongside all members of the opposition - the vaccine passport plan would fail to get through the Commons in an embarrassing defeat for the PM.

Labour leader Keir Starmer last week suggested needing a passport to go to the pub would be un-British.

And shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves said this morning: 'We will keep an open mind but at the moment we have many reservations.'

At a press conference this evening, the Prime Minister will confirm the next stage of the release from lockdown is on schedule  with shops, gyms and hairdressers allowed to reopen from next week

At a press conference this evening, the Prime Minister will confirm the next stage of the release from lockdown is on schedule  with shops, gyms and hairdressers allowed to reopen from April 12 (stock photo)

Visitors flock to Durdle Door in Dorset on a day of warm spring sunshine and a cool breeze during Easter Sunday

Durdle Door beach in Dorset was busy with people enjoying the sunshine on Easter Sunday

Today Britain recorded a daily death toll of 10, a 47 per cent drop on last Sunday and the lowest figure since September 14. Northern Ireland and Wales' didn't report any deaths or cases because of delays

The Government's official data also revealed a further 2,297 people tested positive for coronavirus today, a 40.5 per cent drop on last week

Today's announcement introduces a universal mass testing regime for England which is likely to become part of the 'new normal' and remain in place for many months.

NHS and care home staff, along with millions of school children are already using fast-turnaround tests twice a week.

The tests are said to have identified 120,000 cases that might not otherwise have been picked up.

Government sources said that more than 100,000 businesses have also requested test kits to run their own schemes designed to make workplaces Covid secure.

Under the new regime, which will be introduced on Friday, people will be able to request packs of test kits for home use.

Individuals will also have the opportunity to get tested at council-run sites or as part of workplace schemes.

And a new 'Pharmacy Collect' scheme will be introduced, allowing adults to pick up boxes of seven rapid tests.

Mr Johnson said the rollout will help stop Covid outbreaks 'in their tracks'.

He added: 'As we continue to make good progress on our vaccine programme and with our road map to cautiously easing restrictions under way, regular rapid testing is even more important to make sure those efforts are not wasted.'

Dr Susan Hopkins, of Public Health England, urged 'everyone' to take up the testing offer, saying they were vital in 'breaking the chains of transmission'.

A major new advertising campaign will be launched this week encouraging Britons to take up the tests.

Mr Hancock said that, with one in three people infected with Covid showing no symptoms, mass testing would be 'fundamental in helping us quickly spot positive cases and squash any outbreaks'.

The new drive will use so-called 'lateral flow tests' which provide on-the-spot results in the same way as a pregnancy test.

Users still have to take a swab from their nose and throat, but the results can be determined at home in half an hour, without the need for laboratory analysis.

Health sources last night said the tests produced fewer than one false positive in a thousand.

But this could still result in almost 1,000 false cases for every one million taken.

Ministers have now agreed that anyone testing positive will be offered a 'gold standard' PCR test to confirm the result.

New technology means these tests can also now be used to detect new variants of the virus, allowing their spread to be picked up more quickly.

The Government was unable to say how much the new scheme would cost.

But with tests thought to cost at least 5 each, take-up of 25million would generate a bill of more than 1billion a month.

HOW LATERAL FLOW TESTS ARE ONLY TRUSTWORTHY WHEN ADMINISTERED BY TRAINED STAFF Lateral flow tests are only accurate at diagnosing coronavirus when administered by trained professionals, studies have repeatedly shown. The tests, which give results in as little as 15 minutes, use swabs of the nose or throat. Samples are then mixed in a testing liquid and put into a plastic cassette which can detect the presence or absence of coronavirus and then produce an image of a line, the same way as a pregnancy test, to indicate whether it is positive or negative. The Department of Health and NHS are instructing people to use the tests on themselves, despite manufacturers of some kits saying they shouldn't be used as DIY swabs. Both the swabbing procedure and the use of the test cassette can easily be done wrong and affect the accuracy of the test. If the swab isn't done for long enough, or deep enough into the nose or throat, it may not pick up fragments of virus. Medical professionals are also able to use nasopharyngeal swabs, which go right to the back of the nostril, whereas this is not advised for people who test themselves. And if the sample isn't properly inserted into the cassette the result might be wrong, or people may misread the display when it produces a result. SELF-TESTING CUT ACCURACY FROM 79% TO 58% A University of Oxford and Public Health England evaluation of the Innova lateral flow test, which is being widely used in the UK, found its sensitivity - the proportion of positive cases it detected - fell from 79 per cent to 58 per cent when it was used by untrained members of the public instead of lab experts. Based on this evaluation, officials pushed ahead and used it for a real-world self-testing trial. PILOT IN LIVERPOOL FOUND FEWER THAN HALF OF POSITIVES When the same Innova test was trialled on members of the public in Liverpool - with people taking their own swabs and trained military staff operating the tests - the swabs picked up just 41 per cent of positive cases. In the study the rapid tests detected 891 positive results, compared to lab-based PCR swabs that found 2,829 positives in the same group. This means 1,938 people got a wrong negative result from the rapid test. The study didn't compare this to professionally done rapid tests, but the manufacturer Innova claims its test is 95 per cent sensitive in lab conditions. ...BUT TESTING DONE BY MEDICS IN SLOVAKIA 'REDUCED INFECTIONS' Despite rapid lateral flow tests getting bad press, officials in Slovakia used them on 5.2million people - almost the entire population of 5.5m - in a trial that a study later estimated to have cut the country's infection rate by 60 per cent. The tests used were between 70 and 90 per cent accurate and all the swabs and evaluations were carried out by trained medical workers. They used deep nasopharyngeal swabs, that go to the back of the nose, whereas self-testing generally relies on a swab of only the nostril. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine researchers said that the scheme successfully weeded out coronavirus cases that wouldn't have been found otherwise, slashing the number of cases by over half in a week during a lockdown. HOW RAPID TESTS ARE DIFFERENT TO LAB-BASED PCR SWABS Lateral flow tests are an alternative to the gold standard PCR test - known scientifically as polymerase chain reaction testing - which is more expensive and more labour-intensive but more accurate. PCR tests also use a swab but this is then processed using high-tech laboratory equipment to analyse the genetic sequence of the sample to see if any of it matches the genes of coronavirus. This is a much more long-winded and expensive process, involving multiple types of trained staff, and the analysis process can take hours, with the whole process from swab to someone receiving their result taking days. It is significantly more accurate, however. In ideal conditions the tests are almost 100 per cent accurate at spotting the virus, although this may be more like 70 per cent in the real world. Advertisement

We all want a return to normality regular tests can only help, writes DR JENNY HARRIES

The new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) launched last week with the unique mission to protect the nation's health, both from existing hazards  such as hepatitis or radiation risks  but also from external and emerging threats.

As its first priority, it will continue the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Regular, rapid testing means we are finding cases of the virus that we wouldn't otherwise detect, which prevents transmission to families, friends and communities  and which could ultimately save lives.

Around one in three people experiences no symptoms when they contract the virus and by getting tested regularly people will rapidly break chains of transmission that could begin unwittingly.

Twice-weekly testing using lateral flow devices, commonly known as LFDs, has already protected millions of people who need to leave home for work, including frontline NHS workers, care home staff and residents, and schoolchildren and their families.

Regular testing in the months ahead can help us all get back to normal, and from this Friday we will make twice-weekly LFD testing available to every person in England.

An LFD is the testing equivalent of a Formula 1 pit stop. With a rapid turnaround time of 30 minutes for a result, these swab tests can be done from the comfort of a living room and are capable of quickly giving a snap verdict on whether someone is or isn't likely to be infectious.

Just like an experienced mechanic, people get quicker at doing the test, and get better results, the more frequently they carry them out.

Vaccines are tipping the scales in our favour but as cases, deaths and hospitalisation charts continue to fall, the importance of our testing and tracing capabilities grows.

An effective testing and tracing system is our radar for spotting new outbreaks and suppressing them and for watching out for new variants. The new variant in Kent, which rapidly increased cases across the country, is a stark reminder that viruses are shapeshifters and they mutate all the time.

Regular testing in the months ahead can help us all get back to normal, and from this Friday we will make twice-weekly LFD testing available to every person in England. Pictured: A student uses a swab at a testing site in the University of Hull's Allam Sport Centre

Writing in the Mail, Jenny Harries, head of the new UK Health Security Agency, said twice-weekly testing could 'help us get back to normal'

If we are going to reclaim our lost freedoms for the long term, we must ensure we can withstand expected but unpredictable attacks in the form of variants of the virus.

That will require us to use the massive testing capacity to discover where variants of concern are and respond to them swiftly. Our diagnostics system is ready for testing on a level that matches the vaccination rollout, both in scope and ambition. The UK is now a testing juggernaut.

At the most recent count we have been testing over a million people a day, genome sequencing 32,000 tests in a week, and we have traced and contacted 3.2million who have tested positive in the past year, and a further six million of their contacts.

Regular testing is a way we can all help to bring about the return of much that has been missing in all of our lives and I have every confidence people will continue to give their selfless support in this next stage, just as they have throughout this pandemic.

Dr Jenny Harries is chief executive of the UKHSA.

Flights to countries with high jab rates: Boris Johnson will unveil traffic light system for summer holidays with destinations vetted for Covid infections, vaccinations and the risk of mutant strains

Britons will be allowed to holiday in countries with high vaccination rates this summer, Boris Johnson will say today.

The Prime Minister will unveil a traffic light system that will see destinations rated as red, amber and green.

Government sources tonight said they will categorise countries using criteria including the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated, the rate of infection, any emerging variants and the country's access to reliable data and genomic sequencing.

The Prime Minister will unveil a traffic light system that will see destinations rated as red, amber and green

Sunseekers returning from countries in the green category will not have to isolate, although they will need to have tests before and after they fly. Those coming back from red list countries would have to quarantine in a hotel for ten days, while arrivals from amber destinations will have to isolate at home.

The Prime Minister will re-affirm May 17 will be the earliest that foreign holidays can resume and the new system comes into effect.

But he will say he is unable to advise yet whether any countries will be classed as green on this date.

A Government source said last night: 'It is too early to predict which countries will be on which list over the summer. As such, we continue to advise people not to book summer holidays abroad.' One scientist said yesterday the traffic light system could be too simplistic to stop the spread of new cases.

Professor Gabriel Scally, a member of the Independent Sage committee, said: 'It is not quite as simple as looking at what the situation is in an individual country from which a flight originated. We know people will mix together from all over the world, and this is what spurred the autumn surges of cases.'

Britons will be allowed to holiday in countries with high vaccination rates this summer, Boris Johnson will say today (File image)

A public health campaign message is displayed on an arrivals information board at Heathrow Airport (File image)

Malta's health minister yesterday said there was 'no reason' why holidaymakers should not be allowed to travel between countries that have vaccinated a high proportion of their population. Christopher Fearne told Radio 4's The World This Weekend: 'Malta by the summer will probably be one of the safest places to travel to certainly in Europe and probably in the world.

'That is because we are vaccinating at a high rate.'

Malta has announced British travellers who have had both doses of the vaccine are welcome from June 1.

Travel chiefs urged Mr Johnson to add a fourth tier to the system which would eliminate the need for testing or quarantine to very low-risk countries.

Chief executive of easyJet John Lungren, Jet2 boss Stephen Heapy and Manchester Airports Group boss Charlie Cornish have handed ministers 'independent and scientifically-robust' research they each commissioned which suggests safe travel 'to Europe and beyond will be possible this summer, in many cases without any restrictions'.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4)  President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo called on Filipinos to remain hopeful in separate messages for Easter Sunday.

In his message, Duterte said Filipinos should remember the message of hope brought by Christ's resurrection and to be inspired by it.

"The glory of Easter gives us all a profound message of hope in the midst of suffering and an assurance of triumph over adversity," he said.

Robredo, meanwhile, said it is during times of difficulty that Filipinos should be reminded of their faith, hope, and love for each other.

"If there is anything that Easter and the Lenten Season reminds us, it is that during these extraordinary times of darkness, we are renewed by our faith, hope, and love for one another. Ito ang nagpapatatag at nagpapalakas sa atin, ang sisigurong maaalpasan natin ang kalbaryong pasan natin ngayon. Sa pagmamahal ni Kristo, sa pagpili Niyang makiisa sa lahat ng hirap at pagsubok ng buhay natin, humuhugot tayo ng inspirasyon para magsimula at makabangon muli," she said.

[Translation: If there is anything that Easter and the Lenten Season reminds us, it is that during these extraordinary times of darkness, we are renewed by our faith, hope, and love for one another. This is what sustains and strengthens us, what will ensure that we can overcome the burdens we bear now. With the love of Christ, as He chooses to share in all our sufferings, we draw inspiration to start and bounce back again.]

Both leaders said the strength drawn by Filipinos from their faith will help in overcoming challenges brought about by the pandemic, and in turn help them be of service to others.

This Easter Filipinos will officially start the year-long celebration marking 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.
STREET FIGHT, RUSMAN VS. BARATZ, FALLAH BAHH, ZACK GOWEN, THE GRAYSONS, LSG, MATT CROSS & MORE: 4/3 WRESTLEPRO ALASKA NORTHERN EXPANSION TOUR NIGHT TWO REPORT FROM SOLDOTNA, ALASKA

Welcome to PWInsider.com's ongoing coverage of WrestlePro Alaska's Northern Expansion Tour Night Two from Soldotna, Alaska at the All American Training Center! This show took place Saturday evening 4/3. You can watch the stream of the event at this link.

If you missed coverage of Night One from Friday 4/2, click here.

The World Famous Cheeseburger vs. Aleki

If you aren't aware, Aleki is the son of former WWF star Sivi Afi.

The crowd was super into Cheeseburger. Aleki used his power to toss him down to the mat several times in the early going. CB was able to grab an armwringer and controlled him before snatching a side headlock. Aleki sent him into the ropes and shoulderblocked him coming off. CB grabbed another side headlock but was again sent down with a shoulder tackle.

CB ducked down during a leapfrog attempt and basically turned into a turtle, unable to be pinned. That befuddled Aleki, who finally pulled him up and tried to send him into the ropes. CB kept using different unique ways to prevent Aleki from using his strength. The crowd enjoyed this for comedy. CB sent Aleki to the floor but was caught during a pescado attempt. CB slipped backwards and shoved him into the ring post. CB placed him in a chair at ringside and darted around the ring, charging with a big boot that sent Aleki crashing backwards off the chair. CB attempted to do it again but this time was caught and powerbombed onto the ring apron outside. Aleki worked over CB and dumped him back into the ring. He stomped away at CB and choked him against the ropes. CB kept kicking up at the last second.

Aleki nailed him with a thrust to the throat in the corner and whipped him with authority into the opposite buckle. Aleki kept scoring two counts but CB fought back with several right hands and rolled him up for a two count. CB nailed a DDT but Aleki popped up as it "didn't hurt him due to the side of his head" and stomped away at CB. CB was trapped in a chinlock style submission but tried to fight his way out of it. The kids were really into chanting for Cheeseburger. Aleki was drilled with a sit-out jawjacker. CB charged but was almost kicked off. CB grabbed the leg, placed it in the ropes and nailed a Dragon Screw Legwhip. He followed up with a back splash for a two count. Aleki caught him with a belly to belly suplex and hit a Flatliner, but CB kicked out at the very last second. Aleki went for a pumphandle slam but CB slipped out and went for a belly to back suplex. Alexi fought him off but was finally nailed with it. They went back and forth until Aleki nailed a lariat for a close two count. They battled back and forth with CB showing more fire as they went on. Aleki missed a lariat but was hit with a Liger palm thrust, scoring the pin.

Your winner, The World Famous Cheeseburger!

An effective opening match for an audience that wanted to just cheer the babyface.

Trixie vs. Freya The Slaya

Trixie is the daughter of former WWE developmental talent Micah Taylor. She is very much early on in her career. Freya is local and just made a few AEW appearances.

Freya asked her where her father was, so Trixie slapped her. Trixie played mind games early, trying to avoid and evade Freya. It didn't last long as Freya snatched her up and slammed her. Freya placed her on the top and nailed several shots to the face. Trixie slipped under her and nailed a powerbomb for a two count. She worked over Freya in the corner with a series of hard forearms and used her boot to choke Freya.

Trixie kept working her over and snapmared her down, then dropkicked her for a two count. Freya fought back but was drilled with a knee. Trixie locked on a hammerlock but Freya reversed and lifted her, tying her to tree of woe. Freya nailed her with a cannonball and followed up with a knee to the face. Freya left her in the ropes and came down with a big axe kick, which was the most impressive spot of the bout so far. It looked damn good but Trixie kicked up at two.

Trixie fought back and hit a thrust to the throat and a pump kick for a two count. That looked good. Freya finally caught her with a hard shot to the chest and an atomic legdrop. Freya locked on a Cobra Clutch, then dropped her down to the mat with a slam for the pin.

Your winner, Freya the Slayer!

This was OK and was probably a little longer than it needed to be but for a show at this level, it was probably about getting ring time in as much as anything else.

They announced Freya & Jerry Bishop vs. Trixie & Matt Cross for this Wednesday's event in Palmer, Alaska.

The Nasty Gentlemen with YT Jones vs. Fallah Bahh & Zack Gowen

YT tried to tease he wanted to fight Gowen at the bell. Even promoter Kevin Matthews seemed ultra-befuddled at this happening. The referee rang the bell so it's apparently a handip match. YT spent a minute running around the ring from Gowen and hiding in the arms of his charges faster than you could say Jim Cornette and Bobby Eaton.

Jones gained his confidence but turned around to find Fallah Bahh had tagged in and was almost hit with a Samoan Drop but The Gentlemen attacked him and beat him down. Bahh quickly made a comeback with a double clothesline. He took Jack Windsor over the top to the floor with another clothesline. Bahh's "NO NO NO" played well for this audience. He nailed an atomic legdrop on Brody Adam. Gowen tagged in and nailed a slingshot senton and a legdrop. Bahh elevated him and Gowen nailed another legdrop.

Bahh went to rebound off the ropes but Windsor drilled him in the back. Adam lariated Bahh and scored a two count, then choked him in the ropes. He tried to lift Bahh but Bahh was too heavy and crashed him to the mat. Gowen tagged in and nailed a tornado DDT for a two count. Gowen went for a slam but his back gave out. Bahh tagged in and easily slammed Windsor several times. Adam hit the ring and was slammed. Bahh then slammed Gowen on the stack and teased slamming the referee as well.

The Nasty Gentlemen double teamed Bahh and knocked Gowen off the apron to the floor. Bahh came back with an Avalanche on Windsor, then hit a Samoan Drop on Adam. Gowen went to the top for a moonsault but YT Jones tripped his leg and he crashed down. Bahh chased him to the back as Kevin Matthews, on commentary, gave Bahh verbal permission to "eat" YT Jones. That may be the first recorded instance of pre-approved cannibalism in professional wrestling. This left Gowen to be doubleteamed. He was slammed to the mat. Adam came off the top with a flying elbow and Windsor scored the pin.

Your winners, The Nasty Gentlemen!

This was a solid tag match with the babyfaces shining so that the heels could get the rub with a win.

Bahh returned from the back with Jones, tossing him into the ring. Gowen nailed him with a Twist of Fate. Bahh then nailed him with the Banzai Drop.

Gowen has looked damn good each night thus far. The crowd was super into yelling "Bahh" forr Fallah.

Tyler Payne vs. Bobby Wayward

Payne had a great showing last night with Matt Cross and is playing more of a babyface here. Wayward was stalling early. It was very much an easy to follow heel vs. babyface formula with Payne controlling until Wayward snapped his arm in the ropes. From that point on, he savagely attacked Payne and sent him hard into the buckles. Payne's face was ripped apart and he was caught with a series of shoulderblocks in the corner.

Payne was caught in an armbar. He tried to fight his way out but was kept on defense. Payne finally scored with a series of kicks but was stopped with a jawjacker. Wayward showed some good heel personality as he drilled Payne with forearms across the chest. Payne fired back with elbows to the mid-section but was drilled back to the mat. The story was that every time Payne found a window of opportunity, Wayward cut off that momentum and took him back to the mat. Payne finally scored with a pin to change the tide.

Tyler Payne nailed a Stinger Splash and a big superkick for a close two count. Wayward tried to play it off like his knee was hurt but quickly went for a knee strike. Wayward was hit with The Payne Killer, a double hammerlock into a back cracker. Wayward rolled out of the ring. He was tossed back into the ring but was grabbed Payne and nailed a Dragon Screw legwhip when Payne was half back in the ring. Wayward nailed a Perfectplex and scored the pin.

Your winner, Bobby Wayward!

Both looked good and showed a lot of potential here.

Coverage continues on Page 2!

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Prospects of economic growth and external finances in 2021 View(s):

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) expects a significant economic recovery this year. The economy is expected to grow by six percent. All three sectors of the economy are expected to grow and a balance of payments surplus is forecast for 2021.

Economic growth

The CBSLs forecast of the economys growth by six percent this year is above the expectations of the ADB, World Bank and IMF that forecast growth of between 3.5 to 5.3 percent. The Central Banks expectations are based on the economic performance in the first two months, on other recent favourable economic developments and expectations of a global economic recovery. They do not appear to take into account possible reversals, threats and global setbacks.

Growth realistic?

The projected growth of six percent for this year is a reasonable expectation. In fact, it is not much of an achievement given the negative growth of last year and the low growth in 2019. A growth of six percent is realistic, but inadequate. It would barely catch up the recent economic stagnation. We are running to be in the same place. However, given uncertainties in the containment of COVID internationally and in the island and the expected global economic recovery of five percent, a higher growth is unrealistic.

Sources of growth

This years economic growth is based on expectations of growth in all three sectors of the economy: agriculture, industry (including construction) and services.

Agriculture

The agriculture sectors growth is based on expectations of increased production in tea, paddy and rubber production. The paddy harvest is expected to be only slightly lower than last years bumper harvest of 330,000 metric tonnes at about 300,000 metric tons. The Yala harvest this year is unpredictable till the monsoon rains in May.

The Central Banks expectation of growth in other crops is less likely. Although there has been an increase in tea and rubber production in the first two months, the capacity to increased tea production on the estates is limited owing to structural problems. The entirety of an increase in tea production would have to come from small holder cultivation that accounts for about 70 percent of tea output. Similarly, the capacity of increasing natural rubber production is limited. Only long term investment in these tree crops could achieve an increase.

The decrease in coconut production is amply demonstrated by the high prices and imports of coconut kernel and coconut oil. An increase in other food crops, especially maize, is doubtful this year owing to pest damage and climate-related setbacks. In any case, agriculture accounts for only about seven to eight percent of GDP.

Manufacturing

The most promising sector is manufacturing as its growth is expected to be stimulated by the increase in international demand for the countrys apparel and rubber goods exports, in addition to a continued increase in personal protective equipment (PPE).

These exports may decrease in the latter part of the year when the global spread of COVID diminishes with increased vaccination. At the same time, there could be a revival of demand for our usual manufactured exports, including heavy duty tyres and apparel.

Services

A significant growth in services are expected. Earnings from ICT services from abroad are likely to increase as there has been a recovery in ICT services after a setback. Last year (2020) they increased to US$ 971 million from US$ 899 million in 2019. Earnings from ICT services have a potential to exceed US$ one billion in 2021 if global economic recovery gains momentum.

Earnings from tourism too would grow with the gradual growth in tourism, especially in the latter part of the year. Tourist earnings of US $ 1.5 billion is expected if global travel and tourism recovers. The containment of COVID in the Island is as important as the global recovery from the pandemic.

External finances

The Central Bank forecasts a significant improvement in the external finances. It expects the trade deficit to narrow and the reduced deficit to be more than offset by workers remittances, earnings from tourism and earnings from ICT services.

The expectation of a reduction in the trade deficit is unrealistic. The trade deficit is likely to widen owing to increased import expenditure. Nevertheless, the trade deficit is likely to be offset by earnings from services to result in a balance of payments surplus. However, the magnitude of the BOP surplus is uncertain.

Trade balance

The global economic recovery has significant downside impacts on the trade balance. In as much as the demand for the countrys industrial exports are likely to increase, import expenditure is likely to escalate.

Already the international price of fuel, fertiliser and other raw materials and basic foods have increased. Fuel prices that averaged about US$ 30 per barrel for most part of 2020, have increased to US$ 60 to 70 this year. Fuel prices are likely to increase as the world economy revives.

Increased import expenditure

In fact, most commodity prices will increase this year. Consequently, imports of fuel, fertiliser, chemicals, wheat, raw materials would increase. In as far as inputs for industry are concerned, there would be commensurate compensatory increases in export prices.

The bottom line is that the countrys import expenditure is likely to increase significantly this year in spite of import controls. Import expenditure is likely to exceed US$ 18 billion.

If merchandise exports increase to the EDB target of US$ 12 billion, the trade deficit is likely to be about US$ six billion. We expect exports to fare better to around US$ 15 billion, but imports could exceed US$ 18 billion. A trade deficit of over US$ six billion is likely.

Balance of payments

In spite of this, there could be a balance of payments surplus. While tourist earnings and earnings from ICT services could bring in around US$ 2.5 billion, a critical issue is whether the expectation of workers remittances to increase to over US$ seven billion is realistic. This is unlikely.

Workers remittances

There is considerable uncertainty on how much this years remittances would be. Last years increase in remittances is difficult to explain as workers were returning to the country. One explanation is that returning workers were remitting their accumulative savings through official channels rather than informal channels. If this is so, we could expect remittances to decrease as the number of workers abroad are declining.

On the other hand, it is suggested that expats in developed countries have increased their remittances to help their relations in financial difficulties. Either explanation leaves some doubt on the expectation of remittances to reach over US$ seven billion this year. It is hazardous to make an estimate of remittances, but a fall in remittances would cause a serious dent in the balance of payments.

In conclusion

Only time will tell whether the expectations of the Central Bank for 2021 will materialise. In as much as there are silver linings in the dark clouds of the economy, there is much global economic uncertainty and external shocks that could impact adversely on the economy.
Finch has acquired Wirecard Turkey, a division of the collapsed German payments giant. Photograph by Alex Kraus/Bloomberg

Finch Capital, a Dutch venture capital firm, has established a Dublin-based vehicle to acquire and invest in fintech businesses in Turkey and the Middle East.

The firm has acquired Wirecard Turkey, a division of the collapsed German payments giant, through its newly created Nomu Pay.

Nomu, meaning growth in Arabic, has been set up and is fully funded by Finch Capital to invest in payments and fintech operations in the region.

We would like to invest into more companies in the region, said Radboud Vlaar, managing partner at Finch Capital.

"We have invested in a similar model of buying and organic growth from Dublin, called Supply Finance.

We have a couple of great entrepreneurs with payment experience that work with us from Ireland to make this a success, hence Ireland.

Vlaar said there is a significant opportunity to expand the digital payments services in the Middle East and Nomu will be seeking further acquisition deals in these markets.

Read More

The Wirecard Turkey deal is expected to close in the summer months, pending regulatory approval.

Germanys Wirecard collapsed last year after a 1.9bn accounting scandal that is currently being investigated by authorities in Germany. Its former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek is on the run.

Since then, the companys various subsidiaries and assets have been sold off.

Some corporate card assets of Wirecard UK & Ireland, an Irish-based subsidiary, were acquired last October by Bulgarian payments company Paynetics.

Finch Capital is a regular investor in Ireland. Earlier this year it partnered with Enterprise Ireland on a new 20m fund that will back fintech startups.

In February it invested 5.8m in Dublins AccountsIQ, a financial management software company.

The firm has also backed fintech business Supply Finance and Dublin-based artificial intelligence start-up Aylien, leading its 5m round in 2019.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (Ministry of TEATT), Ludmila de Weever, said over the weekend, that the Ministries TEATT, the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry of VSA), and the Ministry of Justice, will be stepping up controls of businesses making sure that they are adhering to the COVID-19 public health and safety protocols.



The aforementioned directive came out of an emergency Council of Ministers meeting on Good Friday, April 2nd that was called as a result of a major COVID-19 outbreak in the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao).



The UK variant of the COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc on the ABC islands, forcing Sint Maarten to place travel restrictions as of April 5 in order to protect the local population. There are various variants circulating on the island including the UK variant. On Saturday, Curacao reported over 4000 active COVID-19 cases, 120 persons hospitalized, 44 of them in the Intensive Care Unit, and a death toll of 44 persons.



Sint Maarten has come a long way since the beginning of the pandemic and the re-opening of our borders and economy nine months ago. Our current active COVID-19 cases have been low, however, there has been a slight increase that is concerning and is being closely monitored by the Ministry of VSA.



As a country, we cannot afford to see cases increase as it will result in having to take serious measures to curtail a full-blown outbreak which would, in the end, impact the economy. Therefore, strict compliance and adherence to the public health and safety measures by the business community are needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.



Even though we have the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, the pandemic is still here, and therefore as a community, we cannot become complacent. Despite the vaccine, we need to continue to wear masks in public, wash our hands, and social distance.



An increase in active cases in Sint Maarten similar to what is currently taking place in the ABC islands would lead to resources being diverted from the vaccine rollout campaign to managing an outbreak. Sint Maarten does not have the medical capacity to handle a large outbreak. Any resurgence in cases would put in jeopardy a busy upcoming tourism summer season and the homeporting of the cruise ship Celebrity Millennium, Minister of TEATT Ludmila de Weever said over the Easter holiday weekend.



Businesses are expected to follow their COVID-19 Safe Framework business re-opening workplace plans that were submitted last summer regarding operations. Employees and customers are expected to wear masks and practice social distancing. In the case of events, crowd control measures must be in place, and compliance is expected at parties that have been marketed.



Controls will be carried out, and warnings given will be based on the observations of controllers after observing large congregating crowds. Violations of masks wearing, and other health and safety protocols will result in the ultimate closure of the business with potential reversal of opening times.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574.

Community Perspective

Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer.

Letters to the editor

Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer.
Three women who dated the same financial consultant are at the centre of a defamation lawsuit after they allegedly penned a letter to his fiancee telling her to leave him.

Melbourne man Constantine Arvanitis claims the one-page letter was sent to his partner Melanie Thornton and warned her that he was dangerous, violent and a sex addict.

Mr Arvanitis strongly denies the claims and says they are defamatory.

The letter was allegedly written by Selina Holder and two other women, who have not been named, who referred to themselves as the 'sisterhood', The Age reported.

'We have to expose him,' the letter allegedly read. 'He will take all your money. He has to be stopped.'

'You must contact us so we can protect you from this evil person. We all want to help you. We are in Melbourne together so please meet with us.'

Melbourne man Constantine Arvanitis claims the one-page letter was sent to his partner Melanie Thornton and warned her that he was dangerous, violent and a sex addict

Mr Arvanitis planned to sue all three women but will now only pursue the defamation suit against Ms Holder

Mr Arvanitis planned to sue all three women but will now only pursue the defamation suit against Ms Holder.

Court documents lodged to the Victorian County Court and obtained by The Age state Ms Holder shared a child with Mr Arvanitis.

The pair had been in a long-distance relationship, before moving in together and breaking up in 2015, according to the document.

The other two women were 'casual' relationships he had met on Tinder, Mr Arvanitis claims.

Mr Arvanitis claims Ms Holder also sent a letter to his sister-in-law Chantel Thornton and that the letters have 'damaged beyond repair' his relationship with his in-laws.

Ms Holder, who denies she sent the letter, has filed a defence claiming Mr Arvanitis spent $220,000 on cocaine, took meth and sold Viagra to colleagues while working at ANZ.

Mr Arvanitis claims Ms Holder also sent a letter to his sister-in-law Chantel Thornton and that the letters have 'damaged beyond repair' his relationship with his in-laws

Court documents claim Mr Arvanitis saw several women at the same time despite claiming he was in a monogamous relationship.

Mr Arvanitis is an IT consultant who worked for ANZ, Victoria Police, IBM before moving onto NAB.

He has denied the allegations brought against him and will begin the eight-day-long trial on May 17.
ANN ARBOR, MI  Students, faculty and staff at the University of Michigan gathered at Weiser Hall Saturday afternoon to hold a mock renaming of the building in response to inflammatory comments recently made by Regent Ron Weiser.

Community members renamed the building the Weiser Center for Voter Suppression, Political Assassination and Witch Burning. The ceremony included yard signs covering the original building sign and spray-painted stencils with the new name.

When you have a regent who refers to Michigans leadership as three witches, its disgusting and deplorable, said UM junior Sam Burnstein. Were just organizing to call for his resignation because, obviously what they did at the regents meeting was the most that they could do.

Weiser came under fire last week for his comments during a March 26 Republican Party meeting, which included calling Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson the three witches and said the GOP needs to make sure they are ready for the burning at the stake.

Weiser also referenced assassination when asked what could be done about Republican U.S. Reps. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids, and Fred Upton, R-Kalamazoo, who were among 10 Republicans who voted in favor of impeaching former Republican President Donald Trump.

Weiser, chair of the Michigan Republican Party, comments were captured in a video shared on social media.

Students and faculty from GEO, LEO and other organizations gather for a mock renaming of Weiser Hall on the University of Michigan campus after its namesake, regent Ron Weiser, called Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson "witches" during a Republican Party meeting and used the word assassination when talking about ousting the Michigan congressmen who voted in favor of the impeachment of former President Donald Trump. A sign was erected with the name "Weiser Center for Voter Suppression, Political Assassination and Witch Burning" on Saturday, April 3, 2021. (Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com)

In response to Weisers comments, the Board of Regents held a special session on April 2 and passed a resolution condemning Weisers comments and calling for his resignation. The resolution passed, 5-0, with Weiser and Regent Sarah Hubbard abstaining. Regent Katherine White was absent from the meeting.

Related: Ron Weiser says he will not be canceled after regents pass resolution for his resignation

After hearing the resolution, Weiser apologized for his comments and took full responsibility for his words but said he would not be resigning.

I agree with part of this resolution, Weiser continued, but I will not resign. I pledge to be part of a respectful dialogue going forward and challenge my colleagues and others to do the same. I will not be canceled.

Since his comments were made public, many people and groups have called for his resignation, including a majority of the board, leaders of the Congregations of Catholic Sisters in Michigan, eight state lawmakers and UMs Lecturers Employees Organization. Other officials including UM President Mark Schlissel, Provost Susan Collins and 21 deans at the university condemned Weisers comments but did not call on him to resign.

Related: Several University of Michigan deans condemn comments made by GOP chairman

After a ribbon cutting ceremony where faculty revealed the new signage, some spoke about why the building should be renamed and why Weiser should resign. UM senior Amytess Girgis and other UM community members started a petition in January to call on Weiser to resign after the violence at the U.S. Capitol.

Girgis noted that it has taken this long for any action to happen regarding calls for Weisers resignation even though Schlissel has yet to ask him to resign.

As a student organizer and as someone who has worked with many other organizers on campus, I can tell you that Weiser is not only unfit to be a regent, but hes unfit to be in any position of power, Girgis said.

Newly elected Central Student Government President Nithya Arun and Vice President Carla Voigt spoke at the meeting, saying that Weisers comments incite and normalize violence at a time when women fear for their lives, Arun said.

Those comments demonstrate that Weiser cannot serve the student body and do not align with the mission of being the leaders and the best, Voigt said.

Weisers statements have done irreparable damage to our Michigan community and we deserve better, Voigt said. Its harmful that his name is on buildings and places in this university, and it just needs to change.

READ MORE:

1,800 University of Michigan faculty members publicly condemn Ron Weisers comments

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Hash Bash marijuana rally draws hundreds to University of Michigan Diag for smoke-in protest
As the weather grows warmer and vaccination rates steadily increase, beaches and other popular attractions throughout California are once again experiencing packed crowds  some of the largest theyve seen in over a year.

Over the weekend, thousands of people descended upon tourist hotspots such as the Santa Monica Pier, the Venice Beach Boardwalk and Old Town Pasadena to celebrate spring break and relish in visiting with friends in person. However, local health experts have expressed concerned about the lack of masks worn by the crowds, as well as the sheer number of out-of-towners flooding the streets.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles County public health officials announced plans to move into the orange tier, expanding capacity at indoor venues while allowing businesses including outdoor bars that dont serve food to reopen. Expanded activities were permitted the next day, but many businesses wont officially resume operation until Monday, April 5, said public health director Barbara Ferrer.

California again seems keen on jump-starting its economy, rolling out reopening dates for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Universal Studios Hollywood and Disneyland this month alone; however, Ferrer urged visitors to exercise caution and continue to wear masks as experts eye a potential surge in case rates. More than 30% of residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the L.A. Times, but health officials estimate that percentage will need to be as high as 85% for the population to reach herd immunity.

It will be essential that each of us not get sloppy, Ferrer said last week as she reported 26 additional deaths and 386 new cases in Los Angeles County.

Even so, more than 100,000 people visited the Santa Monica Pier over the weekend, reports the Guardian. In response, city leaders announced plans to restrict numbers on the pier Saturday by cutting off access to newly arriving visitors at 7 p.m.  three hours before the attraction closes. Theyre also planning to assemble a handful of health ambassadors, who will pass out free masks at the pier and remind people wear face coverings.

MORE: 'I hit the lottery': Here's how 7 SF Bay Area residents got vaccine appointments

A Graff

In San Francisco, 46% of residents over 16 have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and as temperatures climbed toward the mid-80s last week, crowds began to congregate across the city from Dolores Park to Ocean Beach.

Meanwhile in Oakland, officials led by City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas have established new policies at Lake Merritt due to reported crowding, traffic, high noise levels and littering. Illegal street vendors were another topic of concern, and though the city is setting up a designated area for them to resume business, many refused to go because they believe the cost to operate there is too high.

Were just trying to survive, a vendor who went by Drea told KPIX. I lost my job a whole year ago and I havent been able to get a job that pays the rent.

Implemented on Friday, those new regulations have led to the deployment of a new park ambassador program as well as an increased police presence, reports Oaklandside, and will be enforced through Labor Day weekend. Oaklands City Council is expected to hold a meeting to discuss the allocation of funding for the measure on April 12.

With many people vaccinated, more activities now present less of a risk, but health officials still recommend proceeding with caution: continue to wear a mask when out in public, and don't travel unless you absolutely have to.
OPPOSITION Zapu has accused the ruling Zanu PF party of blocking the opening of consular posts in Bulawayo.

This was said by Zapu deputy secretary for international relations, Future Msebele, who claimed that Zanu PF had a deliberate policy to alienate the southern region of the country from international spotlight and to marginalise it.

Recently, the United States embassys consular section chief Alex Ave-Lallemant, on behalf of ambassador Brian Nichols, turned down a request by Zapu for embassies to open posts in Bulawayo after Msebele had written to all embassies in Harare asking them to open new consular posts in Bulawayo in order to promote devolution.

Msebele had argued that this would ensure accessibility to consular services by people in the Matabeleland region, as well as enable them to have commercial and political engagements.

Only the US embassy responded, saying the decision needed to be made by the government of Zimbabwe.

Msebele then blamed the Zanu PF government of making it difficult for diplomatic missions to operate in Bulawayo.

The Zanu PF government has made it difficult for embassies to open up consulates in other major cities. Zanu PF is afraid to give power to the people because they are protecting their corrupt activities. They are treating the country like their private playground, he said.

We call upon all pressure groups, interest groups and progressive non-governmental organisations to join us in our noble call. We request all embassies to engage the government and open consulates in Bulawayo. Consular services should be accessible to the majority of our people.

Msebele said they would continue to engage strategic partners like South Africa and Botswana to push for consular offices in Bulawayo.

By refusing to implement devolution, Zanu PF just substituted white leaders with black oppressors, he said. Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo dismissed the accusations, saying the ruling party was not involved in government business.

This is government business, where is Zanu PF coming into this? Zanu PF is not involved in government business, they should approach the government directly, Moyo said. Newsday
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 17:35:00|Editor: huaxia

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People prepare to lay flower baskets to the monument at the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs' cemetery in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 4, 2021. A commemoration activity was held here on Sunday to pay tribute to martyrs on the occasion of Tomb-Sweeping Day. (Xinhua/Yao Jianfeng)
Buenos Aires: Argentine President Alberto Fernandez says he had an initial positive test for COVID-19, despite having been vaccinated in January.

Fernandez sent a tweet early on Saturday (Argentine time) saying he took a quick antigen test for the virus after feeling a headache and experiencing a fever of 37.3 degrees. He said he otherwise has light symptoms, is isolating and is physically well.

Argentinas President Alberto Fernandez has tested positive to COVID but is awaiting confirmation of a further test. Credit:AP

He said he is awaiting a confirmation of the result using a more rigorous PCR test.

The President, who turned 62 on Friday, received a dose of the Sputnik V vaccine on January 21 and a second dose a few days later.
Hennes & Mauritz ABs woes in Asia deepened after a problematic map on its website drew the attention of Chinese authorities, with the retailers attempts to resolve the matter then angering consumers in

H&Ms Shanghai unit was summoned by two of the citys regulators to correct mistakes on the image, and the firm said it will carry out the rectification, according to the local arm of the Cyberspace Administration of on Friday. It didnt elaborate on the corrections that were ordered, and its not immediately clear which map on H&Ms website is in question.

Changes by the Swedish firm to its map are infringing on Vietnams maritime sovereignty, the Saigon Giai Phong newspaper reported, citing the chairman of one of the countrys consumer rights associations. H&Ms spokespeople in and Stockholm didnt immediately respond to requests for comments.

recently became a high-profile example of foreign punished for crossing Chinas political lines, facing the brunt of the governments ire against clothing retailers who criticize human rights abuses in the cotton-producing Xinjiang region.

It was called out by the Communist Youth League and the Peoples Liberation Army for a statement dating back to September that expressed concern about reports of Uyghurs in forced labor. H&Ms outlets vanished from Apple Maps and Baidu Maps searches, and some stores in smaller cities were closed by landlords.

claims more than 80 per cent of the South China Sea and backs up its claim with a 1947 map that shows vague dashes  the so-called nine-dash line  looping down to a point about 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) south of its Hainan island. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim parts of the same maritime area, and have sparred with China over which claims are valid.

Vietnamese law bars firms from using images that infringe on its sovereignty, which the nine-dash line represents, the Saigon Giai Phong said. opened its first store in Ho Chi Minh City in 2017 and now has 12 outlets across the country.

On the internet, Vietnamese consumers criticised H&Ms reported acquiescence to Chinese authorities. Some called for a boycott of H&Ms products, demanded the company apologise to and restore changes to the map or close its outlets, the paper said.
The half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah II has said he has been placed under house arrest and accused the country's "ruling system" of incompetence and corruption, exposing a rare rift within the ruling monarchy of a close Western ally.

Prince Hamzah's videotaped statement came on Saturday after the country's official news agency reported that two former senior officials and other suspects had been arrested for "security reasons," even as authorities denied that Hamzah had been detained or placed under house arrest.

In a video leaked to the British Broadcasting Corp., Hamzah a former crown prince stripped of his title in 2004 said he was visited early Saturday by the country's military chief and told he was not allowed to go out, communicate with people or 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 and expected that service to be cut as well. The BBC said it received the statement from Hamzah's lawyer.

Hamzah said he had been informed he was being punished for taking in part in meetings in which the king had been criticized, though he said he was not accused of joining in the criticism.

He then lashed out at the "ruling system" without mentioning the king by name, saying it had decided "that its personal interests, that its financial interests, that its is more important than the lives and dignity and futures of the 10 million people that live here."



"I'm not part of any conspiracy or nefarious organisation or foreign-backed group, as is always the claim here for anyone who speaks out," he said. "There are members of this family who still love this country, who care for (its people) and will put them above all else."



"Apparently, that is a crime worthy of isolation, threats and now being cut off," he added.

It is rare for a senior member of the ruling family to express such harsh criticism of the government, and any sign of instability in is likely to raise concerns among the country's Western allies.

Hamzah is a popular figure in He is seen as religious and modest, in touch with the common people and similar to his beloved father, the late King Hussein. He has criticized the government in the past, accusing officials of "failed management" after they approved an income tax law in 2018.

The country's top general had earlier denied that Hamzah was detained or under house arrest. Hamzah was asked to "stop some movements and activities that are being used to target Jordan's security and stability," Gen. Yousef Huneiti was quoted as saying by the official Petra news agency.

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 Jordan's security and stability are above all," he added.

Petra had earlier reported that Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, and Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah, a former head of the royal court, were detained. Awadallah also previously served as planning minister and finance minister and has private business interests throughout the Gulf region.

The agency did not provide further details or name the who were arrested. Abdullah has ruled since the 1999 death of of his father, King Hussein, who ruled the country for close to a half-century. Abdullah has cultivated close relations with U.S. and other Western leaders over the years, and Jordan was a key ally in the war against the Islamic State group. The country borders Israel, the occupied West Bank, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

"We are closely following the reports and in touch with Jordanian officials," State Department spokesman Ned Price said. "King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support."



Saudi Arabia's official news agency said the kingdom "confirmed its full support to Jordan and its king and crown prince in all decisions and procedures to maintain security and stability and defuse any attempt to affect them."



Jordan's economy has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic. The country, with a population of around 10 million, also hosts more than 600,000 Syrian refugees.

Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994. The countries maintain close security ties, but relations have otherwise been tense in recent years, largely due to differences linked to Israel's conflict with the Palestinians. Jordan is home to more than 2 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom have Jordanian citizenship. Israel's Foreign Ministry declined comment.

Stability in Jordan and the status of the king has long been a matter of concern, particularly during the Trump administration, which gave unprecedented support to Israel and sought to isolate the Palestinians, including by slashing funding for Palestinian refugees.

In early 2018, as then-President Donald Trump was threatening to cut aid to countries that did not support U.S. policies, the administration boosted assistance to Jordan by more than USD 1 billion over five years.

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" in order to allow him to take on other responsibilities. The move was seen at the time as part of Abdullah's consolidation of power five years after the succession.
This time last year Wendy Hamilton had put a move to the US, to take up the position of group chief executive at Irish security tech firm Netwatch, on what she assumed would be a brief pause.

Having accepted the new high-powered corporate role in late 2019, she spent much of early 2020 flying to and from America as she waited for all the paperwork to be completed. That all screeched to a halt when Covid grounded flights all over the world.

And while Hamilton was initially focused on keeping operations up and running in a pandemic, her attention soon came back to the needs of Netwatch in the US, where the groups biggest hopes for expansion lie.

I couldnt be there on a day-to-day basis, so I had to look that in the eye and think about what that meant for us as a business, and also what it meant for me.

In the context of the Netwatch group, the US is our single biggest area of growth, she says.

We wanted to not just strengthen the management team in the US, but also to bring the Netwatch way to America.

The idea was that Hamilton would move there for a few years to lead the expansion, before hiring a US-based successor and then return to Ireland.

Her concern was that Covid and any delay in her moving could hold up the US expansion plans  and could also mean her having to commit to more years Stateside.

It would mean me starting my US-based journey almost two years later than had been envisaged  and extending it out similarly at the other end. And from my perspective, that wasnt as attractive a prospect for the family as it had been.

Hamilton said the decision was soon made. Rather than slowing down the Netwatch expansion in the US, the company would accelerate its plans to hire locally.

I said: I think we need to leapfrog this phase and go straight now into hiring a US-based CEO.

"As part of our three- to five-year strategy, the US will be the big component of the Netwatch group. So it was clear that we would need a US-based CEO  and I thought we should identify that person as quickly as possible. Thankfully we were able to.

The end result was Kurt Takahashi being hired as the group CEO  while Hamilton, as MD of Ireland and the UK, will focus on expansion closer to home and in Europe.

Netwatch, a tech-focused CCTV monitoring company, was founded by David Walsh and Niall Kelly in 2002 and merged with other companies in the sector in 2018 in a deal backed by private equity firm Riverside. It had planned to grow revenues to 100m by 2020, although Covid may have pushed that target out.

Hamilton took over from Walsh when he left the company in 2019.

With such a strong focus on the US, can Carlow remain the centre of the business?

I dont think its so much a question of the centre moving, though I think the centre is certainly spreading, she says. But Carlow will continue to have a key role.

"In 2018, when a number of firms  including the US companies  came together, the natural effect of that was that the centre spread a little.

"But whats key is that the technology component, and much of the cultural approach, is still very much based and grounded in the Carlow organisation and the people that work there.

Our R&D team is managed out of Carlow, she says, by way of example.

Covid has changed the course of many peoples lives over the past year, and Hamilton is pragmatic about its effect on her  and on the firm.

At a personal level, I would sometimes think to myself: Wouldnt it be great now to be on San Clemente Pier, walking along the beach... So yes, there are times when I certainly think it would be great to have that single-minded purpose.

But at the same time, she says that in many areas of business and life there has been a big reset following Covid.

Id say that Ive had a fairly soft landing, and I dont really ruminate much, so Im very lucky like that. There was a clear path to a decision.

Despite the pandemic, Hamilton says it was a good year for the company.

Thankfully we protected all our bases. Were very conscious of the fact that many of our customers have certainly struggled since Covid and have had to reformulate their businesses.

Read More

Hamilton comes from a middle-class family in Dublin. The youngest of six, her siblings had varied careers  among them musician Robert Hamilton, who was the drummer with The Fat Lady Sings.

She was unsure what to do after school, but knew she was good at French and so opted for what was a new course at the time  the international marketing and languages programme at DCU.

During her studies, she met the head of German chemical giant BASF in Ireland, and he offered her an internship in BASF in Ludwigshafen.

Her mother passed away three years later which prompted her to return to Ireland.

I came back from Germany with some technology skills that I might not have developed had I stayed in Ireland. And also language skills, because by then I had very good German and also decent French.

"So I had a sense of how languages worked, and that was key for the growing software internationalisation industry that was evolving in Ireland.

Although a marketing graduate, she was drawn to other aspects of business and liked the nuts and bolts of things.

I started to work for Lotus [which was later bought by IBM] who were at the time sort of competing for ground with Microsoft, she says,

She spent close to 18 years there, and became interested in the Lean business model  which focuses on maximising value and minimising waste in processes. She went on to do a Lean Masters in Waterford IT, during which time she was introduced to Netwatch, joining as director of operations.

It was a massive culture shock.

She had come from large corporates, where there was a heavy focus on procedures and governance.

You checked everything before you did things. You agreed things with other people before you did things. Then I found myself going into a single-storey building in Carlow. And Im not sure I had ever been to Carlow.

"You know, what struck me first was my office. One wall was all shelves  and I thought: What would anybody want with a whole wall full of shelves? What do you put on shelves these days?

She was used to a completely digital world. We had been involved in the localisation and the internationalisation of Microsoft  everything we did was digital.

Another difference at her new entrepreneurial employer was the need for interpersonal relations in a smaller Irish-owned company.

A large number of our employees were from in and around Carlow, so they knew each others families. Id never been in an environment like that before.

"I would always have been thinking about the project, like: Theres an output here and all I need to do is talk to Mary about achieving that output with Andrew.

But when youre working in an environment like Netwatch in Carlow, you find that Mary and Andrew maybe live two streets away from each other, and maybe their children go to the same schools. And I had to reset that business is anonymous button.

That was a real challenge for me, because in truth Im probably a little bit more at home in that world. So that lack of anonymity was uncomfortable.

Hamilton grew to appreciate the benefits over time. You saw how meaningful it was. You have to bring your genuine self through the door in Carlow. Dont think you can bring anybody else in, because it will be spotted by the time youd gone down for your first cup of tea."

She says she didnt originally have the CEO role in her sights, but following the Riverside deal she was interested in a broad role that really allowed me contribute, and allowed me do the things that I like  solving problems, moving internationally.

Given the events of the past year and the recent appointment of Takahashi in the US, she has now refocused.

Hamiltons key responsibilities include growing the business in Europe and the UK.

Our UK strategy is at the moment under revolution, more so than evolution. We have a relatively small customer base in the UK, and were working with a number of organisations to drive a new UK strategy around a set of product offerings that will be a little more UK-related.

The UK has proven to be quite a different market to Ireland, as is borne out in multiple police dramas where CCTV footage plays a central role in solving crimes.

The prevalence of public CCTV cameras means Netwatch needs to market the benefits of interactive private monitoring to stop the wrongdoings from happening in the first place.

The UK was probably much earlier in their deployment of CCTV systems, whereas we came in with the interactive approach and the preventative approach.

Meanwhile, the tech team in Carlow is busy developing a multi-lingual platform to underpin Netwatchs European expansion

Although a lot has changed for Hamilton in the past year, she is ready to get her teeth into the job at hand.

I dont want a role that has a name. I never did really. I want a lived working experience that I deeply enjoy, and at the end of the week I want to be able to say I did good or I screwed up, better do better.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Name Wendy Hamilton

Position MD for Netwatch Ireland and UK, and Head of Global Monitoring

Age 57

Education DCU, degree in international marketing and languages; Masters in Lean Enterprise Excellence, Waterford IT; currently studying for the Institute of Directors chartered director programme

Family Married to Declan Surpless, daughters Martha and Hannah

Lives Bray, Co Wicklow

Favourite book There are two, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and I also really, really loved A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

Favourite series/boxset At the moment we love Offspring and Working Moms

BUSINESS LESSONS

What advice would you have for someone interested in taking on a leadership role?

Know yourself first. Build from yourself out. Because there is no sustainability in a leadership role if it isn't ground in who you are, you know. It will fry your head. So, know yourself and always build from yourself out.

And know where your electric fences are  and don't f-ing touch them.
U.S. President Joe Biden has reaffirmed his support for Ukraine's sovereignty and integrity and expressed his intention to revitalize the strategic partnership with Ukraine in the context of reforms and the fight against corruption, the White House has said in a statement following a phone call between the presidents of the United States and Ukraine.

"President Biden affirmed the United States' unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression in the Donbas and Crimea," the statement reads.

According to the statement, Biden emphasized "his administration's commitment to revitalize our strategic partnership in support of President [Volodymyr] Zelensky's plan to tackle corruption and implement a reform agenda based on our shared democratic values that delivers justice, security, and prosperity to the people of Ukraine."

"The leaders agreed these reforms are central to Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations," the statement said.

Both parties also discussed the importance of close United States-Ukraine cooperation to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen democracy in the region.

Earlier reports said that the phone call between Biden and Zelensky lasted about 30-40 minutes.

op
A trip to an Oklahoma dog park ended with a gunshot Saturday when a pet owner fired at someone elses dog, police say.

Police said two dogs were interacting at the park in Norman when one of the pups became aggressive, KOCO reported. The other dogs owner is accused of taking out a gun and shooting the aggressive dog.

Witnesses told police the dogs appeared to have been playing, according to The Norman Transcript. The owner took the dog to a veterinarian, but its condition is unknown.

Police requested an arrest warrant on the charges of reckless discharge and animal cruelty, per KOCO.

Witnesses said the incident has left them uneasy.

Theres kids here, theres families here, theres animals here, Alex Ryzhkob told KFOR.

Berek Talgat agreed, saying, I think its pretty crazy, theres, like, citizens here, according to the outlet.

An investigation is underway.

Norman is just south of Oklahoma City.

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An Australian couple has been freed from house arrest in Myanmar and allowed to leave the country without charge, one of the two business consultants said on Sunday.

Christa Avery and her husband Matthew OKane were refused permission to leave Myanmar last month when they were about to board a flight home.

Matt OKane and Christa Avery have been released from detention in Myanmar.

The country has been in turmoil since a military coup on February 1 that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

I am, of course, incredibly relieved to have been released and to be on my way home with my husband, Matt, Avery said in a statement.
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.
Congressman Madison Cawthorn, paralyzed in a car crash at the age of 21, rose to his feet to exchange vows with Cristina Bayardelle in an intimate wedding ceremony on Saturday.

The North Carolina congressman, 25, the youngest member of Congress in more than 200 years, said marrying Bayardelle, a 26-year-old anesthesiologist assistant and Crossfit athlete, was the 'greatest honor, privilege and adventure of my life'.

Pictures of the ceremony, posted on social media on Sunday, show a beaming Cawthorn in a navy-blue suit, cream tie and custom-made leg braces as he and Bayardelle were married in front of a large wooden cross.

The bride wore a stunning strapless gown with a flowing train.

Cawthorn has faced sexual harassment allegations and claims he lied about the crash that left him in a wheelchair and about his stated aspirations of wanting to become a Paralympian.

Madison and Cristina Cawthorn, nee Bayardelle, were married in a private ceremony on Saturday

The bride looked radiant in a flowing strapless gown with lengthy train, while the paralyzed Congressman took to his feet to kiss the bride after exchanging vows

Madison Cawthorn, 25, is the youngest member of Congress in more than 200 years, and his new bride is an an anesthesiologist assistant

Madison Cawthorn revealed news of the wedding to his 50,000 followers on Twitter

In a post on Twitter, Cawthorn said: 'On April 3rd of 2014 my life changed. A car accident put me in a wheelchair and dashed my hopes for the future. On April 3rd of 2021 my life has once again changed. Marrying Cristina Bayardelle, now Cristina Cawthorn, is the greatest honor, privilege and adventure of my life.'

Footage posted on Cristina's Instagram feed shows them enjoying their first dance together as a married couple.

The couple, who were introduced by mutual friends, went public with their engagement in October last year.

Cawthorn said he'd never seen anyone who could do as many pull-ups as Cristina, a committed Crossfit athlete, and told how he spent months learning how to kneel so he could propose.

Bayardelle said they instantly 'hit it off' and she knew he 'was the one' after dating for just four months.

Cawthorn became a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, seen here meeting the former President at Mar-a-Lago in March this year

Cawthorn arriving at the US Capitol on March 11, where he has gained a reputation as a firebrand in regular Fox News appearances

Cawthorn won his Congress seat by defeating a Trump-endorsed opponent in the Republican primary, and then sweeping to victory against Democrat Moe Davis in a spiteful contest.

After his victory, he tweeted: 'Cry more, Lib'.

Cawthorn gained regular appearances on cable news claiming that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen, and quickly became a favorite of Trump's.

He spoke at the 'Stop the Steal' rally on January 6, prior to the insurrection at the Capitol, which left five people, including police officer Brian Sicknick, dead.

In February, Buzzfeed revealed how former classmates of Cawthorn have claimed he sexually harassed women at a Christian college and that they were warned not to go on so-called 'fun drives' with him in his white Dodge Challenger 'because bad things happened'.

Cawthorn allegedly gained a reputation around the campus for making unwanted sexual advances toward women when he briefly attended Patrick Henry College in northern Virginia for a semester aged 21, in 2016.

One woman described sensing a 'danger warning' when she went out for a drive with Cawthorn and he started 'taking me out to the middle of nowhere' while asking questions about her purity ring.

The happy couple announced their engagement in October last year. Cawthorn said he spent months learning how to kneel so he could propose

Bayardelle, seen with Cawthorn in a photo posted to her Instagram, is an elite Crossfit athlete and anesthesiologist assistant

Bayardelle's Instagram includes many snaps of her training regimen, like this one taken by @furyphotography that notes she is 'sparkling' instead of sweating

Cawthorn said he's never seen anyone do as many pullups as his new bride, seen in a snap from her Instagram by @furyphotography

Two resident assistants at the conservative religious college said they would warn young women to stay away from him and female students said they told each other not to end up alone with him.

The allegations surfaced in a Buzzfeed investigation, with more than 30 people including 20 former students, their friends and relatives alleging they witnessed, experienced or knew of sexual harassment and misconduct by the congressman around the college campus, at his nearby house and in his car.

The bombshell claims come after more than 160 members of the Patrick Henry College community signed an open letter in October describing the former student's 'reputation of predatory behavior.'

One woman, Katrina Krulikas, told World Magazine Cawthorn had forcibly kissed her in 2014 when he was 19 and she was 17.

Krulikas, who did not attend the Christian college, claimed they were on a drive together when Cawthorn started asking if she was a virgin.

She said he pressured her to sit on his lap, tried to kiss her and when she dismissed his advances tried again by holding her face.

Cawthorn denied the allegation in September but allegedly texted Krulikas last February apologizing that he was 'over the line'.

Cawthorn allegedly gained a reputation around the campus for making unwanted sexual advances toward women when he briefly attended Patrick Henry College in northern Virginia (above) for a semester in 2016

Katrina Krulikas (above), told World Magazine Cawthorn had forcibly kissed her in 2014 when he was 19 and she was 17

Cawthorn, an avid Trump supporter, has denied ever acting in a sexually inappropriate way.

The North Carolina Republican came under fire last month over his part in the January 6 MAGA mob riot on the US Capitol that left five dead, after he spoke at the Trump rally moments before the violent insurrection.

He has also faced accusations of lying about his past, after claims he was training for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games were disputed by athletes and claims his car crash ruined his chances of attending the Naval Academy were debunked after a watchdog reported he was rejected from the academy prior to the accident.

Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was previously the youngest elected member of Congress in modern history at 29 years, 2 months and 22 days in 2018.

The youngest House member ever elected was William Charles Cole Claiborne of Tennessee, elected in 1797 at age 22.
(Natural News) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has extended a nationwide ban on tenant evictions until June 30. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed the order on March 28 as a way to curb the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.

While housing advocates lauded the move to aid cash-strapped renters, property owners said the CDCs order caused financial hardship and infringed on property rights.

The CDCs moratorium to extend the eviction ban will be effective starting April 1. According to the order, evicted renters looking for a new place to stay must move into shared housing or other settings  exposing themselves to other people. This subsequently leads to multiple outcomes that increase the risk of COVID-19.

The document cited the American Housing Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, which said that 32 percent of renters would move in with friends or family members upon eviction. This would then introduce new household members and potentially increase household crowding. Unfortunately, this also increases the risk of individuals in a household contracting COVID-19.

Studies show that COVID-19 transmission occurs readily within the household. The secondary attack rate in households has been estimated to be 17 percent, and household contact as estimated to be six times more likely to become infected by an index case of COVID-19 than other close contacts, the moratorium explained.

Walenskys March 28 order defended eviction bans as key public health actions. Eviction bans can be an effective public health measure utilized to prevent the spread of communicable disease  akin to quarantine, isolation and social distancing, the document said. Being prevented from moving out allows people who suffer from severe COVID-19 to isolate themselves. It also permits state and local authorities to easily address the spread of the coronavirus through stay-at-home orders.

Property owners arent pleased with the CDCs decision to extend the coronavirus eviction ban

The March 28 eviction moratorium builds on an eviction ban from last year. The CARES Act which passed in March 2020 provided a 120-day moratorium on evictions and gave certain protections from tenants. While this prior moratorium expired in July 2020, it supplemented existing tenant protection orders implemented at the state and local levels. The Trump administration later implemented another eviction moratorium in September until the end of the year, with most renters included. (Related: CDC becomes Americas landlord, halts evictions indefinitely.)

The CDC outlined four requirements for renters before they can qualify for protections under the order. Couples filing jointly must earn a yearly income of $198,000 or less, while single filers must earn a yearly income of $99,000 or less. They should also demonstrate having sought government aid to pay rental fees. Furthermore, renters who wish to qualify should declare inability to pay because of COVID-19 hardships and that eviction will likely render them homeless.

However, a number of Americans did not receive the CDCs moratorium warmly. Landlords in several states have been asking the courts to scrap the health agencys order. They believe the CDCs mandate infringes on their property rights and causes them financial hardship.

At least six prominent lawsuits have challenged CDCs authority to block evictions, with three judges ruling in favor of the plaintiffs. Three other judges have ruled against the cases, with the plaintiffs appealing.

Back in September 2020, the National Apartment Association and four individual landlords filed a lawsuit in federal court against the order. The lawsuit challenged the federal governments eviction moratorium, implemented after the CARES Act ban expired. The non-profit group New Civil Liberties Alliance represented the plaintiffs in federal court. In a statement, NCLA Executive Director and General Counsel Mark Chenoweth said: When will the federal government learn that Congress makes the laws, not federal agencies?

District Judge John Barker ruled in favor of a group of property managers and landlords who sued the federal health agency. His February 2021 decision said: The court concludes that the federal governments  power to regulate interstate commerce, and enact laws necessary and proper to that end, does not include the power to impose the challenged eviction moratorium.

Visit Pandemic.news to read more news about the repercussions of CDCs eviction moratoria.

Sources include:

WTOP.com

CDC.gov [PDF]

TheEpochTimes.com 1

TheEpochTimes.com 2
A voter casts his ballot for the Seoul mayoral by-election at a polling station in Seoul Station, Friday, the first day of the two-day early voting period for the April 7 by-elections. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Jung Da-min



Both the ruling and main opposition parties have claimed the high early voting turnout in Wednesday's by-elections would work to their advantages, helping their candidates win the Seoul and Busan mayoral races.



While the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said the high early voting turnout showed the DPK supporters' solidarity and high participation in favor of its candidate Park Young-sun, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) said people would have voted for its candidate Oh Se-hoon to judge the policy failures of the ruling bloc.



Such claims were made after the early voting was conducted, Friday and Saturday, with record-high numbers of voters participating and the turnout coming to 20.54 percent. About 2.49 million out of 12.16 million eligible voters across the country cast their ballots in the mayoral by-elections as well as in smaller regional votes during the two-day early voting period, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).






Never on a runway, perhaps, but hares in grassy places at Dublin Airport are reminders to travellers of different times. A pair was seen there last week. This was once a regular sight.

There was a time when you could walk to an aeroplane with bag in hand to get what was then marketed as a "dawn flight", with the hares to see you off like the sprinters and March jumpers in the fields beside where you lived.

An giorria, symbol on a coin, was the fellow you followed as a schoolboy from field to field carrying a wooden butter-box for a bookie's viewing perch at an open coursing meeting, to be rewarded with a two-shilling piece at the end of a long day.
Let me put that another way. Before they can take over as our lovers and soulmates, digitized entities have to work first on undermining their human rivals. They are doing a fine job. That is what "Love and Information," a terrific and important play, is all about. Well, that, and some meditating on how hard it is to be a writer when anyone can look up anything instantly. Give that some thought. It's tough.
The embattled chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar, has claimed that contrary to the content of a circulated video, he was a victim of an assault by people who chanted secessionist and sectional slogans.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Umar was caught on video assaulting a security guard at the popular Banex Plaza in Wuse, Abuja.

The security guard, Clement Sargwak, later told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Umar assaulted him because he told the public official that he parked wrongly and would need to remove his vehicle from where he parked.

Mr Umar, however, told PRNigeria that the video in circulation did not reveal the true situation of what happened.

He did not deny asking the CCT spokesperson to issue a statement blaming the mob attack on him on Biafran boys, a statement condemned by many Nigerians for targeting a particular ethnic group. In his interview with PRNigeria, Mr Umar appeared to double down on his claim.

Therefore, when I was accosted by the Plaza guard in a very rude manner on arriving there, I had maintained my accustomed decorum before I was drawn into an unnecessary altercation and subsequently assaulted, with this degenerating into an attack and injury by a mob that was chanting secessionist and sectional slogans, he said.

Viral video

While not denying attacking the security guard, Mr Umar said viral video clip captured only an aspect of the incident and left out the part where he was molested.

Although he expressed regrets acting in the manner he did, he failed to apologise for attacking the security guard.

He rather claimed that one of his attackers had apologised to hm.

Mr Umar said, Since the incident, which left me traumatised after being bruised and treated in the hospital, I have had cause to reflect on the sad course of the incident and I regret being drawn into responding to the situation.

This makes me both upset at being cast in a distorted and unfortunate light, while I also have cause to feel deep pains for subsequent response and controversies.

All said, with an apology tendered to me by one of the suspected aggressors, I believe that the entire incident was avoidable, just as I feel highly disappointed that my action in the public glare in a very brief moment has been misconstrued in the narrative floating across social media.

Spokesperson apologises

Meanwhile, the CCT spokesperson, Ibraheem Alhassan, who issued the controversial error-filled statement has also tendered his apology.

He described the statement as poorly written and an unedited draft.

He stated in the statement released to PR Nigeria, The incident of March 29, 2021, which became public via a viral video clip caused very strong emotional sensations, pressure and worries that also got to us and impaired our response to it.

The disturbance led to the release of the draft and unedited script to three professional colleagues of mine. But unfortunately, the statement found its way to the public space through one of them, in its raw form. The colleague in question has since apologised to me and I have accepted the apology in good fate.

I feel embarrassed and disappointed with criticism trailing the leaked draft statement which has been described as riddled with grammatical blunders and ethnic slur due to the poor presentation. As a civil servant, I relate with Nigerians with respect and dignity, not minding their religious or ethnic backgrounds.

He apologised to Nigerians and especially the Federal Ministry of Information & Culture, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), the Nigerian Institution of Public Relations (NIPR), and the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ) among others over the unsavoury development.

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Chinese FM holds talks with ROK counterpart

Xinhua) 09:18, April 04, 2021

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with Chung Eui-yong, foreign minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK), in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, April 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)

XIAMEN, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday held talks with his counterpart from the Republic of Korea (ROK) Chung Eui-yong in Xiamen, east China's Fujian Province.

Noting that China and the ROK are neighbors forever, Wang said the two countries took the lead in establishing an anti-epidemic cooperation mechanism, in launching a fast track for personnel exchanges, and in resuming work and production cooperation.

"China-ROK relations have stood the test of COVID-19, and the friendship between the peoples of the two countries has been further strengthened in the joint fight against the epidemic," he added.

Wang noted that China and the ROK will hold the Year of Cultural Exchange in 2021, while next year marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

He said that China is willing to work with the ROK to advance the process of political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue through dialogue, jointly safeguard the international system with the United Nations as the core and the international order based on international law, jointly defend multilateralism, jointly expand and deepen the integration of interests to promote bilateral relations to new levels.

"China is willing to maintain close communication with the ROK at all levels, strengthen the strategic dialogue between foreign ministries, launch the committee for future development of China-ROK relations as soon as possible, and work with the ROK to prepare for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries," Wang said.

He added that the two sides should continue to make good use of joint prevention and control and the "fast-track lane" mechanisms to consolidate and expand their anti-epidemic cooperation results.

Pointing out that China and the ROK are highly integrated and have become a community of interests, Wang said that China is willing to work with the ROK to accelerate synergizing of development strategies and third-party market cooperation, and to complete the second-phase negotiation process of the China-ROK free trade agreement at an early date.

The two countries should focus on strengthening cooperation in fields such as 5G, big data, the green economy, artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, new energy and the health industry, so as to forge a partnership of high-quality cooperation, he said.

"Both sides should work hard to expand the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and deepen mutual understanding and friendship," he added.

China welcomes the ROK to send a delegation to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics, and is willing to work with the ROK to promote the smooth implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and join hands to address the challenges of climate change, Wang said.

He said that all parties should make active efforts to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula, effectively resolve the legitimate concerns of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, establish a permanent peace mechanism on the peninsula through dialogue and negotiation, and realize the complete denuclearization of the peninsula.

"China is willing to maintain communication and expand consensus with the ROK, and expects the ROK side to play a constructive role in this regard," Wang added.

Noting that the ROK and China are neighbors with a shared history and culture, and that China is the ROK's largest trading partner and an important strategic partner, Chung said the ROK attaches great importance to developing relations with China.

Chung congratulated the Communist Party of China on the 100th anniversary of its founding, adding that the ROK hopes to intensify high-level exchanges with China, strengthen cooperation in various fields and take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to promote the greater development of bilateral relations.

Chung said the ROK and China have set a good example for international cooperation on epidemic prevention and control, and added that the ROK side appreciates China's efforts to promote personnel exchanges between the two sides in the context of the epidemic, and hopes to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in the post-epidemic period.

Noting that the ROK is committed to improving inter-Korea relations, realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and establishing a permanent peace mechanism on the peninsula, Chung said the ROK appreciates and expects China to continue playing an important role in the affairs of the peninsula.

The two sides agreed to hold a new round of strategic dialogue at the ministerial level between the diplomatic departments of the two countries in the first half of this year.

The two countries' first round of 2+2 diplomatic and security dialogue at the vice-ministerial level will also be held.

China and the ROK agreed to establish a committee for the future development of bilateral relations at an early date.

They also agreed to start preparations for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The two sides agreed to strengthen coordination on establishing a mechanism for reciprocal recognition of health certificate QR codes issued by one another.

They vowed to advance vaccine cooperation and further expand the scope of beneficiaries of the "fast track" that facilitates the exchange of visits.

The ROK said it supports China's Spring Sprout plan that helps inoculate Chinese citizens abroad with Chinese vaccines.

The two sides agreed to jointly host the "China-ROK Year of Cultural Exchange" to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

In multilateral areas, they agreed to jointly safeguard multilateralism and promote the early enactment of the RCEP.

They also vowed to promote cooperation between China, Japan and the ROK, and join hands in tackling climate change.

The ROK said it welcomes China's proposal to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact.

China supports the ROK in hosting the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, and the ROK supports China in hosting the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

The two sides also had an in-depth exchange of views on international and regional issues of common concern.

They all agreed that in the current situation, it is timely and necessary to strengthen strategic communication between China and the ROK.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
KYODO NEWS - Apr 3, 2021 - 12:11 | All, Japan, World

Four whaling boats left Japanese ports on Saturday for coastal waters as the country began its third season of commercial whaling since ending an over-three-decade hiatus on the practice in 2019.

With another boat to join the operation in June, a total of five boats are expected to catch 120 minke whales in waters off the Sanriku Coast and Hokkaido by late October, according to the Fisheries Agency.

Two boats left Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, early in the morning, before being joined by two other vessels that departed from Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture. The fifth boat will leave from Abashiri, Hokkaido.

"We would like to provide fresh and delicious whales for everyone who is waiting," said Nobuyuki Ito, president of a whaling company in Ishinomaki.

Ito's company is planning to catch whales in the coastal waters of Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures until early June before heading north to the coastal waters of Hokkaido.

The two vessels which left Hachinohe are operated by companies in Minamiboso, Chiba Prefecture, and the town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture.

Commercial whaling in offshore waters is also scheduled to start around June, according to the agency.

Japan resumed hunting whales for commercial purposes on July 1, 2019, a day after formally leaving the International Whaling Commission.

As an IWC member, Japan had halted commercial whaling in 1988 but continued catching whales for what it called research purposes, a practice criticized internationally as a cover for commercial whaling.
New Delhi, April 4 : The Congress on Sunday offered condolences and expressed 'anguish' over the death of jawans in the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh.

Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, "My condolences to the families of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in combat in Chhattisgarh. Decisive action needs to be taken to locate & rescue the missing Jawans. I appeal to the State Govt to ensure best care for a speedy recovery of the injured." Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "Tributes to the brave jawans who were martyrs fighting naxals, whole nation is anguished and pained,there martyrdom will be remembered." Congress Chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala attacked the Home Minister. He said, "The news of martyrdom of 22 jawans is devastating! Our homage to their martyrdom & condolences to the family. Sadly, PM & HM, Amit Shah are too busy electioneering to take on the menace of Naxalism. TV proclamations ain't enough. We need to put a decisive strategy & blueprint." Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday spoke to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over the phone and had a detailed discussion on the gunfight with the Maoists in Bijapur.

During the conversation, the Chief Minister apprised the Home Minister of the ground situation.

The CRPF has launched a massive hunt for the Maoist in the area.
When Titanic was sinking, the order went out from the captain that the lifeboats were to be occupied by women and children first. This was standard practice because in those days women and children were deemed to be more vulnerable than men if a ship was in peril. The recent reconfiguring of the vaccination roll-out is following this principle, too. Those deemed most medically vulnerable are being vaccinated first.

The single biggest predictor of severe disease and death from Covid-19 is your date of birth. Thankfully, somebody somewhere has a record of that, and so you'll be summoned based on that most important of dates. The grim statistics on death from Covid-19 bear this out. Around 15pc of people over 80 who are infected with Covid-19 will die. For people under 30, this falls to 0.2pc. When we compare people in their 50s with people in their 30s, the older age group are six times more likely to die from Covid. These numbers also apply to the likelihood of having severe disease.

And when it comes to long Covid - meaning persistent symptoms such as fatigue, difficulty breathing and brain fog - the risk of developing these troublesome features also tracks with age. People over 50 are at a higher risk of developing long Covid than those under 50.

This reconfiguring of the vaccine plan, however, gave rise to some dismay in certain professions. This is because people like teachers and gardai had been promised the vaccine sooner than will now happen. How important are people's occupations for risk of infection, severe disease, and death?

A job that definitely puts you in a high-risk category is being a healthcare worker. One study has shown that 'patient facing' healthcare workers - who have direct encounters with patients every day - are three times likelier to be admitted to hospital with Covid than healthcare workers who don't interact with patients. This is even if they are in full PPE.

Covid-19 is highly contagious, and completely avoiding infection in a hospital setting is a major challenge. The risk went beyond the healthcare workers themselves to those who they live with. The risk for them was doubled, compared to those living with non-patient facing healthcare workers. All of this meant that healthcare workers, who after all put their lives on the line for us, were in the first groups to be vaccinated.

But what about other kinds of workers who engage with a lot more people in their jobs? This would include teachers and gardai. Should a teacher in his or her 30s be vaccinated ahead of someone who is not a teacher in their 50s?

A study in Scotland reassuringly showed that when schools reopened there, teachers weren't at an increased risk of hospitalisation compared with other occupations. This was a huge study involving analysis of more than 900,000 people, giving it what is called statistical robustness. The study concluded that teachers and their household members were not at increased risk of hospitalisation. They were at a lower risk of severe Covid-19 compared to working-age adults who were otherwise similar. Why there was a lower risk of severe disease is not known. It might involve such things as teachers having more colds, which might offer some protection against severe Covid-19, although that has yet to be proven.

But things are never simple, especially when it comes to Covid-19. There are two reasons we might prioritise the vaccination of teachers. First, there is the risk of teachers becoming infected and spreading the virus. Although the person being infected might not develop disease, they might spread it, increasing case numbers and infecting vulnerable people who go on to develop serious illness. This is, therefore, a more important concern than risk of severe disease.

The second reason is the level of anxiety among teachers: 39pc say they do not feel safe in schools, which is hardly ideal for their pupils, who need them more than ever. In the US, President Joe Biden urged all states last week to make vaccinating teachers a priority, with the goal of "every educator, school staff member and childcare worker receiving at least one shot by the end of the month of March".

The United Nations has also called on governments to prioritise the vaccination of teachers, and this is happening in many countries.

The decision to prioritise people purely according to age in Ireland also appears to be a pragmatic one based on speed of vaccination. The overall goal is to vaccinate 80pc of the entire adult population by June. This will be tremendous, as it gets us towards herd immunity and will protect all the older people and those with underlying diseases, as well as frontline staff across all occupations.

The HSE has said the best way to ensure this is by vaccinating in order of age. If it's done based on other criteria such as occupation, then there is a risk of the process being slower with vaccines being left on the shelf. This is apparently because of difficulties finding everyone in each category. Does this mean they are worried about finding all the teachers and all the gardai quickly enough?

Vaccine prioritisation is, therefore, a difficult business. Whatever your opinion on this might be, now is a time for tentative rejoicing. We have four highly efficacious and safe vaccines approved for use in Ireland. Hundreds of thousands of doses are being delivered on a weekly basis, and we are expecting 600,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the coming weeks as well.

The data got better last week, with firm evidence the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is preventing transmission by as much as 90pc. It also works really well in 12- to 15-year-olds. This raises the prospect of having children and teachers all vaccinated in time for the next academic year. Pfizer and BioNTech are hoping their vaccine will be approved for use in children by autumn. The vaccines are the biggest medical triumph in decades.

Let's now press on as quickly as we can and get every adult who wants one vaccinated as soon as is logistically possible. We are in the unexpected position of people clamouring to be vaccinated. That might change as we move down through the age groups, so our attention might have to move to convincing younger people to be vaccinated, given their very low risk of disease. That's work for another day.

We've hit icebergs on this voyage of vaccination, with more probably to come. We're very much afloat, however, and might yet reach the New York of 80pc vaccination in record time.

Luke O'Neill is professor of biochemistry in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin
A year-and-a-half ago, hoping to learn about forgotten champions of the womens suffrage movement, the Northampton area chapter of the League of Women Voters started a book club.

We knew about the well-known ones like Susan B. Anthony, but we suspected that there were many others, particularly women of color who had been very active in the cause, but as often happens in history, were not recorded, Margaret Riddle, the chapter secretary, said.

In the course of its reading, the group discovered an exhibit at Pittsfields Berkshire Museum highlighting those exact historical figures.

On Saturday, that exhibit, on loan from the museum, opened in Florence by the intersection of Main Street and Maple Street.

Titled She Shapes History, it appears on panels spread between seven storefront windows and will cover the stories of activist women over the two centuries leading up to the Womens March in 2017.

The exhibit, organized by the LWV, will remain up until mid-May.

In addition to documenting the lives of famous local suffragists and historic women, such as Sojourner Truth, once a resident of Florence, She Shapes History teaches visitors about the foot soldiers of the push for the right to vote, City Council President Gina-Louise Sciarra wrote on Facebook Monday.

This includes those from African American womens suffrage clubs, immigrant women, Native American women, factory workers and labor union organizers, Sciarra wrote.

The panels will be visible from the street  an opportunity for a museum quality experience in a safe way, she said.

An online component of the exhibit is available on the Berkshire Museums website and tells the story of a dozen historic women.

Among them is Lucretia Williams, described as the Berkshires first known environmental activist.

Because of Williams efforts, Pittsfield preserved a 128-foot-tall elm tree that had grown since the 16th century. In 1789, the town was slated to cut the tree down to make space for a new meetinghouse.

An axman had already started to chop the trunk when Lucretia put her body between the man and the tree, the exhibit says. She reportedly told him, youll have to cut through me first.

The town chose a new location for the meetinghouse, and the tree lived another 75 years until it was cut down at the age of 341.

The exhibit was originally expected to arrive in Northampton last May, when its time at the Berkshire Museum concluded, Riddle said.

But the pandemic delayed that plan. Instead, the exhibit made a stop in Springfields Tower Square this fall before eventually arriving in Florence.

The neighborhood has a really fascinating history of activism, Riddle said, leading the LWV to believe it was the right spot to display She Shapes History.

In the middle 1800s, Florence was a hopping place and a very liberal place with a lot of activism around unions and equity, she said. That, combined with Truths status as a national suffrage icon, as well as the areas walkability, made Florence an ideal location to host the exhibit.

And we happened to know it was a really friendly place where the businesses are civic-minded and very supportive of community efforts like this, Riddle added.

The exhibit also played a role in the curriculum at JFK Middle School this spring.

Desmond Caldwell, who became the principal there last year, asked teachers to connect their lessons to Black History Month in February and Womens History Month in March, Riddle said.

One of the sixth-grade teachers took this in stride, she said, and used the exhibits online component to connect both months, teaching the stories of historic Black women.

Next March, the physical exhibit will appear at the middle school, Riddle said.

She added that she hopes people will take a message of perseverance from the stories of the suffragists. Its just so inspiring and stunning to read about people who worked their whole adult lives for a right they should have had and never got.
New Delhi, April 4 : Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday condemned the attack by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur that left 22 security personnel dead and that the entire country bows before their sacrifice.

"I pay homage to all jawans who have sacrificed their lives, and heartfelt condolences to their families. The nation owes an enormous debt of gratitude to them. I fervently hope for the return of our missing soldiers, and look forward to the complete recovery of those injured..

"We are united in our resolve to combat Maoism. The Congress government in Chhattisgarh will continue to provide all assistance to our Central paramilitary forces in fighting Maoism with full rigour," she said.

In a major Maoist attack this year, at least 22 security personnel were killed and 20 more injured in a fierce gunfight with more than 300 People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, said army officials.

The gunfight took place on Saturday as both the state police and the CRPF confirmed that 22 bodies were recovered in a massive search operation.

Of the 22 security personnel, nine belong to the CRPF, while the remaining are from state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF).
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.
A judge ordered two mothers to isolate in hotels for two weeks and seized their passports after they 'refused to quarantine' after flying to Dubai to get boob jobs.

Niamh Mulreany, 25, and Kristie McGrath, 30, were arrested at Dublin Airport on Friday after returned from Dubai - where they received treatment at King's College Hospital.

While appearing in Tallaght District Court yesterday, the judge said the mothers had visited Dubai for breast enhancement surgery, the Irish Independent reports.

Niamh Mulreany, 25, (pictured outside court) and Kristie McGrath, 30, were arrested at Dublin Airport on Friday and appeared in court yesterday after refusing to quarantine after a trip to Dubai

Tallaght District Court heard yesterday that the pair had breast enhancement surgeries at King's College Hospital in Dubai. Pictured: Kirsty McGrath outside court yesterday

Under current travel restrictions, those travelling outside the country must quarantine for 14 days and failure to do so can result in a 1700 (2,000) fine and a one-month jail sentence.

The pair, both from Dublin, claim they researched and adhered to travel guidelines but were arrested on Good Friday and later charged with breaches of Covid-19 regulations under the Health Act.

Mulreany, a mother of one, and McGrath, a mother of two, had taken PCR tests as required before returning to the UK and received negative results.

Despite this they were stopped at the airport and were not allowed to board their plane to the UK.

Mulreany (left) and McGrath (right) said they researched and adhered to travel guidelines but were charged with breaches of Covid-19 regulations under the Health Act

Instead they were instructed to pay 1,573 (1,850) in fees to quarantine in a hotel when they returned to the Irish capital.

After claiming they did not have the money to pay they stayed within the airport for several days as their families tried to help them get home.

Mulreany's father, Eddie, discussed the matter with the Department of Foreign Affairs and other government officials - eventually securing the mothers a flight home.

But when they pair arrived back in Dublin they were again asked to quarantine but, after refusing to sign documentation, they were arrested.

Despite Garda allegedly spending several hours explaining the current travel restrictions to the women they did not comply and were subsequently charged. They have both returned three negative Covid tests.

A judge ordered the pair to quarantine in a hotel for 14 days, as per usual covid restrictions, and also seized their passports. Pictured: Mulreany outside court yesterday

A judge granted them bail but imposed several conditions yesterday.

The pair have had to surrender their passports and have been benned from international travel.

They have been ordered to go to a quarantine hotel for two weeks unless they provide a negative PCR test after 10 days.

They must also remain contactable by phone and their cases will continue on April 9 at Dublin District Court.

Garda has been approached for comment.
Some 30 petrol bombs were thrown at police in what has been termed an orchestrated attack during a further night of disorder in Northern Ireland.

Police were attacked in Newtownabbey on the outskirts of Belfast on Saturday, after violent scenes in the Sandy Row area in the city as well as in Londonderry on Friday.

Police said it was the fifth consecutive night of disorder in Derry on Friday, when 12 officers were injured by a large group throwing masonry, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks.

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Some 27 police officers were injured on Friday night across Belfast and Derry.

North Area Commander Chief Superintendent Davy Beck said 30 petrol bombs were thrown at officers and three cars set alight in Newtownabbey on Saturday.

He said from around 7.30pm to 10.30pm a crowd of 20 to 30 people, including young people and older men, some of whom were wearing masks, gathered in the ONeill Road/Cloughfern area.

In total 30 petrol bombs were thrown at police and three vehicles were hijacked and set on fire, he said.

One man aged 47 was arrested and he currently remains in police custody.

A man walks past a burning car that was hijacked by loyalists at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey (Peter Morrison/PA)

Mr Beck said it was an orchestrated attack on police.

My officers put on their uniform every day and go out into the community they serve, not knowing what lies ahead of them, he said.

However this does not deter them from turning up every day to do their duty.

No-one, no matter what line of work they are in, deserves to be subjected to any kind of violence.

The officers who serve the Newtownabbey area are fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, they have families who wait every day on their loved ones coming home, hoping they have not been injured, or worse.

He added: We are living in unprecedented times, dealing with a global pandemic, no-one needs the added pressure of disorder in their community.

I would appeal to those who are taking to the streets to stop immediately, their actions are causing nothing but harm and distress to the very communities they claim they are representing.

On the same night, a security alert in Larne, Co Antrim, was declared to be a hoax.

The scenes come amid 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.

In Co Antrim, a recent series of drug seizures against the South East Antrim UDA  a renegade faction of the main grouping  have caused particular ill-feeling towards police. The faction is believed to have been behind the disturbances in Newtownabbey on Saturday.

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.

DUP leader Arlene Foster and other unionist parties have condemned the violence.

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly claimed the disturbances were a direct consequence of the actions of political unionism.

The disturbances in loyalist areas across the north are an outworking of the DUPs rhetoric and undermining of the PSNI and criminal justice system, he said.

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By their words and actions they have sent a very dangerous message to young people in loyalist areas.

The DUP and political unionist leaders need to show leadership and end the incendiary rhetoric.

Meanwhile seven people have been charged with riot after the disturbances in the Sandy Row area.

Four adults  three men aged 25, 21 and 18 years old, and a woman, aged 19  have been charged with riot.

All four are due to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court on April 30.

Three teenagers, aged 17, 14 and 13, have also been charged with riot.

They are due to appear at Belfast Youth Court on April 30.

As is normal procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

An eighth person arrested in connection with the unrest on Friday night, a man aged 19, has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Well, well, what a difference 20 months makes.

Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti went before the city Democratic committee Wednesday, asked for its endorsement, and got it.

City Democratic Chairman Bob Sheridan said Cognetti received 20 votes, and City Controller John Murray, five.

Contrast that with Cognetti trashing the same committee back in August 2019 after refusing to seek the party nomination for the special election to fill the last two years of corrupt ex-Mayor Bill Courtrights term. Not to mention, she switched from Democrat to independent to run for mayor.

The Scranton City Democratic Committees closed-door process of 26 unnamed residents selecting the partys nominee for mayor of one of Pennsylvanias largest cities is a disgrace, Cognetti said back then. The local party does not reflect the democratic ideals and goals that I have worked hard to promote throughout my personal and professional life. I cannot stand by and watch us waste this chance to truly change the way Scranton does business and steer the city in a different direction.

At an Oct. 15, 2019, mayoral debate, she referred to the regions corruption and included the local Democratic Party among the corrupt.

That city Democratic committee endorsed attorney Chris Cullen.

This one, with 25 people voting, including a bunch by proxy, voted for Cognetti over Murray, once the city committees chairman.

I like what the mayors done, Sheridan said. Im supporting her.

From this perch, the meetings theme looks like forgive and forget.

Murray, who appeared at the meeting, said the outcome didnt surprise him. He found Cognettis appearance hypocritical.

I knew going in I wasnt getting it (the endorsement), he said. So I went out of respect for the committee. That was the only reason I went. There were only 10 people there. There were 10 committee members and I guess 16 proxy votes, or however many other proxies.

For the record, the committee also endorsed Cathy Nealon Wechsler for tax collector; Councilmen Kyle Donahue and Tom Schuster and newcomer Charles Wasko for city council; Tom Borthwick, incumbent school board President Katie Gilmartin, Tyrone Holmes and Danielle Chesek for four-year school board terms; and Greg Popil for a two-year seat.

Interesting, but well focus on the mayors contest because thats the glamour race.

Hours before the Democrats met, Cognetti issued a memo about an internal campaign poll that showed her way up  Cognetti 69%, Murray 14%.

The poll was done using multiple means of contacting 400 voters between March 24 and 29 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Regular readers of Random Notes know we distrust candidate polls for the simple reason that the candidate pays for them and doesnt release all the numbers and methodology.

On the other hand, Cognettis poll before her 2019 election turned out to be pretty close to the final result. Her pollster, ALG Research, ranks as top notch.

Cognetti is very well known and liked in Scranton, the polling memo says. Currently, 72% of Democratic primary voters have favorable views of Cognetti while only 10% are unfamiliar with her.

They also think shes doing a good job.

73% approve of the job she has done as mayor compared to just 20% who disapprove, the memo says.

Ed Mitchell, the well-known Democratic political consultant who has more faith in candidate polls, believes Cognettis.

Sure, her 55-percentage-point polling lead stems from her higher visibility, but Democratic voters also overwhelmingly like her and think shes doing a good job, he said.

You have to have an enormous amount of money and a compelling case that shes acted badly to change public opinion of Cognetti, Mitchell said.

All that reinforces our analysis shortly after Cognetti announced her reelection bid. We wrote that shes betting voters wont care that she switched to independent in 2019 and switched back to Democrat to run for reelection. After we wrote that, she would say only that she would welcome the partys endorsement, but wouldnt say she would seek it. Now she has.

So well supplement that analysis now and say shes also betting voters wont care that she sought and got the endorsement. If you buy her polls results, it looks like a safe bet.

Murray shrugs off the poll. By his own admission, he doesnt have a lot of campaign money and wont. He plans to just go door to door starting next week, which, as weve written here before, remains the best way to win a city election. People just love when you ask for their vote in person. You can bet Cognetti will do that, too.

I know Im behind, Murray said. Im never going to catch up in the money race. But Im trying like heck to call people and ask a little bit (for their support), and I havent really gotten a lot of resistance yet. So well see what happens ... Im just going to go out, work hard and talk to people.

If he doesnt have the money, its pretty much all he can do.

Cognetti, who will have plenty of campaign money, didnt see her appearance before the committee as hypocritical.

Absolutely not. Governing means bringing people together no matter what the history is, Cognetti said. And were going to work with everyone to make Scranton a better place to live and work and raise the family. The nominating process in 2019 is a very different thing than a party endorsement as an incumbent mayor and member of a party. In 2019, the city party nominated someone for the ballot. Now here in 2021, I am already on the ballot and got myself on the ballot as a member of the party and as the incumbent mayor. To then get the endorsement of the party, thats very different from a nominating process like this in 2019.

Yep, its a different process, but the outcome may wind up the same.

Like her polling memo says, Cognetti remains the heavy favorite to win.

BORYS KRAWCZENIUK, The Times-Tribune politics reporter, writes Random Notes.
Cornell University will require students and faculty to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they want to be allowed onto its upstate New York campuses this fall.

The Ivy League schools president and provost released a statement on Friday announcing the mandate, though exemptions will be granted to those who wont get the shot for medical or religious reasons.

Last week, New Jersey-based Rutgers became the first major university to announce that it, too, would require students and staffed to get inoculated before the state of the fall semester.

With the recent announcements of expanded vaccine eligibility in New York and other states, and increasing vaccine production, it is likely that all members of our community will be able to obtain vaccination sometime this spring or summer, Cornell President Martha Pollack and Provost Michael Kotlikoff wrote in a joint statement.

Accordingly, Cornell intends to require vaccination for students returning to Ithaca, Geneva, and Cornell Tech campuses for the fall semester.

Cornell University will require students and faculty to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they want to be allowed onto its upstate New York campuses this fall. The image above is an undated file photo of Cornell's main campus in Ithaca, New York

Cornells fall semester is scheduled to begin on the week of September 2. The school is home to 23,620 students, including some 15,000 undergraduates and 6,000 grad students.

While the school is willing to grant certain exemptions, the expectation will be that our campuses and classrooms will overwhelmingly consist of vaccinated individuals, greatly reducing the risk of infection for all.

Individuals who are not able to obtain vaccination prior to arrival for the fall semester, or whose vaccination is not recognized by New York state, will be expected to be vaccinated as soon after their arrival as possible, and Cornell is investigating ways to facilitate this process.

The image above shows a woman receiving a dose of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine in The Bronx on January 10

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday that the state had surpassed 10 million total doses of vaccine administered to residents. According to the governors office, nearly a third of New York state residents have been given at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine

As vaccinations in New York have risen, hospitalizations have been on the decline, according to Cuomo's office

The school will direct students and staff to a proof of vaccination online portal where they will be required to enter information registering their vaccination status.

The Cornell community must register through the portal beginning on April 15 once they have completed the dose schedule for their vaccination.

Once we have better data about the degree of community protection that has been achieved, we will offer additional details regarding full campus reactivation in a safe and responsible manner, the statement read.

The school said that if the campus achieves herd immunity whereby the degree of immunity is sufficient to prevent the spread of virus within the community, then classes normally taught in person will return to that mode of instruction, without any routinely scheduled online option.

All members of our community - faculty, staff and students - should begin to plan for this return to in-person teaching and learning in the fall of 2021, the statement read.

If fewer than half of the student population has been vaccinated by the start of the fall semester, the school will maintain its current hybrid schedule of online instruction as well as learning in de-densified classrooms.

Cornell will likely not face any legal obstacles from the government to making the vaccine mandatory, though it is conceivable that someone may challenge the edict in civil court.

Rutgers University is preparing to bring only vaccinated students back to campus this fall

Colleges and universities in the United States have routinely required students and staff to get vaccinated for other ailments including mumps, and rubella (MMR), bacterial meningitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, varicella, hepatitis B, and influenza.

Other colleges and universities nationwide are expected to follow in the footsteps of Cornell and Rutgers as the calendar moves closer to the 2021 fall semester.

According to Cornell, 68 people on campus tested positive for COVID-19 during the week of March 26 until April 1.

Given that the number of tests conducted during that time exceeds 41,000, that means the positivity rate stood at just 0.16 per cent.

Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County, where public health officials say there are currently 160 active cases of COVID-19.

On Sunday, county authorities reported 11 new cases of the disease.

According to state data, more than 44,000 residents of Tompkins County - representing 43 per cent of the population - have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

As of Sunday, more than 24,000 county residents have completed the vaccine series.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday that the state had surpassed 10 million total doses of vaccine administered to residents.

According to the governors office, nearly a third of New York state residents have been given at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Some 20 per cent of Empire State residents have been fully vaccinated, according to Cuomos office.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order on Friday banning businesses from requiring customers to show proof they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to get service.

The governor's order scrapped a plan by a private university near Fort Lauderdale that would have required students and staff to be vaccinated for COVID-19 when they returned for the fall semester.

Nova Southeastern University had announced earlier Friday that vaccinations would be mandatory by August 1.

Nova President George L. Hanbury II said in a statement hours later that the school had planned for universal vaccination 'to protect the health and safety of our students and staff,' but that it will comply with DeSantis' order.

'We will continue to follow all state and federal laws as they evolve,' Hanbury said.

The university has 6,314 undergraduate students and 14,574 advanced degree students at its main campus in Davie, and across campuses in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach Gardens, Tampa and Puerto Rico.
The usual street procession held after the Good Friday church service in Sekondi was absent this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.



The principal streets of Sekondi were quiet as members of orthodox churches could not embark on their symbolic walk of Jesus Christ to Calvary.



The congregants were clad in black and red to signify sorrow and sadness of the crucifixion of Jesus more than 2000 years ago.



At the Wesley Methodist Cathedral in Sekondi, there were three services to mark Good Friday and the crucifixion of Jesus.



A sermon advised Christians to keep in mind salvation, which is the purpose of the Easter celebration.



They were also to have a succession plan just as Jesus Christ appointed John to take care of his mother Mary.



Mr Joseph Annan, a Lay Preacher, speaking on "The need to have a succession plan," said as stewards appointed by God, Christians are to take good care of the things entrusted to them.



He said taking care of children, spouses, family, and businesses were forms of stewardship.



He said Jesus on the Cross realized the need for someone to take care of His mother and, therefore, appointed John.



He said Jesus gave Christians the responsibility to take care of the earth until He returns.



Alexander Affum, preaching on the seventh words on the cross, "Lord into your hands I commit my soul," explained that God was the giver of life and all good things.



He said, "when God is our protector, we have nothing to fear or worry about."



Bro Affum encouraged Christians to commit everything into the hands of God.



At the Mary Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Cathedral, the congregants prayed the stations of the Cross in batches on the cathedral compound.



Kissing of the Cross was not done but the congregants were made to bow before the crucifix.



In a sermon, Reverend Fr. John Baptise Attakru, Apostolic Administrator of the Sekondi Takoradi Catholic Diocese, urged Catholics to let the sacrifices Christ made reflect in their daily lives



He asked them to be true Catholics and lead lives that showed they were true followers of Christ.



Rev. Attakru called on the congregants to celebrate the feast of Easter in moderation and to ensure adherence to the Covid-19 safety protocols.





Source: GNA









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At the 16th Regional Assembly, Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific welcomed three new airport members from Australia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia and confirmed five new Board Directors.

Airport membership now stands at 120 members operating 606 airports in 49 countries and territories.

The new Board Directors are:

 Nicolas CLAUDE, Airport International Group, Jordan

 Jerry DANN, Taoyuan International Airport Corporation Ltd., Chinese Taipei

 Dato Mohd Shukrie MOHD SALLEH, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, Malaysia

 Quoc Phuong NGUYEN, Airports Corporation of Vietnam, Vietnam

 Videh Kumar JAIPURIAR, Delhi International Airport Ltd, India

The challenge before the Regional Board is to drive the strategic direction of ACI Asia-Pacific during the restart and recovery phase while at the same time positioning our industry to resume its growth trajectory, said Seow Hiang Lee, President of ACI Asia-Pacific and CEO, Changi Airport Group, Singapore. Each new Board Director brings a unique background and perspective to this task at hand and we warmly welcome them on board.

Joining 12 existing ACI Asia-Pacific members in Australia is Albury Airport, located in New South Wales. The regional airport handled 250,000 passengers in 2019 and plays an important role in the facilitation of economic growth, job creation and investment in the region.

In New Zealand, Papa Rererangi i Puketapu Limited, the operator for New Plymouth Airport joined ACI Asia-Pacific. Handling 448,000 passengers in 2019, New Plymouth Airport opened a new terminal building in March 2020 as part of its expansion plans.

Owned by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Dammam Airports Company, operator of King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia, also joined the association. In 2019, the airport served more than 10 million passengers from more than 43 destinations and handled more than 136,000 tonnes of cargo.

In these ongoing challenging times, its important for our airport community to come together and stand together. We are thankful for the opportunity to represent Albury Airport, Papa Rererangi i Puketapu Limited and Damman Airports Company and support their business goals and objectives, commented ACI Asia-Pacific Director General Stefano Baronci. - TradeArabia News Service
From The Daily Haymaker we learn:

The NC Association of Educators has had a stranglehold on public education for decades. Theyve pushed far-left issues inside and outside the classroom.

Now comes our new Republican lieutenant governor deploying the fire and fight many of us wish the previous LTGOV had. Mark Robinsons plan to probe and root out bias in education has apparently inspired some competition for the NCAE:

A new North Carolina teacher association launched this week, to provide benefits and solidarity to teachers focused on traditional education, to unify parent voices, and to advocate for students rights to learn without indoctrination. Carolina Teachers Alliance is a statewide organization based in Wake County and was founded by college adjunct and former Wake County Public School teacher, Amy Marshall.

The announcement of Carolina Teachers Alliances launch came a week after Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinsons announcement of his new anti-indoctrination task force, in effort to clean up the political push in some classrooms to tilt student opinions to the radical left. Lt. Governor Robinson has endorsed Marshalls organization. There is a need for an alternative NC teacher association, one whose focus is on forwarding the academic achievement of North Carolinas children without indoctrination in the classroom. Carolina Teachers Alliance has my full support, said Lieutenant Governor Robinson.

I started Carolina Teachers Alliance in part to provide North Carolina teachers an alternative organization that supports their right to teach without being forced to deliver lessons involving political indoctrination. Many teachers are afraid to refuse to teach non-academic content being prescribed by some districts, for fear of retribution, including demotions and job loss. said Marshall. I was one of those teachers.

Carolina Teachers Alliance is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit trade association, whose mission is to be the voice of Carolina educators that empowers members to provide the highest quality, unbiased and achievement-driven education to all children. They offer paid tiered memberships to all school staff, student teachers, parents, and community members. All school staff become covered under their liability insurance and legal plan upon joining, and all members receive their nationwide corporate discount program benefits. Membership classifications, pricing, benefits, and merchandise can be viewed at their website carolinateachers.org. Also, all new school staff members receive a free T-shirt with their membership.

Our members enjoy better benefits for half the cost of other educator associations. We provide robust professional liability insurance and legal coverage, a national corporate discount program, professional development, National Board Certified Teacher mentor sessions, and events. We are the unified voice of Carolinas traditional teachers, said Marshall.

Marshall is also a WCPSS parent and understands growing parent frustration with the lack of curriculum transparency and the increase in non-academic content being prescribed for lessons and teacher training. Carolina Teachers Alliance isnt just for teachers, but for all school staff, parents, and community members who want a strong, quality, unbiased education for North Carolinas children, to prepare them to be productive American citizens in a competitive world market. We believe parents are partners, not obstacles, said Marshall.

Carolina Teachers Alliance intends to be a unified voice for their members to local and state policymakers on education. Carolina Teachers Alliance counters the North Carolina Association of Educators by boasting better benefits for half the cost. Just weeks after the teacher advocacy organization filed for incorporation, twenty percent of its fundraising goal was met, not including pre-launch membership and merchandise sales. We have been inundated with requests about our launch from teachers, parents and community members, and we are just getting started. Carolina Teachers Alliance is excited to connect with people from across the state, said Marshall.

Carolina Teachers Alliance will be holding statewide launch parties on Saturday April 17, with one happening in Raleigh. Visit carolinateachers.org, to learn more about taking back education.

Original source: A new player in public education? (dailyhaymaker.com)
As lawmakers prepare to debate Joe Bidens massive infrastructure proposal that will touch on nearly every aspect of American life, Bernie Sanders is leading members of Congress to ensure the $2 trillion plan also supports the nations human infrastructure.

The presidents pitch aims to modernise the nations ageing water systems and expand internet access, repair crumbling roads and bridges, incentivise manufacturing projects to remain in the US, and revive schools and care facilities.

It also would address his long-term sustainability goals in the face of the climate crisis, as well as lingering racial and socioeconomic disparities exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and Republican tax cuts.

Senator Sanders, the progressive Independent from Vermont and now chair of the influential Senate Budget Committee, told CNN that Mr Biden has pitched a serious proposal to address the nations multiple crises, but many of us see a crisis in human infrastructure.

He said he will argue for more funding to address the climate crisis, childcare, healthcare and prescription drug pricing, and student debt.

Read more:

What the president is proposing is bipartisan, he said, pointing to nationwide support among Republican and Democratic state and local officials for federal funding for infrastructure projects in their backyards.

Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress who are moving very far to the right, who are not only ignoring what the American people want to see done, they are often ignoring what people in their own party want to be done, Senator Sanders said.

The proposal has once again revived debate among reporters whether Mr Biden  whose $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was signed into law without any Republican votes  is moving ahead on a bipartisan basis, despite persistent GOP objections to the White House agenda.

Asked whether Mr Bidens latest proposal will have bipartisan support in Congress, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNN that a majority of Americans, from both parties, already approve the measures inside it.

So the president is very concertedly reaching out to Republicans to say, Come to the table. If you dont like a component of it, tell us  what you want to see, she said, adding that federal funding for roads and bridges, broadband internet expansion and US manufacturing supply chains are all things that Republicans have introduced bills on.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who appeared on both NBCs Meet the Press and ABCs This Week to promote Mr Bidens proposal, said that the US is still coasting on infrastructure choices that were made in the 1950.

Nows our chance to make infrastructure choices for the future that are going to serve us well in the 2030s and onto the middle of the century when we will be judged for whether we meet this moment here in the 2020s, he said.

To pay for the plan, Mr Biden wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 per cent. He also would raise taxes on households that earn more than $400,000 a year.

Donald Trumps trickle-down Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, passed before the pandemic during a healthy economy, cut the maximum corporate federal income tax rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent.

Were just asking corporations to pay their fair share at a rate, by the way, that would be lower than its been for most of my life, Mr Buttigieg said. If other folks on the Hill have an idea how to pay for it, were going to be interested to hear those ideas. But there is a clear vision for paying for this bill.

In his own proposal, Senator Sanders wants to increase the corporate tax rate to 35 per cent.

GOP Senator Roger Wicker told NBC that Im all for looking at ways to pay for it but said 28 per cent is going to cut jobs.

Asked by CNNs Jake Tapper whether he had a pitch for paying for the bill, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, pointed to pro-business and pro-growth policies under Mr Trump, and echoed GOP concerns over a growing deficit, despite their support for Mr Trumps tax cuts that immediately shot up deficits.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants to pass the bill in the Democratically controlled House of Representatives near the July 4 holiday, but it faces a murky path in the Senate.

Senator Sanders and Senate Democrats are weighing a move to pass the bill through the budget reconciliation process, as they did with the American Rescue Plan, to bypass the need for GOP support and send the bill to Mr Bidens desk with a simply majority vote.
Last week, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) shares once again took a hit on renewed fears the stock will be delisted in the U.S. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it has begun implementing new auditing standards of foreign companies, a move that some investors fear could ultimately lead to BABA stock being delisted from the NYSE.

Alibaba Stock

Source: Nopparat Khokthong / Shutterstock.com

Incredibly, this is at least the third time BABA stock has dropped on the same news in the past year. I wrote back in May 2020 when the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act was first proposed that Alibaba investors shouldnt sweat delisting.

There are at least three reasons why BABA stock wont be delisted. These headline-related selloffs have and will continue to be buying opportunities.

InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips

Politicians Dont Care About BABA Stock

All Americans should know at this point that politicians of both major parties dont care about actually getting things done. They care about winning elections and they care about public opinion.

Former President Donald Trump started a trade war with China and made it a centerpiece of his campaign. In his re-election year last year, Trump took advantage of negative U.S. public opinion of China following the novel coronavirus pandemic. Cracking down on U.S.-listed Chinese stocks was one way to appear tough on China to U.S. voters.

Of course, Trump lost the November election. However, his successor Joe Biden is now in a difficult situation of trying to rebuild the U.S. relationship with China without appearing soft.

Personally, I dont think Trump or Biden cares much about protecting U.S. investors from Chinese accounting. I believe Trump wanted to appear tough on China and Biden wants to appear not soft on China. Both of them just want to win elections. I believe this U.S. regulatory crackdown is just the latest example of politicians and regulators talking a big game and having a small impact.

Story continues

Delisting Wouldnt Be Easy

Even if regulators actually attempt to enforce the new accounting regulations, that enforcement may be more difficult than it seems.

The new regulations force U.S.-listed companies like Alibaba to prove they are not owned or controlled by a foreign government. That one shouldnt be difficult for Alibaba to prove. Any BABA stock investor knows the company is in the dog house of the Chinese Communist Party these days. If the CCP called all the shots at Alibaba, there would be no need for its own internal crackdown on the company.

In addition, new U.S. regulations specify Chinese companies would be delisted if their auditors arent certified by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board after three consecutive years of inspection.

This rule comes with its own sets of enforcement difficulties. Americans actually own shares of Alibaba Group Holding Corp, not Alibaba itself. Alibaba stock represents shares of a variable interest entity (VIE) that is headquartered in the Cayman Islands, not China. So the VIE is listed in the U.S., not Alibaba itself. In other words, it may be extremely difficult for U.S regulators to gain access to Alibabas actual books. Meanwhile, Im sure BABA stock accounting is clean as a whistle.

Finally, Alibaba launched a dual listing in Hong Kong in 2019. If U.S. regulators ultimately move to delist Alibaba stock, it wont happen overnight. Investors may be able to simply transfer their shares to a U.S. broker that allows trading in Hong Kong and convert their investment to Hong Kong shares. U.S. investors may also receive cash for their shares at a valuation supported by the Hong Kong valuation.

Alibaba May Comply

The most likely outcome is almost always the simplest one. Alibaba stands behind its accounting. And its company is booming. It reported 36.9% revenue growth and 52.4% net income growth in the most recent quarter. Im confident Alibaba management will do everything it can to work with both the CCP and U.S. regulators to keep the peace so it can continue to grow and profit.

China doesnt want to tear down its own home-grown tech giants in front of the rest of the world. U.S. politicians and regulators dont want to risk alienating Chinese companies looking to list in the U.S. It would potentially cost Wall Street billions and billions of dollars.

BABA stock isnt going anywhere. The U.S., China and Alibaba itself all have too much to lose from an exit from the U.S. markets. Long-term investors should trust in the companys growth story. They should also trust that the status quo is the best path forward for all parties involved.

On the date of publication, Wayne Duggan held a long position in BABA.

Wayne Duggan has been a U.S. News & World Report Investing contributor since 2016 and is a staff writer at Benzinga, where he has written more than 7,000 articles. He is the author of the book Beating Wall Street With Common Sense, which focuses on investing psychology and practical strategies to outperform the stock market.

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Former president Donald Trump accidentally sanctioned an Italian restaurant on a blacklist meant for a network of Venezuelan oil firms, reports have said.

Reuters reported that in 2019 Mr Trump sanctioned a network of oil firms and individuals tied to Venezuelas state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) as part of a plan to crackdown on blacklisted crude oil.

The former president was seeking to force the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, who the administration accused of corruption, human rights violations, and manipulating his 2018 re-election.

On Mr Trumps last day in office, the treasury department imposed sanctions on a man named Alessandro Bazzoni over accusations he was tied to a network attempting to evade sanctions on Venezuelas oil sector.

However, an Italian restaurant owner in Verona, Italy, who has the same name, got a rude shock when he discovered his company, named AMG SAS Di Alessandro Bazzoni & C, had been put on the blacklist.

Read more:

When I heard that my current accounts had been blocked, I thought it was a joke, restaurant owner Mr Bazzoni, told Corriere della Sera.

These are already difficult times for us restaurant owners, the last thing I needed was to have my accounts blocked.

A treasury official corrected its error and acknowledged the mistake on Wednesday, Reuters reported. A treasury official said the department realised the companies were owned by different individuals in a case of mistaken identity.

On an updated list on the US treasurys website dated 31 March, the company, along with another that had been wrongly listed, were deleted from the blacklist.

They resolved the problem. I shouldnt be involved anymore, Mr Bazzoni said. It was a mistake ... thankfully it was all resolved in a couple of months.

The treasury also reportedly mistakenly blacklisted a graphic design company owned by another man called Alessandro Bazzoni in Sardinia.

At the end of the Trump administration they were doing a lot really, really fast with respect to Venezuela, Iran and China, Tim OToole, a sanctions specialist at law firm Miller & Chevalier, told Reuters.

When you move that fast, you tend to make mistakes, he added.

Mr Bazzoni said that while he did not receive an apology from the US treasury for the mistake, the important thing is they removed my name from that list.

I thank the new American government for the efficiency with which it intervened, he told Corriere della Sera.

The Sardinian business owner of SeriGraphicLab confirmed to The Guardian that his company had been slapped with sanctions in January but declined to comment further to the newspaper.

The Independent has contacted the office of Mr Trump for comment.
Natalie Barr is embracing her new role as co-host of Sunrise with a glamorous new wardrobe full of designer clothes.

The Channel Seven personality, who recently took over from Samantha Armytage, has swapped her sometimes plain outfits for flowing dresses and bright pops of colour.

Last week, the mother-of-two stunned as she showed off her trim figure in a plunging red Sass and Bide top, worth a cool $450.

The mother-of-two stunned as she showed off her trim figure in a plunging red Sass and Bide top, worth $450. It was teamed with a thigh-split A.W.A.K.E Mode skirt, worth $732

The top featured cut-outs in the billowing sleeves and was teamed with a thigh-split A.W.A.K.E Mode skirt, worth $732.

And it seems that Natalie, 53, is loving her new wardrobe, thanks to Seven's styling team, captioning her Instagram post: 'Happy Monday everyone! New week new outfit.'

In the weeks leading up to taking over as host, Natalie also wore a series of brighter outfits on air.

Making others green with envy! In the weeks leading up to taking over as host, Natalie wore a series of brighter outfits on air. On March 5, the brunette stunned in an eye-catching green striped dress by designer Rachel Gilbert, worth $599

On March 5, the brunette stunned in an eye-catching green striped dress by designer Rachel Gilbert.

The design, which featured a high neck, an A-line skirt and silver stripes, retails for $599 online.

On March 10, she turned heads in a $375 blush blouse and matching $445 trousers by Bianca Spender.

More designer: On March 10, she turned heads in a $375 blush blouse and matching $445 trousers by Bianca Spender

Label lover: Natalie, pictured in the Channel Seven wardrobe department, has always prided herself on wearing Australian designers, often tagging her Instagram posts with the hashtag 'we wear Australian'

Pre-makeover: Natalie is pictured in August last year in a stylish, but plainer outfit for Sunrise

Natalie has always prided herself on wearing Australian designers, often tagging her Instagram posts with the hashtag 'we wear Australian'.

Last month, after landing the top job on Sunrise next to co-host David 'Kochie' Koch, Natalie said she believed that she's living proof that women in television aren't written off when they reach a certain age.

She told Stellar at the time that landing 'the biggest job' of her life the same week she turned 53 spoke volumes.

Speaking out: After landing the top job, Natalie said she believes that she's living proof that women in television aren't written off when they reach a certain age. Pictured in August last year

She explained she'd been warned in the past about women being overlooked by TV executives as they aged.

'But I've just got the biggest job of my life the week I've turned 53. So I guess that's not true, is it?' she said.

Natalie, who has two teenage sons, then thanked Channel Seven for supporting her through her pregnancies.

'I think there's a view that it's a big bad TV station, it must be terrible for women. But I've had nothing but support from this company. I guess I'm living proof,' she said.

Reflective: She told Stellar at the time that landing 'the biggest job' of her life the same week she turned 53 spoke volumes

Sunrise has maintained its strong ratings since Natalie took over from Sam Armytage, proving she's the right person for the job.

Sam, who joined Sunrise in 2013, resigned last month in order to spend more time with her family and her new husband Richard Lavender.

Her last day on air was Thursday March 11.

Moving on: Samantha Armytage, who joined Sunrise in 2013, resigned last month in order to spend more time with her family and her new husband Richard Lavender. Her last day on air was Thursday March 11

Before that, she made headlines when she spoke about the toxic environment of the TV industry in an article for Stellar magazine.

'There's a lot about television that's all about you and that's an awful way to live your life. TV isn't a place that's necessarily very healthy,' she said.

'It's full of sociopaths and narcissists. It can be a dangerous environment, let me tell you.'

She also said unmarried, childless women in television were treated differently and given more work compared to their married counterparts.

Her remarks upset her colleagues and executives at Seven, and were described by some insiders as tantamount to 'career suicide'.
Islamabad, April 4 : An active Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist was killed during an intense exchange of fire with security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an army statement said.

The security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Boya area of North Waziristan on confirmation of the presence of terrorists, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said in the statement on Saturday.

It added that the killed militant remained involved in target killing, terrorist activities against security forces, extortion and planting improvised explosive devices, reports Xinhua news agency.

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.
Clelia Theodorou labelled Amber Turner a 'rude b****h' in a heated argument during Sunday night's installment of The Only Way Is Essex.

The pair came to blows in front of their co-stars when they started shouting at each other during the Easter egg hunt party before Clelia stormed off.

Clelia had went to get drinks for herself, Chloe Meadows and Courtney Green and was disappointed to see Amber had arrived to the bash when she returned.

Drama: Clelia Theodorou labelled Amber Turner a 'rude b****h' in a heated argument during Sunday night's installment of The Only Way Is Essex

The pair have never seen eye to eye ever since Amber's boyfriend Dan dated Clelia while he and Amber were briefly separated.

They most recently had a screaming match in the middle of the street with Nicole Bass after Nicole accused Amber of being 'horrible' to Yazmin Oukhellou and making her cry during their trip to Marbella.

Speaking to Chloe and Courtney, Clelia said: 'I said to you girls before you had good intentions. I don't want to be civil with Amber.'

Turning to Amber, she added: 'The last time I saw you you had the cheek to put your hand in my face, pretending you couldn't remember my name. What have I ever done to you?'

War of words: The pair came to blows in front of their co-stars when they started shouting at each other during the Easter egg hunt party before Clelia stormed off

Amber replied: 'When you moved to Essex, you didn't have any friends.'

Unimpressed, Clelia said: 'Excuse me?'

'You didn't have anyone in the group,' Amber said.

'Well I had friends but I didn't need to be in your group,' Clelia replied.

Amber explained: 'My friends were really nice to you. You had the cheek to go away with another one of your friends and be really nasty, being really b****y.

Clelia told Amber: 'The last time I saw you you had the cheek to put your hand in my face, pretending you couldn't remember my name. What have I ever done to you?'

Confused, Clelia asked: 'What are you talking about?'

Amber said: 'Marbella, right or wrong? I know that was a long time ago but I saw a side of you I didn't like.

'You then got involved in the whole Nicole thing which wasn't anything to do with you. Standing in the middle of the street, screaming and shouting at me.'

Defiant, Clelia shot back: 'Screaming at you? Are you joking Amber? I wasn't screaming at you.'

'We're never going to be friends,' Amber said.

Amber said: 'My friends were really nice to you. You had the cheek to go away with another one of your friends and be really nasty, being really b****y'

Becoming angrier by the minute, Clelia fumed: 'We're never going to be friends because you're a nasty rude girl. You talk to people like they're a piece of s**t on your shoe.'

Amber replied: 'I can do what I want because I'm Amber Turner,' to which Clelia started laughing.

She said: 'You're a rude bitch Amber, that's what you are.'

Amber replied: 'You look silly being like this right now, you look really silly.

Clelia said: 'You are the reason there's a divide in the group,' before she stormed off.

Clelia fumed: 'We're never going to be friends because you're a nasty rude girl. You talk to people like they're a piece of s**t on your shoe'

The argument divided viewers of the series, with some siding with Clelia while others felt Amber was justified in what she said.

One user wrote: '"Because I'm Amber Turner"... I'm embarrassed on her behalf.'

Another said: 'Amber is 100 per cent right, Clelia needs to pipe down.'

Another user added: 'I love the energy from Amber,' while one viewer disagreed, saying: 'I am so happy Clelia just laughed in Amber's face for that.'

During the previous argument in the street, Nicole had told Amber she is 'boring' which is why her boyfriend Dan Edgar, 30, has previously been drawn to co-stars Chloe Sims and Clelia.

Reaction: The argument divided viewers of the series, with some siding with Clelia while others felt Amber was justified in what she said

Amber was quick to hit back at Nicole and Clelia, who was also present during the dramatic row, as she told them: 'You two have no personality combined, a plank of wood is more exciting!'

Referring to their awkward evening at the spa, Chloe Meadows said: 'You were rude to us, we would have been fine with you. And now you've put Yaz in a really horrible position.'

However Clelia hit back: 'She hasn't put her in a horrible position, Yazmin put her in one! She calls her and complains about you guys all the time.'

Chloe jumped in and questioned: 'As her friend why are you bringing that up and using it against her?'

Keen to address a wider issue, Amber said: 'For me there's underlying problems, I don't know if you're jealous that me and Yaz are friends because me Dan, Yaz and Lockie do a lot together. So I can understand why you'd get a bit p****d off about that?'

Boiling point: Amber and Clelia previously a screaming match in the middle of the street with Nicole Bass after Nicole accused Amber of being 'horrible' to Yazmin Oukhellou

Unimpressed, Clelia said: 'Drop pulling the jealously thing Amber thing please! Don't say that. Amber, who do you think you are right now? F***ing unbelievable this girl.'

Nicole insisted: 'I have absolutely no reason to be jealous of you!'

However Amber seemed unsure and said: 'You seem to be, that's the only thing that's come across. We were never friends.'

Reaching boiling point, Nicole said: 'Yeah but you're horrible to Yazmin all the time! You s**g her off and then go on holiday and then make the f**king girl cry. So she's ringing me up!'

Amber appeared confused and questioned: 'Cry!?'

Savage: Amber was quick to hit back at Nicole and Clelia as she told them: 'You two have no personality combined, a plank of wood is more exciting!'

Nicole exclaimed: 'Mate you don't have a clue about anything.'

Amber replied: 'Nothing is ever going to change, we're never going to be friends, we never have been. You sit there with your mates talking about me.'

Nicole snapped: 'You talk about everybody!'

While Amber said: 'You have the cheek to talk about my personality, you two have no personality combined, a plank of wood is more exciting.'

A shocked Clelia jumped in and said: 'Are you talking about me! Bye. Have fun. Be a b***h to everyone like you always are.'

During time apart from Amber, Dan dated Clelia in 2018 during the same time she joined the ITVBe reality show.

Dan also enjoyed a romance with their co-star Chloe Sims in 2019 during a cast trip to Thailand before rekindling with Amber.

The Only Way Is Essex airs on ITVBe on Sundays at 9pm.
Gardai have launched an investigation after the body of a woman staying in what was believed to be emergency accommodation was discovered last night.

The tragedy occured in an apartment in Ballybough area in Dublin's north inner city yesterday evening.

The womans body has been removed to Dublin City Mortuary.

A garda spokesperson revealed that gardai are currently investigating all the circumstances surrounding the unexplained death.

The death is believed to be the second fatality at an emergency accommodation complex in less than two weeks.

CEO of Inner City Helping Homeless and Dublin Central Councillor Anthony Flynn sent thoughts and prayers to the families of the deceased.

He also called on Ministers to improve their reporting of deaths within emergency accommodation units and services.

Cllr. Flynn wrote on Twitter: Reports that a young woman has been found dead in a city emergency accommodation unit. The second in the same facility in less than 2 weeks. Thoughts & prayers are with both families.

Ministers report on deaths within services must be expedited, he added.
Matthew 'Ollie' Ollerton is reportedly lagging behind his SAS: Who Dares Wins co-star Ant Middleton in the earnings stakes.

The former soldier, 49, is currently isolating in Australia with Ant and other cast members ahead of filming the Australian version of the show.

Ollie recently posted accounts for his company Break-Point Holdings Ltd up to March 31 2020 which showed current assets of 9,069.

Pay: Matthew 'Ollie' Ollerton is reportedly lagging behind his SAS: Who Dares Wins co-star Ant Middleton in the earnings stakes

The TV star is the sole director of the company, which handles his TV earnings and 'physical well-being activities'.

After costs and liabilities were deducted, the company had total equities of 46,234, in accounts first seen by The Sun.

This is significantly lower than the payday his co-star Ant Middleton received from his television work.

Ant and his wife Emilie was reported to have earned a massive 1.1million from his TV appearances, according to The Mirror.

Filming: The former soldier, 49, is currently isolating in Australia with Ant (pictured) and other cast members ahead of filming the Australian version of the show

The adventurer, 40, saw profits of nearly 2million at his company Middleton Global with the couple splitting dividends 50/50 between them.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Ollie Ollerton for comment.

It comes after Ant said TV companies have been calling him about potential new shows after being axed from Channel 4's SAS: Who Dares Wins.

The star vowed to return to our screens but insisted he won't work with anyone who 'questions who he is' after being dropped from the show over his 'personal conduct.'

At the start of March Channel 4 stated they would never work with him again as 'our views and values are not aligned'.

Ant has also denied claims that he was dropped by the broadcaster after making 'inappropriate' comments to female staff.

Company: Ollie recently posted accounts for his company Break-Point Holdings Ltd up to March 31 2020 which showed current assets of 9,069

Speaking on the podcast The Diary of A CEO on Monday about potential new opportunities Ant said: 'This last week so many doors have opened, production companies and channels calling me.

'You get cancelled then that's your career done but you've got Piers Morgans, Jeremy Clarksons and now you've got your Ant Middletons. I'm not going to be comfortable with everyone, and I'm not going to be their cup of tea.

'Well that's fine because guess what, I don't want to work with you.

'If I get questioned one little bit about who I am by any brands, any sponsors, any channels, then I will not work with them. I will say listen, thank you very much. It's obviously not the right match.'

Change: It comes after Ant said TV companies have been calling him about potential new shows after being axed from Channel 4's SAS: Who Dares Wins earlier this month

Also during the chat with presenter Steven Bartlett he said that some of his 'banter' may be difficult to hear and that he is still a 'work in progress'.

He said: 'People have to realise that this is a work in progress it is not something I can change overnight. You need to understand that's who I am.'

On Wednesday Ant told The Kyle and Jackie O Show in Australia he was dropped from the military-style reality show for being too strong-willed.

'I'm too hot to handle for the UK,' the star said when asked about being let go.

He explained: 'With the UK version, once that final string pinged from my grasp and it was being controlled by health and safety, and it's being controlled by the production, then yeah we butted heads a bit and we parted ways a bit sourly.'

'But listen, it's all good. It is what it is,' he added.

Strong: The adventurer, 40, vowed to return to our screens but insisted he won't work with anyone who 'questions who he is' after being dropped from the show over his 'personal conduct'

'The moment my work starts to get diluted, and I don't stay true to who I am and true to what the course is about, then it's time for me to move on.'

Earlier this month it was claimed that Ant is planning on 'doing a Jeremy Clarkson' following his exit from SAS: Who Dares Wins.

According to The Sunday People, Ant is hoping to return to television through a streaming service and is planning to approach companies with a web TV format.

A source said: 'Ant feels there is the possibility to emulate what Clarkson did. He thinks there's an audience for another military action hero-style show where he can be his authentic self.

'Ant has ideas he has been mooting to production companies.'

Jeremy previously moved to Amazon Prime's The Grand Tour following his departure from the BBC's Top Gear in 2015.

Difficult: At the start of March Channel 4 stated they would never work with him again as 'our views and values are not aligned'

MailOnline contacted a representative for the soldier for further comment at the time.

Recently, Ant 'wholeheartedly' denied claims he 'joked about having sex with a female contestant' on SAS: Who Dares Wins.

In a statement the soldier-turned-presenter insisted he's 'never at any point' been accused of speaking inappropriately, after previously denying claims he made improper comments to female staff.

A spokesperson for Ant told MailOnline: 'Ant has worked on TV sets around the world for many years and has never at any point been accused of speaking inappropriately by anyone.

'He has only ever been informed of these allegations, which he wholeheartedly and emphatically rejects, via the media.

'If anyone felt that he did say anything verbally offensive we would have expected a formal process of review but no such discussion has ever taken place either via any of the networks he works for or via bodies such as Bectu.'

Show: It comes amid claims Ant is planning on 'doing a Jeremy Clarkson' (pictured in 2019) following his exit from SAS: Who Dares Wins by returning to TV on a streaming service

It came following a report by The Sun that Ant was heard telling a contestant he wanted to have sex with her via his microphone during filming.

A source claimed his comment were meant to be in jest, but still prompted a member of the show's production team to complain.

It was alleged he said: 'I'm going to f**k you after this.'

A source added: 'Comments by Ant  whether made in jest or not  were picked up by production and someone complained. In total up to four women submitted concerns to production bosses.

'On the celebrity version of the show he made comments to two female celebrities, both of whom were not single.

'Everyone on the show was talking about it among themselves. Staff at Minnow Films, who make the show, say they've still got the audio of one alleged incident.'

A representative for Channel 4 told the publication that measures are in place so any complaints from staff can be handled confidentially.

Hitting back: Ant recently 'wholeheartedly' denied claims he 'joked about having sex with a female contestant' on SAS: Who Dares Wins

MailOnline contacted a representative for Channel 4 for further comment at the time.

Ant also denied claims of further behaviour after it was reported four women had accused him of making 'lewd and suggestive comments' on set.

The women approached the media union Bectu, who told The Mirror they are planning to meet with Channel 4 after Ant dismissed his behaviour as 'military banter' during an interview on Good Morning Britain.

They told the publication: 'Bectu can confirm that a number of women have been in touch with us this week regarding behaviours on the set of SAS Who Dares Wins. We will not be publishing the allegations, however we would like to set the record straight following an interview on Good Morning Britain this week.

'Despite Ant Middletons claims about the so-called ''woke brigade'', Channel 4 clearly stated this week that the decision to part ways with Mr Middleton was 'solely based on his personal conduct off-camera and is not related to his on-screen persona'. This certainly corroborates with what our members have told us.

'We are pleased to see that this week, Channel 4's Chief Content Officer has written to on-screen talent reminding them that Channel 4 'does not tolerate bullying or offensive behaviour of any kind.'

Hitting back: The adventurer insisted he's 'never at any point' been accused of speaking inappropriately, after previously denying claims he made improper comments to female staff

It was recently reported that Ant threatened to quit SAS: Who Dares Wins multiple times and 'acted like a Hollywood star on the set' before he was ultimately axed.

A source told The Sun: 'Ant loved to be the star attraction and seemed to think the show needed him more than he needed it - and would act like that on set. He threatened to quit on several occasions.

'It felt like some sort of party act, like he was untouchable. He did the same again in between filming the civilian and celebrity versions, which are filmed back-to-back. But no one believed his quit threats. No one is bigger than the show.'

MailOnline contacted a representative for Ant Middleton for comment at the time

It comes after Ant vowed to 'stay positive' as he broke his silence following the announcement he had been dropped by Channel 4 due to his 'personal conduct'.

As Channel 4 stated they would never work with him again, the adventurer took to social media to confirm the news.

Controversy: It came following a report that Ant was heard telling a contestant he wanted to have sex with her during filming, leading a member of production to complain to bosses

He wrote: 'Hi guys, I've got some news which is that after 5 incredible years I've decided it's time to move on from SAS Who Dares Wins UK.

'Big respect to my fellow DS  its been a journey I'll never forget. Thanks to everyone that took part and made the show what it is. Really excited about the future and what's coming this year. Stay positive.'

A spokesperson for Channel 4 had earlier told MailOnline: 'Ant Middleton will not be taking part in future series of SAS: Who Dares Wins.

'Following a number of discussions Channel 4 and Minnow Films have had with him in relation to his personal conduct it has become clear that our views and values are not aligned and we will not be working with him again.'

Ant's axing by Channel 4 comes after he sparked controversy by referring to Black Lives Matter protesters as 'absolute scum' last June.

According to The Mirror, Ant has had further issues with the broadcaster over his views since then.

Two series of SAS with the former soldier have already been filmed and will air this year but planned future series will not feature him.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4)  Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is not backing out of the Philippine government's stance calling for the removal of Chinese vessels at Julian Felipe Reef, saying China should stop its aggressive actions that "disturb" peace in the region.

In another strongly-worded statement issued Sunday, Lorenzana blasted the Chinese Embassy's response justifying the presence of Chinese maritime militias in the disputed territory.

Lorenza claimed the Chinese Embassy in Manila showed an "utter disregard" of international law despite an arbitral tribunal favoring the Philippines regarding Chinas claims to virtually all of the South China Sea.

READ: PH wins maritime arbitration case vs. China

"Its nine-dash line claim is without any factual or legal basis. This, together with its so-called historical claim, was flatly and categorically rejected by the arbitral tribunal," he said.

"The Philippines claims stand on solid ground, while Chinas do not," Lorenzana added.

READ: I am no fool. Leave now,' Lorenzana tells Chinese vessels at West PH Sea

Reacting to Lorenza's earlier statement demanding the remaining 44 ships in the area to leave, 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. "Nobody has the right to make wanton remarks on such activities," said a statement attributed to the embassy's spokesperson.

However, Lorenza stressed that China "should respect Philippine sovereignty over the Kalayaan Islands, and its sovereign rights over its Exclusive Economic Zone as defined by UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and affirmed by the arbitral award."

Lorenza even claimed that with the continued presence of the vessels, China intends "to further occupy features in the West Philippine Sea."

"They have done this before at Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc and at Panganiban Reef brazenly violating Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights under international law," he said.

"As a party to the DOC (Declaration on the Conduct of Parties), China should refrain from conducting activities that disturb regional and international peace and security," Lorenzana added.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. said the Philippine government will pursue what is needed to ensure the country's sovereignty remains intact.

"China can say what it wants, the Philippines will do what it must to keep whats hers by right," he said in a Twitter post Sunday afternoon.

"Irrelevant whether we possess commensurate military power to meet the challenge; we will not yield but dieor trigger World War 3. Not a bad outcome; living is overrated. Honor is all," Locsin added.

The FDA in March filed a diplomatic protest against China over the presence of the Chinese vessels.

Lorenzana's strong stance 'source of comfort'

In her weekly radio show Biserbisyong Leni, Vice President Leni Robredo said maintaining the country's sovereignty depends on strong leadership.

"Parang source of comfort, para sa akin, na nagbigay ng strong statement si Sec Lorenzana. Kasi para sa akin pagpapakita na hindi natin igi-give up ang sovereignty," she said.

[Translation: It seems like a source of comfort, for me, that Sec Lorenzana gave a strong statement. Because for me, it shows that we will not give up our sovereignty.]

However, Robredo said she was bothered by the statement of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who downplayed the brewing tension in the West Philippine Sea.

"Hindi klaro kung bumisita ba si Chinese Ambassador kay President during his birthday at in-assure daw si Presidente na parang mga Chinese vessel iyon, nagsi-seek lang ng cover dahil masama lang 'yung panahon...," she said. "Tingin ko si Sec Lorenzana, hindi ito magbibigay ng ganyang statement kung wala siyang basehan."

[Translation: It is not clear if the Chinese Ambassador visited the President during his birthday and said he assured the President that the Chinese vessels were just seeking cover because the weather was bad...I don't think Sec Lorenzana would give such a statement if he had no basis.]

Robredo emphasized the Philippine government must beef up its fight for sovereignty for the next generation.
LONDON - Police in Northern Ireland have appealed for calm after officers were attacked with petrol bombs and cars were set on fire during a second night of unrest.

A car burns after it was hijacked by Loyalists at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Masked men threw petrol bombs and hijacked cars in the Loyalist area North of Belfast. 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. (Peter Morrison/PA via AP)

LONDON - Police in Northern Ireland have appealed for calm after officers were attacked with petrol bombs and cars were set on fire during a second night of unrest.

Three cars were hijacked and set on fire Saturday night in Newtownabbey, an area on the outskirts of Belfast, police said.

North Area Commander Chief Superintendent Davy Beck said 30 petrol bombs were thrown at officers in an "orchestrated attack on police."

A 47-year-old man was arrested and remained in police custody.

On Friday night, 27 police officers were injured and eight people were arrested during riots in Belfast and Londonderry. Police said they came under "sustained attack" from a large group of young people throwing stones, bottles and fireworks.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland called for an end to the violence and said people destroying their own communities was "not the way to protest or vent."

Tensions have flared as some members of Northern Ireland's legislature sought to censure two dozen politicians from the Irish republican Sinn Fein party who attended the June funeral of Bobby Storey, a former head of intelligence for the Irish Republican Army. Officials recently said they would not prosecute the politicians for alleged breaches of coronavirus restrictions.

All the main unionist parties have demanded the resignation of Northern Ireland's police chief over the controversy, claiming he has lost the confidence of their community.

Northern Irelands first minister, Arlene Foster, has urged young people not to "get drawn into disorder" and refrain from attacking police.
Yields in assets have fallen to 7.5 per cent from 8.5 per cent in the past two years as more global players race to invest in such assets in the middle of the pandemic.



Yield is the estimated return from an investment. It is calculated by dividing the annual rental income earned by a property by the price paid for the property.



Investors prefer assets because they are more stable than office properties, which were affected by the pandemic, said bankers involved in deals.



Last month, Singapore-listed Mapletree Logistics Trust bought two warehousing properties in Pune from a unit of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSRI) and another entity at Rs 450 crore.



About 10 players including some global funds had bid for the property.



In another deal, US-based bought the for Rs 1,800 crore from Bangalore-based Embassy group and PE major Warburg Pincus.



Though Warburg-backed ESR and Indospace held talks with the promoters of the company, the deal did not go through over differences on valuation. Besides them, other investors also showed an interest in buying the business.



in late 2019 had set up a warehousing venture with Hiranandani Group.



Recently CDC Group of the UK invested Rs 250 crore in TVS Logistics for a 35 per cent stake, valuing the company at around Rs 700 crore.



Yields have fallen from 8.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent due to greater liquidity, low debt costs, and an increasing interest from buyers in warehousing assets, said Prateek Jhawar, director and head, infrastructure and real assets investment banking, Avendus Capital.



Jhawar said investors were preferring warehousing assets due to good demand.





Shobhit Agarwal, managing director at Anarock Capital, said: Too much money is chasing a few assets. The number of warehousing projects has gone up in the last couple of years but not many are available to trade, Agarwal said.



Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, which stopped investing in real estate in the country, came back to the sector by putting in money in warehousing assets in 2019.



In 2019, it bought a majority stake in KSH Infra, a Pune-based warehousing and industrial logistics park developer. The same year, it bought a controlling stake in a warehousing project by Pragati Group in the National Capital Region (NCR) region.



The same year, it set up a platform with Bengaluru-based developer Puravankara Projects for industrial parks.



Singaporean fund GIC and logistics firm ESR also set up a $750-million joint venture for warehouses in the country.



According to global consulting firm Savills, industrial and warehousing space absorption is expected to grow by 83 per cent to 47.7 million square feet in 2021.



This has been driven by robust growth in e-commerce and manufacturing sectors as well as rising demand in tier-I and tier-II cities.



Third-party and e-commerce sectors continued to drive demand, accounting for 60 per cent of absorption in 2020, followed by manufacturing at 24 per cent.



In 2020, the industrial and warehousing market witnessed investment in excess of $1 billion.



According to Colliers International, the sector has attracted interests from multiple large institutional investors, with investment inflows of Rs 27,800 crore ($3.7 billion) since 2017.
Hyderabad, April 4 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan paid tributes to former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Babu Jagjivan Ram on the eve of his 114th birth anniversary.

Rao recalled the services rendered by and leader of the weaker sections who fought for a casteless society.

Babu Jagjivan Ram's birth anniversary will be celebrated on April 5.

The CM paid rich tributes to Dr Jagjivan Ram who fought for the country's independence and worked for social equality.

Harichandan also paid tributes to Babu Jagjivan Ram.

"I offer my humble tributes to Babu Jagjivan Ram on his birth anniversary. Babu Jagjivan Ram was an illustrious freedom fighter and a visionary leader. The contribution of Babu Jagjivan Ram to the nation's politics and development will always be remembered," he said.

Harichandan recalled that Babu Jagjivan Ram was an able administrator and rendered impeccable services to the country.

"Babu Jagjivan Ram was a true democrat, who fought to uplift the poor, downtrodden and weaker sections of the society. Babuji served the nation as a Cabinet Minister for 35 years and held several key portfolios. He is also remembered for introducing path-breaking reforms such as the Green Revolution in the country," the Governor added.
South Dakota not meeting graduation rates for special education students

The Sioux Falls School District isn't meeting graduation rates for special education students, and neither is South Dakota as a whole on average.
President Joe Biden, who made clean energy a core tenet of his campaign, plans to set off one more oil-sector boom before shadows descend on fossil fuels.

In a $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal unveiled Wednesday, Biden earmarked $115 billion for roads and bridges, and another $16 billion to put laid-off oilfield laborers to work plugging abandoned wells across the nation. Those are in addition to sweeping investments in electric vehicles and renewable power, sectors more in keeping with the administrations green tinge.

Since taking office two months ago, Bidens been more boon than bane for a fossil-fuel industry that was wary of the ascendance of a politician bent on accelerating the energy transition. Instead, the presidents focus on things like expediting Covid-19 vaccinations and clamping down on reckless environmental practices have had the effect of boosting fuel demand and capping price-killing growth in domestic oil output.

In the infrastructure blueprint, the biggest benefit for oil explorers and refiners would come from the expected jump in demand for asphalt to repair crumbling highways and pave new ones. Because asphalt is derived from the heaviest and most-dense material in a barrel of crude, Canadas oil-sands producers may be the biggest winners, given their status as the source of some of the globes thickest petroleum.

Plugging old wells and securing defunct coal mines -- some of which have been abandoned for more than a century in places like Pennsylvania -- would mean paychecks for workers thrown out of high-paying jobs during the back-to-back oil busts that kicked off in 2014. Although details remain scant on how the broad-brush plan will be implemented, the oft-opposing forces of fossil fuels and environmentalism lauded many of the measures laid out in Bidens plan.

Its absolutely historic, Collin OMara, president of the National Wildlife Foundation, said of the plan to address abandoned wells and mines. We realize that by working together we actually share more common goals than have been previously understood.

Out of work

The lobbying group that represents more than 700 oilfield service and equipment makers was also pleased with the initial scope of the plan to put hired hands of the shale patch back to work again.

There are plenty of companies that would really want to engage on this, said Tim Tarpley, senior vice president for government affairs at the Energy Workforce & Technology Council. I do think it would be an economic help; how big of a help thats going to be is going to depend on the details that we unfortunately dont have yet.

North American oil explorers are still recovering from last years historic crude crash and pledging to restrain production growth for the sake of investor-friendly measures such as dividends. Home to the worlds third-biggest oil workforce, the U.S. saw an 11 percent cut to headcount in 2020 that reduced the ranks of employed to just under 1 million, according to the Norwegian research and consulting Rystad Energy. Another 10,000 or so job cuts are expected this year, the energy-data provider has forecast.

Elated

Canadas oil-sands industry was among the hardest hit sections of the industry when Covid-19 and a worldwide glut of crude crashed prices last year. Now, assuming some or all of Bidens wish list is granted, heavy crude from Western Canada may be poised for a rebound.

The asphalt industry should be elated with Bidens plan to upgrade 20,000 miles of roads in the U.S., said Charles Kemp, a senior consultant at Baker & OBrien Inc. However, this announcement favors heavier oil production from outside of the U.S., which contains roughly double the amount of asphalt versus the asphalt content in light crudes from U.S. domestic production.

Still, Bidens plan may not translate into higher profits for oil companies, given that the flip side of the spending plan includes corporate tax increases to fund all the new work.

Tax burden

The well-capping support is great for well-servicing companies and will add jobs, James West, an analyst at Evercore ISI, said in an email. However, the corporate tax hike adds another burden to the U.S. oil industry which probably overwhelms the good news.

Even market observers arent expecting an immediate payoff.

Were a long way away from the market trying to price in the ramifications of the infrastructure plan, said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. Typically, infrastructure spending happens over eight to 10 years, so its going to take a long time for that to get into implementation, much less priced into the market.
A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, sent the statement below to PREMIUM TIMES explaining how and why he got involved in a protest organised against President Muhammadu Buhari in London.

READ FULL STATEMENT BELOW.

Why I Initiated The #HarassBuhariOutOfLondon Protest  Reno Omokri

By Reno Omokri

I flew into London on April 2, 2021 to lead the #HarassBuhariOutOfLondon protest, and I went there straight from the airport.

I did not eat, sleep, shower or rest. The Presidents people called the City of London Police on me, and I was questioned. At the end of the questioning, which was streamed live to my followers, they announced with their mouths that I had committed no crime and that my protest was peaceful, orderly and within my rights.

In fact, after General Buharis people called the police on me that afternoon, I calmly asked the officer questioning me this question:

Officer, has Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, ever come to Nigeria to access healthcare? So, why should you be called on me when I am asking my President to return to Nigeria to use our hospitals?

The police officer was touched. He told me I was within my rights and flashed the thumbs up sign, and allowed the #HarassBuhariOutOfLondon to continue. Buharis people failed big time!

So, why did I decide to initiate this protest at great personal expense and risk? It is because I believe that General Buhari is not running a government. He is running a criminal enterprise.

This man Buhari has been in office for five years. In that time, has budgeted over 10 billion Naira for the Aso Rock State House Clinic. This is the equivalent of $27 million. Is that not enough money to build a hospital and train doctors to treat him and other Nigerians? Yet, his wife, Aisha Buhari, admitted that that clinic cannot even provide ordinary paracetamol. Google it.

However, that was not my main reason for initiating the protest. I did it really as a way of seeking closure for the victims of the EndSARS protests, because General Buharis spin doctors are going around town misrepresenting the US State Departments human rights report as a vindication that the Lekki Massacre did not happen.

That is not what the report states. Please read it yourself. The report states that the US was unable to independently verify what happened because the Nigerian authorities prevented anyone from obtaining the facts of the matter.

The report also said that while Amnesty International revealed that ten people died, the Federal Government said no one died, with the Lagos State Government saying only two people died and that that controversy makes it impossible to establish what really happened.

Finally, the report said that at least one corpse was found riddled with bullets and that they could confirm. They also said that another corpse was found with blunt force trauma. Nowhere in that report did the US State Department say that the massacre did not happen.

Now, I want my readers to think about this. When General Buharis son, Yusuf, was injured in an accident, we prayed for him to get well. I prayed for him. Other Nigerians likewise prayed for Yusufs survival. How did Buhari reward us? He sent soldiers to Lekki to kill peaceful, unarmed #EndSARS protesters. These are the children of the men and women who prayed for his son.

Now, after killing peaceful, unarmed EndSARS protesters asking for good governance, he is in London to secure his life and enjoy the benefits of good British governance. My conscience could not stomach it. I had to play my part in the effort to send the coward back home to fix the mess he created.

Only 5% of Nigerians are covered by a doctor. This man forced himself on Nigeria. He promised he would do better than his predecessors, but he has turned Nigeria into the world headquarters for extreme poverty. He has bequeathed us the highest unemployment in the world at 33%. We have the highest number of out of school children at 13.5 million. And having destroyed our economy, he has run to a London that is on COVID19 lockdown to restore his health.

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Too many people justify Buharis failings by pointing to the failures of past leaders, especially the exaggerated failures of his immediate predecessors.

In fact, when I asked Buhari to return home and use the run-down health facilities he has bequeathed to Nigerians, a young man named Yusuf Abubakar Al Sadiq, asked me rather rudely Pls mention any standard hospital build by PDP 16yrs in office (his exact words).

The only National Trauma Centre in Nigeria was built, completed and commissioned by former President Jonathan on August 11, 2014. Former President Jonathan also built cottage hospitals in all of the six geo-political zones.

That same administration also built National Cancer Screening Centers nationwide, including at the Federal Medical Centre, Gusau in Zamfara, The University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital and the National Obstetric Fistula Centre in Abakaliki.

The Jonathan regime modernised the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) and the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and Built National Trauma Centers at the University of Abuja and the National Hospital also in Abuja and this led to a situation whereby Nigerian hospitals performed their first renal transplant surgery, and other high tech and high skilled surgeries.

In fact, after the upgrade of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, it performed its first stem cell transplant surgery under Jonathan.

However, that is not the point. The Peoples Democratic Party government is gone for now. The All Progressives Congress administration is here. We must stop excusing the failings of the Buhari regime by blaming past administrations.

In case Nigerians have forgotten, the electorate voted for Buhari in 2015 because he said he could do better than the PDP.

I know many Northerners feel some camaraderie with General Buhari. However, they need to search the Quran and read what it says about supporting wrong based on primordial sentiments, like tribe and religion.

Northerners should not just blankety label anyone that is against Muhammadu Buhari as anti-North. Buhari is from the North, but he is not the North. The North is more than Buhari. As a matter of statistical fact, Buhari is not even good for the North.

In terms of human development, the North has fared far worse under Buhari than it did under any other leader bar none. Poverty was existent in the North before Buhari, but it is now extreme poverty. Something like 80% of the extremely poor people in Nigeria are based in the North.

And it is not just poverty. Unemployment is now at record level. Insecurity is now pervasive in the North. Northerners can hardly go to work, whether at farms, offices, or mills. Their children are not safe at school. Their wives are not protected from endemic insecurity even at the market.

No one can sleep with two eyes closed in Northern Nigeria.

In 2010, the Average Life Expectancy in Nigeria was 47 years. Five years down the line, Nigerias Average Life Expectancy increased to 54 years. Whereas, in 2014, Nigeria made her greatest improvement in improving average life expectancy, life expectancy in Northern Nigeria has gone down, while increasing in other parts of the nation.

With all these happenings, it makes sense to be anti-Buhari if you are pro-development. I was for President Umar Musa Yaradua. Check my records. I supported him. I very strongly supported Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Atiku is more Northern than Buhari, in that unlike Buhari, he speaks Fufulde.

The truth is that Muhammadu Buhari is only slightly more refined than his marauding herdsmen kinsmen. His cautionary statements about 5% and 97% prove it.
Egypts first-ever female ship captain Marwa Elselehdar said that she was blamed for jamming Panama flagged mega tanker MV Ever Given in the Suez Canal, and was held responsible for choking the key navigational artery to the global maritime trade. Claims circulated that Elselehdar, who works for German shipping and transportation company Hapag-Lloyd AG, was piloting the Taiwan-owned Evergreen Marine Corp.'s ship and wedged it in one of the most dramatic groundings.

The first female sea captain was trolled for blocking one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes, hampering global goods cargoes and oil tankers transit incurring billions of dollar losses to countries per hour. The mammoth ship was dislodged by a Salvager team and several tug boats but trolls attacked Egypts first female shipmaster for the incident, now under a probe, falsely accusing her of halting the traffic in the Suez canal. The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has also said on April 3 that it has cleared the backlog of shipping that built up when the giant container ship was wedged.

On social media, users launched a smear campaign against the female ship captain saying that she stranded the large vessel, whereas in fact, when the ship stuck Elselehdar was working miles away in Alexandria as the first mate in command of the Aida IV. Internet trolls, however, manipulated an Arab news agency piece, changing the headline from "Marwa Elselehdar: Egypts first female sea captain is riding waves of success" to "Cargo ship crashes into the Suez canal. First female Lloyd Arab captain involved in the incident". The Middle East internet launched a smear campaign against the female ship captain sharing unverified claims and disinformation, which later caught her attention.

Egyptian female Ship captain says 'was shocked'

I was shocked, the Egyptian female captain said in recorded footage that she shared on her social media.

"Frankly, when I read the news, I was upset, because I worked really hard to reach the position I have reached, and anyone who works in this field knows how much effort a person has made over the years to reach this rank," Elselehdar said. She added, "One has to spend many years at sea, studying and taking exams before reaching this level." She lamented that the trolls were undermining her hard work, and blaming her falsely on account of her gender. "I graduated in 2013 and got an MBA, then I was promoted from the second officer to the first officer, and now I am a captain," she told her audience. "It is difficult to see that someone is trying to cancel all this effort, accusing me of failure or negligence," she asserted. Trolls targeted Elselehdar sharing fabricated claims arguing that the ship was stuck because a woman was in command of the vessel.
New Delhi: The fourth edition of a pan-India sleep study by Wakefit.co ranks Delhi-NCR as the top among those fearing insomnia across India. In Gurugram, a whopping 42 per cent of people complained about work keeping them up late at night -- as compared to 17 per cent last year.

The 2021 study -- Great Indian Sleep Scorecard (GISS) 2021 -- sheds light on the interconnectedness between sleep and work-life balance during the pandemic and discovers an increased awareness towards sleep health in Delhi-NCR. According to the report, the fear of insomnia increased from 19 per cent last year to 24 per cent this year, with Delhi-NCR topping the list of cities where residents are most worried about sleeplessness. Over 50 per cent of Delhiites reported being anxious about suffering from insomnia.

The 2021 report reveals that 42 per cent of Gurugram residents complained about work keeping them up late at night. Last year, the corresponding number was 17 per cent. With remote working becoming the norm, almost 1 in 2 respondents from Delhi-NCR said that they worked night shifts this year, as opposed to almost 1 in 10 last year.

There was also a significant jump in Delhiites staying up to work on their beds, up from 18 per cent last year to 47 per cent this year. It comes as no surprise then that people who used their phones just before sleeping was as high as 94 per cent in Delhi-NCR despite greater awareness about the perils of using electronic devices before bedtime.

The blurring boundaries between work and home has resulted in 81 percent of Delhiites feeling sleepy during work hours 1-3 times a week.

According to Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, co-founder and Director, Wakefit.co, "This year, while all of India has been working from home and adapting to a very different lifestyle altogether, we noticed a rather sizeable increase in the number of Delhiites working night shifts, recording increases in screen time, sleeping late at night due to work, and also having the fear of insomnia. Our sleep study was curated to help India pay more attention to sleep and we are constantly working towards educating our country about the same. The need of the hour is for Delhi-NCR, as a community, to pioneer cultural shifts that can help the city prioritise sleep health as part of their daily routine."

Incidentally, the GISS 2021 study reveals that an increasing number of people are now paying attention to the quality of sleep and the importance of investing in a good mattress. Nearly 59 per cent of respondents from Delhi- NCR, across age groups, believed that a better mattress is the key to better sleep. Last year, the corresponding number was 38 per cent.

The Great Indian Sleep Scorecard is an ongoing survey and the 2021 edition received 16,000+ responses, recorded from March 2020 to February 2021. It covers respondents in all Indian cities, across age groups, starting from 18 years.
A Covid-19 situation at the National Insurance Board (NIB) led to late pension cheques this month, says Social Development Minister Donna Cox. And the ministry yesterday apologised for any inconvenience caused to pensioners and other recipients of social welfare as a result of the late payment of benefits.
Islamabad: US President Joe Biden has not invited Pakistan for the Global Climate Change Conference to be held on April 22-23. The conference will be held online on April 22-23. The US move has badly hit Pakistan. Pakistani PM Imran Khan has expressed his displeasure against the US administration on social media.

Along with this, we have surpassed the misery of our work done for the protection of the environment in Pakistan. Imran Khan said that the Pakistani public is asking questions about it, what should I answer them? It is noteworthy that US President Joe Biden has sent 40 leaders including PM Modi to the summit to deal with climate change. The purpose of this summit is to underline the financial benefits and importance of taking concrete steps to tackle climate change.

An invitation has not yet been sent to Pakistan for the conference. Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), US President Biden's special envoy John Kerry will visit India, Bangladesh, and UAE between April 1 and 9 to discuss the issue. Even in this visit, the US has not given a sense to Pakistan.

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Health Minister Himanta Sarma's absurd statement says no corona in Assam, don't wear mask
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For many New Mexico artists, the pandemic kindled a creative renewal fueled by isolation.

Open online at the New Mexico Art League, In the Wake displays the results of solitude through graphite, collage, mixed-media, acrylic, oil, watercolor and pastel, through Saturday, April 10.

San Antonio, New Mexico-based artist Betty Lehnus produced a series of 50 masked portraits.

The former Chicago resident took photographs of friends, family and strangers, then put graphite to paper in haunting imagery. Graphite is a softer version of what pierces a lead pencil. Lehnus prefers graphite for portraits because its softness can produce rich darkness and light.

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And you can erase, she added.

Lehnus Far Away shows the masked face of a Japanese friend. The artist completed the piece at the beginning of the pandemic.

Everybody was just starting to wear a mask and it just seemed so strange, she said.

Her look is, I went so far away from Japan,  Lehnus said. Her husband got the virus. Of course, the mask concentrates your look on peoples eyes; thats all you see.

For Lehnus, the results compare to black and white photography.

Im not going to distract you with color, she said. Its how beautiful people are when you reduce them to very expressive eyes.

Lehnus studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and later at the citys American Academy of Art. She has lived in New Mexico for 18 years.

When Marian Berg isnt working as a nurse, she rolls an art supply cart around the University of New Mexicos Childrens Hospital to work with its youngest patients. The founder of the Art Heals Project, she balances her dual jobs with her artwork. Ironically, the pandemic has been good for her artistic career.

I painted a mural in my backyard on the ugly cement block wall, she said. I painted botanical things and flowers.

She posted the results on Facebook and the commissions came. She also received an offer to teach mural painting at Ghost Ranch in June.

Berg painted Coronavirus Blues at the beginning of the pandemic. A herd of floating, spiked orbs surrounds a nude woman. To Berg, it symbolized human fragility.

I was trying to express how vulnerable we are to this virus, and how resilient we are if we follow the CDC precautions, she said. But shes got a mask on. I painted it from a model.

Berg studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before turning to nursing to support herself.

Juliana Coles piece Hammam emerged from a trip to Morocco splashed with anxiety and gratitude.

The Albuquerque resident often combines text and imagery in mixed-media collage.

Hammam is the bathhouse in Morocco and a lot of Middle Eastern countries, she explained. Its a real common experience and a real cleansing; they scrub your skin. Its intense. I was using that metaphor (of) releasing that which we no longer need.

A private and online art teacher, Coles travelled to Morocco in 2017. She used Arabic calligraphy for the call to prayers with portraits and skulls in Hammam.

Itss such a different lifestyle, she said. You stop and listen and you go within. In our culture, were so not present; were so distracted.

Although the skull can be a symbol of the Day of the Dead, for Coles it reflects a deeper meaning.

Being epileptic, it seems like death, she said. I never know if Im going to come back. Its processing feelings we all have  anxiety and doubt.

The artist needs substantial rest when she returns home from her travels because of the disorder.

I felt bad that I needed a lot of alone time, she continued. Now thats been somewhat normalized because of COVID.

COVID has inspired that feeling of being blessed, she said. Without getting in a car or going anywhere, (Albuquerque is) beautiful. Now what I have is plenty.

Online

To view the online exhibit from the New Mexico Art League, visit newmexicoartleague.wildapricot.org
OTTAWA - Mark Carney, long touted as a potential Liberal leader one day, will be a keynote speaker at the federal party's convention later this week.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney participates in a discussion with Canada's Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change in Toronto on July 15, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

OTTAWA - Mark Carney, long touted as a potential Liberal leader one day, will be a keynote speaker at the federal party's convention later this week.

It's a political coming out party of sorts for the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

Until recently, his role as a central banker required Carney to avoid any hint of partisanship.

But he is known to have nevertheless quietly flirted with the idea of jumping into politics, and Liberals have bandied his name about for at least 10 years.

Back in 2012, after the Liberals suffered their worst electoral thrashing in history, questions about a leadership run grew so intense that Carney was compelled to deny any interest with a stinging rejoinder: "Why don't I become a circus clown?"

He left the country shortly thereafter to take over the helm of the Bank of England, but speculation about his interest in federal politics intensified once again with his return to Canada last summer and the recent release of his memoirs, "Value(s): Building a Better World for All."

The book spells out Carney's prescription for a sustainable, more inclusive, post-pandemic economic recovery, based on the lessons he learned from managing monetary policy in Canada during the 2008 financial crisis and in Britain during the tumultuous aftermath of that country's exit from the European Union.

When Bill Morneau abruptly resigned as finance minister last August, Carney's name came up as a possible replacement. Instead, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chose Chrystia Freeland, herself widely considered an eventual leadership contender.

Carney's name also came up again as a potential candidate to fill Morneau's Toronto Centre seat. But he did not run, and the vacancy was instead filled by former broadcaster Marci Ien, one of the co-chairs of the April 8-10 virtual convention.

Since the release of his book last month, Carney has been coy about his political ambitions. He's insisted he's focused on his work as the United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance and his new role as vice chairman of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., where he is overseeing the global investment firm's expansion into environmental and social investing.

But he has not categorically ruled out a political future.

Carney's appearance at the Liberal convention, which starts Thursday evening, may not herald a plunge into the political arena. But it does mark the first public dipping of his toe into partisan waters.

It comes just over a week ahead of Freeland's first budget, which could tip the minority Liberal government into an election if all three opposition parties vote against it.

Should an election be triggered during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, Liberals will get some advice during the convention about how to conduct a virtual campaign from two veterans of last fall's U.S. presidential campaign: Caitlin Mitchell, senior digital adviser for the Biden-Harris ticket, and Muthoni Waambu Kraal, former national political and organizing director for the Democratic National Committee.

They'll also hear from Ben Rhodes, ex-deputy national security adviser to former U.S. president Barack Obama.

The convention itself will be entirely virtual, with more than 5,000 registered Liberals expected to take part in what party spokesman Braeden Caley calls the largest policy convention in Liberals' history. Trudeau will deliver a keynote address on Saturday.

Caley said the convention will focus on four broad themes: protecting Canadians' health, ensuring the economy "comes roaring back," protecting a clean and healthy environment and creating a fairer and more equal Canada.

He predicted it will present a "stark contrast" to last month's Conservative convention, where delegates debated whether climate change is real, rolling back women's right to choose and weakening gun control.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2021.
Early in the afternoon on Thursday, in the southern Chinese city of Suzhou, more than 50 people gathered in a Taoist temple for a 10-hour ceremony to bid farewell to one of the most influential China scholars of recent times.

But this wasnt to honor a professor at one of Chinas great universities; instead it was for Kristofer Schipper, a Dutch Sinologist whose work helped usher in a fundamental shift in how people think of Chinese religion and society.

Professor Schipper died at 86 on Feb. 18 in Amsterdam after developing a blood clot in his stomach, said a friend and former student, Vincent Goossaert.

Professor Schipper had made Taoism his lifes work, helping to elevate it from a widely disregarded faith to a religious tradition that is regularly included in global discussions of current issues like climate change.
The casualty was left with 'life-changing' injuries after tombstoning near Langland Bay near Swansea in Wales. (Stock image: Getty)

Coastguards have urged people about the dangers of 'tombstoning' after a man was left with "life-changing injuries" after jumping from cliffs near a beach in Swansea.

The casualty was rescued by coastguards and lifeboat volunteers near Langland Bay on Saturday afternoon.

In a tweet, Mumbles Coastguard Cliff Rescue Team said the man, who was rescued at around 1.15pm had jumped from the top without knowing what was under the water and the tide was ebbing.

"He nearly paid the ultimate price but ended up with life changing injuries," it said, adding: "Please don't rock jump."

In a Facebook post, the Mumbles Lifeboat RNLI said the incident was one of two that its volunteer crew was called to on Saturday.

"At 1256 UK Coastguard at Milford Haven requested attendance to a male suffering severe injuries following an accident at a local area of cliff known for tombstoning between Langland and Limeslade," it said, adding that the crew had arrived at 1.15pm."

It said the casualty had suffered "mutiple fractures and injuries" and had been airlifted to hospital in Cardiff.

"The current condition of the casualty is unknown," the post said. "Our thoughts are with him and his family."

Lifeboat Deputy Coxswain James Bolter said: "We really are so grateful to the person with the cliff casualty who immediately called for help. This was a very serious incident. We hope all turns out well for the casualty."

The post added that the Bank Holiday weekend combined with the easing of lockdown had meant a busy Easter for the RNLI and urged anyone going near the water to make sure they check tides, weather and carry a means of calling for help.
The clock is ticking on India's Covid-19 vaccination drive. The world's second-most populous nation has to inoculate 35 crore citizens in the shortest possible time after it threw open jabs to everyone above 45 years. The race against time gets more testing due to the hurdles ahead, and some that persist from the previous phases.

First, vaccinators are short-handed, which compounds the poor healthcare infrastructure. Second, the private sector is dragging its feet, posing a big challenge to scaling up operations. The lack of engagement with people from the lower socio-economic background isn't helping the already slow exercise.

Over and above all these obstacles, vaccine hesitancy continues even among the urban and educated. Nearly 80 days after rolling out the Covid-19 vaccination, India has vaccinated less than one crore individuals with the required two doses to protect them from the rampaging pandemic.

What makes the task even more daunting is an overwhelming sense of urgency because of a rapidly ballooning second surge. The vaccination centres have been asked to keep open till 9 pm every day in April to administer as many shots as possible irrespective of whether the beneficiaries are pre-registered or not.

"The battle is on in every state as the virus has penetrated our defence, said V K Paul, NITI Aayog member. We need to vaccinate as many as possible while staging the process to prioritise vulnerable individuals who are likely to get very sick if infected, noted K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).

Also read: Healthcare workers can no longer register for Covid-19 vaccine: Centre

But its easier said than done. From getting enough vaccinators to overcoming hesitancy, the challenges are numerous. With the disease striking many smaller towns hard, time is at a premium.

It may be best to provide vaccines in an unrestricted manner just to curb the fast growth of cases at this time. Prioritising the elderly and those who are immuno-compromised or have preexisting conditions should still remain a priority but preventing the pandemic from getting out of hand and overwhelming the public and private health systems, as we saw in Brazil, is also important, said Gautam Menon, senior biologist at the Ashoka University.

One of the biggest challenges would be reaching out to the marginalised and vulnerable, who are likely to be left out in the current vaccination scheme. The current system (Co-WIN platform-based) is harsh on the poor and vulnerable as there is no element of outreach and engagement by the government, observed T Sundararaman, former executive director at the Delhi-based National Health Systems Resources Centre.

Others agreed on the need to reach out to those in a much more proactive manner. The existing system is a pull model, rather than a push one, said Oommen John, senior public health researcher at the George Institute for Global Health, Delhi. There has to be a completely bottom-up approach to increase vaccine uptake, said health economist Rijo John, a former consultant to the World Health Organisation.

Read: Five things to know about the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine

In Pune, one of the Covid hotspots, Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao said the administration would undertake a carpet bombing type vaccination in the most-affected localities. The Union Health Ministry asked 11 states and union territories to identify many such localities to start extensive jab sessions since the key to winning the battle with SARS-CoV-2 is to quickly protect the vulnerable with vaccine cover.

Bottleneck

But as the states begin to plan for such exercises, they face the second bottleneck  finding adequate manpower. The public health system has over 3,00,000 qualified front line workers capable of administering the injection. But all of them will not be available for Covid shots all the time. What we need is a carefully crafted micro plan to organise session sites nearer to the population settings, suggested Giridhar Babu, epidemiologist at the PHFI and an advisor to the Karnataka government.

In Karnataka, vaccination centres have been given instructions to wrap up the drive for people in the 45-59 age group without comorbidities by four weeks. This would be a daunting target considering that 1.66 crore people in the state fall under this category, said health commissioner Dr K V Thrilok Chandra. With the health department facing a staff shortage since last year, the state has done away with the targets for individual vaccination sites. Instead, the advice is to conduct as many jabs per day as possible.

The first two days after opening up saw more than 30 lakh people getting the shots on two consecutive days. Since the numbers are expected to rise further, the need is to find more hands. With more India-manufactured vaccines likely to get regulatory approval, the challenges will revolve around increasing vaccination centres and teams, while reducing vaccine hesitancy, said Reddy.

Read more: As Covid cases surge in India, 77% of people more willing to take vaccine: Report

The manpower problem can be addressed to some extent by roping in the private sector in a large way but that has not happened so far. Till last week, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had approved only 44 private hospitals for vaccination, whereas there are more than 1,000 private hospitals/nursing homes in Mumbai. The BMC has now given permission to 59 hospitals to conduct the vaccination, said Girdhar Gyani, director-general of the Association of Healthcare Providers (India) - AHPI.

Out of 460 hospitals empanelled with the Centre's flagship Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, only 55 are registered with Co-WIN to administer the vaccines. In the Mumbai suburbs of Vasai, there is hardly any vaccine available in the private sector.

Gyani said that AHPI, on behalf of private providers, was ready to coordinate with governments for identifying private hospitals and nursing homes with adequate infrastructure, but several public health experts told DH that in many states, private hospitals were simply not interested because of the low margin. Out of the Rs 250 a patient pays for a dose, the private hospital gets only Rs 100.

Prasanna H M, president of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, said the private sector was ready to join the vaccination programme in strength, provided adequate supplies were provided. The association complains that supplies are being doled out piecemeal daily to the hospitals which are obligated to collect them from municipal bodies. Instead, the vaccines should be provided in bulk for an entire week.

Vaccine confidence

Another big worry for Karnataka and many other parts of the country is vaccine hesitancy, though a section of experts says that with the expansion of the scheme, it would fade. Barring the last two days, more than 30 lakh doses have been administered only once in the last two and a half months. While experts say that India needs to give 50-60 lakh doses daily, on an average, the number of daily doses remained stuck at 20 lakh-plus. Reddy said the government should create vaccine confidence through local community networks.

One clear strategy to improve confidence in the currently available vaccines is to demonstrate real-world effectiveness, which entails the introduction of the vaccine at mass scale in high transmission districts and evaluating how the disease transmission is reduced. This will help boost confidence and encourage overcome vaccine hesitancy, suggested John.

At the moment, the availability of doses from Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India doesnt seem to be an issue, with the central government firmly assuring a steady supply. Maintaining cold chain logistics even in summer would also not be a problem because of a well-oiled existing system, thanks to India's universal immunisation programme.

Protecting the vulnerable is more important as they are at risk of having severe illness or death. Once they are protected faster, the expansion for other age groups can be planned expeditiously, noted Babu.

(With inputs from Akhil Kadidal in Bengaluru and Mrityunjay Bose in Mumbai)
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Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee said she "didn't know what had just happened" after qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics medley relay on Sunday, just two years after being diagnosed with leukaemia.

Ikee, who only resumed training in March last year after being hospitalised for around 10 months, won the 100-metre butterfly race at Japan's Olympic trials in Tokyo in a time of 57.77 seconds.

That was not enough to earn her an individual spot at the coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Games, but it did make her eligible for Japan's relay team, capping an incredible comeback for the 20-year-old.

"I was really happy but also really surprised," said Ikee, who was in floods of tears as she addressed the crowd after the race.

"I didn't know what had just happened. It was a feeling I had never experienced before."

Ikee had downplayed her chances of appearing at the Tokyo Games after resuming racing in August last year, claiming she was focused on Paris in 2024 instead.

But she reached her goal ahead of schedule, admitting after the race that she "thought it would be much later that I would be able to start winning."

"I felt I was swimming pretty well in my first qualifying race yesterday, but then in the semi-finals I had the tiredness of swimming in a second race," she said.

"I could hardly move in the second half of the semifinal. Today was just a one-off, so I wasn't so worried about that."

Ikee missed a place in the Olympic 100-metre butterfly competition after failing to meet the 57.10-second qualifying time.

But she will have other chances to clinch an individual spot this week at the Japanese trials, and is set to appear in the 50m and 100m freestyle.

"I didn't think I had a chance in the butterfly at all," she said. "I thought if I was to get in, it might be the 100m freestyle relay.

"I thought if it wasnt to be, it wasn't to be. I thought if I did get in, it would be good experience to take to the next Olympics."

Story continues

Ikee was named MVP of the 2018 Asian Games after claiming six golds and two silvers.

She won the 50m butterfly at the Tokyo Open in February to claim her first victory since she started her comeback.

"I thought it would be a while before I was able to compete in the 100m butterfly, but I was looking at it like, even if I did lose this year, I wouldnt lose next year," said Ikee, who finished 0.41 seconds ahead of Suzuka Hasegawa.

Elsewhere at the Japanese trials, Waka Kobori and Miyu Namba both clinched a spot in the Olympic women's 400m freestyle competition after meeting the qualifying standard of 4:07.10.

Kobori won the race in 4:06.34, ahead of Nanba in 4:06.36.

Nineteen-year-old phenom Shoma Sato won the men's 100m breaststroke in a time of 59.30, but failed to meet the qualifying time of 59.21.

His time made him eligible for a spot on Japan's medley relay team.

Sato recorded a 200m breaststroke time of 2:06.78 earlier this year -- the fourth-fastest in history.

amk/sah/jfx
Washington, April 4 : Three people were killed and four others injured during a house party shooting in the US state of North Carolina, police said.

The incident took place on Saturday in Wilmington city, reports Xinhua news agency.

The injured victims were hospitalised in unknown conditions, according to the Wilmington Police Department.

No one was in police custody, and at least one person suspected of firing shots was believed to have fled, local media reported.

"In my more than two decades as a prosecutor this is one of the worst crimes we have ever had in the Port City," said District Attorney Ben David.

Major US cities saw a 33 per cent hike in homicides last year, according to a CNN report, noting the crime surge continued into the first quarter of this year.

On March 31, four people, including a nine-year-old boy, were killed during a mass shooting in the city of Orange, California state.

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.
SLT-MOBITEL Pushes Boundaries in ICT & Telecom Education View(s):

SLT-MOBITEL has always been the pioneer held in high esteem when it comes to offering the nation with ICT and telecom solutions. Having achieved for itself a name within the telecom industry, SLT-MOBITEL identified the significance of elevating the nations young minds and empowering the growth of the industry by tapping into the education sector. This is when SLT Training Centre (SLTTC) came into being, and today can be hailed as an educational institute that is widely recognised for specialized education in the country.

SLTTC was initiated with the aim of developing the competency of the companys staff members and the steps that were taken by the telecommunications service provider eventually paved the way to expand their educational services even further; working to uplift youth who were enthusiastic about entering the telecom industry in Sri Lanka. The educational arm of SLT-MOBITEL, SLTTC first began operations by offering engineering courses which extended up to degree level courses. Now, the training centre is looking forward to diversify on their course offerings and provide a range of courses for members of the public who seek to achieve a career pathway in the telecom sector.

Commenting on the role that the SLTTC plays in the countrys tertiary education landscape, Mr. Janaka Silva, General Manager of Talent Development Division, Sri Lanka Telecom stated, Sri Lanka Telecom Training Centres have, over the years, maintained and continued to make a name as a premier provider of education services in the ICT and telecommunications disciplines. Being the training arm of SLT-MOBITEL, it also places the training centre on a higher standing where our students are guaranteed to receive the best in terms of higher education and training, during their time here with us. With our abundance of facilities, range of short and degree-level courses and the knowhow gained through easy access to industry-expertise, our students will be able to find their footing in the real world out there and confidently penetrate into the ICT and telecom industry, both locally and internationally.

Amongst the many advantages that SLTTC has to offer, is their affiliation with world-recognized universities such as the University of Hertfordshire, UK, which offers Bachelor of Engineering Honours Degrees in a variety of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electronics & Computer Engineering streams and also is amongst the highest-ranking universities in the world. Another awarding body is the Pearson BTEC (UK), which offers Higher National Diploma courses in Computing and Electrical & Electronic Engineering.

Prospective students can choose from an array of short courses such as Certificate in Applied Information Technology (CAIT), Advanced Certificate in Contact Centre Profession (CCP), Data Communication (CCNA), Transmission and Telecommunication Technician (NVQ Levels 3/4), and some that cover areas including Optical Fibre, Power & AC,. Sri Lankan students can therefore, easily gain a world-class education from the comfort of their own country and that too, at a fraction of the cost it would take to seek education abroad.

Upon successful completion of their studies, students can also obtain IET membership. Students who graduate after completing their B.Eng. degree can also move forward with their study path and enrol in an MSc or MBA program that is being offered by universities in the UK, USA and Australia, to name a few. Students who complete a UK degree program may also be entitled to a two-year post work permit in the UK.

A major highlight from the training centres achievements is the recognition it received when 10 first-class honours holders graduated from two batches, in two consecutive years (2019 and 2020). This type of output is rarely witnessed and yet, the SLTTC has been successful in easily achieving this feat. This accomplishment is down to the dedication and industry-expertise displayed by the lecturer panel. What sets their lecturing approach apart is that students receive the utmost attention from their lecturers and many of the lecturers are also employed at SLT-MOBITEL. Therefore, they come equipped with a plethora of industry experience and knowhow which benefits their students and provides them with the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge and experience.

Students being able to easily access their lecturers who are available to freely support their students at any time also helps in this process. Alternatively, students are also considered for internships at SLT-MOBITEL, thus providing them with an edge in terms of the fields they pursue and making the edification and career process ever more fulfilling. Many graduates have gone on to forge successful careers in their respective fields of study with their world-class qualifications being an extra stepping stone.

SLTTC has locations in Welisara, Moratuwa and Kandy. Amongst the many facilities made available to students, are lab facilities, sophisticated interactive classrooms, auditorium, recreation facilities, hostel facilities, library and canteen facilities. Extra-curricular activities are also a major part of the training centres learning experience and students are encouraged to take part in those proceedings.
This is in response to the nj.com op-ed, Space is the future of science. So why dont we teach it in school?, first published in the Jersey Journal.

I am a physics teacher in this state, and I wholeheartedly endorse the view that more space science should be taught in our schools. However, I think the authors  Charly Castillo and Sruthi Suresh, two high school students with strong science backgrounds  missed some important information that could add perspective.

As few as one in three physics teachers in this country has a background in either physics or physics education, based on a 2014 report by the American Institute in Physics. Most teachers, then, are non-specialists who teach this subject because the demand is comparatively lower than for some other courses. The AIP report states that fewer than half of American students take any physics course.

While there has only been a 10% increase in the overall student population since 1990, another AIP report states there has been a four-fold increase in students who take physics and a tenfold increase in students enrolled in advanced physics courses. I speculate that this is caused by the cultural adoption of college preparation and admission as the only goal of education. The collateral damage this perspective has done is writ large on our economy and public discourse.

I, and many teachers like me, do incorporate space-science content into our teaching when we can. But we cannot expect a change without fixing fundamental problems. First, we need broader shifts in our culture about what education should be.

Until those broader shifts happen, I suspect that we will not see a change in the number of astronomy courses offered in this state.

Wayne Ernst, Egg Harbor Township

Note: The writer is a physics teacher in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District.

Murphys a hypocrite if he backs diesel train

Paul Mulshines March 25 column carried the headline Phil Murphy goes off-track with his support for electric buses but not electric trains. It states that New Jerseys governor has taken a hypocritical stance on our environment.

Murphy wants us to believe his administration is committed to phasing out fossil fuels in the interest of our environment. The governor should start by withdrawing backing for the proposed Glassboro-Camden light-rail line, and tell state Senate President Stephen Sweeney no. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, has thrown significant weight behind the GCL, which is slated to use fossil-fuel (diesel) powered trains.

Id like to believe New Jersey voters are too smart to be taken in by politicians who are trying to straddle both sides of the fence. Theres no place for a diesel-driven GCL in the states environmental future.

Even more potentially dangerous to our environment are plans from Holtec International, based in Camden, to ship nuclear waste  mainly from decommissioned power plants  to a yet-to-be-built interim disposal site Holtec intends to put in New Mexico. Thankfully, New Mexico isnt too keen on the idea and recently sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop the project.

If this material is so safe, why not keep it in New Jersey, maybe transferring it near the shore or some other environmentally sensitive area? Sweeney could always deliver the chant that this would deliver jobs, and his mentor, political power broker George Norcross III, would be pleased since Norcross sits on Holtecs board.

Carol Rhodes, Barnsboro

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Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

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Police divers have been deployed as part of the investigation into the disappearance of 19-year-old student Richard Okorogheye.

Mr Okorogheye, who has sickle cell disease, left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London on the evening of Monday March 22, and was reported missing two days later.

He was last seen on CCTV in Loughton, Essex, in the early hours of Tuesday March 23, walking towards Epping Forest.

The Metropolitan Police said the search of the woodland continued for a fourth day on Sunday but nothing of relevance to the investigation has been found.

Police divers have been searching in Epping Forest (Met Police/PA)

Police divers have been deployed and were seen in one of the bodies of water in the woodland in north-east London.

Scotland Yard previously said that detectives continue to keep an open mind about the Oxford Brookes University students whereabouts.

Initial police inquiries identified Mr Okorogheye leaving his home address and heading in the direction of Ladbroke Grove at around 8.30pm.

In a previously confirmed sighting on Monday March 22, Mr Okorogheye was seen boarding the number 23 bus southbound in Ladbroke Grove at 8.44pm.

CCTV footage shows he was wearing all black and had a black satchel bag with a white Adidas logo, worn across his lower back.

Mr Okorogheye, alongside a screen grab of CCTV footage (Met Police/PA)

Police said further inquiries have established that he then took a taxi journey from the W2 area of London to a residential street in Loughton.

He was captured on CCTV walking alone on Smarts Lane, Loughton, towards Epping Forest at 12.39am on Tuesday March 23.

On Thursday, the force said Mr Okorogheyes phone has not been in use since his disappearance.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting 21MIS008134.

Mr Okorogheyes mother Evidence Joel previously said that her son had spoken of struggling to cope with university pressures and had been shielding during the Covid-19 lockdown.

As someone with sickle cell disease, Mr Okorogheye would only leave the house to go to hospital for regular blood transfusions for his condition.
Kathmandu, April 4

It has been more than one year since the Covid-19 pandemic began taking its toll on Nepali hoteliers. But still, the pandemic is causing a loss of Rs 1.8 billion every month on a regular basis, claim the entrepreneurs.

During the 47th annual general meeting of the Hotel Association Nepal, the organisation shared some data about the pandemics impact on the hospitality industry in Nepal.

The organisations president Shreejana Rana says many of the hotels in the country are still closed.

Hoteliers have invested Rs 1.5 trillion in the countrys hotel industry, the organisation says, adding they, however, are yet to pay debts worth Rs 300 billion to various banks in total.

Rana informs the sector contributes 7.8 per cent to the countrys gross domestic product whereas gives employment to one million people.
The High Court has made orders allowing two women who refused to enter mandatory hotel quarantine after arriving at Dublin Airport from Dubai to leave Mountjoy woman's prison.

On Sunday Mr Justice Paul Burns amended bail conditions imposed on friends Niamh Mulreany and Kirstie McGrath, which will see them leave prison and continue to quarantine at a designated hotel.

The judge also declined the mothers application to be allowed quarantine at their respective homes instead of the hotel so they could be re-united with their children.

Expand Close Kirstie MCGrath leaving Tallaght District Courton Saturday. Photo: Collins Court. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Kirstie MCGrath leaving Tallaght District Courton Saturday. Photo: Collins Court.

The judge said that in light of the public health situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the measures put in place to reduce new variations of the virus, they must quarantine at the hotel.

Both women were arrested and charged with breaching Section 38 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 by refusing to be detained in quarantine following their alleged refusal to go to the designated hotel last Friday.

They were granted bail by the district court on Saturday, but were unable to satisfy the financial conditions imposed on them, resulting in their incarceration at Mountjoy women's prison.

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Following an application by their lawyers on this morning, the judge directed an inquiry, under Article 40.4.2 of the Constitution, into the legality of their detention of at Mountjoy woman's prison.

Expand Close Niamh Mulreany leaving Tallaght District Court on Saturday. Photo: Collins Court. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Niamh Mulreany leaving Tallaght District Court on Saturday. Photo: Collins Court.

However following discussions between lawyers for the parties that action has now been converted into a constitutional challenge against laws requiring persons to enter mandatory quarantine on their arrival into Ireland from certain countries.

Lawyers for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the prison's governor opposed the application and had argued their detention was valid.

They also argued that while they were not unsympathetic to the situation that the two women found themselves, the mandatory quarantine was introduced in the interest of the greater public good to help counter Covid-19.

Mandatory quarantine was introduced by the State following advice from experts, the court heard.

The two women attended the hearing via video link from the prison. The court heard they had travelled to the United Arab Emirates, where they were due to but ultimately did not undergo cosmetic procedures.

The court also heard that the trips and procedures were birthday presents funded by the women's respective families and friends.

The pair were granted bail by the District Court on Saturday, on terms including that they remain in the hotel, and that they provide their own bond of 800, of which 500 must be lodged.

They also had to provide an independent surety of 2,000, of which 1,800 must be lodged. They were also to reside at the designated hotel, surrender their passports and not leave the jurisdiction.

However, the High Court heard that neither woman was able to take up bail resulting in their detention at the prison.

Following talks between the sides the state parties, represented by Kate Egan BL and John Gallagher BL, agreed that the financial conditions of their bail could be relaxed.

All that was at issue was if the two could quarantine at their homes or at the designated hotel.

In his decision Mr Justice Burns agreed with the State that the two must quarantine at the hotel.

He granted the two bail on condition that they be of good behaviour and that there be a cash bond of 100, with no lodgment required.

He added that the two may not have to spend the 14 days at the hotel, given that there was an appeal mechanism included as part of the 2021 Act which they can avail of.

The judge also noted that there was a waiver scheme in the Act for people who cannot afford to pay the costs of quarantining in the hotel.

He warned them that any breach of the quarantine could see them back in the same position that they had found themselves in.

In their action counsel John Fitzgerald SC for the two women claimed that their detention was not lawful.

Counsel said the bail conditions imposed by the district court, given the circumstances were "draconian and disproportionate".

The women have no previous convictions and had tested negative for Covid-19 following three recent tests, he added.

Their mandatory quarantine, which his clients were not aware of before they left for Dubai, amounted to a form of preventative detention which there is no lawful basis.

Counsel said Ms McGrath, of St Anthony's Road, Rialto Dublin 7, is the mother of children aged 10 and eight years, and is the recipient of lone parents' allowance.

Her trip to Dubai was a 30th birthday present funded by family and friends.

She was due to undergo a cosmetic medical procedure, which she believed would assist her in addressing some personal matters.

Counsel said that Ms McGrath's mother, who has taken leave from her job, has been looking after her two children. However, her mother must return to work in the coming days.

Mother-of-one Niamh Mulreany, who also celebrated her 25th birthday in March, also had her trip funded by a family member as a gift.

Ms Mulreany of Scarlett Row, Essex Street West, Dublin 2, who previously had breast enhancement surgery, had travelled with the intention of undergoing a corrective procedure in Dubai.

She too did not go ahead with the procedure. She is also in receipt of the lone parent allowance.

When they attempted to return to Ireland from Dubai on March 31 last, they were informed that they must pay 1,850 in order to quarantine at a hotel upon arrival in Dublin.

They were not able to pay that sum, and were told in Dubai that if they did not pre-book the hotel and pay, they would be denied passage to Dublin.

They were not allowed board flights to Dublin for two days. Following representations from a public representative and the Irish consulate they agreed to make deferred payments for the hotel.

They had also believed that their children could stay with them in the hotel. However, when they returned to Ireland, they were told they would have to pay the fee and that their children could not stay with them.

Arising out of that, they allegedly refused to go to the designated hotel because they could not afford the fee, and over concerns for their children.

In reply Mr Gallagher for the Governor said information about the mandatory quarantine was put in the public domain the day before the women travelled to Dubai on March 24.

In all the circumstances counsel said that both women were validly detained.

The matter will return before the court later this month.
The Chicago Police Departments marine unit was requested at the Riverwalk and Wabash Avenue at 1:22 p.m. Easter Sunday, said Officer Steve Rusanov, a spokesman for police. It wasnt immediately clear who located the body and notified authorities.
Later that morning, a Cook County judge had parked her car at the gas station pump on 35th and Ashland. Butler allegedly got into her car and sped off. He was arrested after being caught as a back seat passenger during a traffic stop Friday, police said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-05 06:11:57|Editor: huaxia

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JERUSALEM -- Israel's air force received on Sunday a new intelligence aircraft that will provide the military with "unprecedented" reconnaissance capabilities, the Defense Ministry said.

The so-called "Oron" airplane landed on Sunday in the Nevatim airbase in southern Israel after more than nine years of developments by the Defense Ministry, the Israeli Air Force, the Intelligence Directorate, the Israeli Navy, and the Israel Aerospace Industries, according to a statement issued by the Defense Ministry. (Israel-Aircraft-Oron)

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RABAT -- Moroccan King Mohammed VI expressed on Sunday during a telephone conversation with Jordan's King Abdullah II his full support for the stability and security of Jordan, a statement by the royal palace said.

The Moroccan king "reiterated his full and natural solidarity" with Jordan and full support for all the decisions taken by Jordanian King Abdullah II to consolidate security and stability, the statement added.

Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Sunday that Prince Hamza, former minister and royal court chief Bassem Awadallah, and royal family member Sharif Hassan Ben Zeid have contacts with external powers to take some actions against the country.

"Jordan succeeded in taking all necessary measures to foil the malicious plot and the security bodies intervened at the last minute and foiled these attempts seeking to harm Jordan's stability and security," he added. (Morocco-Jordan-Coup)

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BEIRUT -- Unidentified people punctured oil pipelines crossing Lebanon's northern Akkar plain from Syria to oil installations in Beddawi-Tripoli with the aim of stealing and selling them, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The attack took place above a winter waterway between the areas of Dareen and Sheikh Ayash, where oil has been flowing in abundance, changing the color of the water, it said.

People in the area required the Energy Ministry to fix the oil pipeline in order to prevent pollution in the Great River (Nahr al-Kabir) while affecting agricultural lands and fisheries.

This is not the first time that unidentified people punctured oil pipelines. In March, 2020, the oil pipeline that runs from Iraq to Lebanon via Syria was damaged in the Wadi Khaled area as well. (Lebanon-Pipline-Sabotage)

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AMMAN -- Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi on Sunday met with Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu and discussed bolstering cooperation in the fields of economy, investment, energy, agriculture, information technology, and defense.

The two officials reviewed regional and international developments of common interest, including the Palestinian issue and efforts aimed at launching serious and effective negotiations to resolve the conflict on the basis of the two-state solution, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Safadi commended Romania's firm stance towards achieving a just and comprehensive peace through the two-state solution. (Jordan-Romania-Ties) Enditem
IF YOU need evidence that the Democratic administration in Washington is hostile to the Granite State, look no further than its disposition toward our states lawsuit against Massachusetts over the Bay States bad faith policy of imposing its income tax on New Hampshire telecommuters who bot
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.
In his traditional Easter message Urbi et Orbi delivered inside St. Peters Basilica due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis on Sunday denounced the countrys spending for arms citing war-torn Syria where millions are suffering. He also condemned violence and terrorism in areas of the Sahel, Nigeria, Tigray, and the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique, and prayed the conflicts may be resolved peacefully through dialogue in a spirit of reconciliation and true solidarity. The Vatican pontiff called wars a plague on humanity and asked the world to overcome the mindset of conflict.

Celebrating the 9th Easter of his pontificate, Francis delivered a homily at the Easter Vigil Mass, lamenting that humanity is grappling with the pandemic and other ills, drawing attention to the Easter episode of the women at the tomb as he said: Do not be afraid! Furthermore, Sunday, 4 April, marks the International Awareness Day against anti-personnel landmines. Francis said that these insidious and horrible devices kill or maim many innocent people each year. He stressed how much better our world would be without these instruments of death! He also urged the people of Haiti to to look to the future with confidence and hope", and not be overwhelmed by current difficulties, referring to the political instability and gang violence in the country.

Pope condemns Myanmar coup

Condemning the military coup of Myanmar and a violent crackdown on the protesters, Pope said that he was praying for the young people of Myanmar committed to supporting democracy and making their voices heard peacefully. He reiterated that hatred can be dispelled only by love, as he asked the armed forces to end hostilities in the nation. He expressed solidarity with migrants fleeing from war and poverty, asking nations to adopt a kind approach towards human fraternity. He, furthermore, thanked nations that receive refugees, citing Lebanon and Jordan, which have opened borders to migrants fleeing violence in neighboring Syria.

Earlier on April 1, Pope Francis conducted Holy Week's morning mass in St. Peters Basilica, although he skipped the services that commemorate Jesus Christ's Last Supper with his apostles. The Vatican's dean of the College of Cardinals presided over the mass instead of the Vaticans main Holy Thursday service. It is being speculated that the Sovereign of the Vatican City State may have delegated the service as he has been suffering from sciatica, a chronic condition and pain in the hip that made it challenging for him to stand during the mass that led him to skip many services.

(Image Credit: AP)
New Delhi:

Planning vacation in Indonesia or have you booked your dream honeymoon in Bali? Chances are that you will have to cancel your plans indefinitely.



Indonesian holiday spot Bali's Mount Agung is on the verge of erupting. And if it does, it is likely to leave the tourist destination inhospitable for at least a year.



According to news websites, the last eruption was in 1963 and killed more than 1,100 people. Ash was hurled more than 20 kilometres in the air and even reached Jakarta, over 1,000 kilometres away.

At the time Agung remained active for about a year.

Experts say that was a massive eruption, far bigger than anything recently seen in Indonesia.

It's why authorities have spent the last several days evacuating more than 35,000 people from areas that might be affected.

Read | Two suspected suicide bombings in Jakarta kill three policemen



Authorities raised the volcanos alert status to the highest level on Friday following a tremendous increase in seismic activity.



The National Disaster Mitigation Agency has praised the welcoming response of local communities on Bali to the flood of evacuees.



Thousands are living in temporary shelters, sport centres, village halls and with relatives or friends.



Truck driver Wayan Suparta said he and his family left their village 5-km from the mountain several days ago, bringing just clothes and blankets to a temporary camp in Rendang.



The 35-year-old said he sold the familys cow because they dont know when theyll be able to return.



Officials have said there is no current danger to people in other parts of Bali, a popular tourist island famous for its surfing, beaches and elegant Hindu culture.The mountain, 72-km to the northeast of the tourist hotspot of Kuta, is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia.



The country of thousands of islands is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

(With Inputs from PTI)
Dhaka, April 4 : A launch carrying around 100 passengers sank in the Shitalakkha river in Narayanganj after being hit by a goods-laden cargo vessel on Sunday and at least 70 people are reported missing, officials said.

The body of a woman has been recovered but her identity could not be ascertained yet, police told IANS.

According to Narayanganj's Deputy Director of Fire Service and Civil Defence Abdullah Arefin, a launch named "ML Sabit Al Hasan" sank after colliding with the cargo vessel near Munshiganj (Koyla Ghat).

Rescue operations are being hampered due to stormy weather, he added.

Prottyoy, a rescue ship of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) is on the way to the location. The casualties are yet not known, said Madanganj port police outpost Inspector Md Akbar Hossain.

Police and onlookers said that the passenger launch left Narayanganj for Munshiganj with around 100 passengers. When it reached Syedpur Koyla Ghat area, it collided with a the cargo vessel and sank, while the latter vessel quickly fled.

Hossain told IANS that after talking to eyewitnesses and passengers of the launch, it was learned that there were about 100 passengers in the launch, and around 30 passengers were able to reach ashore with the help of the locals.

"A number of passengers are still missing, as per eyewitnesses and relatives, and we are still searching for them," he added.
A thick blanket of early morning fog partially shrouds the skyscrapers of the Marina and Jumeirah Lake Towers districts of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Kamran Jebreili/AP)

Police in Dubai arrested a group of people on charges of public debauchery, authorities said, over a widely shared video that showed naked women posing on a balcony in the city.

Violations of the public decency law in the United Arab Emirates, including for nudity and other lewd behaviour, carry penalties of up to six months in prison and a 5,000 dirham (1,360 US dollars) fine.

The sharing of pornographic material is also punishable with prison time and hefty fines under the countrys laws, which are based on Islamic law, or Shariah.

Late on Saturday, videos and photographs depicting over a dozen naked women, lined up on a balcony while being filmed in Dubais upmarket Marina neighbourhood in broad daylight, splashed across social media.

It came as a shock in the federation of seven Arab sheikhdoms, where tamer behaviour, like kissing in public or drinking alcohol without a licence, has landed people in jail.

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State-linked newspaper The National reported it appeared to be a publicity stunt, without elaborating.

Dubai police said those arrested over the indecent video had been referred to the public prosecution.

Such unacceptable behaviours, the police statement said, do not reflect the values and ethics of Emirati society.

The UAE, while liberal in many regards compared to its Middle Eastern neighbours, has strict laws governing expression.

People have been jailed for their comments and videos online.

The countrys majority state-owned telecom companies block access to major pornographic websites.
Ramallah, April 4 : Following a flattening coronavirus curve, Palestine has decided to ease lockdown restrictions across the West Bank starting from Sunday until April 12..

In a statement on Saturday, Palestine government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem announced a set of measures for easing restrictions, while keeping some preventative measures, including wearing masks and social distancing requirements, reports Xinhua news agency.

Melhem announced the reopening of kindergartens and all public and private schools for students from first to sixth grade on April 11.

But remote learning will continue for the remaining grades, he said.

Commercial stores and restaurants will be allowed to reopen while maintaining strict health measures and at a maximum capacity of 50 per cent of their staff, Melhem said, adding that banks are asked to operate at an emergency pace.

He said the full lockdown on Fridays and Saturdays and the night lockdown from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. on all weekdays will remain in effect.

Palestine has also extended its state of emergency by a month in a bid to consolidate achievements in coronavirus control.

The state of emergency was imposed for the first time in March 2020 following the discovery of the first cases of the disease in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

It has been either renewed or extended since then.

Palestine has so far reported over 248,000 coronavirus cases and 2,681 deaths.

So far, at least 65,366 people have been vaccinated in the West Bank and 24,838 people in the Gaza Strip.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
President Rajapaksa in phone conversation with President Xi, seeks to learn about Chinese Communist Partys governing experience

Colombages diplomatic faux pas leaves Sri Lanka in blushes

UNHRC begins process to recruit experts for secretariat on Lanka; Govt. opposes Bachelets move to seek more funds from UN General Assembly

The repercussions of the diplomatic disaster are surfacing just days after the Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted the toughest resolution on Sri Lanka.

The United Kingdom together with the core group (non-UNHRC members included) are examining ways and means of hurriedly pursuing issues related to future human rights violations  the key element in the resolution. As the Operative Paragraph 6 said, it is to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve information and evidence and to develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for gross violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka, to advocate for victims and survivors, and to support relevant judicial and other proceedings, including member states with competent jurisdiction.

The UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michele Bachelet has urged member states to apply principles of universal or extra-territorial jurisdiction to violations committed in Sri Lanka. She has recommended exploring possible targeted sanctions and travel bans against credibly alleged perpetrators of grave human rights violations and abuses. There are also indications that the United States, the United Kingdom or France could raise the stakes at the UN Security Council. However, it is certain to be vetoed by both China and Russia. But the exercise does have adverse repercussions in the form of a negative image of Sri Lanka.

A new Secretariat will function under Human Rights High Commissioner Bachelet. The Office of the High Commissioner has already advertised calling for applications for the identified new positions. This includes One Senior Legal Advisor with experience in criminal justice and or criminal investigations and prosecutions to co-ordinate the team. He or she will be responsible for collection strategy; the development of a central repository to consolidate, preserve and analyse information and evidence; co-ordinate the processes of reviewing and sharing of information with national authorities for universal jurisdiction and extra territorial jurisdiction cases and other accountability purposes in line with relevant United Nations guidelines; develop accountability strategy and engage with accountability mechanisms including specialised investigators, prosecutors, judges, and other legal practitioners both for information sharing purposes, to promote accountability and advice on the development of accountability strategies; and liaise with other Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), other independent mechanisms and other UN systems to ensure co-ordinated approach.

There will be two investigators or Human Rights Officers with a background of criminal law to research, collect and analyse information and documentation pertaining to serious human rights violations, and international criminal law matters. Others include two Legal Officers, two Analysts, an Information and Evidence Officer, two Jurists  Linguists, a Victim Support Officer, and a programme Assistant.

Funding amounting to US$ 2,800,900 is required for the remaining part of this year for this new team. Thereafter for 2022, a sum of US$ 2,064, 400 is estimated. This fund requirement is to be brought to the attention of the UN General Assembly when it meets for its 76th sessions in New York in September. It would have to be approved by the Fifth Committee which is charged with financial administration of the UN system. In this instance, Sri Lankas Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva should have questioned the recruitment of staff before funds are approved.

The government is making a strong bid, with the help of diplomats from China and Pakistan to defeat the motion for additional funds initially at the Fifth Committee. This is by lobbying UN member states. Like the defeat of Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, this will be no easy task. However, it is imperative for Sri Lanka through its proxies to have it established that the extra-budgetary resources are unacceptable. If at all, expenses should be through the regular budget. However, the move for a new Secretariat under the Human Rights High Commissioner will not be dropped. Diplomatic sources said that Australia and Norway were ready to offer the funds should a move to defeat the appeal for funding by UN body goes through. However, the same sources said they were very confident such a situation would not arise.

Reports emerging from diplomatic consultations among the sponsor and core group of countries show that many options were being discussed. What happens if members of the new Secretariat under the UN Human Rights Commissioner are not allowed to visit Sri Lanka? There have been suggestions for those concerned to visit as tourists. There will also be references to trophy footage and evidence on the violation of humanitarian law. In the coming weeks, there will be especially important measures adopted by some core group members to take forward the resolution, said a western diplomatic source. He said, await official announcements but declined to elaborate.

Though there were disastrous effects from the diplomatic blunders in both Geneva and Colombo over the passage of the Resolution on Sri Lanka, the government is not unmindful of developments thereafter. It is also adopting measures to counter information gathering on future violations of human rights by the envisaged Secretariat at the OHCHR. Foreign Tamil organisations numbering seven and located in a number of western countries have been proscribed through a Gazette notification. Also named are 339 individuals who will not be allowed entry into Sri Lanka. Usually such a list is circulated among immigration authorities the world over and is retained in their data bases. Efforts are being made by Tamil groups to appeal to western governments not to act on them because they will encounter ban on visits.

They include those in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, and France. A main group proscribed is the UK-based Global Tamil Forum (GTF) which, together with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), has been at the helm of pushing through the Resolution on Sri Lanka. This is the second time such a proscription has been reimposed after the withdrawal by the previous yahapalana government in 2016. It then applied to seven organisations. The proscription is in keeping with the United Nations comprehensive convention on international terrorism, said a government official who did not wish to be named.

This proscription means that any person who has any dealings with those named in the Gazette notification would be treated as an offender. Such a person will be liable for arrest. The idea is to prevent them from transmitting any complaint or in helping in many other ways. This measure is coupled together with another action. The government is closely monitoring Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) which are dealing in US dollars. Remittances from different sources are being identified. This again is to prevent, among other matters, funds being used to gather information on alleged victims of human rights violations and fee for lawyers who produce affidavits.

It is not Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, but Education Minister and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Chairman G.L. Peiris who reflected the governments concerns this week. He told a meeting of SLPP lawyers at the Waters Edge last Wednesday that false information had been submitted to the Human Rights Council. Peiris said even the opposition should come forward to reject false propaganda against the country, We should with one voice fight against false propaganda.

The main opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) pooh-poohed the call. General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara said, It is the actions of the government that led to damaging results at the Human Rights Council. We cannot support anti-democratic actions after the presidential election in 2019. They did away with independent commissions, destroyed the independence of the judiciary and strengthened a dictatorial rule. They appointed even retired military officers to positions held by civilians. You can now see the UNHRC response.

However, Madduma Bandara emphasised that the SJB would always defend the troops, the war heroes, who have made a great sacrifice during the separatist war. There is a great difference between them and what the government is now doing, he said. As for any invitation to us from the government, our party leaders would have to decide, he added.

Onetime Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, held a news conference to defend his role in co-sponsoring resolution 30/1 at the Human Rights Council this week. He made a revelation little known to most Sri Lankans. He had won the approval for this co-sponsorship not only from the then Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, but also from the then President Maithripala Sirisena. The latter had continued to deny that such approval was given by him and declared he was not consulted. Samaraweera confessed to a friend that the draft statement he made co-sponsoring resolution 30/1 was also discussed with Sirisena at his hotel suite during a visit to a foreign country. He was booked in the next room. Samaraweera insisted that he walked from his room to the suite nine times to make corrections to the draft. He explained that the text and all other issues connected to this resolution to then President Sirisena in Sinhala and he had granted approval too. Yet, the subject did not come up before the Cabinet of Ministers for approval then. Samaraweera cautioned that if you are going to accuse those who criticise you as your enemies, Sri Lanka is going nowhere.

The post-Geneva-resolution week has also seen other significant developments. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa telephoned Chinese President Xi Jinping for a lengthy conversation. A high-ranking source said the current developments in Sri Lanka were discussed and the Chinese leader had assured all support. The Chinese Embassy said in a statement that President Rajapaksa hoped to learn about the Chinese Communist Partys governance experience. Rajapaksa congratulated Xi Jinping over the century the Communist Party has reached. The Chinese President has also re-iterated his invitation to President Rajapaksa to visit China.

A notable feature in the past weeks has been the absence of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. He has undergone knee surgery and is recuperating. Earlier, it was his efforts that led to Pakistan supporting Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council. He invited Prime Minister Imran Khan to Colombo. Premier Khans diplomacy in seeking the government to withdraw mandatory cremation of Muslim Covid-19 victims paid off, though initially it led to burial of the bodies in Iranativu island off Mannar. Minister Douglas Devananda protested and it was shifted to Ottamavadi in the Batticaloa district.

The visit to Pakistan also led to closer military co-operation between troops from the two countries. Pakistan Army personnel have carried joint exercises with their Sri Lankan counterparts in the past weeks. The latest was an exercise in dealing with mobs during a riot or other event threatening a law-and-order situation. Chief of Defence Staff and Army Commander, General Shavendra Silva visited Pakistan and met both the political and military leadership there. One of the arrangements made is to enhance training of Sri Lankan troops in different specialised areas.

Premier Rajapaksa was also able to secure the support of Bangladesh with a visit to that country. It was the 50th anniversary celebrations of independence and the centenary of the birth of the late founder leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In the years when he was President, he was actively involved on matters related to the Human Rights Council sessions.

Needless to say, that a not so noticeable foreign policy shift is in the making for Sri Lanka  leaning towards China and Pakistan whilst straining relations with India. That seems to be consolidating. In the light of an emerging economic crisis, Beijing has extended to Sri Lanka a currency swap of US$ 1.5 billion. Now, Islamabad is stepping up military training with Sri Lanka whilst relations with New Delhi continue to remain sour. This was evident when the 52 Indian fishermen were arrested whilst poaching in Sri Lankan waters. The Indian High Commission released a statement reminding Sri Lanka of the modalities agreed between the two countries. This outlined the manner of the conduct of bilateral diplomatic practice. Government sources speak of a telephone call from New Delhi to a Sri Lankan VVIP in this regard. The fishermen were released thereafter. In addition, the government gazetted the setting up of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission. The idea is to hurriedly pave the way for Chinese and like-minded investors in view of the reluctance of western nations. Concerns were further exacerbated by the depreciation of the rupee to the US dollar.

The Sunday Times learnt that India is also re-calibrating its relations with Sri Lanka. Indications emerged after a meeting of high officials held with former diplomats and senior intelligence officials to ascertain their views just weeks earlier. There are a number of factors that contribute to the strain with New Delhi. The main one was the governments refusal to cede the East Container Terminal in the Colombo Port, despite a pledge to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was followed by the move to allow a Chinese company to carry out an alternative energy project in the island of Delft off the Jaffna peninsula. The government argues that it has no hand in the project for which tenders were called at the behest of the Asian Development Bank. Now, the new leanings will also be cause for concern to India. It was made no better by Foreign Secretary, Jayanath Colombage, that India would support the Resolution on Sri Lanka.

Now, Colombage is denying that he said it. Acting on his behalf, Ratnasingam

Kohularangan, Director, Publicity at the Foreign Ministry, has sent in a letter to the Sunday Times stating that a paragraph in last Sundays political commentary is erroneous. The Sunday Times sought clarification on what was erroneous. They responded by saying that they wish to refer to the following paragraph in the article under reference which states as follows:

A significant feature of the voting at the Human Rights Council was Indias abstention  . However, last week Foreign Secretary retired Admiral Professor Jayanath Colombage declared in Colombo that India would support Sri Lanka ..

Taking note of the above, the Ministry wishes to refer to a longer excerpt of the interview (with English translation) held at the Media Centre for National Development on 16 March 2021 with the participation of the Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage.

English translation: India is a very important factor for us, being a powerful country in this region. At present there are only 4 countries in the region, representing the Human Rights Council. They are Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Pakistan is already supporting Sri Lanka in a very strong manner. India is still following a very moderate policy for various reasons, like Mr. Mohan said. We also need to understand that an election will be held on April 09 in Tamil Nadu, I think. This too may have been a reason for Indias silence.

Also, I must mention that the first letter sent by our President in this regard was to the Prime Minister of India. Because he was the first one to be asked for help. Through this, we expected to find the support we have within this region. I have mentioned 04 countries here. So, the opinion that we are trying to compile and socialize will have a problem, if we do not get the support of these four countries in the region. I think India too, is in a very difficult situation at the moment. We keep our hopes on Indias promise that, it will not allow any injustice to Sri Lanka. But we still do not have a clear understanding of what that means. There are various opinions on this. But it is not us who decide, so we have to wait and see. The other important thing is that several other countries are waiting to make decisions based on Indias decision. So that is a very strong factor and India is essential for us. But we must remind here that, we gave a special place to India, after this government came to power. Especially with regard to this Strategic Security, we promised that we will never be the Aircraft Carrier. Therefore, we are working very close to each other. Also, India has a policy called Neighbourhood First. In this situation, we expect that India would help us. 

The letter also contained a lengthy paragraph in Sinhala, reportedly a transcript from the webinar conducted by the Media Centre for National Development on March 16. No copy of the recording, however, was made available. Several efforts by the Sunday Times to secure a copy to verify further the authenticity of the Foreign Secretarys claim were not successful. Hence, the truth or otherwise of the claim could not be conclusively established. Calls made to Milinda Rajapaksa, the Director of the Media Centre for National Development, also went unanswered.

Other than material in the letter which has no relevance whatsoever to the contents in the political commentary, there is only one word that is in dispute. Retired Admiral Professor Colombage denies he said, India would support Sri Lanka. Thus, the word support is all that he is contesting. Of course, he has all the right to point out if he feels there is something wrong in relation to him or his Ministry. However, he is raising issue only after international news agencies, satellite television channels and newspapers the world over had reported the remarks attributed to him that India would support Sri Lanka at the voting of the resolution may be due to other dictates. Why is he walking back on a statement attributed to him and widely reported the world over? As is well known, a statement regarding the position of another country emanating from the high seat of excellence in diplomatic practice is unbecoming to that office.

The catalogue is too long to list here but here are few of the many reports in this regard. The state-run Daily News on March 18 front-paged under the headline a story which said India assures of its support at the UNHRC  Foreign Secretary. The introduction to the story: Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage yesterday confirmed India has assured of its support to protect the countrys sovereignity during UNHRC sessions. Being the superpower they are, Sri Lanka greatly appreciates their position, he said speaking at the Third Dialogue hosted by the Media Centre for National Development. The Hindu newspaper, published in Chennai, on March 18, declared in their headline India assures its support at UN Human Rights Council  Foreign Secretary. The introduction said, India has assured of its support at the United Nations Human Rights Council before member countries vote on a new resolution in the island nations rights record. The story made clear sources in the External Affairs Ministry in India told Hindu that no decision on the vote has been conveyed yet whilst Mr Colombage said Sri Lanka greatly appreciates Indias position being the superpower they are.

After it was reported in the Hindu, India Today, Hindustan Times and a plethora of Tamil media outlets in Tamil Nadu, political leaders there protested strongly to Prime Minister Modi. They cited the remarks attributed to Colombage that India would support Sri Lanka. They took strong exception to Colombages remarks. This was reported in these columns last week.

Are not those remarks of support, just ahead of the UNHRC meeting, a conclusive assertion that India would vote with Sri Lanka? Otherwise, how did all the media outlets uniformly report the matter? How then can Professor and retired Admiral Colombage claim that our report that he publicly said that India would extend its support is erroneous. That too, after more than 30 days since the resolution was adopted in Geneva. Colombages penchant for media interviews is well established. His gaffes on such occasions and cutting a sorry figure are also known. However, he has chosen the media interviews to concertedly conduct the runup of the resolution in Geneva and spin on its aftermath. Hence, he has spearheaded an unrelenting strategy centred on the media. It has come at a great cost to the countrys image.

Just this week, he gave an interview to Deutsche Welle, the German state broadcaster. It is well known that Germany is a strong backer of the Resolution on Sri Lanka. Interviewing the Foreign Secretary was veteran journalist Tim Sebastian, who was formerly with the BBC. Arent you ashamed, he asked Colombage after pointing out that the UN Human Rights Council passed a landmark resolution because of your governments abject failure. Click here to see the full text of this interview in video format.

The anchor went for the jugular, venting the allegations heaped up by the west against Sri Lanka. The countrys reputation was brought to nought. Before the UNHRC vote and after, Foreign Ministry officials are trying hard to get BBCs Stephen Sackur to interview Foreign Secretary Colombage. So far, the efforts have not been successful. Sri Lankas foreign policy of neutrality bandied around by the countrys present administration has caused some confusion in its application. Does this mean that Sri Lanka does no longer belong to the group of Non-Aligned countries  a segment too large and traditional not to be related to, equally in this instance of need? There is another aspect that needs to be examined where the countrys foreign policy is concerned. When such critical allegations are allowed to be made, which is a hallmark of these interviews, they could take a toll on Sri Lankas attractiveness for foreign investment and tourism.

What the Foreign Ministry would have done is to send the recording of the remarks to prove Secretary Colombages version of the events.

One may recall that the countrys most illustrious Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, with whom I was honoured to be associated, gave an interview to Stephen Sackur on BBCs Hard Talk, a few months before his assassination. At the end of the programme, Sackur confessed to Kadirgamar that he was hard to crack.

Britains twice Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, once remarked that there is no diplomacy like silence. Added Will Durrant, an American Philosopher To say nothing when speaking is half the art of diplomacy. Many a Foreign Secretary has followed this dictum scrupulously when in office. Secretary Colombage is an exception. This is by no means to say all the time a Foreign Ministry Secretary should remain silent. There is a distinct difference between a spokesperson and a Secretary. He or she has to choose the words. One is also not sure whether what he says is government policy or his personal views. Here again, as the interview mentioned above shows how contradictory his utterances have been. It is not difficult to discern that his remarks have done more damage than good. More often he takes up a position which the Foreign Minister should take if indeed that was necessary.

To sum up the position now, Foreign Secretary Colombage says the resolution passed in Geneva was the result of foreign powers fighting against Sri Lankas neutrality. Foreign Minister Gunawardena says the resolution is illegal. In Geneva, Sri Lankas Permanent Representative C.A. Chandraprema says the government has rejected the resolution. Separately, Minister Peiris is inviting opposition parties to build a common front to face the Geneva issues which are based on lies. The governments senior leaders, including key ministers, have not uttered a word so far. There is no one voice or one stated official position.

These developments come in a month when most communities in Sri Lanka mark significant events. Christians observe Easter Sunday today, amidst memories of how Muslim extremists wreaked havoc and violence two years ago. The avurudu or the national New Year is on April 13 and 14. Muslims begin the holy month of Ramadan thereafter.

In a message to mark what is the noblest festival in the Christian calendar, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa says, Two years ago, when the Easter Sunday was being celebrated by the Sri Lankan Christian community with utmost devotion, they became victims of most brutal attacks by extremists. The sorrowful memory of pain and loss caused by this tragic incident had no room for the culprits as well as groups, who are responsible for this dastardly attack to escape the arm of the law. Also, the government is determined to ensure national security in order to prevent recurrence of such tragedies in the motherland.

Though all reports related to the Easter Sunday massacres have been sent to the Attorney Generals Department, there is no word yet about the action they propose to take, In addition, the Police Department has also not initiated action departmentally against several officers who have been named for their criminal offences and misconduct. Now, Colombos Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had placed a deadline of April 21 for government action or face the consequences from the protests they will organise in Sri Lanka and abroad.

A series of serious issues confront the government. Main among them is the conduct of the countrys foreign relations and a cohesive strategy to meet issues arising out of the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka. That needs officials with a high quality of professionalism and experience. Every day that passes, the government suffers a colossal damage. Instead of waiting till new issues related to the resolution crop up, it is imperative that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa acts promptly to save Sri Lanka and its people from gung-ho diplomacy that is causing great damage.

The other issue is action on the Commission of Inquiry reports on the Easter Sunday massacres. These developments come at a time when the prices of essential commodities are rising sky high. A kilo of Chillie powder is about Rs 1,000 with other commodities also rising in prices. The latter is an issue that leads to the popularity of any government nosediving. Allowing matters to free wheel is not only dangerous but also hugely damaging. The message from all this to government leaders is clouded by the lack of a strong opposition. Little wonder the internecine issues over the jaunty leadership continues in the SJB whilst the United National Party, the countrys oldest is politically dead.
Anil Kapoor has been an unstoppable force in the industry ever since he ventured into Bollywood.



Even at the age of 64, Mr Kapoor seems to be ageing in reverse, thanks to his sartorial choices, that do total justice to his rather young demeanour.

From being a pro at the layering game to stepping out wearing zany sneakers, he is amongst the most fashionable actors of Bollywood who can ace almost every type of trend.

 Viral Bhayani

 Viral Bhayani

His fashion game seems to be getting fiercer by the day and you would agree with us as you check out his latest look.



I mean, he is wearing a Hawaiian shirt with classic denims. And, how can we oversee his sneakers? He legit wore two different pairs.

Take a look.

 Viral Bhayani

There are many celebrities in Bollywood that are hypebeasts. Anil's son-in-law, Anand Ahuja too is one of them.



With this recent look, Mr Kapoor just proved that his sneaker game is as lit as others in the industry.

He is wearing Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low. The pair comes in dark brown panels with a backward Swoosh on the lateral side. The swoosh makes the pair look different, as it's embossed in different colours.

 Stockx

The upper is made in premium nubuck with black and brown tones. There are red highlights on the tongue tags with embroidered heel logos.



The Sail midsole completes the clean design of the pair.

 Stockx

This pair was launched back in 2019 and was worth Rs 9,547. The price of the pair has now surged and it retails for Rs 68,885 as per Stockx.



 Viral Bhayani

We repeat, Anil is 64 years old and still manages to turn heads with his fashion game.



This one with a printed shirt and classic denims, shows his immaculate style sense.

That, with a fedora hat, sunglasses and zany sneakers, is an out-of-the-box look but Anil pulled it off with complete flair. Way to go, sir!
Equity, justice, dignity and peace for Sri Lankan fishermen? By Steve Creech How India respects Lankas territorial integrity and its stance in Geneva View(s): View(s):

An Indian Government statement read out ahead of the recent vote on the resolution on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva said: Indias approach to the question of human rights in Sri Lanka is guided by two fundamental considerations. One is our support to the Tamils of Sri Lanka for equity, justice, dignity and peace. The other is in the ensuring the unity, stability and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. While an Indian diplomat was making his speech to the UNHRC in Geneva, hundreds of Tamil Nadu trawlers were once again streaming across the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) to fish illegally in Sri Lankan waters; demonstrating scant regard for the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

The dignity and peace that Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen have worked tirelessly to achieve in their lives since the end of the civil conflict were shattered overnight, by Tamil owned trawlers. And justice? Nine trawlers were arrested in the days that followed, after protests by fishermen and the seafood industry. But almost immediately the nine vessels and 54 crewmembers were released without charge; allegedly at the request of the Government of India.

Are Sri Lankas small scale, fishing communities on the north coast, not entitled to the right to freedom from bias or favouritism, too? Must the dice always fall in favour of Tamil Nadus semi-industrial trawl net fisheries employing a few thousand labourers as against Northern Sri Lankas 29,000 small-scale fishermen whose only source of livelihood is the hugely productive, highly lucrative and thankfully renewable marine resources on either side of the IMBL in the Palk Bay?

Unsurprisingly sans a meaningful legal deterrent, Tamil Nadu trawlers continued to fish illegally in Sri Lankan waters throughout last week. Fifty or so trawlers operated within 500 metres of the shore off the islands of Delft, Alanaithivu and Eluvaithivu, according to Eluvaithivu Fishermens Cooperative Society president T. Stanislaws. Rameshwaram boat owners had the cheek to call Jaffna District Federation of Fishermens Cooperative Societies Unions president A. Anarasa last week to tell him to warn Jaffna fishermen that hundreds of Rameshwaram trawlers were coming.

This surprising development happened because Jaffna (and Mannar) fishermen have come to accept that Tamil Nadu trawlers may cross the IMBL every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday evenings. This is the so-called three day/four day rule. The rule is a consequence of trawler owners refusing to accept  and the State Governments inability to implement  a Tamil Nadu state law prohibiting trawling within 2.5 km of the shore  that is in the fishing grounds of small scale Tamil Nadu fishermen.

Instead an agreement was reached between trawler owners and small scale fishermen to permit trawlers to operate anywhere they like for three days a week and small scale fishermen to fish in their traditional fishing grounds on the other four. Last week, the three day/four day rule applied only in Tamil Nadu. In Sri Lankan waters Tamil Nadu trawlers felt emboldened to fish anywhere they liked for six days of the week, which they duly did without fear of arrest or legal consequences.

According to Anarasa, hundreds of Jaffna fishermen lost thousands of rupees worth of nets over the last two weeks. Last month alone, fishermen and fisher societies in Kayts, Delft and Karainagar lost millions of rupees worth of income due to the sudden upsurge in illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing by Tamil Nadu trawlers. Who is going to compensate these fishermen for their losses, he asked? Who will buy our fishermen new nets to replace those destroyed by the trawlers? Fishermen on the islands off the coast of Jaffna are now fearful about setting their nets, he said. How can fishermen risk going out to fish, if Tamil Nadu boats continue to trawl with impunity in the fishing grounds of small scale fishermen in Sri Lanka, just like they do in Tamil Nadu? The trawlers will continue to come until April 15, he said. This is when the Indian Government officially closes coastal fisheries for 85 days to allow fish stock on the Indian side of the Palk Bay to recover.

The issue of persistent IUU fishing by Tamil Nadu trawlers in Sri Lankan waters is often couched in language that calls for a humanitarian response: The semantics of equity, justice, dignity and peace that Indian diplomat in Geneva last week. Northern fishermen and fisher leaders like Stanislaws and Anarasa are not asking anything different. They call for:

n Equity for small scale fishermen; the right to fish freely in their traditional fishing grounds without bias or favoritism;

n Justice through the rule of law; the implementation of a meaningful legal deterrent under the Fisheries (Regulation of Foreign Fishing Boats) (Amendment) Act No. 1 of 2018;

n Dignity for small scale fishing communities; rebuilding livelihoods shattered by civil conflict, creating a future for their families based on the sustainable harvest of the Palk Bays rich marine resources.

n And peace. Small scale fishermen on both sides of the Palk Bay want to live and fish peacefully.

The ultimate responsibility for delivering equity, justice, dignity and peace for small scale fishermen on both sides of the Palk Bay and respect for Sri Lankas territorial integrity lies not in Jaffna or in Colombo, but in Chennai and New Delhi.

(Steve Creech works with

fishing communities, the seafood industry and the government of Sri Lanka on sustainable

fisheries and eco-labelling of

Sri Lankan seafood products. steve@pelagikos.lk)
A forgiving business owner inspired by Easter has decided against pressing charges on a burglar who broke into his restaurant and instead offered him a job.

Carl Wallace made the decision after a man broke into Diablos Southwest Grill in Augusta, Georgia, shortly after 4am on Easter Saturday  which also happened to be Mr Wallaces 45th birthday.

CCTV footage shows a man in a hooded tracksuit using a brick to smash the restaurants front window, before forcibly removing the cash register and shaking it to discover there was nothing in there.

Within 45 seconds, he was back out the front door no money was taken, Mr Wallace told the PA news agency.

Really frustration and damage was the only thing done we get woken up in the middle of the night, you have to run into the store, clean up the big mess and scramble to get the store back open by 11 oclock.

It made me realise, as a robber, this guys really not doing a good job  theres got to be other career paths for this guy.

Im a person that believes that everything happens for a reason we are all just one good choice away from a completely different life.

Despite the rude awakening on his birthday, later that morning Mr Wallace shared pictures of the break-in on Facebook along with his personal phone number  asking the robber to please swing by for a job application.

Our burritos are such a smash hit weve got people breaking in at 4am for their fix. So if ya see our door looking... Posted by Diablo's Southwest Grill on Saturday, April 3, 2021

No police, no questions. Lets sit down and talk about how we could help you and fix the road youre on, wrote Mr Wallace.

The post has since been shared thousands of times and received international attention.

Other local business owners got in touch with Mr Wallace and shared CCTV footage suggesting the same man had also broken into their properties.

Mr Wallace said the break-ins were putting the mans life at risk and he is extremely hopeful he will be in touch regarding the job.

That would be one of the greatest stories you take somebody that was on the wrong path, someone gives them a hand, said Mr Wallace.

Maybe this guys never been given that opportunity. Maybe hes always been put down in life.

Mr Wallace, who owns a number of businesses in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama, said he wants to break the cycle of the burglars actions.

Your first reaction is anger and frustration, then you think about Easter weekend and think, whats a better response? he said.

What would Jesus do? Would Jesus have somebody locked up or would he offer forgiveness?

We all as humans have to have a level of forgiveness to each other, and try to find a better way because theres so much hate in this world we dont understand each others problems and challenges in life.
The book of Leviticus is admonished for being boring: protocols for sacrifices, priestly garments, the dimensions of the Temple, and laws upon laws. It becomes an inside joke in churches. The dreariness of Bible reading is lumped onto those early Old Testament texts.

Yet Leviticus teaches us something tragically painful about Israels past which reflects not only Christianitys origins, but also the mires of daily life we find ourselves in.

If a man marries both a woman and her mother

For a man to marry both a woman and her mother is not only illegal, but unspeakably frowned upon. Its both unthinkable to not only consider, but also that such a warning should be needed for people not to do it.

This very command is found in Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 14. If you find this deplorable, good. Consider other verses in the chapter, all incredulous reminders that a society should never have to be reminded of.

It is easy for us to read Leviticus and judge. It feels too far in the past, a distant culture that serves no moral relevance. Consider though the cultural context of slavery the Israelites had just escaped and the pagan worship they would have been surrounded with in Egypt. Then, the warnings begin to make sense.

Competing Goods

For the Israelites, our modern senses of morality would not have been a foregone conclusion. Their exposure to pagan worship would have been so entrenched that commands from the Lord would only suffice in deterring them (and even still that was not always sufficient deterrence).

These cultural complexities leave us confused why some cultures, aspiring to such moral heights, have such strange behaviours or laws. One would wonder why such a society seeking such moral standards would require so many logical prohibitions and regulations.

Writing on this concept in a different social setting, Alan Jacobs bares wise words in Breaking Bread with the Dead,

The prospect of social disorder was not theoretical to them. The question they faced was one, not of good versus evil, but of competing goods (p. 54).

We see this sort of logic with Moses mother in Exodus where the midwives lie to Pharaoh about the surviving Israelite babies. We know lying is a sin, yet the choice the midwives were faced with was not simple binary, but of competing goods: the good of not lying or the good of saving multiple lives from a tyrant.

For the Israelites in Leviticus, there was no good in disobeying Gods commands, yet the concept of competing goods leads us to an understanding that there was good in the Israelites needing to be told, even when we may find it incredulous that it was needed in the first place.

Competing Goods for Christians

This notion continues to play out in the New Testament as it resonates its implications for our daily lives as Christians. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul finds himself needing to remind a church that it is not good for a man to sleep with his fathers wife.

This reminder is more familiar. Perhaps not a fathers wife but, tragically, churches are sometimes caught up in their own scandals. Yet, for the Corinthian church, this behaviour had become prominent enough requiring Paul to remind the church to excommunicate the man for his unrepentant sin.

It is not good when Christians need to be reminded of that which they ought to know. This is admonition given by the writer of Hebrews to Christians who needed to be taught the elementary truths of the faith again (Hebrews chapter 5).

Yet, we know we are not without sin. It is prevalent throughout our actions and throughout our lives. Just as we are ever in need of grace, we are always in need of the reminder of the Spirit of that which we ought to do in the small daily matters of life.

We may not need the reminders of Leviticus and Corinthians, but in the daily burdens and struggles, Scripture will always be there, the Spirit ready to remind us in the way we ought to go, the only truly good way.

Like the wise child commended in Proverbs, we too should not shun the reminders of what which pleases God.
Opposition politicians who were branded 'armchair critics' for their attacks on officers over the handling of the vigil for Sarah Everard have refused to apologise despite an official review that found the police were not at fault.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey and London Mayor Sadiq Khan were among those rebuked by the review's inspectors for their rush to judge the 'complex situation' facing officers last month.

Last week, the review into the way Scotland Yard dealt with the vigil on London's Clapham Common cleared the force of wrongdoing and reprimanded politicians for criticising officers without knowing the full facts.

Police attempt to break up a vigil for Sarah Everard at the bandstand on Clapham Common. The police response sparked a backlash

As reported by the MoS, last month's vigil for Sarah, the 33-year-old marketing executive killed while walking home in South London, was hijacked by those with political motives, with police officers abused while trying to disperse the gathering that breached Covid rules.

At 7.26pm, a video of female protesters struggling with police was posted on Twitter and quickly gained 12.5 million views.

It was not long before MPs rushed to condemn the scenes, with Sir Ed the first to comment at 8.46pm declaring: 'The Met police have acted terribly and caused great harm and hurt.'

He then called for Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick to resign, saying she had 'lost the confidence of the millions of women in London'.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer joined the fray, saying: 'This was not the way to police this protest'.

The MoS contacted eight MPs who tweeted on that Saturday evening but not one apologised

He was followed by Conservative MP Caroline Nokes, Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, and London Mayor Mr Khan.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: 'Some of the footage circulating online from the vigil in Clapham is upsetting.'

She demanded the report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services into the events, which was delivered last Tuesday.

It concluded that while it had been a PR disaster, the officers had acted 'lawfully, sensitively and proportionately.'

The watchdog added that the chorus of criticism showed 'a distinct lack of respect for public servants'.

The MoS contacted eight MPs who tweeted on that Saturday evening but not one apologised.

Dame Cressida's response to the report was forthright, urging people to 'stop and think before they judge.'.

John Apter, National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: 'The review into the actions of the Metropolitan Police show these same people were too quick to make inflammatory, derogatory, and insensitive comments about police officers, with limited knowledge and context. Those responsible should reflect on their behaviour and publicly apologise to my colleagues.'

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, blamed 'armchair critics on their Saturday night sofas' for rushing to judgment.
KPC News is available 24/7 online at kpcnews.com. Browse stories, view photos and videos or view the e-edition of your local newspaper any time online.
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The National Judicial Council (NJC) on Saturday warned the public against an online advertisement suggesting that it was carrying was carrying out an ongoing massive recruitment exercise for the year 2021.

A statement by NJCs Director of Information, Soji Oye, described the advertisement as a scam.

It advised job seekers to be wary of fraudsters parading their websites as recruitment platforms for the council.

It also stated that the NJC would always advertise its genuine recruitment exercise on its official website, http://www.njc.gov.ng, and not through any other website.

The statement reads: The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to a false advertisement purporting an ongoing recruitment exercise of the Council for the year 2021 on some websites, different from the official website of the National Judicial Council.

The Council hereby informs the general public that there is no such online recruitment as portrayed by the websites, neither is it currently considering any recruitment exercise for the time being.

The general public is hereby advised against downloading any form online or paying anyone for any recruitment.

Applicants are hereby advised to beware of fraudsters parading their websites as recruitment platforms for the council.

The council, when recruiting, will advertise on its official website and not through any other website.

Profile

The NJC is one of the federal executive bodies created by virtue of Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It was established to insulate the judiciary from the whims and caprices of the executive; hence guaranteeing the independence of the arm of government.

It was created and vested with enormous powers and functions of the erstwhile Advisory Judicial Committee (AJC) which it replaced.
Allentown police announced a major seizure that turned up semi-automatic weapons, other guns and drugs through two search warrants executed Friday.

Detectives with the police departments vice unit served one warrant at an apartment in the 3000 block of Klein Street on Allentowns south side Friday morning, according to a news release. Investigators reportedly found about a pound of marijuana, $5,600 in cash and a Glock handgun. The suspect targeted in the investigation was taken into custody.

Later in the afternoon, Allentown police executed a second search warrant at a home in the 600 block of Washington Street, based on an investigation by one of the vice unit detectives, the release said.

That search turned up about another pound of marijuana, along with cocaine, two AR-15 rifles, a second Glock handgun and roughly $3,900, police said. Police reported taking one person into custody and planned to apply for an arrest warrant for an additional suspect, the release stated.

Allentown police identified the Klein Street suspect as Yerlin Marte Peralta, 25, a resident of the apartment. Charged in the Washington Street search, according to police, is resident Ulysses T. Bonilla, 21.

Each was arraigned Friday on a felony county of drug possession with intent to deliver, plus misdemeanor drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both were sent to Lehigh County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail and face preliminary hearings tentatively scheduled April 12 before District Judge Daniel Trexler to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send their cases toward trial in county court.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Undated photo of Noah Green obtained from social media / REUTERS-Yonhap



The man who rammed a car into two officers at a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol, killing one of them before he was shot to death by police, had been suffering from delusions, paranoia and suicidal thoughts, a U.S. official told The Associated Press. Investigators believe it was an isolated incident from a disturbed young man.



Video of the Friday afternoon attack shows the driver emerging from the crashed car with a knife in his hand and starting to run at the pair of officers, Capitol Police acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters. Police shot the suspect, 25-year-old Noah Green, who died at a hospital.



Investigators are increasingly focused on Green's mental health as they work to identify any motive for the attack, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on Saturday on condition of anonymity. The official said investigators had talked to Green's family, who spoke of his increasingly delusional thoughts.



In online posts since removed, Green described being under government thought control and said he was being watched. He described himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its longtime leader, Louis Farrakhan, and spoke of going through a difficult time when he leaned on his faith. Some of 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 in late March. ''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.''



It was the second line-of-duty death this year for the U.S. Capitol Police, still struggling to heal from the Jan. 6 insurrection. The attack underscored that the building and campus  and the officers charged with protecting them  remain potential targets for violence.



Authorities installed a giant fence around the Capitol perimeter and for months restricted traffic along the roads closest to the building, but they had begun pulling back some of the emergency measures. And the most recent incident could delay the gradual reopening of the building's grounds to the public.



''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.





Members of the US Capitol Police, on April 3, 2021, pause to pay their respects at the US Capitol location where fellow officer, William Evans, was killed in an attack, in Washington, DC. AFP-Yonhap
KYODO NEWS - Apr 4, 2021 - 11:57 | All, Coronavirus, World

Two members of a Japan Self-Defense Forces unit stationed in Djibouti in eastern Africa have been infected with the coronavirus, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Sunday, bringing the total to four.

The latest infections were confirmed at a base where around 110 troops are working in support of Japan's antipiracy mission in waters off neighboring Somalia.

The ministry said the series of infections has not disrupted the mission, which involves Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels and patrol aircraft operating in the Gulf of Aden.

The two MSDF members, each aged between 20 and 40, tested positive for the virus on Saturday at the base's medical office. Both are in a stable condition while two of their colleagues who were in contact with the infected pair have been isolated, the ministry said.

The announcement came a day after the ministry said two Ground Self-Defense Force members stationed at the base were infected with the virus.
Winfred Rembert survived a near-lynching in rural Georgia in 1967. Just 21, he had been stripped of his clothes by a mob of white men and hoisted upside down from a tree, a noose around his ankles. One man came at him with a knife and nearly castrated him, sending blood gushing down his body.

The only reason he wasnt killed was that another white man stepped in, saying there were better things that could be done with Mr. Rembert, like throwing him back in jail from which he had just escaped.

After seven years of incarceration and hard labor for stealing a car, taking a gun from a deputy sheriff and escaping from prison, Mr. Rembert was released. He married, moved north and the couple had eight children. And in a turn of events that no one had expected, he became an artist of some renown: Carving figures into leather, a craft he had learned in prison, he recreated vivid scenes from his life, of picking cotton, being lynched and busting rocks in his prison stripes.

His art told the story of the Jim Crow South. It was exhibited in galleries and museums and helped support his family, though they lived in poverty.
Check out the news you should not miss today:

Society

 At least four died in a fire at a baby gear shop on Ton Duc Thang Street in Hanois Dong Da District on Sunday.

 Two were injured and traffic was congested on a stretch of kilometers on National Highway No. 1 through the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giangs Cai Lay District due to a crash between a container truck and a four-seater car on Saturday morning.

 Local authorities in north-central Thanh Hoa Province are investigating an incident in which nearly 30 metric tons of farmed and wild fish has died en masse at local fish farms in Nghi Son Commune as well as coastal wards such as Hai Ha, Hai Thanh, and Hai Thuong during the past two days.

 Three fire trucks and firefighters were mobilized on Saturday to Trang Tien Plaza in Hanois Hoan Kiem District after a car parked in the venues basement was suddenly on fire. No casualties were reported.

 Vietnamese expatriates in Usti nad Labem - Ustecky kraj, the Czech Republic, have presented gifts including confectionery, coffee, water, and shopping vouchers, among others worth nearly CZK200,000 (US$9,000) to medical workers in Chomutov and Kadan Cities, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Saturday.

 Two female students traveling on a motorbike died in a crash with a truck on a pass in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on Friday night.

 Vietnam on Sunday morning recorded three new imported cases of COVID-19, increasing the countrys tally to 2,629 patients.

Business

 As of March 31, Vietnams market capitalization on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) skyrocketed 93.56 percent year-on-year to more than VND4.46 quadrillion (US$194 billion), equivalent to some 71 percent of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP), the Vietnam News Agency reported on Saturday.

 Vietnam is Canada's largest importer of fish and seafood in ASEAN, with a value of more than CA$50 million ($39.7 million) in 2020, the Consulate General of Canada in Ho Chi Minh City said on its verified Facebook page on Friday.

Education

 On the occasion of the International Mine Awareness Day on April 4, the Vietnam National Mine Action Center launched an online quiz for Vietnamese nationals, which is aimed at raising awareness about preventing accidents caused by mines and explosives left since wartime in Vietnam, with the first prize of VND10 million ($434).

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, a lecturer at Central University, has admonished Members of Parliament over their conduct in the Legislative House.



Following a letter written by Member of Parliament(MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, that he has resigned from Parliament's Appointments Committee, there are talks on what could have occasioned such a decision from an honorable member of the Committee.



Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa says his decision comes ''after days of careful reflection and thoughtful considerations. I shall like to state that the reasons for this difficult decision is both personal and on principle''.



Discussing the issue on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Dr. Otchere-Ankrah bemoaned the Parliamentarians' behaviour in the House, finding the actions of some of them very unfortunate.



He called on them to be serious with their Parliamentary work because their election into the Legislative House isn't a joke.



"The things that have gone on in Parliament are cumbersome. Parliamentary work is not a joke. Someone had been in Parliament but didn't say one word through the four years. So, they have to sit up and do the work well."





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.

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Imperial Valley News Center

Former Intelligence Analyst Pleads Guilty to Disclosing Classified Information

Washington, DC - A former intelligence analyst and former military servicemember pleaded guilty Wednesday to illegally obtaining classified national defense information and disclosing it to a reporter.

According to court records, Daniel Everette Hale, 31, of Nashville, Tennessee, served as an enlisted airman in the U.S. Air Force from July 2009 to July 2013. After receiving language and intelligence training, Hale was assigned to work at the National Security Agency (NSA) and deployed to Afghanistan as an intelligence analyst. After leaving the Air Force in July 2013, Hale was employed by a defense contractor and assigned to the NGA, where he worked as a political geography analyst between December 2013 and August 2014. In connection with his active duty service and work for the NSA, and during his time at NGA, Hale held a Top Secret // Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS//SCI) security clearance and was entrusted with access to classified national defense information.

Hale has now admitted what the evidence at trial would have conclusively shown: that he took classified documents from his work at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), documents he had no right to retain, and that he sent them to a reporter, knowing all along that what he was doing was against the law, said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Department's National Security Division. This conduct undermined the efforts of our Intelligence Community to keep us safe. Hales plea is another step in the Departments ongoing efforts to prosecute and deter leaks of classified information.

Those who are entrusted with classified information have a duty to safeguard that information in order to protect our Nations security, said Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. As an analyst for the Intelligence Community, Daniel Hale knowingly took highly classified documents and disclosed them without authorization, thereby violating his solemn obligations to our country. We are firmly committed to seeking equal justice under the law and holding accountable those who betray their oath to safeguard national security information.

According to court records, beginning in April 2013, while enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and assigned to the NSA, Hale began communicating with a reporter. Hale met with the reporter in person on multiple occasions, and communicated with the reporter via phone, text message, email, and, at times, an encrypted messaging platform. Then, in February 2014, while working as a cleared defense contractor at NGA, Hale printed six classified documents unrelated to his work at NGA and soon after exchanged a series of messages with the reporter. Each of the six documents printed were later published by the reporters news outlet.

According to court records, while employed as a cleared defense contractor for NGA, Hale printed 36 documents from his Top Secret computer, including 23 documents unrelated to his work at NGA. Of the 23 documents unrelated to his work at NGA, Hale provided at least 17 to the reporter and/or the reporters online news outlet, which published the documents in whole or in part. Eleven of the published documents were marked as Top Secret or Secret.

According to court records, in August 2014, Hales cell phone contact list included contact information for the reporter. He also possessed a thumb drive that contained a page marked SECRET from a classified document that Hale had printed in February 2014 and had attempted to delete from the thumb drive. In addition, Hale possessed on his home computer another document that he had stolen from NGA.

Hale pleaded guilty to retention and transmission of national defense information, and he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when sentenced on July 13, 2021. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Jennifer C. Boone, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Baltimore Field Office made the announcement after the plea was accepted by Senior U.S. District Judge Liam OGrady.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gordon D. Kromberg and Alexander P. Berrang and Senior Trial Attorney Heather M. Schmidt of the National Security Divisions Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case
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).
In our second extract from Alan Duncan's riotously candid diaries, he continues to support the Prime Minister Theresa May  while criticising her in private. Meanwhile, he is finding the antics of his boss Boris Johnson  now Foreign Secretary  increasingly jaw-dropping...

Monday, September 25, 2017

Interesting drink with a banker who was at Eton with Boris. He was no fan, and says Boris took his economics revision notes without permission and then never gave them back.

Tuesday, September 26

The Foreign Office has lost its way. It is an organisation living on its past, one without leadership, initiative or confidence. [Foreign secretary] Boris adds nothing to it. Amid a long succession of characterful foreign secretaries, he is Harold Wilson's George Brown without the alcohol.

Sunday, October 1

Flight to Chicago, much enhanced by a very good-looking Northern steward called Benjamin.

Thursday, November 2

In quite the most extraordinary Cabinet appointment I can think of, Gavin Williamson has been appointed Defence Secretary. It is absolutely absurd. He seems to have pushed himself forward for this undeserved promotion. It is a brazenly self-serving manoeuvre that will further embed the view of him as a sly schemer, which he undoubtedly is.

He is also ludicrously unqualified for the heavyweight job of Defence Secretary, having never run anything. His experience amounts to having been a fireplace salesman, then bag-carrier for two PMs, then Chief Whip for a year. What on earth was the PM thinking?

If I were more precious, I'd be pretty damned annoyed that I didn't get it myself. But, as ever, scheming triumphs over loyalty and suitability.

In the second extract from Alan Duncan's riotously candid diaries, the former Foreign Office minister (pictured posing for a photograph in Westminster) lays in on Prime Minister Theresa May for her 'absurd' appointment of Gavin Williamson as Defence Secretary

Thursday, November 9

It feels as though the Government is in its death throes. We limp on, we limp to win. All the overambitious youngsters are jockeying for advancement, a process which so undermines the Government there will be no Government for them to be promoted in. We are doomed, all because of wretched Brexit.

Saturday, December 16

In Bucharest with HRH the Prince of Wales for the funeral of King Michael of Romania. Unusually for a funeral, the entire crowd, on seeing the Prince [of Wales], cheered and burst into applause. He is an absolute rock-star hero in Romania. We were all left with the impression that some of them would like him to be their King.

Tuesday, January 8, 2018

Annoyingly [WikiLeaks founder, Julian] Assange's forcible exit from the Ecuadorian embassy [where he'd sought asylum] has been delayed. Ecuador's government lawyers are now saying that it requires a Presidential decree.

Friday, January 19

Boris says we should build a bridge across the Channel, because the tunnel is at full capacity. Well that should all be quick and easy. Job done!

Tuesday, January 23

Boris, both annoyingly and disgracefully, refuses to support Palestine attending the UN Conference on Disarmament as an observer. Why the hell not?

Friday, January 26

My 27th Melton [constituency] Ladies' lunch. Usual cheerful gathering of 80-year-olds.

'In quite the most extraordinary Cabinet appointment I can think of, Gavin Williamson has been appointed Defence Secretary. It is absolutely absurd. He seems to have pushed himself forward for this undeserved promotion'

Saturday, January 27

It would seem that Gavin Williamson has seriously overplayed his hand. In his rush to ascend the greasy pole, he manoeuvred to get Michael Fallon's job at Defence, only now to be accused of having been sacked from his job as a fireplace salesman ten years ago for having an affair with an employee.

Sunday, January 28

Gavin W is getting off lightly. He is under the cosh, but he will survive because all the focus is on the declining authority of Theresa May. The Government is in intensive care and might drift haplessly to its end within months.

Sunday, February 4

So many people now think they should take over from Theresa. Dominic Raab is at it again on Sky. Boris feigns no interest in standing, and then texts back anybody who might intimate that they support him. Meanwhile he plots relentlessly with the scheming Gove, who he should never trust again.

Monday, February 5

Dinner with [security minister] Ben Wallace. He says rumours about Boris resigning are the concoction of Gavin Williamson, who is briefing manically in order to tarnish Boris and knock out all others who might be leader. The man is crazed.

Tuesday, February 6

Nothing illustrates the weakness of the Prime Minister more than the visual awkwardness with which she joined [a] photo op [for the 100th anniversary of the Suffragettes]. Gangly, looking around as if lost, no poise or presence. Charisma bypass. No personality. She is the only credible game in town, but there's not much there, and I despair.

'Boris says we should build a bridge across the Channel, because the tunnel is at full capacity. Well that should all be quick and easy. Job done!'

Wednesday, February 14

Boris has made his much-heralded Brexit speech. Hot air with zero detail.

Monday, February 26

Lunch at White's with U.S. Ambassador Woody Johnson. Nice and perky, but his comments dart around like a butterfly. It is impossible to discuss any issue in depth.

Reception hosted by the PM at Number 10 for Balkans leaders. I wheel them in front of the PM, who requires a confident introduction if she is to say anything. Otherwise she just stands there dumbstruck.

Wednesday, February 28

A letter from Boris to Number 10, or at least its first page, has leaked. I wonder who did that? And now, surprise surprise, in order to clarify its misinterpretation by the media, Boris has said he will publish the full text of the letter. Number 10 are furious. Once again, he is undermining the Government and playing no end of silly games.

Tuesday, March 6

Something odd is going on in Salisbury. A Russian former intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia have been found slumped on a park bench there, seemingly poisoned.

Monday, March 12

The Government laboratory at Porton Down has confirmed beyond doubt that the poison used in Salisbury was a banned military-grade [Russian] nerve agent called Novichok. We have summoned Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko to the FCO.

Whatever anyone might ever think about Boris on so many things, on this occasion he was brilliant. He had been given a clear script, and he stuck to it faithfully.

Yakovenko and his deputy came in, all jaunty and smiling as if nothing had happened. Boris and I were suitably severe. We all remained standing, on facing sides of the large office table.

He raised his tone and, with fabulous indignation verging on anger, told [Yakovenko] in no uncertain terms how unacceptable it was to violate our security, try to murder someone on British soil, breach a highly important international convention, etc.

It was a deliciously delivered dressing-down, in response to which the dumb-struck Yakovenko couldn't say anything, and just left.

Well done, Boris! Perhaps it worked so well because he was not larking about and playing to the gallery  he spoke from the heart and meant what he said.

Watch TV [later], and learn more about the Salisbury incident from Newsnight than I've ever been told in the FCO in supposed top secrecy.

'Priti Horrendous [Patel, International Development Secretary] is in a deep mess. It turns out that she went to Israel on what she called a holiday and met some Israeli ministers without telling the embassy'

Thursday, March 15

To Number 10 for a long-awaited face-to-face meeting with the PM. She is so remote and disconnected from people. I don't know who she talks to or confides in. Certainly not me, which is so silly.

I told her emphatically when DC resigned as PM that she must stand; I've known her (albeit with no particular friendship) for 40 years; I waded enthusiastically into her leadership campaign; I'm holding the line in the FCO; and am able to help shore up her support among older colleagues.

We covered a lot of ground [on various issues]. She smiled sweetly and took it all in, but she is just so inexpressive you just don't know if it was worth the bother.

PRITI HORRENDOUS... AND 'MORALLY CORRUPT' Monday, November 6, 2017 Priti Horrendous [Patel, International Development Secretary] is in a deep mess. It turns out that she went to Israel on what she called a holiday and met some Israeli ministers without telling the embassy. When first asked about it, she said she had told the FCO  by speaking to Boris  and that it was only a couple of meetings. It is now clear that she lied. She had not told Boris, and in fact had a whole series of meetings, including with PM Netanyahu. All but one of them were also attended by Lord Polak, who for three decades has been the mainstay of the Conservative Friends of Israel. Thus she spent a week there on a programme put together by Polak, without telling the FCO or even her own Department, attending meetings at the highest level, accompanied by the principal pro-Israel donor lobbyist in the UK. She has been forced to publish a statement. It lists a raft of meetings, and then says that as a result she commissioned policy work in DfID [Department for International Development] about working with the Israeli Army in Palestine! So by her own admission, she has directly linked undeclared meetings to subsequent policy-making. She could not be more compromised. Tuesday, November 7 Quite the most extraordinary day. Our PM [Theresa May] did not know when she saw Netanyahu last week that Priti Outrageous had seen him in Tel Aviv; and she did not know until this morning that Patel had recommended DfID pay for the Israeli Defence Forces to do 'humanitarian' work in the Golan Heights (which is not Israeli), against long-standing DfID policy. In my view, Priti Patel's comments are deceitful, morally corrupt and improper. She has engaged offline with a foreign government over issues of policy. It is contemptible. She is quite despicable. Then things get even hotter. Her personal statement was billed as the full record of all the people she saw in Israel, yet she failed to include in her list of meetings the people she subsequently saw in London when she was back. So she lied  to the public and also to the PM. They are all saying she will be sacked tomorrow, but she is somewhere in Africa. Wednesday, November 8 PP is such a brassy monster that on return she has clearly threatened the PM both with a challenge to her version of events  'Yes, PM, you did know'  and with a threat about Brexit  'If you mess me around, I'll cause you difficulty.' As a result, she is demanding that she be allowed to resign rather than be dismissed. She should be sacked. Finally she is dismissed, but it will be called a resignation. Nothing in the exchange of letters [with the PM] even mentions Israel and the deep impropriety of her actions, merely an apology about her lack of transparency. The Conservative Party and the PM remain in total denial, and once again brush it under the carpet. It reeks; it stinks; it festers; it moulders  all rotten to the core. This [is] exceptional pro-Israel infiltration into the very centre of our public life. What is the point of having a guardian of ethics in Whitehall when they fail to put their foot down on this wickedness? Thursday, November 9 Boris is in Washington from where he texts me to say they (whoever 'they' are) are blaming me for briefing against Patel. I reply she did a pretty comprehensive job of destroying herself without the need for others to assist. I said she is lucky not to be in the Tower of London. Advertisement

Wednesday, April 18

The Government, and the Home Office in particular, are under massive pressure for supposedly having betrayed the 'Windrush Generation'. The first Caribbean immigrants arrived on a ship called the Empire Windrush. But over the last 50 years, they have never been issued with formal documents of residence. Some are now being sent 'home'. It is quite staggering incompetence on the part of all governments over five decades.

Sunday, April 22

Dinner with [Tory MP] Ed Argar. Ed says [home secretary] Amber Rudd has inherited the problem, and is being made to take the rap for an independent agency taking decisions about deportations. She is not allowed to instruct the agency what to do, and then gets blamed for their crap decisions.

It's clear Gove is bitching against her, lobbing questions into conversations with journos. 'Did the HO know about deportations?' etc.

Monday, April 30

Oh. B****r. Amber Rudd has resigned. And it seems that the over-ambitious [Gavin] Williamson has somehow engaged the help of James Wharton, ex-MP and now in PR, to begin to agitate for a GW leadership bid. So self-serving.

Tuesday, May 8

Drinks with [Tory MP] Jesse Norman. He's not quite in the real world. Can he get a grip on anything and take a decision? I just don't know. But I suspect he is one of those who is incapable of wiring a plug.

Saturday, May 12

President Erdogan [of Turkey] is coming tomorrow. In a meeting to discuss arrangements, the Turkish Ambassador seriously oversteps the mark. He 'insists' on certain conditions for the meeting with the Queen, such as including Erdogan's daughter and her husband.

I lean across the table and say with calm and menacing fierceness: 'Ambassador  nobody from any country, in any position, never mind how senior they are, ever, ever 'insists' on anything in respect of Her Majesty the Queen. Have you got it?'

Monday, May 14

The Israelis have killed 41 Palestinians in Gaza (no response from the UK).

Wednesday, May 16

Chat with Theresa on the plane [to a summit in Sofia]. She is rather leaden and has no easy conversation. It's as if she is frightened to express an opinion on anything in case it comes back at her later. Just like she was at Oxford [University].

Tuesday, June 5

Chat with Robert Buckland, Solicitor General, on the way into the House. He says Gavin Williamson when Chief Whip 'was happy to be detested so long as he was feared', to which I responded, 'Now that he is no longer feared, he is universally detested.'

Thursday, June 21

Greg Hands has resigned as Trade Minister. There will be a vote next week in which the Government will support the expansion of Heathrow, and Greg was so emphatically opposed to it that he has little choice but to resign on principle.

Meanwhile Boris, who was equally opposed, decides to stay put. Awkward.

He says to me in the corridor, 'I'd better find somewhere else I need to be.' He really is just so unscrupulous. But, on this one, also highly amusing.

Sunday, June 24

Gavin Williamson [has] threatened to bring down May if she doesn't increase defence spending, saying 'I made her, so I can break her.' He really is a venomous, self-seeking little s***.

Monday, June 25

Back from Luxembourg in time for the Heathrow vote. But no Boris! As I suspected, he had found a pressing reason to visit Afghanistan.

Friday, June 29

The Remain campaigner Gina Miller would be far more persuasive if she didn't always speak as if she considers herself the only person in the world whose opinion matters.

Wednesday, July 4

Lunch with George Osborne at the Ivy Kensington. Very convivial. He hates Theresa May, and considers her characterless and robotic. He still maintains a fascination for Boris but there is no love there.

He thinks Gove has some worrying aspects running in his favour  he will start where he left off in terms of leadership support, he is staying inside the pack and he is trying to appeal to the middle ground. George might be right, but Gove's still a wholesale weirdo.

Friday, July 6

Cabinet meeting taking place all day at Chequers to thrash out an EU exit consensus. It is logically absurd that a housing minister attends but the Minister for Europe [myself] does not. Not that I want to.

'The Remain campaigner Gina Miller would be far more persuasive if she didn't always speak as if she considers herself the only person in the world whose opinion matters'

Monday, July 9

So all was agreed at Chequers on Friday, and then Davis bales out as Brexit Secretary 48 hours later. This is on one level catastrophic, on another completely immaterial. He has not exactly been a striking success.

The little tick Steve Baker [Brexit minister] has also gone. He has been quite the most useless minister and is just so simplistic he might just as well not have a brain.

The ghastly Andrea Jenkyns MP is calling for Theresa to be challenged. She is a brainless nothing. Dominic Raab goes to replace DD [as Brexit secretary].

At 3pm, [Boris] resigns. Nothing [will] happen on a new Foreign Secretary before 7pm. I will just enjoy my four hours as acting Foreign Secretary.

Thursday, July 12

Trump's visit starts properly today. Car to Blenheim Palace. The sumptuous dinner passed without a hitch, until there was a sudden flurry towards the end, caused by a Trump interview in tomorrow's Sun.

Friday, July 13

The full details of the Trump interview make for uncomfortable reading: he says the PM ignored his advice on Brexit and talks up Boris, saying he would make a great PM. Ouch.

All this when I have been asked to do an extensive media round talking up the positive nature of U.S.UK relations. But I maintain a poker-faced insistence that all is going absolutely swimmingly, and that we're perfectly relaxed about his comments. I describe [Trump] as a controversialist who brings a bit of colour to the international stage.

Yeah, and the rest.

'The little tick Steve Baker [Brexit minister] has also gone. He has been quite the most useless minister and is just so simplistic he might just as well not have a brain'

Tuesday, July 17

All-staff [FCO] meeting: Jeremy Hunt [the new foreign secretary] was just so much more grown-up than Boris.

Wednesday, July 18

Boris' resignation statement in the Commons. He's not naturally comfortable speaking in the Chamber. It was certainly no Geoffrey Howe moment.

To Buckingham Palace for a Privy Council meeting in which HM the Queen can present Jeremy Hunt with his seal of office. Once we'd taken our leave of HM, JH was a little gauche in suggesting that we all have a photo. The problem was that we were still in the Queen's private apartments, stepping around the corgis. Not the place to take photographs.

Monday, July 23

[Home secretary] Sajid Javid has briefed that he will not oppose the death penalty for the two UK-origin terrorists who have been detained in Syria. They will be extradited to the U.S.

It is contemptible that he has played to the Right-wing neo-con gallery in order to promote himself, and has at the same time overturned decades of principled policy under which we oppose the death penalty. It never came across my desk in the FCO, and by mid-morning it turns out that Boris had signed it off. I despair at both of them.

Tuesday, August 14

Some texts from BoJo saying why on earth is the UK not involved in the Franco-German talks on Syria. I could have answered with my honest thoughts, which are that he left the FCO in such policy disarray that we are adrift.

It's clear Gove is bitching against her (Amber Rudd), lobbing questions into conversations with journos. 'Did the HO (Home Office) know about deportations (of the Windrush generation)?' etc'

Saturday, September 8

I tweet against Boris after [he compares] Theresa May to someone who has put a suicide vest around the country and given the detonator to [EU chief Brexit negotiator] Michel Barnier. This is just the sort of attention-seeking excess which makes him look like a clown.

My tweet is pretty vicious: 'This marks one of the most disgusting moments in modern British politics. I'm sorry, but this is the political end of Boris Johnson. If it isn't now, I will make sure it is later.'

It's rather hyperbolic, but it's the only way to get noticed. To me it's very simple  the PM must be defended.

Sunday, September 9

Views of [my] tweet have hit a million.

Monday, September 10

My Twitter views have hit 1.8 million. Not a bad day.

Tuesday, September 11

I pen a note to Boris and stick it on the letter board: Dear Boris. It's not personal . . . In essence I think that [May] is acting in the national interest and you are not. So it's out with the cannons. Country first . . . It's as simple as that. Yours ever, Alan.

Extracted from In The Thick of It: The Explosive Private Political Diaries Of A Former Tory Minister, by Alan Duncan, to be published by William Collins on April 15, 25.  Alan Duncan 2021. To order a copy for 22 go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193. Delivery charges may apply. Free UK delivery on orders over 20. Promotional price valid until 17/04/2021.
With surf temperature near 70 degrees this week in Orange Beach, its prime time for pier and beach anglers to visit Alabamas coast. The water is still a little too cool to bring throngs of swimmers to the shore, but its just right for pompano, Spanish mackerel, kings, bluefish, redfish, sheepshead and other nearshore species. The arrival of migrating schools of baitfish, which winter off southern Florida and follow the 68 to 70 degree temperature line as it moves north, also draws the predatory gamefish.

This spring, theres the added attraction of the partial reopening of Gulf State Park Fishing Pier, which was damaged by Hurricane Sally last September just as it was about to reopen after being rebuilt due to a hit from an earlier storm.

The 1,540-foot long pier was second longest on the Gulf of Mexico, but the September hurricane collapsed a 200-foot section near the octagonal fishing area at the south end.

After Sally hit, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) had the damaged assessed by engineers for guidance on how to proceed, according to agency reporter David Rainer. Displaced floor panels, plumbing, electrical wiring and lighting had to be repaired or replaced.

Lamar Pendergrass, Alabama State Parks South Region Operations Supervisor, told Rainer that although the pier was built for the deck panels to dislodge to save the infrastructure, Sallys incessant pounding took its toll.

The panels were designed to be blown out, Pendergrass said. As long as Sally sat there with her wind, waves and storm surge, the panels did their job. We actually recovered about 99 percent of the panels that had just been restored and placed on the pier.

Pendergrass said assessments by engineers deemed about 175 feet past the T was safe to reopen, but a section near the collapsed portion sustained damage, which limited the area that could be safely accessed.

Despite the limitations of the reopening, dedicated anglers like pier-fishing guide David Thornton were elated to get back on the pier.

Thornton, known to the online crowd as Pier Pounder, said discussion focused on what the fishing would be like with access only to a portion of the pier.

When the pier was reopened, Thornton said anglers were catching whiting, sheepshead and a few pompano and a few redfish. A cold front moved through and slowed the fish, but with the spring warmup, fishing is getting better every day.

When it started to warm up, the fishing opportunities really opened up, he said. The sheepshead are in spawn. Theyve even been biting on days when water has been rough. Pompano are showing up, and the Spanish mackerel bite has been pretty good.

Inshore species like speckled trout will start showing up when the water temperature gets up to about 70 degrees. Theyve got the lights under the pier working, which will bring in the bait and bring in the trout. The pompano bite is just going to get better. The full moon will be the peak of the sheepshead spawn. The sheepshead will then taper off, but then more Spanish, more pompano and specks will show up. Redfish and whiting will come and go.

Thornton said anglers and sightseers have been very good about adhering to the COVID-19 protocols. The pier is limited to 200 people, 125 anglers and 75 sightseers. Visit www.alapark.com/parks/gulf-state-park/fishing-and-education-pier for more information.

One new feature on the pier that has also been well received is the fish carcass grinder that macerates the fish remains and then transfers them to holding tanks in the parking lot.

Everybody is using the carcass grinder, Thornton said. Its certainly a better solution than tossing carcasses overboard, which is what we had been doing.

Thornton knows it wont be the same type of fishing as when the pier was completely intact and anglers could fight a big fish around the southern octagon, but he is just glad to be back on the Gulf State Park Pier.

We just have to keep our patience, he said. At least were halfway there.

ADCNR Commissioner Chris Blankenship said no timetable is available as to when the pier will be completely restored, but work is already underway.

With design and permitting, it will be some time before the rest of the pier can be reconstructed. Rest assured, we are working diligently to get the entire pier rebuilt and opened as quickly as possible, Blankenship said.

Check out the Gulf Shores Fishing Forum here for added information on pier and shore fishing: http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com.
Scientists from Georgia Tech have found a way to reliably harvest the energy from 5G at 28Ghz, overcoming antenna problems that previously required such solutions to be within line of sight of a tower.

The wireless power grid that can power your car, phone, connected appliances and more is still the stuff of science fiction, and despite advances from Ossia, Energous, Xiaomi and Motorola, there's still no wireless power systems available to power your devices in the same way that Wi-Fi delivers the Internet to your smartphone, tablet, computer and other technologies.

However, IoT devices usually require far less power than traditional portable devices or appliances, and given that mmWave 5G is sending out a lot of power, if this could be reliably harvested, you can power your devices from the 5G mmWave frequencies that are already available in many places, and which is only being more widely rolled out with every passing day.

Over at Nature Magazine, the Georgia Tech scientists issued a paper that explains it all.

In the abstract, the authors state: "5G has been designed for blazing fast and low-latency communications. To do so, mm-wave frequencies were adopted and allowed unprecedentedly high radiated power densities by the FCC.

"Unknowingly, the architects of 5G have, thereby, created a wireless power grid capable of powering devices at ranges far exceeding the capabilities of any existing technologies. However, this potential could only be realised if a fundamental trade-off in wireless energy harvesting could be circumvented.

"Here, we propose a solution that breaks the usual paradigm, imprisoned in the trade-off between "rectenna" angular coverage and turn-on sensitivity. The concept relies on the implementation of a Rotman lens between the antennas and the rectifiers.

"The printed, flexible mm-wave lens allows robust and bending-resilient operation over more than 20 GHz of gain and angular bandwidths.

"Antenna sub-arrays, rectifiers and DC combiners are then added to the structure to demonstrate its combination of large angular coverage and turn-on sensitivityin both planar and bent conditionsand a harvesting ability up to a distance of 2.83 m in its current configuration and exceeding 180 m using state-of-the-art rectifiers enabling the harvesting of several W of DC power (around 6 W at 180 m with 75 dBm EIRP)."

So, the beginnings of a wireless power grid delivered via 5G signals is something we'll hopefully see this decade, along with a range of other wireless power technologies that will reduce the need for batteries in many settings.

Of course, until we can harvest power from satellite broadcasts, or from zero-point energy devices, or from geothermal technologies, or thorium reactors, or something else that can be widely distributed, batteries will always be essential.

Still, it is within most of the lifetimes of anyone reading that true wireless power should become as natural as Wi-Fi is today, as humanity finds ever better ways to generate and distribute power, be it via wired or wireless means.

Check out the Nature magazine paper, which has much more detailed information, along with this article from EETimes.
Oregon legislators could force the states leading health agency to be more transparent by neutering a law that allows officials to conceal health information, including about the COVID-19 pandemic, that the public otherwise has a right to know.

Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, said Oregon has far too often erred on the side of secrecy in its application of the law, something health agencies would not be able to do if a bill he proposed this session gains approval.

Were talking about legitimate need to know for the public, Dembrow said at a legislative hearing for the bill March 24. Under Senate Bill 719, when questions are asked, unless theres a reason not to, then information will be released.

Under the current version of his bill, the Oregon Health Authority and county health agencies would have to provide summarized health data in response to public records requests unless there is a legitimate risk that an individuals identity could be compromised. The legislation is still in its early stages, and future amendments could add caveats.

The Oregon Health Authority is the states ultimate repository of health information, collecting data from coronavirus testing labs, contact tracers, providers who give COVID-19 shots and countless other entities.

Among other things, aggregate agency data can reveal the scope of the diseases impact on Oregonians and help the public evaluate health officials decisions.

In Oregon, the work of public agencies is considered the publics business  and a sweeping public records law requires most documents and data to be provided upon request. But the records law doesnt apply to public health investigations, such as those conducted when investigating COVID-19 cases.

As a result, the state has regularly used its blanket power to deny public records requests for pandemic data, whether or not that information would benefit the public.

Among other requests, the state has denied information about testing rates by ZIP code, statistics linked to early contact-tracing efforts and county-level race and ethnicity data about people infected by COVID-19.

In each case, the agency cited Oregon Revised Statutes 433.008, a law that says that information agencies gather in investigating outbreaks is confidential and is exempt from disclosure, allowing health agencies to choose what they disclose to the public, if anything.

The Society of Professional Journalists has criticized the law, saying it allows the state to arbitrarily decide what to release. The Oregon Health Authority does maintain a wide array of online COVID-19 statistical dashboards that have grown throughout the pandemic, sometimes after reporters requested the data.

It is always at their discretion, said Rachel Alexander, a board member of the Oregon chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The public has no inherent right to understand how a major state agency is responding to various aspects of the pandemic under current Oregon law.

In an indication of the states flexibility in the application of the law, the health authority has on numerous occasions reversed course on a public-records denial after pressure from the public and the media. And that pattern appears to continue to this day.

On Thursday, the health authority denied a public records request from The Oregonian/OregonLive for the number of fully vaccinated people who got sick with COVID-19 even after reaching maximum immunity, in what is known as a breakthrough case.

An agency spokeswoman said Friday the breakthrough case data couldnt be released because the cases are still under investigation, and because the agency has not yet published the relevant data. Spokeswoman Erica Heartquist acknowledged releasing the numbers would benefit the public but did not give a concrete timeline for when the agency would do so.

The health authority amended its response less than two hours later, however, soon after reporters asked officials to release the data during a press conference featuring Gov. Kate Brown and after The Oregonian/OregonLive asked the health authority to respond to some of Dembrows comments about the law.

The health authority now says it will release the data next week because the agency has a new surveillance system and updated guidelines for investigations, and because there are enough cases that patient confidentiality can be maintained.

Its unclear how many additional cases, if any, were tallied in the time since state officials originally denied the newsrooms request to its reversal Friday.

At least six other states have already published similar data. Washington this week said 102 people got COVID-19 after reaching maximum immunity, including eight who required hospitalization, as well as two potential breakthrough patients who died.

Underscoring the seemingly arbitrary nature of the existing law, some local health departments in Oregon readily shared information the state would not. Clackamas County said Friday it has had 10 breakthrough cases and Douglas County reported 12.

Oregons initial denial of the post-vaccination case data is the kind of issue that Dembrows bill would address, the senator said.

The data is important because it can help people gauge whether its safe for the state to further lift restrictions, and it wont compromise anybodys privacy because the numbers are statewide. And, given that Washington has published its numbers, its natural to expect that Oregonians would want to know the same.

Absent a reason not to do it, we should be doing it, said Dembrow, who sponsored the bill with Rep. Karin Power, D-Milwaukie.

Dembrow did want to be mindful of the nuances behind increased transparency, however, including the states understandable desire to release reliable information.

The Oregon Health Authority described an E. coli outbreak investigation that initially pointed to hummus as the culprit, but subsequently revealed that spinach was the actual source.

Had the agency been required to immediately release statistic information, officials wrote in a letter to lawmakers urging caution over changing the law, the epidemiologists would have incorrectly impugned hummus.

The chair of the Senate committee considering the bill, Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem, said the bill needs work, particularly to ensure the public gets accurate data that also protects individual privacy. To that end, the legislative work session on the bill will be pushed from Monday to Wednesday, at the earliest, as lawmakers work to amend the language.

But Patterson appeared entirely on board with the fundamentals.

I think its a great idea, Patterson said. Of course, the public has a right to know.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com; 503-294-7674
Dr. Terry Gaff is a physician in northeast Indiana. Contact him at drgaff@kpcmedia.com or on Facebook. To read past columns and to post comments go to kpcnews.com/columnists/terry_gaff.
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.
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.

Source:The Christian Post
Update: As of 4:14 p.m., all lanes have been reopened, according to the MTA. Residual delays may be in effect.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A crash on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge Sunday afternoon is causing traffic on the span.

The crash took place on the Brooklyn-bound upper level, according to the MTA, and is blocking two lanes as of 4:04 p.m.

Google Maps shows heavy traffic on the entirety of the bridge.

The MTA recommends drivers utilize the lower level and allow for extra travel time.

It is not immediately clear if the crash caused any injuries.
With the long runs ofon Nine andon 10, could Seven be looking to more romance on the schedule?

Its sole remaining relationship show is Farmer Wants a Wife, but new offerings such as Ultimate Tag and, to a lesser extent Holey Moley, have struggled. Earlier this year TV Tonight asked Programmer Angus Ross about Sevens interest in the genre.

Were not doing the saucier, trashier, 7:30 stripped stuff. In my view, theres definitely a place for that -it delivers good Demographics, and typically delivers good Streaming numbers. It would be nice to find something new in that space for us, I think, he said.

But its also about finding the right place to schedule that sort of thing. Theres no point scheduling it up against Married at First Sight clearly, or up against Bachelor franchise.

Its about looking at the those parts of the year where youve got gaps and where the opportunities are.

Farmer Wants a Wife, which was Sevens biggest show in 2020, is due in coming months.

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Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU)



leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday kicked off his two-day tour of Gujarat, during which he will campaign against the three Central farm laws, by visiting Goddess Ambaji's temple in Banaskantha district.

Taking a veiled swipe at the BJP and the Centre while entering the border, Tikait showed his passport to reporters and said he has brought it "in case it is required to enter Gujarat".

Tikait alighted from a train at Abu Road station in neighbouring Rajasthan where he was welcomed by

When asked if he is carrying a COVID-19 negative report which is mandatory while travelling in Gujarat,he replied in the affirmative and said, "I have all the documents with me. This is my passport if it is required to enter Gujarat".

Tikait is scheduled to address at Palanpur later in the day.

Hundreds of have been camping at Delhi's borders since November of last year against the Centre's agriculture reform laws. The protesting farmers are demanding the repeal of the three laws along with a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.

More than 10 rounds of talks between the central government and the farmers' union have failed to end the deadlock.

(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.)
Residents of Spring Hill, Brisbanes oldest tin-and-timber character suburb, are questioning how two ultra-modern reflective-glass apartment complexes will fit into their heritage area.

This follows similar concerns before Christmas in the suburb of Kangaroo Point, where a different development wrapped around a heritage home.

Warry Street in Spring Hill, where two modern 15-storey reflective-glass buildings are proposed. Local residents question how they would fit with the suburbs heritage feel. Credit:Tony Moore

More than 300 Spring Hill residents are petitioning Brisbane City Council over the Keylin Groups proposal to build the two contemporary art deco-style 15-storey apartment blocks in an area of the suburb populated by mostly two- to five-storey buildings.

They believe residents should be able to make submissions on the Gregory Terrace application  lodged in December 2020  making it impact assessable not code assessable, as it is now.
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A a lesser-known section of the San Andreas fault in southern California may hold the key to sparing Los Angeles from the next 'Big One' earthquake, new research has found.

The 800-mile system of fractures running much of the length of California marks the boundary between the Pacific and North American continental plates, which produce earthquakes when they rub up against each other.

Scientists call the main areas of tension 'strands', where collisions between the two plates produce dramatic ridges and valleys as the land is crumpled like a sheet of paper - as seen below in newly-released images.

Experts previously thought that most of the San Andreas Fault's movement occurred along the Banning and Garnet Hill strands some 100 miles east of LA.

But they have now discovered that another section, called the Mission Creek strand, sees even greater movement, and is thus at a higher risk of witnessing a quake.

This could be good for LA as it means tension is spread out over a wider area, rather than just in the areas covered by Banning and Garnet Hill, producing gentler tremors and reducing the damage they cause.

In addition, the orientation of the Mission Creek strand suggests it will not direct tremors into the LA metropolitan area, as could happen with the other two strands.

The San Andreas fault runs much of the length of California and marks the boundary between the Pacific and North American continental plates. Where the plates collide mountains form as the land crumples like a sheet of paper (pictured is a section near Mecca in southern California)

Scientists call the main areas of tension 'strands', where collisions between the two plates produce dramatic ridges and valleys like these ones seen in the hills near Mecca

Experts previously though that most of the San Andreas Fault's movement occurred along the Banning and Garnet Hill strands some 100 miles east of LA. But they have now discovered that another section called the Mission Creek strand sees even greater movement, and is thus at a higher risk of witnessing a quake. Pictured is the San Andreas fault near New Cuyama

A map showing the location of the Mission Creek, Banning and Garnet Hill strands. While the Banning strand is aligned east-west with the San Bernardino Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, and the Los Angeles Basin, Mission Creek has a north-westerly orientation. This suggests that some of the tremors from a quake would be diverted away from the Los Angeles basing, sparing the city some of the devastation

The San Andreas fault caused the Great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when a 7.9 magnitude tremor destroyed 90% of the city and killed more than 3,000 people.

But the southern portion of the fault, which includes LA, has not seen a major earthquake since the 18th century, reports freelance geologist David Bressan in Forbes.

Strain produced by collisions between the Pacific and North American continental plates causes land in the southern portion of the San Andreas Fault to move around one inch per year, with any large movements producing earthquakes.

What is 'the Big One'? The 'Big One' is a hypothetical earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater that is expected to happen along the San Andreas fault. Such a quake is expected to produce devastation to human civilization within about 50-100 miles (80-160km) of the quake zone, especially in urban areas like Palm Springs, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Contingency plans warn upward of 14,000 people could die in worst-case scenarios, with 30,000 injured, thousands left homeless and the region's economy setback for years, if not decades Advertisement

Researchers are able to understand which parts of the Fault are most at risk of an imminent earthquake by analysising how long ago the last one happened and how much tension has built up since.

Geologist Kimerly Blisniuk, from San Jose State University, found a series of long depressions in the desert along the Mission Creek strand in the Little San Bernadino Mountains which were evidence of previous earthquakes.

By dating the soil in these areas her team was able to work out that the last major earthquake was around 295 years ago.

They used these to calculate that the average slip rate of the Mission Creek strand was around 21.6millimeters (nearly an inch) per year.

This was far higher than the Banning strand (2.5mm), meaning that Mission Creek is at far higher risk of witnessing a major tremor.

This could be a positive for LA for several reasons.

Firstly, having several areas of high tension rather than one means that any resulting earthquakes should be spread out over a wider area, rather than concentrated in a small section.

Secondly, the location of the Mission Creek strand suggests an earthquake in that area will see less of the tension ending up in LA.

While the Banning strand is aligned east-west with the San Bernardino Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, and the Los Angeles Basin, Mission Creek has a north-westerly orientation.

This suggests that some of the tremors from a quake would be diverted away from the Los Angeles basing, sparing the city some of the devastation.

Pictured: Colorful minerals are seen on the Pacific Plate side of the San Andreas Fault, where it collides with the North American Plate, in the southwestern section of the Mecca Hills

The San Andreas fault (pictured, near Hesperia) caused the Great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when a 7.9 magnitude tremor destroyed 90% of the city and killed more than 3,000 people

A study last June found that the risk of a Big One earthquake along the San Andreas fault in the next 12 months was 2.3%, three times higher than previously thought. Pictured is the fault near the city of Mecca

A train crosses tilted layers of rock along the edge of the San Andreas Fault near Hesperia. The amount of infrastructure in the region means any earthquake could cause millions of dollars worth of damage even if it does not hit an urban area

A study last June found that the risk of a Big One earthquake along the San Andreas fault in the next 12 months was 2.3%, three times higher than previously thought.

The Big One is a hypothetical earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater.

Such a tremor could produce devastation to human civilization within about 50-100 miles of the quake zone, especially in urban areas like Palm Springs, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

In 2019, magnitude 6.4 and magnitude 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquakes hit the area, which according to scientists 'were largely unforeseen.'

If a magnitude 7.8 earthquake were to hit San Andreas it would result in more than 1,800 deaths, injure some 5,000 and displaced up to one million people from their homes.

'Nobody should panic,' earthquake specialist Ross Stein told The New York Times.

'But at the same time, the inference that the San Andreas likelihood of rupture has increased should be a reminder that anybody in Los Angeles should ask themselves, 'Am I ready?''

Dramatic land formations caused by collisions between the Pacific and North American plate, which causes the land to crumple like a sheet of paper

Colorful minerals are brought to the surface by this phenomenon, creating incredible landscapes like this one pictured in Mecca Hills
Maoists are "frustrated" because security camps have been set up in remote areas of Chhattisgarh and this process will be speeded up now to launch more serious operations against them, Director General Kuldiep Singh said here on Sunday after at least 22 security personnel were killed in fresh bloodletting.

The Central Reserve Police Force chief, who arrived in the state capital in the wake of the ambush by Naxals in Bijapur on Saturday that also left more than 30 personnel injured, said that "lessons are learnt" from every incident and they will see and analyse "what changes have been brought by the Naxals" to effectively counter them.

Singh said the Maoists are frustrated and troubled because of the induction of five new battalions in the Bastar region of the state recently and the creation of new bases in remote areas like Basaguda, Silger, Jagargunda and Minpa.

"They (Naxals) think that if they mount heavy casualties on us they can deter us and we may not establish new camps.

"But this does not happen...there have been many casualties in the past too... and as per government policy the force keeps moving forward," he said.

The DG asserted that the new camps "will be established and now this process will be made fast so that we can launch more serious operations against the Naxals."



"We keep changing our strategy and it is an evolving process," he said.

A contingent of 1,500 personnel drawn from six security camps launched the cordon and search operation against Naxals along Bijapur-Sukma border around the crack of dawn on Saturday. The ambush took place around noon that day.

"The Maoists fired from some country-made under-barrel grenade launchers (UBGLs) at a party that was returning from Jogagundam after an operation."



"These grenade rounds came all of a sudden and the troops were initially taken aback. However, they soon controlled the situation, broke the ambush and fired grenades in retaliation," Singh told reporters after meeting the injured personnel admitted at a hospital here.

He said about 4-5 personnel were injured during this first assault on the security force party.

"Members of the 'jan militia' present in the area again tried to set up an ambush and surprise these troops who were evacuating the injured...and soon after there was a burst fire from a Light Machine Gun (LMG) that was mounted some distance away.

"However, the party finally reached their base and found that 21 personnel were missing. It was then that a search was launched," the DG said.

The DG said his force, the lead combat unit for anti-Naxal operations in the country, will see and analyse "what changes have been brought by the Naxals and how can we counter them so that we again can come heavy on them."



He said the Maoists have looted the weapons of "less than 21 jawans".

Some weapons of the killed personnel were brought back by those who survived the attack, he said.

The chief met his troops including the field commander of the operation, second-in-command rank officer Sandeep Dwivedi of the 210 CoBRA Battalion and deputy commandant Manish Kumar.

(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.)
Lawsuits over execution of 2020 census near conclusions

Two legal challenges to the Trump administrations execution of the 2020 census neared conclusions this week in the face of changes brought by President Joe Bidens administration since he took office last January.

A group of primarily Latino and Asian American advocates that had sued the Trump administration in federal court in Maryland on Wednesday asked to have their lawsuit dismissed. Their lawsuit challenged orders from President Donald Trump that directed the Census Bureau to gather citizenship information about every U.S. resident through administrative records and also attempted to exclude people in the country illegally from the numbers used for divvying up congressional seats among the states.

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The advocates said Trumps orders violated the constitutional and civil rights of Latinos, Asian Americans and non-U.S. citizens.

Biden rescinded both orders in one of his first acts as president. The Biden administration also has stopped efforts to produce neighborhood-level data that showed the citizenship and voting age of the population and is taking the time needed to make sure there are no problems with the 2020 census datas quality, the Latino and Asian American groups said in court papers.

Plaintiffs have concluded that their claims in the case are resolved, they said in court papers.

In a separate federal lawsuit in San Jose, California, a coalition of civil rights groups and local governments that had sued the Trump administration over efforts to end the nations head count early said this week that they are making significant progress toward resolving the case. Both the coalition and government attorneys asked a judge on Thursday to give them two more weeks to reach a resolution.

The coalition of local governments and advocacy groups had sued the Trump administration for trying to end the once-a-decade head count a month early and to make sure the Census Bureau had enough time to crunch the numbers. They said ending the head count and data processing early would hurt minority communities.

The census data are used to determine how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets and the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year. The state population counts from the 2020 census are set to be released later this month.

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The Census Bureau is facing new lawsuits, though, from states over when it plans to release data used for redrawing congressional and legislative districts. The states of Ohio and Alabama recently challenged the statistical agencys decision to release redistricting numbers in August, at the earliest.

A federal judge has dismissed Ohios case, but the state is appealing. Last week, a three-judge panel was named to hear the Alabama case, which will fast-track it to the Supreme Court if theres an appeal.
The sheer magnitude of the money involved is staggering for politics. In the final 2 months of 2020, the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and their shared accounts issued more than 530,000 refunds worth $US64.3 million to online donors. All campaigns make refunds for various reasons, including to people who give more than the legal limit. But the sum the Trump operation refunded dwarfed that of Joe Bidens campaign and his equivalent Democratic committees, which made 37,000 online refunds totalling $US5.6 million in that time. The recurring donations swelled Trumps treasury in September and October, just as his finances were deteriorating. He was then able to use tens of millions of dollars he raised after the election, under the guise of fighting his unfounded fraud claims, to help cover the refunds he owed. Russell Blatt shows a photo of his brother, Stacy, who donated more than he intended to former President Donald Trumps 2020 re-election campaign and later died of cancer in February of 2021. Credit:Katie Currid/The New York Times In effect, the money that Trump eventually had to refund amounted to an interest-free loan from unwitting supporters at the most important juncture of the 2020 race. Political strategists, digital operatives and campaign finance experts said they could not recall ever seeing refunds at such a scale. Trump, the RNC and their shared accounts refunded far more money to online donors in the last election cycle than every federal Democratic candidate and committee in the country combined.

Donors typically said they intended to give once or twice and only later discovered on their bank statements and credit card bills that they were donating over and over again. Some, like Stacy Blatt, who died of cancer in February, sought an injunction from their banks and credit cards. Others pursued refunds directly from WinRed, which typically granted them to avoid more costly formal disputes. That date, a seemingly random Sunday, became the biggest day for online donations in the campaigns history. Jason Miller, a spokesperson for Trump, downplayed the rash of fraud complaints and the $US122.7 million in total refunds issued by the Trump operation. He said internal records showed that 0.87 per cent of its WinRed transactions had been subject to formal credit card disputes. The fact we had a dispute rate of less than 1 per cent of total donations despite raising more grassroots money than any campaign in history is remarkable, he said. A small yellow box and a flood of fraud complaints The small and bright yellow box popped up on Trumps digital donation portal around March 2020. The text was boldface, simple and straightforward: Make this a monthly recurring donation.

The box came prefilled with a checkmark. Even that was more aggressive than what the Biden campaign would do in 2020. Biden officials said they rarely used prechecked boxes to automatically have donations recur monthly or weekly; the exception was on landing pages where advertisements and emails had explicitly asked supporters to become repeat donors. Loading But for Trump, the prechecked monthly box was just the beginning. By June, the campaign and the RNC were experimenting with a second prechecked box, to default donors into making an additional contribution  called the money bomb. An early test arrived in the run-up to Trumps birthday, June 14. The results were tantalising: That date, a seemingly random Sunday, became the biggest day for online donations in the campaigns history.

The two prechecked yellow boxes would be a fixture for the rest of the campaign. And so would a much larger volume of refunds. Until then, the Biden and Trump operations had nearly identical refund rates on WinRed and ActBlue in 2020: 2.18 per cent for Trump and 2.17 per cent for Biden. But from the day after Trumps birthday through the rest of the year, Bidens refund rate remained nearly flat, at 2.24 per cent, while Trumps soared to 12.29 per cent. Around the same time, officials who fielded fraud claims at bank and credit card companies noticed a surge in complaints against the Trump campaign and WinRed. It started to go absolutely wild, said one fraud investigator with Wells Fargo. It just became a pattern, said another at Capital One. A consumer representative for USAA, which primarily serves military families, recalled an older veteran who discovered repeated WinRed charges from donating to Trump only after calling to have his balance read to him by phone.

The Trump operation was not done modifying the yellow boxes. Soon, the fact that donations would be withdrawn weekly was taken out of boldface type, according to archived versions of the presidents website, and moved beneath other bold text. As the campaigns financial problems became increasingly acute, the yellow boxes became dizzyingly more complex. By October there were sometimes nine lines of boldface text  with ALL-CAPS words sprinkled in  before the disclosure that there would be weekly withdrawals. As many as eight more lines of boldface text came before the second additional donation disclaimer. The Gary and Gerrit operation By last summer, the Biden campaign had begun outraising Trumps team, and the president was hopping mad. For months, years even, his advisers had been telling him how he had built a one-of-a-kind financial juggernaut. So why, Trump demanded to know, was he off the television airwaves just months before the election in critical battleground states like Michigan?

Where did all the money go? he would lash out, according to two senior advisers. Inside the Trump reelection headquarters in Northern Virginia, the pressure was building to wring ever more money out of his supporters. Loading Perhaps nowhere was that pressure more acute than on Trumps expansive and lucrative digital operation. That was the unquestioned domain of Gary Coby, a 30-something strategist whose title  digital director  and microscopic public profile belied his immense influence on the Trump operation, especially online. A veteran of the RNC and the 2016 race, Coby had the confidence, trust and respect of Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law, who unofficially oversaw the 2020 campaign, according to people familiar with the campaigns operations. Kushner and the rest of the campaign leadership gave Coby, whose talents are recognised across the Republican digital industry, wide latitude to raise money however he saw fit.

That meant almost endless optimisation and experimentation, sometimes pushing the traditional boundaries. The Trump team repeatedly used phantom donation matches and faux deadlines to loosen donor wallets (1000% offer: ACTIVATEDFor the NEXT HOUR). Eventually it racheted up the volume of emails it sent until it was barraging supporters with an average of 15 per day for all of October and November 2020. Coby declined an interview request for this article. Cobys partner in fundraising was Gerrit Lansing, president of WinRed, which had been created in 2019 as a centralised platform for GOP digital contributions after prominent Republicans feared they were falling irreparably behind Democrats and ActBlue. Top Trump officials said they did not know specifically who had conceived of using the weekly recurring prechecked boxes  or who had designed them in the increasingly complex blizzard of text. But they said virtually all online fundraising decisions were a Gary and Gerrit production. Unlike ActBlue, which is a nonprofit, WinRed is a for-profit company. It makes its money by taking 30 cents of every donation, plus 3.8 per cent of the amount given. WinRed was paid more than $US118 million from federal committees the last election cycle; even after paying credit card fees and expenses like payroll and rent, the profits are believed to be significant.
Forty years ago, Mehmood Ansari immigrated from Pakistan to Atlantic City and eventually opened a shop on the boardwalk - City Souvenirs.

The 66-year-old father worked hard, morning and night, and was always smiling, says his son Asif Ansari.

On Thursday night, tragedy struck inside the store. Mehmood collapsed and died shortly after being robbed by a knife-wielding 12-year-old boy during a confrontation with multiple juveniles who were rampaging through the store, authorities said. While Ansaris autopsy results are pending, his son said he believes Ansari died from the shock of the incident.

Following his death, Ansaris family and other boardwalk merchants are calling for more security in the area.

He worked every single day, open and close. He worked hard for us, Asif said. He always wanted to have (more) security. He was trying, trying. But we didnt know it was going to end up like this.

Asif Ansari said his dad was the heart of Atlantic City and moved to the beachside resort town because he viewed it as a land of opportunity.

He was friendly. He was always smiling, everybody loved him We all miss him. We just wish hed come back, Asif said.

Asif Ansari said his father noticed theft had become an issue on the promenade, with kids and teenagers running into stores to snatch clothes, sunglasses and souvenirs. He talked about wanting more security on the boardwalk, Asif said. His store was between Kentucky and New York avenues.

Around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Asif said his father returned to the shop after working a shift that morning to bring food to his son, who was working that night. Five minutes later, a group of young teens and preteens tried stealing items. When confronted, they started harassing and throwing items at his dad.

During the altercation, a 12-year-old boy brandished a knife and threatened Mehmood, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner said in a statement. Shortly after police arrived, the owner collapsed and was not breathing, the prosecutor said. He was taken to the hospital, where he died.

This is like our home and its not safe, Asif Ansari said. He said the incident was caught on surveillance video.

The two juveniles have not been charged in Mehmood Ansaris 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.

Amer Kashmiri, president of the local merchants association, said harassment of store owners and theft on the boardwalk has been a problem for awhile and was an issue last summer too.

A few months ago, he said, officials including the mayor, county sheriff and a state assemblyman met with owners to discuss security concerns. Kashmiri said the police department needs to devote more officers to the boardwalk full time, as well as police substations every few blocks.

A lack of security on the boardwalk deters tourists from visiting the city, Kashmiri said.

We need security. We dont want to do business with fear, said Kashmiri, who owns a clothing store and souvenir shop. If people are scared to come to the boardwalk if tourists wont come, Atlantic City will not run.

Deputy Chief James Sarkos, interim officer-in-charge of the city police, responded to concerns from business owners in a statement on Friday, saying the department is aware of the concerns and complaints regarding juveniles and plans to work with business on the promenade.

Following his fathers death, Asif Ansari says he wants to see a change.

Its not going to bring my father back but I hope he died for something, Asif said, and it should change something here... We need better security.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo.
Out-of-control revellers at a Gold Coast hoon meet hurled fireworks, rocks and bottles at police after they arrived to break-up the rowdy event.

Officers cracking down on hooning across the city's northern suburbs attended a ' gathering with around '600 vehicles and 1000 people' in a Pimpama business car park at 10pm Saturday.

Gold Coast Police Acting Chief Superintendent Geoff Sheldon said things 'turned ugly' when officers confronted the crowds.

Fireworks, rocks, and bottles were thrown at police vehicles on Saturday as officers cracking down on hoon meets across the Gold Coast's northern suburbs attended large-gatherings in Pimpama, Yatala (pictured) and Molendinar

'Three of our vehicles were pelted with bottles and stones, and believe it or not, fireworks. There was fireworks shot at police cars and also at our police helicopter before events moved on,' he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

'This wasnt a bunch of like-minded individual car enthusiasts. These people were throwing rocks and bottles at police, firing fireworks at helicopters and just out committing criminal offences. Thats the difference.'

Police said the vehicles dispersed with many re-forming in the industrial area at Molendinar where an unmarked police vehicle was damaged after more projectiles were thrown at it.

More than 20 traffic infringement notices have been issued as part of the ongoing operation and investigations are ongoing, with police also attending two other meets, in Yatala and Molendinar, on Saturday night.

A man filming the vehicles was allegedly assaulted near a Coomera shopping centre with police.

A 20-year-old Coomera man was charged relation to the incident and is due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on April 23.

Just after midnight police were called to a single vehicle crash on Ashmore Road, Molendinar, believed to involve a vehicle that was part of one of the meets.

The driver, a 17-year-old male, was transported to Gold Coast University Hospital with serious injuries. Two passengers were treated for minor injuries.

More than 50 fines were issued for dangerous driving and hooning offences, as police investigations into the incident continue. Pictured: The hoon meet in Yatala

No officers were injured during the operation, while three police vehicles sustained minor damage.

Superintendent Geoff Sheldon said police are reviewing CCTV, police body worn and dashcam footage, as well as Polair vision to identify the vehicles of those involved.

'This behaviour is outrageous, clearly dangerous and will not be tolerated on our streets and in our suburbs,' he said.

'We are determined to locate as many vehicles and people involved in these overnight disturbances and dangerous driving incidents and they can expect to feel the full force of the law.'

'Where we have the evidence we will put people before the Courts, when appropriate seize their cars and or issue traffic infringement notices.'
KIMT-TV 3 NEWS  The governors of Iowa and Minnesota have ordered flags at all public buildings be flown at half-staff on Monday to honor a slain Capitol police officer.

Officer William Billy Evans was killed Friday after an attacker rammed a car into a security barricade at the Capitol complex, then jumped out and charged police with a knife.

"We mourn the loss of Capitol Police Officer William 'Billy' Evans and I send my prayers and deepest condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones who are left to grieve following this horrific act of violence, says Governor Kim Reynolds. The state of Iowa will never forget the sacrifices made by the brave men and women of law enforcement who willingly put themselves on the line to protect the innocent and uphold the rule of law.

Flags at public buildings will be flown at half-staff from sunrise until sunset on Monday. Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged do so as well.
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.
On an older car, following the owners manual mileage recommendation for severe conditions will help to keep the lubricant and its blend of protective additives fresh (if you no longer have the manual, they are often available online and from the automaker). The systems built into many new cars that remind you of required service, like oil changes, take into account the length of trips and will recommend changes based on actual driving.

Changing the oil is also the ideal time to look in on other maintenance tasks, including checks of all belts and hoses; while both suffer the effects of engine heat under the hood, they can also develop cracks while the car just sits.

Add car batteries to the time list. They have a limited life thats not based on miles driven. They often start to decline after three years and give up altogether after five to seven.

Jill Trotta, a certified technician and vice president for marketing at RepairPal, a website that provides cost estimates and connects car owners with qualified mechanic shops, knows how to properly care for a car. Yet even she let a battery run down past the point where it could be revived with a charge, which is exactly what happened to her 2014 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid when it sat in the driveway for months without being driven during the pandemic.

The solution: a low-power battery maintainer, which keeps the charge topped up between drives. Basic ones start at about $25. Keep in mind, too, that while battery replacement is an entirely straightforward swap on most cars, some electronics-intensive models make it more painful. BMWs going back nearly two decades require a registration and programming process, which means added expense and a possible visit to a dealer. Its worth preventing a dead battery in the first place.

Another maintenance task that should not be deferred is replacing the timing belt in engines that use them. The belt turns the camshafts that open the engines valves and can cause major engine damage if it fails. Typically good for 80,000 to 100,000 miles of service, the belt can degrade even while sitting, so stick to the automakers recommendation on years between renewal.

Dont forget the brakes.

A telling sign of a car not being driven is a layer of rust on the brake discs. A light coating is no problem, though it may be noisy for a few blocks; it will be polished off by the first few presses of the brake pedal on a careful drive around the neighborhood.
Federal agents raided an anonymous safety deposit box business in Beverly Hills over alleged criminal activity, prompting customers to call the seizures 'unconstitutional,' it has been revealed.

A newly unsealed indictment from March 9 alleges that U.S. Private Vaults and its customers were laundering money and letting drug dealers store fentanyl, guns and cash in the boxes and claimed the business marketed itself to crooks.

Agents with the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency seized the contents of every single box on on March 22 after being granted a warrant, which remains sealed.

During the raid, agents seized an 'unspecified number of weapons' as well as fentanyl, OxyContin and 'huge stacks of $100 bills' sniffed out by drug dogs, The Los Angeles Times reported.

One box reportedly contained a whopping $1 million in cash, according to the outlet.

A sign has been taped to the front door telling customers 'to initiate a claim for your U.S. Private Vaults box' on the FBI's website.

'Please go to the following link to initiate a claim for your US Private Vaults box,' the sign notes.

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Federal agents raided an anonymous safety deposit box business in Beverly Hills prompting customers to call the seizures 'unconstitutional'

The Los Angeles Times reported that a sign has been taped to the front door telling customers 'to initiate a claim for your U.S. Private Vaults box' on the FBI's website

A 10-inch by 10-inch box at U.S. Private Vaults rents annually for $2,000 and the company noted on its website that it accepts bitcoin

The form on the FBI's website reads: 'To make a claim for property stored at U.S. Private Vaults in Beverly Hills, California, please provide the following information. An FBI agent will contact you for additional details.'

Prosecutors claimed that U.S. Private Vaults boasted that its anonymous boxes were more secure than banks from federal agencies, according to the indictment obtained by DailyMail.com.

'Unlike traditional bank deposit boxes, US Private Vaults are 100 percent private, allowing your identity to remain completely anonymous,' an advertisement for the company on YouTube claims.

The company posted another video to YouTube in 2012 that identifies its president as a Steven Gregory.

Unlike a bank we don't require our customers to show photo ID or provide a Social Security number as a requirement for renting a box, Gregory says in the video.

We identify our clients through an iris scan and a palm geometry scan.

According to the indictment, the company had also allegedly advertised: 'We don't even want to know your name' and claimed that it did not require customer information that 'can be easily accessed by government agencies (such as the IRS).'

A 10-inch by 10-inch box at U.S. Private Vaults rents annually for $2,000 and the company noted on its website that it accepts bitcoin. The cheapest box for $700 is only 3-inches by 5-inches.

The company even allegedly issued safety deposit box keys that 'were unmarked and unnumbered so that law enforcement could not determine that the keys unlocked safety deposit boxes at USPV,' the indictment reads.

An advertisement for the company on YouTube claims that no Social Security number or I.D. were required to rent boxes at the company

The company posted another video to YouTube in 2012 that identifies its president as a Steven Gregory

Prosecutors claimed that employees would even tip off customers if law enforcement officers were seen in the area.

According to The Los Angeles Times, customers would access the business with an eye and hand scan to unlock the door.

A manager at U.S. Private Vaults dealt marijuana and cocaine, and prosecutors alleged that the business conspired with a neighboring Gold Business store to launder money, prosecutors claimed.

Prosecutors claimed that employees at the Gold Business sold large amounts of jewelry for cash to a customer of the U.S. Private Vaults who is also a confidential informant working with law enforcement.



'I recommend you stay under $10,000 in cash and then you could just do some one day, and a few days later you could do the other,' a Gold Business worker allegedly told an undercover DEA agent posing as a customer.

'If you buy less than $10,000 then there's no form.'

In the indictment, a federal grand jury charged U.S. Private Vaults with three counts: conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to structure transactions.

The indictment did not name any of the people believed to be behind the illegal activity and it is not immediately clear if they would independently face criminal charges.

DailyMail.com has reached out to U.S. Private Vaults for more information and additional comment.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the legality of the seizure has already sparked a contentious court battle.

One customer has already claimed that feds 'overreached by confiscating the belongings in every security box,' according to court filings obtained by the outlet.

The customer, listed as John Doe, has claimed that law enforcement seized the contents of the boxes 'without showing why it suspected each person of committing crimes' and has alleged that the search of hundreds of boxes 'was unconstitutional.'

Prosecutors claimed that U.S. Private Vaults boasted that its anonymous boxes were more secure than banks from federal agencies

A manager at U.S. Private Vaults dealt marijuana and cocaine, and prosecutors alleged that the business conspired with a neighboring Gold Business store

A form on the FBI's website reads: 'To make a claim for property stored at U.S. Private Vaults in Beverly Hills, California, please provide the following information. An FBI agent will contact you for additional detail'

According to The Los Angeles Times, the government improperly seized his jewelry and other valuables in three different boxes 'because there was no probable cause' that the customer committed a crime.

Benjamin N. Gluck, the customer's attorney, wrote in the court filings that customers have 'a separate reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her separately controlled box or boxes,' the outlet reported.

He is trying to get a court order to prevent the FBI from requiring customers who had items seized to identity themselves.

The form on the FBI website requires customers seeking their items back to list their names and phone numbers and asks a variety of other identifiers that are not required to complete the form.

Those identifiers include email and physical addresses, while the form notes that false statements on it are 'a federal crime.'

Gluck alleged in the documents that the FBI is holding his client's items 'hostage' until he identifies himself, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Brown said in court filings that some customers are 'honest citizens' but defended seizing all of the boxes 'to distinguish between honest and criminal customers,' The Los Angeles Times reported.

'The government must examine the specific facts of each box and each claim,' Brown reportedly said.

Another Beverly Hills attorney with several clients who are customers of U.S. Private Vaults told The Los Angeles Times that the government's actions 'show low regard for the Fourth Amendment.'

Attorney Nina Marino slammed the government for 'seizing innocent box owners' property' and viewing it even if some boxes were used to commit crimes.

'It's just outrageous that the government has such low regard for the 4th Amendment and for an individual's expectation of privacy,' she said.

Beth Colgan, a UCLA law professor, told The Los Angeles Times that it would be shocking if a judge had allowed the FBI to search every box in the sealed warrant.

'I would just be very surprised if a judge had approved a warrant that would allow the FBI to go through every single box absent evidence that the entire system was corrupt,' she said.

'Maybe they have the evidence, and that's the thing we don't know.'
Kanpur: The country is witnessing the biggest vaccination drive in history. In a recent development, a 48-year old woman was given two doses of the coronavirus vaccine at a Healthcare Centre in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat district on Friday (April 2).

According to the complaint filed by receipt to the district officials, the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) from the Healthcare Centre in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat district was speaking over the phone and completely forgot that she already injected the woman and went on to give her another shot.

48-year old Kamlesh Devi was given two doses of the coronavirus vaccine at a Healthcare Centre in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat district. The second jab of the coronavirus vaccine is to be given four to eight weeks after the first one is administered.

District Magistrate JP Singh has formed a three-member team to investigate the matter that took place at Madauli Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in the Akbarbarpur area.

The health condition of the patient looks stable. Her right arm is swollen, this being a usual symptom after vaccination. She is currently under observation at her residence in Madauli, said her husband Vipin Kumar.

India has approved two vaccines hitherto. This includes Covaxin and Covishield.

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Daniel Kaluuya hosted "Saturday Night Live." "Saturday Night Live"/NBC

Daniel Kaluuya hosted this week's episode of "Saturday Night Live."

In his monologue, the actor said he is "what the royal family was worried the baby would look like."

Meghan Markle told Oprah that some royals had "concerns and conversations" about Archie's skin tone.

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Daniel Kaluuya hosted this week's "Saturday Night Live" episode.

The award-winning actor gave a monologue that included a nod to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's claims of racism in the royal family.

After introducing himself, the "Get Out" and "Judas and the Black Messiah" star said: "I know you're hearing my accent and thinking, 'Oh no, he's not Black, he's British.'"

"Let me reassure you that I am Black. I'm Black and I'm British. Basically, I am what the royal family was worried the baby would look like," Kaluuya continued.

Kaluuya was referencing Markle and Harry's two-hour, tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired in March. In the interview, Markle told Winfrey that members of the royal family had "concerns and conversations" about how dark their first child, Archie's skin would be before he was born.

"What?" Winfrey said to Markle. "Who is having that conversation with you? What?"

Markle went on to say that royal family members expressed concerns to Prince Harry about "what that would mean or look like" if their future baby had dark skin. She did not name which royals expressed the concerns, saying: "I think that would be very damaging to them."

Harry also refused to name the family members who expressed the "concerns," though he later told Winfrey that it was neither the Queen nor Prince Philip.

Continuing with his "SNL" monologue, Kaluuya said: "People ask me: 'What's worse, British racism or American racism? Let me put it this way: British racism is so bad, white people left."

Story continues

"They wanted to be free - free to create their own kind of racism. That's why they invented Australia, South Africa, and Boston," Kaluuya added.

Later in his monologue, Kaluuya recalled being 'muted' at the Golden Globes

Kaluuya, a Golden Globe winner for best supporting actor for his role in "Judas and the Black Messiah," had some of his audio cut out mistakenly due to a "technical problem" at the February awards show.

During his acceptance speech, Kaluuya, who attended via video call, had a "bad connection," according to presenter Laura Dern. Dern then apologized for the error, but eventually, Kaluuya was able to successfully call in.

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In his "SNL" monologue, Kaluuya made light of the blunder.

"I was muted, can you believe that?" Kaluuya said. "I told the best joke of my life and I was muted. I felt like I was in the Sunken Place," he said, referencing his role in the 2017 horror film "Get Out."

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https://www.aish.com/f/hotm/The-Grandparents-I-Never-Knew.html

I only knew that they had been killed by terrible people called Nazis during the war.

All my life their only photograph was on display in our living room but as

as a child I always felt afraid to look at them too closely.

They were my fathers parents but, unlike my maternal grandparents, I knew nothing about them. I only knew that I was named Menucha after my unknown grandmother and that she and my grandfather Menachem Mendel had been killed by terrible people called Nazis during the war.

My fathers parents.

As far as I was aware, the only war was World War II. My father Azriel had miraculously managed to obtain a rare visa from Lithuania three weeks before the war began in August, 1939. He told us about his anxious train journey through Europe, how he had struck up a conversation with a young German soldier on the train who later thanked my father for being such an interesting travel companion.

When the train reached the safety of Holland, the passengers bent down to kiss the ground. My father then sailed by ship all the way to South Africa, far away from the horrific turmoil of Europe. Though spared from their fate of the Holocaust like a brand plucked from the fire, he never forgot his beloved parents who remained behind.

When the war finally ended he tried to search for them, but sadly to no avail. He once received a letter stating that a woman named Menucha Levin had survived the war and was living in Israel. His hopeful dream soon turned to bitter disappointment. This woman was not his mother, just ironically shared the same name.

My father, like other survivors, wanted to move on with his life. He married my mother Leah and the following year when I was born he named me after my grandmother.

Although I never knew my maternal grandparents either, my mother told me many detailed stories about them. They were among the many Jewish immigrants who had left Lithuania in the early 1900s and settled in Cape Town, South Africa. My grandfather Moshe had died relatively young after suffering a head injury and my grandmother Frayda did live to see me but passed away soon after my first birthday. Still, they seemed very real to me through my mothers stories.

But my father found it too painful to talk about his parents so I grew up with no idea what they were like.

My knowledge of the Nazis and an evil man named Hitler was equally lacking. At the age of seven, seeing the cover of a book about David and Goliath, I immediately assumed that Goliath, the fearsome-looking giant, was Hitler. Who else would have been big and strong enough to kill so many innocent people?

As I grew older, I began to learn more accurate, horrifying details about the Holocaust, including how my grandparents had been killed. When the Germans invaded Lithuania in June, 1941, about 220,000 Jews were living there. Executions began on the very first day of the invasion when the Germans started their murderous plan to execute the Jews.

However I found it strangely comforting that at least my grandparents had not been crammed into a packed cattle car for days, deported to Auschwitz and agonizingly suffocated to death in a gas chamber, the fate of too many unfortunate Jews from other countries.

Instead it might have been a pleasant summer day when they had been marched from their home to a forest called Ponar, six miles south of Vilna. I visualize the sun shining in the blue sky, the air scented by the surrounding pine trees. Of course they must have been terrified when they heard the first shots ring out through the forest, realizing their lives were about to end, but I hope at least they died instantly.

The genocide rate of Lithuanian Jews, a horrific 95 to 97%, was one of the highest in Europe, primarily due to the eager co-operation of the local Lithuanians with the German authorities.

Holocaust memorial, Ponar Forest, Lithuania

So I grew up deprived, not only of my martyred grandparents, but without any knowledge of them. Their photo revealed more as I grew older. Viewed from a distance it appeared that my grandmother had a hunchback. To my amazement I noticed it was only the turned-up collar of her dark coat which made her appear that way.

She had a white scarf tucked neatly inside and wore a snug black hat, similar to one that I wear now. Standing side by side, my grandparents were a fine-looking couple.

What would my childhood have been like if Id had the privilege to know them? How excited I would have been to visit my beloved Bobba and Zaida as Id call them in Lithuanian-accented Yiddish. She would have told me stories about her own childhood, one generation connecting with another. My Zaida would have slipped me candy with a secret smile and called me shaina maidela (cute little girl).

Though my grandparents exist only in my imagination, I have now been blessed with wonderful grandchildren of my own. Our time together is special, exchanging hugs and jokes, telling stories about my own childhood, doing arts and crafts, sending them riddles by email.

My favorite psalm 128 contains this beautiful blessing: May you live to see children born to your children. Tragically my paternal grandparents did not live to see any of their descendants but I am endlessly grateful for the privilege of seeing mine.
Lagos, April 4 : At least 15 people kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria's northern state of Kaduna have been rescued, according to an official.

The victims were rescued by police operatives on Thursday at different locations in the Chikun area of the state, Samuel Aruwan, a commissioner for internal security and home affairs in the state, told Xinhua news agency on Saturday.

Three women among the rescued victims had spent four months in "the kidnappers' den" after being abducted on November 18, 2020, said Aruwan.

"Following a tip-off on Thursday, revealing that the hostages had been sighted, police personnel mobilised to the area and engaged the bandits, forcing them to abandon their captives," he said.

In another operation, the commissioner said the police rescued 12 victims who had been abducted following a recent attack by gunmen along the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari highway.

According to him, police operatives on a routine patrol found the 12 victims in a Buruku forest and eventually rescued them while the gunmen escaped.

Aruwan said the troops were still trailing other fleeing gunmen to areas said to be their enclave.

Nigeria has witnessed a series of attacks by armed groups in recent months.

On March 12, unidentified gunmen attacked the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in Mando area and abducted a number of students.

On February 26, 279 school girls were abducted from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Zamfara state. They were released on March 2.

In January, at least 27 students were kidnapped from a boarding school in Kagara.

They were released on February 17.

In 2014, 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped by the Islamist Boko Haram terrorists in Chibok town, which drew global attention and condemnation.

More than 110 of those girls are still unaccounted for, while the remaining either escaped, freed by the military or died.
Lucknow, April 4 : Former MP and senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, Bhagwati Singh, died here on Sunday and his body will be donated to the King George's Medical University (KGMU). He was 88.

Family sources have said that his body will be kept at his River bank Colony residence till afternoon to enable people to pay their respects, after which it will be handed over to the KGMU.

Singh was one of the founder members of the SP and a close associate of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

He held several ministerial positions in Samajwadi governments in Uttar pradesh.
A mother and her two-year-old child have narrowly escaped injury after a boat they were on suddenly exploded north of Sydney.

Emergency services were called to the Hawkesbury River Marina, at Brooklyn, just after 5pm on Sunday following reports eight people were injured during an explosion near Dangar Island.

A NSW Ambulance spokesperson said two patients were rushed to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition while four people were taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a serious condition.

Two others were treated for minor injuries by paramedics at the scene.

A female victim is fighting for her life at Royal North Shore Hospital with burns to 60 per cent of her body, while two other women and a man remain in serious conditions and in induced comas at the same hospital.

Eight people have been rushed to hospital after a boat exploded at the Hawkesbury River Marina, at Brooklyn (pictured), just after 5pm on Sunday

NSW Ambulance inspector David Morris said the explosion was the most catastrophic he had seen in his 15-year career.

'It's one of the worst incidents I've seen in my 15-year career in ambulance, and thankfully we had all the other emergency services here to help us out,' Morris told media after the incident.

An onlooker said they were eating ice creams at the marina when they noticed the mother and toddler taking pictures near the bow of the vessel.

The woman appeared to be taking pictures with the little one right up until the explosion, which occurred at the other end of the boat.

'Thankfully the couple with the baby were on the bow of the boat and not near the explosion,' the witness said.

'We witnessed a really horrific scene.'

Another witness said a woman with 'several kids' had stepped off the boat moments earlier to buy ice cream nearby, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Two people are in a critical condition, four people are in a serious condition, and another two suffered minor injuries

Two of the people on board have suffered burns to up to 60 per cent of their bodies, while the other six had burns to 20 per cent or less of their bodies.

Rural Fire Service volunteers treated the patients at the scene until paramedics arrived.

'NSW Ambulance along with other emergency services established a triage area to assess all of our patients,' NSW Ambulance inspector David Morris said in a statement on Sunday evening.

'Once the area was established, patients were reassessed by NSW Ambulance medical teams.

'NSW Police provided assistance in escorting these patients to various hospitals with medical teams awaiting their arrival.'

Marine Rescue NSW said there was no one on the 28 foot Bertram when it caught fire, but those injured were believed to be refuelling the vessel at the time.

Two crews from Marine Rescue Hawkesbury began extinguishing the flames before the RFS arrived to put out the fire with assistance of Fire and Rescue NSW.

Fire and Rescue NSW said firefighters were tasked with driving ambulances to allow paramedics to treat patients in transit because of the seriousness of their injuries.

The vessel has sunk in shallow water with a slow fuel leak, with hazardous materials experts called in to contain it.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, with further official updates expected by Monday morning.
The family of a rail ticket collector who died from Covid after being 'spat at' while on duty, have demanded the name of the man they say is responsible so they can sue him.

Belly Mujinga, 47, died in April two weeks after a man claiming to have Covid-19 coughed and spat at the mother-of-one at London's Victoria Station, according to her family and colleagues.

British Transport Police used ticket records to trace a 57-year-old man and interview him.

The family of Belly Mujinga, pictured with her husband Lusamba Gode Katalay, have asked the police for the name of the man they claim spat on her before she died from Covid in April 2020

Timeline of Belly Mujinga's death and the police investigation March 21 : Belly Mujinga is allegedly spat at by a customer at London Victoria train station who claims to have 'the virus'

: Belly Mujinga is allegedly spat at by a customer at London Victoria train station who claims to have 'the virus' March 21 : Her colleague Motolani Sunmola reports the incident to their employer Govia Thameslink Railway

: Her colleague Motolani Sunmola reports the incident to their employer Govia Thameslink Railway March 25 : The suspect is tested for Covid-19 but results confirm he had not been infected

: The suspect is tested for Covid-19 but results confirm he had not been infected April 2: Mrs Mujinga is taken to hospital after becoming unwell

Mrs Mujinga is taken to hospital after becoming unwell April 5 : She dies in hospital

: She dies in hospital April 8 : The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association tells GTR about an allegation of deliberate coughing

: The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association tells GTR about an allegation of deliberate coughing May 12 : The TSSA claims Mrs Mujinga has been assaulted by a man who deliberately coughed and spat at her, saying he 'had the virus'.

: The TSSA claims Mrs Mujinga has been assaulted by a man who deliberately coughed and spat at her, saying he 'had the virus'. August 6 : Crown Prosecution Service says insufficient evidence has emerged for it to bring charges against anyone relating to homicide, assault or public order offences

: Crown Prosecution Service says insufficient evidence has emerged for it to bring charges against anyone relating to homicide, assault or public order offences September 16 : A report by GTR suggests the alleged attack never happened because no complaints about spitting were made at the time by staff and police also 'concluded that no spitting incident took place' Advertisement

He denied spitting and said he had coughed, but not deliberately, and also insisted that he did not say he had the virus.

Lawyers for Belly Mujinga's widower, Lusamba Katalay, have submitted a complaint to British Transport Police (BTP) after their requests for the man's name were ignored, they say.

BTP investigated the incident following the mother-of-one's death and questioned the 57-year-old man.

Footage of the incident, which has not been released, was obtained by the police which allegedly showed a man coming close to Mrs Mujinga before she ran away but officers said that the poor image quality meant it was inconclusive.

The force concluded there was 'no evidence to substantiate any criminal offences'.

The CPS later reviewed the evidence and confirmed 'no reliable evidence' was available to alter the decision.

But Lawrence Davies, of Equal Justice Solicitors, said they are 'concerned' the force will not release the name.

BTP has discretion and is not required to release the name of a person who is questioned in connection with a case in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

But he added that there is an exception for lawyers seeking that information in order to pursue a case within the civil courts.

A British Transport Police spokesman said: 'While our thoughts continue to be with Belly's family and friends, it is not within the remit of the police to assist the public in their pursuit of civil remedies.'

Andrew Walker, a senior coroner, is currently considering whether to hold an inquest into Mrs Mujinga's death.

According to the Telegraph, Transport minister Grant Shapps told the family's lawyers he would 'await the Coroner's decision' before answering calls for a public inquiry into her death.

Mrs Mujinga (left and right), a sales clerk for Govia Thameslink Railway, suffered from sarcoidosis, which affected her throat and lungs, and made it difficult for her to breathe

Mr Katalay said the hearing would give the family 'concrete answers', adding: 'It will be good for me and my daughter, we will be able to have peace.'

Mrs Mujinga, a sales clerk for Govia Thameslink Railway, suffered from sarcoidosis, which affected her throat and lungs, and made it difficult for her to breathe.

She had been on duty on the Victoria concourse on March 21 with her friend and colleague Motolani Sunmola when the alleged incident took place.

Ms Sunmola, 52, claimed they were approached by a man who coughed on them and said: 'You know I have the virus.'

In the days that followed, Mrs Mujinga became very unwell with Covid-19 symptoms and was taken to hospital on April 2 before dying three days later.

A socially distanced vigil will be held tomorrow at Victoria station at 11.22am tomorrow - the time Mrs Mujinga was allegedly assaulted - to mark the first anniversary of her death.

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of Bella's union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said: 'We are asking people to take a minute out of their day to remember Belly Mujinga and to think of all the frontline workers who have died from coronavirus during the pandemic.

'There must be justice for Belly and our union will go on demanding that. This is vitally important, not just for Belly's family but for all transport workers who have done so much to keep our country moving during this deadly pandemic.

'There really must be a coroner's inquest into her death so that all the outstanding questions about this case can be answered.

'Doing so will help bring peace to Belly's family as well as providing lessons about how we can avoid this kind of thing happening in future.

'Belly's death touched our entire union and far beyond. Public scrutiny is now needed to fully illuminate this tragic case.'
Liverpool geared up for their trip to Madrid with a comfortable 3-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday night.

Jurgen Klopp named a strong team for the Premier League match, with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino all starting.

It was a substitute who made the difference, though, as Diogo Jota opened the scoring in the second half from a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross.

After Salah had added a second goal, Jota struck again to put Liverpool out of sight in north London. Arsenal, meanwhile, looked lost.

The win takes Liverpool to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea in the Premier League table. The Reds travel to Spain next week for Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid.
MI6 has flown the transgender flag from its London headquarters for the first time to mark the Transgender Day of Visibility.

Richard Moore, who is known as C for Controller, said trans and non-binary spies have helped make the secret service stronger.

He told of his pride in his staff after ordering the flag to be flown this week from the roof of the building on the Thames.

MI6 has flown the transgender flag from its London headquarters for the first time to mark the Transgender Day of Visibility.

The flag is made up of blue, pink and white stripes representing traditional male and female colours with the white for people who are transitioning gender or who do not identify as a certain gender

Mr Moore, 57, said: 'We're proud of our trans and non-binary colleagues and committed to providing an inclusive workplace where you can be your true self.

'Diversity makes us more effective, inclusion makes us stronger.'

The flag is made up of blue, pink and white stripes representing traditional male and female colours with the white for people who are transitioning gender or who do not identify as a certain gender.

MI6 has been flying a rainbow flag to mark Gay Pride since 2015 and the secret service has been hailed as one of the top employers for LGBT+ staff by Stonewall.

In February, Mr Moore apologised for the agency's past treatment of LGBT+ people, adding they had deprived themselves of the 'best talent' Britain can offer.

He said a security bar on some individuals, which remained in place until 1991, was 'wrong, unjust and discriminatory'.

Richard Moore, who is known as C for Controller, said trans and non-binary spies have helped make the secret service stronger

In a video posted on Twitter, Mr Moore explained the ban was in place because of a misguided belief LGBT+ people were more susceptible to blackmail.

He said: 'This was wrong, unjust and discriminatory.

'Committed, talented, public-spirited people had their careers and lives blighted because it was argued that being LGBT+ was incompatible with being an intelligence professional.

'Because of this policy, other loyal and patriotic people had their dreams of serving their country in MI6 shattered.

'Today, I apologise on behalf of MI6 for the way our LGBT+ colleagues and fellow citizens were treated and express my regret to those whose lives were affected.

He told of his pride in his staff after ordering the flag to be flown this week from the roof of the building on the Thames

'Being LGBT+ did not make these people a national security threat - of course not.

'But the ban did mean that we, in the intelligence and diplomatic services, deprived ourselves of some of the best talent Britain could offer.'

Although same-sex relationships were decriminalised in 1967, the ban on LGBT+ people serving in the agencies and the diplomatic service stayed in place following a series of Cold War spy scandals.

Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, from the notorious Cambridge spy ring who defected to the Soviet Union in 1951, were gay while a third, Donald Maclean, may have been bisexual.

Hero codebreaker Alan Turing was forced out of GCHQ in the 1950s when he was found to be in a gay relationship

In the 1950s hero Second World War codebreaker and mathematician Alan Turing was forced out of GCHQ when he was found to be in a gay relationship before he was chemically castrated.

He later took his own life at the age of 41.

In 2013 the Queen granted him a posthumous pardon, only the fourth to be granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy since World War Two.

Mr Moore added the effect of the ban has lingered in the agency ever since.

He said: 'Some staff who chose to come out were treated badly for not having previously disclosed their sexuality during their security vetting.

'Others who joined in the period post-1991 were made to feel unwelcome. That treatment fuelled a reluctance to be their true selves in the workplace.'This was also unacceptable.'
The first company of officers in the new Space Force are commissioned by Gen. John Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, Saturday, April 18, 2020, during the Air Force Academy class of 2020 graduation on the terrazzo of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. The graduation was a closed ceremony at the center of campus rather than Falcon Stadium to allow the cadets to stay 8 feet apart. The cadets didn't march on stage to receive their diplomas and high fives and hugs are banned. The academy graduated 967 cadets, 86 of them were commissioned as officers in the new Space Force. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
 Seemingly encouraging, but quite complicated, analysis of racial disparities in federal drug sentencing | Main | US Sentencing Commission may still lack a quorum, but now it has a podcast! 

April 4, 2021

How about some clemency grants from Prez Biden to go with Second Chance Month, 2021 proclamation?

Last week, the White House released "A Proclamation on Second Chance Month, 2021." Here is the full substantive text:

Americas criminal justice system must offer meaningful opportunities for redemption and rehabilitation. After incarcerated individuals serve their time, they should have the opportunity to fully reintegrate into society. It benefits not just those individuals but all of society, and it is the best strategy to reduce recidivism. During Second Chance Month, we lift up all those who, having made mistakes, are committed to rejoining society and making meaningful contributions. My Administration is committed to a holistic approach to building safe and healthy communities. This includes preventing crime and providing opportunities for all Americans. It also requires rethinking the existing criminal justice system  whom we send to prison and for how long; how people are treated while incarcerated; how prepared they are to reenter society once they have served their time; and the racial inequities that lead to the disproportionate number of incarcerated Black and Brown people. We must commit to second chances from the earliest stages of our criminal justice system. Supporting second chances means, for example, diverting individuals who have used illegal drugs to drug court programs and treatment instead of prison. It requires eliminating exceedingly long sentences and mandatory minimums that keep people incarcerated longer than they should be. It means providing quality job training and educational opportunities during incarceration to prepare individuals for the 21st century economy. And it means reinvesting the savings from reduced incarceration into reentry programs and social services that prevent recidivism and leave us all better off. More than 600,000 individuals return to their communities from State and Federal prisons every year. Transitioning back into society can be overwhelming for those who are formerly incarcerated as well as their families and communities. Too many individuals face unfair legal and practical barriers to reentry. The reentry process is complicated in the best of times, and is even more so with the additional difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. We must remove these barriers. Every person leaving incarceration should have housing, the opportunity at a decent job, and health care. A persons conviction history should not unfairly exclude them from employment, occupational licenses, access to credit, public benefits, or the right to vote. Certain criminal records should be expunged and sealed so people can overcome their past. By focusing on prevention, reentry, and social support, rather than incarceration, we can ensure that America is a land of second chances and opportunity for all people. NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2021 as Second Chance Month. I call upon all government officials, educators, volunteers, and all the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

I like all the sentiments in this proclamation, and I sincerely hope "all government officials" engaged in "appropriate activities" to observe Second Chance Month. But as the title of this post is meant to highlight, Prez Biden has one particually appropriate way to " lift up" and "commit to second chances" through the granting of clemency. He can today and tomorrow and every day, simply with his clemency pen, begin the process of "eliminating exceedingly long sentences" and ensure we are "focusing on prevention, reentry, and social support, rather than incarceration." Morevoer, because there are currently no federal record relief laws, the only way for federal criminal records to functionally "be expunged and sealed so people can overcome their past" would be through pardon grants.

Especially during a holiday season, I do not think it too much to expect and hope that the President will seek to practice what he preaches. Or, in this case, practice what he proclaims by getting moving on clemency.

A few of many prior related posts:

April 4, 2021 at 11:11 AM | Permalink

Comments

President Biden has the authority to give a second chance to thousands. That is his challenge.

Observing Second Chance Month with appropriate programs, ceremonies and activities is painfully cruel without granting clemency's to thousands of nonviolent marijuana and other drug offenders serving life and other egregious sentences.

These egregious sentences are frequently given to those who exercise their 6th amendment right to trial. President Biden could grant thousands of clemency petitions without endangering the public safety.

Posted by: beth curtis | Apr 5, 2021 2:35:22 PM

Post a comment
Sadiq Khan's 120,000-a-year political aide broke Covid lockdown rules to stay with his parents over Easter.

Jack Stenner, 33 - who works as the Mayor of London's director of political and public affairs - blatantly flouted lockdown rules by travelling 130-miles from London to his parent's 500,000 home in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire, last week.

Mr Stenner has already been blasted for moving 5,000 miles away to California mid-pandemic to carry out his work as an aid from there - despite being eight time zones behind his boss.

He is believed to have moved back to London last month ahead of the 2021 London mayoral elections on May 6.

Mr Khan said he was 'deeply disappointed' in Mr Stenner - as City Hall insiders slammed the aide for making 'an absolute mockery of lockdown rules and everyone who has diligently followed them'.

Sadiq Khan's 120,000-a-year political aide Jack Stenner, 33, broke Covid lockdown rules to stay with his parents over Easter

The source told The Sun: 'He seems to think there's one rule for the rich and powerful and another for the plebs.

'It's ironic that he advises a left-wing Labour mayor who supposedly believes in equality and justice for all.'

He was pictured buying coffee in the village on Good Friday.

Mr Stenner, who is understood to be staying in Bethnal Green while in London, will return to the US after the election, City Hall confirmed.

A spokesman said the aide returned home for a short trip due to a death in his family.

They said he apologises for his actions and acknowledges they were not in line with lockdown rules.

The spokesman added: 'Sadiq is deeply disappointed in him and has made clear that he has let down Londoners who have followed the rules and made huge sacrifices to keep others safe.'

Mr Khan (pictured) said he was 'deeply disappointed' in Mr Stenner - as City Hall insiders blasted the aide for making 'an absolute mockery of lockdown rules and everyone who has diligently followed them'

Earlier this year, Sadiq Khan urged the Government to make Covid rules harsher to slow the spread of the virus.

He said: 'I continue to call on the government to make wearing masks mandatory outdoors.

'Londoners have already made huge sacrifices, but once again I urge each and every Londoner to follow the rules. Stay at home, protect the NHS and help to save lives.'

In December, critics slammed Mr Stenner after it was revealed he was working remotely from an apartment near San Francisco where he lives with girlfriend.

It is believed Mr Stenner moved from his East London home in October, just before the second national lockdown came into effect.

'It's outrageous. He's been allowed to move thousands of miles away,' a source told The Sun at the time.

'How on earth can he be expected to do a satisfactory job?'

Mr Stenner has built up an impressive CV working with key figures in the Labour party - and has spent the past seven with Mr Khan.

After completing a BA in politics at Queen Mary University in London, he worked as a communications manager for Brent North MP Barry Gardiner before joining Ed Miliband's successful Labour leadership campaign.

He was also head of the Brent Council's Leaders Office before joining Mr Khan as a political advisor.

It is claimed Mr Stenner first raised suspicion by posting pictures overlooking San Francisco Bay on his Instagram, which has now been set to private.

Shaun Bailey, Conservative London Mayoral Candidate, said of Mr Khan: 'Why is he using taxpayers' money to pay his cronies to sun themselves in San Francisco while ordinary Londoners are worrying about their jobs?'

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen quipped: 'That is really nice work if you can get it.'
Seats filled for first all-civilian spaceflight crew View(s):

(Reuters)  A college science professor and an aerospace data analyst were named on Tuesday to round out a four-member crew for a SpaceX launch into orbit planned later this year billed as the first all-civilian spaceflight in history.

The two latest citizen astronauts were introduced at a news briefing livestreamed from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida by SpaceX human spaceflight chief Benji Reed and billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who conceived the mission in part as a charity drive.

Isaacman, founder and CEO of e-commerce firm Shift4 Payments, is forking over an unspecified but presumably exorbitant sum to fellow billionaire and SpaceX owner Elon Musk to fly himself and three others into orbit aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

The flight, scheduled for no earlier than Sept. 15, is expected to last three to four days from launch to splashdown.

When this mission is complete, people are going to look at it and say this was the first time that everyday people could go to space, Isaacman, 38, told reporters.

Dubbed Inspiration4, the mission is designed primarily to raise awareness and support for one of Isaacmans favorite causes, St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, a leading pediatric cancer center. He has pledged $100 million personally to the institute.

Assuming the role of mission commander, Isaacman in February designated St. Jude physicians assistant Haley Arceneaux, 29, a bone cancer survivor and onetime patient at the Tennessee-based hospital, as his first crewmate.

Announced on Tuesday, Chris Sembroski, 41, a Seattle-area aerospace industry employee and U.S. Air Force veteran, was selected through a sweepstakes that drew 72,000 applicants and has raised $113 million in St. Jude donations.

Sian Proctor, 51, a geoscience professor at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona, and entrepreneur who was once a NASA astronaut candidate, was chosen separately through an online business contest run by Shift4 Payments.

All four will undergo extensive training modeled after the curriculum NASA astronauts use to prepare for SpaceX missions.

The Inspiration4 mission may mark a new era in spaceflight, but it is not the only all-civilian crewed rocket launch in the works.

British billionaire Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic enterprise is developing a spaceplane to carry paying customers on suborbital excursions.

SpaceX plans a separate launch, possibly next year, of a retired NASA astronaut, a former Israeli fighter pilot and two other people in conjunction with Houston-based private spaceflight company Axiom Space.

Musk also intends to fly Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa around the moon in 2023. Fees charged for those flights will help finance the development of Musks new, heavy-lift Starship rocket for missions to the moon and Mars.

Inspiration4 is about more than a billionaires joyride through space, organizers say, promising the crew will conduct a number of as-yet undetermined science experiments during its brief voyage.
Significance of All Fools Day By Gamini Weerakoon Doublespeak View(s): View(s):

April 1. This is the day on which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty four days  Mark Twain

On this day, Thursday last week, this quote set us thinking on what the well-known American writer and journalist implied about All Fools Day.

Did Mark Twain mean that we the Homo Sapiens  the wisest of species among all living beings  act with wisdom on the remaining days of the year or he, being quite a cynic, was saying that we were as good as the fools we celebrate on that day?

It wont be much difficult to make a decision in this regard. Readers can judge for themselves whether humanity around the world and in this Paradise-Isle, Lanka, too, acted as wise persons or bloody fools during the 364 days that preceded April 1, 2021.

For the past two weeks, we Sri Lankans had been confused and confounded about the numerals we have been using since time immemorial. It is being said that we are about to take off into the Age of Digitisation. Yet some arguments tended to contest the validity of 2+2= 4 in the context of the vote count on the resolution on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The resolution on Sri Lanka which was against Sri Lanka moved by Western Powers and their allies received 22 votes while Sri Lanka and others states which backed Sri Lanka received 11 votes while 14 states abstained.

Based on the presumption that those states that abstained were not for the resolution Sri Lankan government loyalists added on the 14 abstention votes to their 11 votes and declared that Lanka triumphed. Thus, the numeral 22 became greater than 11 to government loyalists.

This kind of logic is revolutionary and stands the original Hindu and Arabic numerologists who developed what is called the Hindu-Arabic numerals  which we use  on their heads.

It certainly has revolutionary potential in that opposition parties, including the JVP, argue that on this line of thinking the last presidential election can be declared null and void. It is argued that on this theory President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who won with 6.9 million votes was rejected by 9.5 million electors, if votes received by all opposition candidates and all registered voters who abstained from voting are tallied as a single unit.

Rajapaksa loyalists have taken to high moral ground and are pointing out that morality taken together with the spirit of the UN Charter and human rights declarations should supersede mere numbers  statistics.

True, statistics do not bleed but a scale to measure morality numerically or otherwise in politics has yet to be devised.

Patriotism is defined by some as: My country, right or wrong.

So, if anyone agrees with the assertion that 11 is greater than 22 is wrong, is he a patriot or traitor?

Easter Sunday bombing

Easter Sunday bombings of churches and tourist hotels took place on April 21, 2019 but the bombings still reverberate and are shaking the foundations of the political and administrative firmaments.

Ministers and provincial governors have resigned or made to resign, commissions to probe the attacks were appointed and the integrity of the countrys intelligence investigative agencies and those of reputed investigators questioned resulting in many top officials having resigned and/or are behind bars.

The former Defence Secretary and IGP are under arrest and so are top investigators that headed such units. The validity of a presidential commission report appointed to probe the bombings is being questioned as parts of the report have still not been released, it is alleged.

It does appear that the fallout of the bombings has been as devastating to Lanka as the bombings in terms of the economy and administration. The bombings appear to have had an inbuilt ability to create economic and political instability.

Indian intelligence agencies are said to have tipped off Sri Lankan counterparts about an impending attack by extremist Islamic terrorists but this advice, it appears, had not been taken seriously or ignored by the intelligence agencies. Even the security guards of MPs knew about it, Kumar Welgama MP said in parliament last week.

A reason for not acting on the Indian tip-off by our intelligence chiefs could be that they have been educated in lessons in history such as that of the Trojan Horse. They may have thought this was an Indian Trojan Horse placed in Lanka against the Pakistanis. Isnt every terrorist act in the sub-continent according to New Delhis South block, Pakistan inspired?

Didnt Mahinda Rajapaksa declare openly that his government was ousted in 2014 by a RAW conspiracy? Did our intelligence Chiefs go into the natural Sinhala defence posture: Soodanam Sariraya (Save your body first)? It was only natural.

Nevertheless, high ranking bishops, mahanayakes, anunayakes and rebels because of their fundamentalist ecclesiastical beliefs want to know : Who committed the Original Sin?

The endorsement of the bombing of churches in Lanka was approved by the first and only Caliph of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi (now no more courtesy Donald Trump) in a speech, though only as an aside. Isnt that enough?

Our task today is to assess how wise or foolish we were after All Fools day. We leave it to the judgement of our readers.

Minister Wimal Weerawansas picture  with Cinnamon Cigar held jauntily in his mouth in a national suit banian posing like James Bond with a Cuban cigar  appears to be an attempt to promote Cinnamon cigarettes to boost our home grown product but the anti-smoking juvenile hordes left behind by the late Prof. Carlo Fonseka are hounding him. Is Weerwansa doing the right thing by the Sri Lankan nation or is he posing off as Jamis Bandathe Sinhala replica of James Bond?

Udaya Gammanpila, the Energy Minister, had claimed a record for a Sri Lanka Minister, reports said, for climbing on a rope ladder to the top of an oil tanker. He is the first minister to have done so reports said. Was it wise for this minister to have risked his life performing this stunt, he being a precious commoditya specialist theorist in anti-Rajapaksa party conspiracies? Did it draw away attention from the public outcry against alleged deforestation policies or coconut oil with aflatoxins found in the country?

Meanwhile, it is less than two weeks for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and the singing of the Koha outside our window down Nawala way is getting louder and louder. C-nut oil is used to prepare all Avuruddhu delicacies. Will Aflatoxin C-nut oil prevent Kavun and Kokkis two of the vital 4 Ks (Kavun,Kokkis, Kiributh and Kolikuttu) for the occasion appearing on the festive table?

It will leave a bad taste in the mouth.
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

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New Delhi:

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday sought a detailed report from the Varanasi administration on the violence that erupted in Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus following a lathicharge by police on students protesting against increaing eve-teasing incidents in varsity campus.

"I have sought a detailed report from the Varanasi Divisional Commissioner about the entire incident," Adityanath talking to media said in Lucknow.

A large number of students, including women, two journalists were injured in the lathicharge by Uttar Pradesh Police in BHU campus. Several police personnel were also injured.

The University campus on Sunday evening announced holidays from Monday till October 2.

Yogi-government sought a report from the divisional commissioner about the incident as various political parties including the Samajwadi Party criticised the government and condemned the lathicharge on students by police.

According to police, violence in the varsity campus erupted after some students protesting against the alleged eve-teasing incident of Thursday wanted to meet the BHU Vice Chancellor at his residence on Saturday night but were stopped by the university guards.

Also read| BHU lathicharge: UP CM seeks report, Cong leader Raj Babbar stopped from visiting varsity, arrested



A BHU spokesperson said, Students wanted to enter the Vice Chancellors residence forcibly but when stopped by the guards there was stone pelting.

He added that they have learnt that outsiders who had joined the students in the protest had pelted stones.

Akhilesh Yadav, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Samajwadi Party president condemned the lathicharge on the BHU students.

The former chief minister said, The government should resolve the issue by talks not lathicharge. Stringent action should be taken against the guilty.

On Saturday night BHU had issued a statement saying the dharna by the students just prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit is being politically motivated to malign the image of the varsity.

Also read| BHU: Security forces use lathicharge against protesting students at campus; 4 injured



Senior administrative and police officials reached the BHU campus to control the situation. Around 1500 policemen have been deployed in the university campus to prevent any untoward incident.

The students of the university have been protesting near the BHUs main gate since Thursday against rise in eve-teasing incidents on the campus.

The protest was largely triggered after a woman student was allegedly harassed by three men on motorcycle inside the varsity campus.

According to the complaint lodged by the victim she was returning to her hostel around 9:00pm when she was abused by men on motorcycle. She raised an alert but university security gurads standing 100 meters away from the incident site did not do anything to stop the men.

The victim informed the warden about the incident but was asked, Why was she was returning late to hostel.

The response by the angered the university students, who later sat on dhrana at main gate from Thursday midnight.

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The conflict in eastern Ukraine has taken a new turn after fighting surged between government forces and Russia-backed separatists this week. If US intelligence reports are to be believed, Russia has deployed troops along the Ukrainian border and may interfere in the ongoing conflict in support of the separatists. The fighting in Ukraine has been going on since 2014 and things escalated after pro-Russia separatists formed governments in two provinces in Ukraine. The recent surge in violence comes in violation of the ceasefire agreement signed between the Ukrainian government and armed separatists.

Whats the conflict between Ukraine & Russia?

Relations between Moscow and Kyiv soured in 2014 after Russia illegally annexed Crimea, a strategic location that gives direct access to the Black Sea. After the 2014 coup, Crimea held a referendum, in which more than 90% of people voted in favour of reunification with Russia. However, Kyiv refused to sign the reunification agreement, following which Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his troops and annexed the region. International condemnation followed as the United States and allies slapped sanctions on Russia.

What triggered the recent escalation?

Four Ukrainian soldiers died on March 26 and Kyiv quickly blamed the loss on Moscow. However, Russia denied involvement and said the soldiers died after a landmine exploded as they were inspecting a minefield. Russia also warned against the provocations from the Ukrainian side, saying it could start a war. Later, reports emerged suggesting a massive Russian troops build-up along the Russia-Ukraine border, prompting responses from the West.

Moving of S-400 missile systems was reportedly filmed in #Voronezh region, south #Russia.



Those who do not know geography, Voronezh region borders on Luhansk region of #Ukraine.



Soundtrack to the video is peculiar: "Let's not have a war".pic.twitter.com/7NEp9VPakt  Alex Kokcharov (@AlexKokcharov) April 3, 2021

NATOs role?

Russia has categorically said it would take measures if the US-led NATO forces interfere in the Ukrainian conflict. The response came after NATO voiced concern about the Russian troops movement along the Ukraine-Russia border and several Western leaders reiterated support for Kyiv. US State Secretary Antony Blinken called his Ukrainian counterpart on March 31, assuring full support in the face of Russias ongoing aggression. US Defence Secretary Llyod Austin also held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart.

I held a productive and focused call with @SecBlinken as Russia continues to systemically aggravate the security situation in the east of Ukraine and in Crimea. Discussed ways of strengthening security cooperation.  Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 31, 2021

  We are closely monitoring the situation at the border between  and . We agree with Ukraine that de-escalation is now crucial, in order not to put at risk the ceasefire. - FM @HeikoMaas in a call with his  counterpart @DmytroKuleba today  GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) April 2, 2021

Great call with @DominicRaab on Russias escalation in the Donbas & Crimea, as well as its propaganda spreading fakes of Ukraine planning an escalation. Ukraine doesnt seek escalation. Ukraine seeks peace & an end to occupation of its territories by political-diplomatic means.  Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 2, 2021

Earlier this week, an Italian Navy captain was arrested while handing over confidential NATO documents to a Russian military attache in Rome in exchange for money. Two Russian embassy officials were suspended after the incident, while the Russian ambassador was summoned by the Italian foreign ministry for formal registration of protest. Ukraine is close to the European border and any unrest in the country would have a direct effect on the bloc, holding the potential to jeopardize its security and economy.

(Image Credit: AP)
Google MAP Ranking: SEO Expert Launches New Book: Rank Your Map in Google With Press Releases

New York City, NY , United States, 04/03/2021 / Qamar Zaman /

Learn Google MAP Ranking in 2021

Google Maps Ranking: SEO Expert Qamar Zaman has announced the launch of his new book The Mystery Behind Google Maps Ranking: How to Rank Your Business Higher. It is now available both in Kindle and Paperback, and is available from Amazon.

In a time when small businesses are typically found through more than a thousand Google searches every month, Zaman wanted local businesses to appear on the top of Google search results and drive customers to their websites. In a new book, Qamar Zaman helps local business owners rank on Google maps using Google best practices.

The new book, The Mysteries Behind Google Maps Ranking, teaches what it takes to rank on maps through online press release coverage.

In a recent video John Muller of Google search also suggested that one way to get business visibility is using press. This will help get the message out and help consumers find you. Source

Google Maps Ranking books covers:

How do I get my ranking on Google Maps?

How do I rank higher in Google local search?

How do you rank in Google 2021?

How do I get SEO for Google Maps?

The book teaches readers how to engage with customers on Google for free. Zaman aims to help business owners to leverage Google MAP for free using their Google My Business profiles.

In the book, Zaman revealed secrets that will help business owners attract customers looking for their products and services. He also enumerated strategies to help businesses create relationships by initiating engagement with their local customers across Google Search and Maps.

Business owners who are still grappling with how Google Maps work, and marketers who want to learn from an expert who has been in the industry for more than 15 years, are the primary target readers of Zamans book.

Some questions >> How do I get my ranking on Google Maps.

Since a book cannot encompass all the areas of map ranking, Zaman offers email consultation via [email protected] if you have any questions regarding the below mentioned questions.

Can you pay Google to rank higher

How do I get SEO for Google Maps

How do I increase my visibility on Google

How do you rank first on Google

How can I get on the first page of Google in 24 hours

How do you get on the first page of Google without paying

How much is Seo per month

How do I get to the top of Google without paying

How do you get a top rank on Google Maps

Do reviews help Google ranking

How do I check my Google ranking

How do I get noticed on Google Maps

Who has the most reviews on Google

How does Google decide which reviews are most relevant

Should I pay for SEO

Author: Qamar Zaman

SEO Professional rated best SEO expert in lawyer SEO, Qamar Zaman is an American marketing and technology entrepreneur who is a known website growth expert in the digital marketing industry. Zaman and his team help business owners secure Google 3 Pack Map Ranking through SEO Storytelling.

Others books by Qamar Zaman

>> Google Knowledge Panel Guide Qamar Zaman

>> Qamar Zaman on Amazon

Zaman is the Founder of the KISS PR Story for Sending Press Releases, a storytelling platform built to help small, mid, and large businesses tell their brand stories.



BOOK Offer:

If you buy the book, send your receipt to [email protected] and get featured by Zaman in his next round up post that will be published in top news websites and your business or personal brand will be showcased. Learn more by sending email to [email protected]

Media Contact

Agnes Zang

[email protected]

Zaman has also recommend read following latest resources:

Improve your local ranking on Google  Google My Business Help  Manage your business When someone searches for a business or place near their location, theyll find local results across Goo (support.google.com)

10 Ways to Rank Higher on Google Maps in 2020  Your Google Maps listing is a crucial marketing tool for your business. It can help you get discovered by new customers, stand out above competitors, and generate more businessall (wordstream.com)

A Beginners Guide to Ranking in GOOGLE MAPS [Google Maps SEO]  The majority of your potential customers still use Google to find local businesses near them. In fact, 80% of searches with local intent result in a conversion. This begs the question: Whats the (moz.com)

8 Tips to Rank Higher on Google Maps in 2021  Rank Higher on Google Maps in 2021Google Maps Rankings Update: February 15th, 2021I just released a new episode on the SEO Secrets podcast where I share the #1 secret to increasing (bippermedia.com)

All you need to know to rank on Google Maps  Google Maps is one of the best local client acquisition channels out there. Like any search engine, ranking on it is a matter of optimization and deft marketing efforts. (link-assistant.com)

Council Post: Local Rank Tracking: How To Track Your Google Maps Rank  How do you accurately measure local SEO rank, track your progress and gain an edge on your competition? (forbes.com)

A Complete Guide to Ranking Higher on Google Maps  Appearing on local Google searches increases a businesses visibility to potential and current customers. One of the best ways to do this is by creating a Google Maps listing. (jubilantdigital.com)

Local Rank Tracking Tool for Maps  LocalFalcon  Find any local ranking on the map, across an entire city. Local Falcon is the best local rank tracker to compare search results. (localfalcon.com)

Google Maps Ranking Guide by MAP SEO Experts KISS PR  Google MAP SEO Expert Agnes Zang can help you rank local business, Google has an effective solution for your Local marketing needs. Google Maps marketing is a great way. Google Maps 3 Pack Marketing Guide If you have a local business, then Google has an effective solution for your Local marketing ne (yahoo.com)

5 Google Maps Pack Strategies to Help You Rank  The right Google Maps Pack strategy can result in more store visits and sales and increased traffic and revenue. (reviewtrackers.com)

How to Rank Higher on Google Maps in 2020 [Expert Guide]  Local SEO can be extremely powerful in driving local leads, so youre going to want to know how to rank higher in Google Maps. Click now to learn how. (rocktherankings.com)

5 Keys to First Page Ranking in Google Maps  The Maps are prime digital real estate. Its front page coverage for any local search. Get your business visible here and the phone WILL ring. This area is actually called Google My Business and its essentially Googles local business directly, much like the online Yellow Pages. There are two ways (sdivsbdc.org)

5 Small Steps to Rank on Google Maps for Local Business  Ranking on Google Maps takes a bit of work but the return it can produce for your local business can be huge. Heres how to get started. (agencyjet.com)

Top U.S. mapping apps by users 2018  This statistic gives information on the most popular mapping apps in the United States as of April 2018, ranked by monthly unique users. (statista.com)

And with 46% of searches on Google having local intent, showing up in that Local 3-Pack can greatly increase the visibility of your business Ranking higher on Google Maps typically means ranking on the first page of Google Search (wordstream.com)

Source: Story.KISSPR.com

Release ID: 17620

Original Source of the original story >> Google MAP Ranking: SEO Expert Launches New Book: Rank Your Map in Google With Press Releases

Content Disclaimer:

The above review statements are those of the sponsor (Source of content) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or views of the content publisher. The content distribution company is therefore not responsible for the content and its authenticity and legal standing of the above subject matter. Each individual is required to exercise its content when making a purchase from the above offer. The information does not constitute advice or an offer to buy. Any purchase made from the above press release is made at your own risk. Consult an expert advisor/health and professional advisor before any such purchase. Any purchase made from this link is subject to the final terms and conditions of the websites selling as mentioned in the above as source. The content publisher and its downstream distribution partners do not take any responsibility directly or indirectly. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the company this news is about.

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Builder Tony Marnella doesnt want to sell just one new house to raise money for children with cancer. Rather, he wants to build one each year, starting now.

The owner of Vancouvers Marnella Homes is galvanizing construction workers in the Portland area to volunteer to complete a luxury residential property, valued at more than $1 million, near Vancouver Lake.

After the last donated Bosch appliance and high-end finishes are installed this summer, the 2,827-square-foot dwelling will be sold. All proceeds will go to St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, at which families do not have to pay for travel, housing or food while children receive free cancer treatments.

Tony Marnella of Marnella Homes is building a Southwestern-inspired, single-level house, called The Sedona, to sell. Proceeds will go to St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.Marnella Homes

The St. Jude Dream Home Showplace, as its called, will be open during the NW Natural Parade of Homes tour in Felida Overlook in Vancouver from Sept. 10-26. The Building Industry Association of Clark County, which organizes the home tour, is helping Marnella connect with donors, contractors and businesses offering materials or services.

Every dollar generated from these homes benefits children with cancer and their families, said Marnella, who noted he was granted a new lease on life after surviving non-Hodgkin lymphoma and hopes to establish a tradition of completing many homes for St. Jude in the Northwest. If we can help ease the pain of kids today and in the future, sign me up.

St. Jude supporters across the U.S. have raised funds by holding raffles in which the winner receives a new home. About seven years ago, a smaller home for St. Jude was built in Bellevue, Washington, and sold to benefit the research hospital.

This is the first St. Jude Dream Home program in the Portland area, said DeeAnna Janku of American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), a fundraising and awareness organization founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas in 1957 for St. Jude.

More than 540 St. Jude homes have been constructed nationwide since the first one in 1991, raising almost $500 million for research and treatment, Janku said.

For what he believes will be the first of many St. Jude homes, Marnella is working off designs for a Southwestern-inspired, single-level house named The Sedona that will have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a powder room.

On Friday, April 2, framer Dario Ramos and his sons and crew began installing post and beam framing on the house being built by Tony Marnella of Marnella Homes with help from Building Industry Association of Clark County (BIA).Building Industry Association of Clark County

On Friday, Dario Ramos of Vancouver, along with a small crew, lent a hand to the project by installing post-and-beam framing. This weekend, volunteers from Aumsvilles Jose Garcia Construction and Hillsboros Arm & Hammer Construction will continue the work by putting up walls.

For these guys to come out here is a big ask, says Marnella. Framing a home takes two to three weeks of full days with a standard crew.

Marnella said he wanted to involve different crews to ensure there will be experienced volunteers for the next project  and allow 18 to 20 guys to go back to their families and share that they were part of this build and are appreciated for their generosity.

Donors

Breaking Ground Excavation prepared the site and hooked up the underground plumbing, along with All County Plumbing. They used materials donated by Ferguson.

CalPortland supplied concrete for the foundation poured by Parker Concrete. Cascade Concrete Supply and West Coast Concrete have also donated to the project.

Gale Contractor Services will donate insulation. James Hardie and FiberMount donated siding materials that will be installed by Inline Siding. Willamette Carpentry will donate trim labor.

Other contributors include Indigo Construction, Jeld-Wen, Lima One Capital, Nova Caseworks and The Perfect Pitch Roof, according to DeeAnna Janku of American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) and St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.

People can give any amount to offset specific costs  such as $1,000 toward the purchase of the lot or $50 toward lumber costs  by visiting the Marnella Homes website (marnellahomes.com/stjude) or calling 503-654-6642.

 Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman

Want to search Oregon real estate listings and use local resources? Click here.
(Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to outline plans for the easing of coronavirus restrictions on foreign travel from England, potentially opening the way for holidays abroad this summer.

Johnson will announce details on Monday of a "traffic light" system for rating overseas destinations, lowering controls on journeys to those countries assessed as being at the lowest risk.

Officials stressed travel would not begin before May 17 at the earliest and that it was still too soon to predict which countries would be cleared.

The advice remains that people should wait for the full report of the government's global travel task force due on April 12 before booking a holiday.

It comes as many European countries are imposing new lockdown restrictions as a third wave of the pandemic spreads across the continent.

Under the traffic light system, assessments will be based on a range of factors, including the proportion of a country's population which has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants and the country's access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.

Travellers arriving from countries rated 'green' will not be required to isolate although pre-departure and post-arrival tests will still be needed.

For those classed as 'amber' or 'red', the restrictions will remain as they are with arrivals required to isolate or enter quarantine.

The industry body, Airlines UK, which has been calling for some type of traffic light system, said it was important that mass air travel was able to resume soon.

"There are tens of thousands of jobs dependent upon aviation and restarting travel, and the sector cannot survive another lost summer with little or no revenue," said chief executive Tim Alderslade.

"We can do this proportionately and in a risk-based way, it's not a question of opening up the border to every country out there.

"If there are concerns about variants restrictions will remain but where it is safe to do so we need to start the process of opening up.

"We cannot with a straight face talk about Global Britain without aviation."

By Gavin Cordon, PA Whitehall Editor

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Dozens of railcars once used to transport contaminated materials at the Savannah River Site have been sold to EnergySolutions, an international nuclear services company headquartered in Utah.

The 52 railcars sold for $350,000, according to Environmental Management, the Department of Energys cleanup office. The specialized transportation was used at the Savannah River Site from 2009 to 2011. Before that, the 100-ton railcars were used at a former uranium processing plant in southwest Ohio.

These gondola cars served an important purpose  at both Fernald and Savannah River  and have an estimated 20-plus years of service life remaining, said Clarence Ruff, a traffic management specialist. Since a need for them no longer exists at SRS, reutilizing them with a company specializing in environmental restoration makes for a practical business solution.

EnergySolutions operates in the U.S., Canada and Japan. The company processes and disposes of radioactive materials, among other things.

This is a good example of proper stewardship and cost-effective use of government resources identified as surplus, Ruff said.
Terry Alarcon, whose 15 years as a criminal district court judge capped a career that included stints as a prosecutor, a traffic court judge and an aide to a mayor and a sheriff, died in New Orleans of pancreatic cancer Saturday. He was 72.

Even though Alarcon spent his adult life working in fields known for raised voices, sharp elbows and easily bruised egos, friends remembered him as a low-key, consistently kind man who always sought to put people at ease.

Alarcon, who retired from the bench in January 2012, had an amazing sensitivity and compassion that were extremely genuine, said Ralph Capitelli, a New Orleans lawyer and longtime friend. People just knew that. They knew he was genuine.  He was in politics, but both ends of the political spectrum were favorable to him."

He never upset anybody, said Laurance Eustis, a friend since he and Alarcon worked together on U.S. Rep. Lindy Boggs campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s.

Terry was a godsend to us at the Boggs campaign because of his innate ability to navigate local politics, Eustis said. He had no enemies. He could navigate situations because of his humor and kindness.  I dont know of anybody who was hurt or injured by any action he took.

Everybody liked him, said former Ambassador Donald Ensenat, who became Alarcons friend when they worked for Boggs in the 1970s. He was a very humble guy for all his achievements.

Terry Quentin Alarcon was born in New Orleans on July 6, 1948. He graduated from St. Aloysius High School in 1966 and Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, in 1970. He earned a masters degree in social work at the University of Alabama in 1974 and a law degree at Loyola University five years later.

While attending law school, Alarcon was executive assistant to Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff Charles Foti. From there he moved to the office of Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick to be an executive assistant, Capitelli said. After Alarcon graduated and passed the bar exam, he became an assistant district attorney, a post he held until 1983.

In discussing Alarcons personality, Capitelli recalled the death of a parent of an accountant in Connicks office. The wake was in Houma, he said, and Alarcon went, even though he had to drive through a downpour to get there.

Peoples jaws dropped because they didnt expect him, Capitelli said. It was a touching thing that moved everybody.

From 1983 to 1986, Alarcon was an assistant district attorney in Jefferson Parish. He also was a partner in the law firm Brandt, Alarcon & McDonald.

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In May 1986, he moved to City Hall to be Mayor Sidney Barthelemys executive counsel.

Every issue that came up, he had some little part to play in it, Barthelemy said. Being involved in every facet of government made him tick.

Alarcons biggest chore during his four years in City Hall was representing the city, along with City Councilwoman Peggy Wilson, on the team that had to raise nearly $1.9 million from private sources to cover costs associated with hosting the 1988 Republican National Convention.

In 1989, he was named Barthelemys chief of staff. A year later, Alarcon was elected to be a traffic court judge, a position he held until 1996, when he won a newly created judgeship on the criminal court bench. He was re-elected without opposition in 2002 and 2008, and he was named chief judge in 2010.

He distinguished himself as a just and compassionate judge, said retired Criminal Court Judge Dennis Waldron, a longtime friend who was one of Alarcons colleagues on the bench.

Alarcon, who also had been president of the Sugar Bowl Committee, joined the Chaffe McCall law firm after stepping down from the judgeship.

He was truly a limited edition, Waldron said. He was someone who was blessed with wisdom, and he shared it with many.

Survivors include his wife, Mollie Ann McCullough Alarcon; a son, Joshua Holland Alarcon, of New Orleans; and a sister, Trudy Alarcon Melancon, of Mandeville.

Another son, Joseph McCullough Alarcon, died in 2012.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
A COVID pivot on a grand scale, Malthouse Theatre has been transformed to immerse audiences in an exciting choose-your-own adventure.

How do you put on a show during a pandemic? Thats the question the Malthouse Theatre team grappled with during Melbournes extended lockdown last year. Their answer was to reimagine theatre with an immersive production that comes complete with social-distancing measures baked in.

Malthouse Theatre transformed to immerse audiences in an exciting choose-your-own adventure. Credit: Supplied.

The result is Because The Night with two separate casts and a sprawling set that encompasses the entire Malthouse complex in Southbank, including two theatres and carparks.

Inspired by Hamlet, the story is set in a fictional logging town in the 1980s, where the death of the king and an uprising workers rights movement threatens the stability of the crown.
OLD SAYBROOK  The police commission has voted not to pursue an investigation into the legality of the police chiefs search and seizure practices, the latest in a string of decisions forgoing additional oversight.

The commission in late November 2020 adopted a policy formally limiting which board members would see complaints against the department and barring individual commissioners from conducting independent investigations.

Earlier that fall, the commission took no action to investigate an incident after a woman alleged police aggressively questioned a man with Down syndrome. Most board members indicated they saw no need to review footage of the incident after a states attorney found no wrongdoing.

And in September, the commission voted not to change its own key contact information. Some residents had raised accountability concerns during public comment because the town website directs those wishing to reach the commission to Chief of Police Michael Spera rather than individual commissioners.

Mondays motion, which, had it passed, would have requested funds to engage an attorney with expertise in constitutional protections  to assess the legality and desirability of Chief Speras orders or practices in this area, was made by Commissioner Alfred Chub Wilcox.

Under the investigation Wilcox recommended, a lawyer would have interviewed current and former OSPD officers and confidentially reported findings to the commission.

His proposal stemmed from allegations published late last year by CT Examiner, which in December reported that one former Old Saybrook police officer, Mark Testoni, alleged he saw Spera order officers to search a car without permission, and that another, Shannon Warren, said she witnessed Spera order officers to enter a house without a warrant.

The motion failed 2-5, with Wilcox and Renee Shippee the only commissioners in favor.

We know Chief Spera is a by-the-book guy, Commissioner Susan Quish said at Mondays meeting. Theres no way that hes gonna order his team to conduct an illegal search.

Vice Chairman Kenneth Reid shared a similar view, saying that in all the years Spera has been chief, he had not heard of one illegal search and seizure complaint or anything valid.

The chief would never allow or condone anything in such a manner as that type of behavior, he said.

But both the former officers confirmed their allegations with Hearst Connecticut Media, with Testoni saying he saw no grounds to justify the car search.

Shannon Warren, formerly Shannon Miller, a former sergeant with the Old Saybrook Police Department who now works as an officer in East Lyme, said her allegations concerned in incident in which police searched a house for a person on suspicion of a misdemeanor. She said she was not aware of grounds for the search.

Spera did not return requests for comment.

To search a persons home without a warrant, police must meet a high bar, according to Michael Lawlor, a criminal justice expert at the University of New Haven. Lawlor spoke generally about search and seizure laws and did not comment specifically on the issue in Old Saybrook.

Peoples homes are the most protected place, you know, your home is your castle, so all of the rules are going to be most strictly enforced when it comes to peoples houses, he said.

Even if police have probable cause to make an arrest, a warrant usually is required to enter the suspects home, Lawlor said. There are exceptions, however, such as when police are in hot pursuit or have reason to believe a suspect might destroy evidence.

You really have to have a good reason to go into a house, he said. If its just a misdemeanor, its going to be hard to justify.

Dan Barrett, the legal director of the Connecticut American Civil Liberties Union, confirmed that generally, police cannot enter homes to arrest people, though there are some exceptions.

Even if its a super-serious crime, you get a warrant first, he said. The home is one of the last safe spaces.

Its unlikely to be the last time a motion concerning oversight comes before the police board.

Wilcox already has requested an agenda item that would allow commissioners to discuss being notified about lawsuits involving the Police Department, he said. He pursued the matter after learning through Hearst Connecticut Medias reporting that the town earlier this year settled a lawsuit regarding police conduct.

The lawsuit alleged Old Saybrook police officers, who denied wrongdoing in court filings, used excessive force against the plaintiff. Wilcox and Shippee both said they had not been notified about the court case.

After being tabled Monday, Wilcoxs request is slated for discussion at the April 26 meeting.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
Baghpat, April 4 : A candidate in the upcoming panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district was shot by unidentified assailants.

Shakeel, the gram panchayat candidate, was shot on Saturday night in Osika village.

The assailants fled the scene after the incident.

Local residents rushed Shakeel to a government hospital in Badaut from where he was referred to Meerut for advanced treatment.

The police spokesman said that further investigations were underway and call details of the victim were being scrutinised.
Raipur, April 4 : As many as 21 security personnel, including seven CRPF and remaining DRG men of the state police, were still missing at the gunfight spot in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, said officials on Sunday.

The CRPF officials on the ground suspect that the personnel may have been killed by the Maoists during the encounter on Saturday.

A total of five bodies of security personnel, including two CRPF and three DRG men, have so far been recovered from the gunfight spot near the Tekulgudem village under Tarrem police station in a deep forested interior area. At least 20 security personnel, who suffered injuries in the attack, were recuperating and are reportedly out of danger.

The gun battle began on Saturday noon with a group of over 300 Maoists after a joint team of CRPF's elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF) launched an operation in the area. There were reports of heavy damage to the Maoists too.

"As we could not recover the bodies of 21 missing security personnel so far, it seems they might have been killed by the Maoists. However, the search is still on," CRPF's Inspector General (Operations) C.G. Arora told IANS.

The official said that 20 personnel suffered injuries in the attack, but they are out of danger and are being treated.

The official said that a fresh Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) was launched by a joint team of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) as well as the Special Task Force (STF) personnel at the shootout spot.

Of the two CRPF personnel, who lost their lives in the Saturday gun battle with Maoists, Arora said one belongs to the Central Armed Police Force's elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and the other was from its Bastaria Battalion.

Expressing condolence over the death of security personnel in the operation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that "fight against enemies of peace will continue".

"I bow to the sacrifices of our brave security personnel martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh. Nation will never forget their valour. My condolences are with their families. We will continue our fight against these enemies of peace & progress. May injured recover soon," Shah tweeted.

At least two Maoists' bodies were also visible on the spot near the Tekulgudem village. There are reports of heavy damage to the Maoists.

It was a joint anti-Maoist operation conducted by the CRPF's CoBRA unit, the DRG and the STF of state police.

The operation continued for more than nine hours and additional security forces had to be rushed to the spot to support the personnel engaged in the exchange of fire.

"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 was also provided to the party," Arora said.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of the five security personnel.

Expressing condolences to the families of the slain security personnel, Baghel had 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.
A Cambridge academic who compared the black author of a race report to a Nazi has now criticised the royals for not talking about the Crowns ties to slavery.

Professor Priyamvada Gopal added that the Royal Family was a white institution which had profited from the British Empire.

Dr Gopal, professor of Postcolonial Studies at Churchill College, caused uproar last week when she compared Dr Tony Sewell  who oversaw the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities  to Adolf Hitlers propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

Dr Gopal said Dr Sewells race report was rigged and reads like a propaganda document

Dr Gopal was also questioned about having liked a tweet which claimed Prince Philip was the royal who the Duchess of Sussex claimed, in her Oprah Winfrey interview, had talked of how dark Archies skin might be

Her latest provocative intervention came when she was asked about having called the monarchy a white supremacist organisation in the past.

It was an institution invested in whiteness ... and where whites dominate, replied Dr Gopal. The monarchy is deeply implicated in the project of empire; a lot of what it possesses came right out of the imperial project.

This is not a monarchy that has ever talked about its ties to empire  or to slavery for that matter. I am not going to apologise [for saying that], she said.

Dr Gopal was also questioned about having liked a tweet which claimed Prince Philip was the royal who the Duchess of Sussex claimed, in her Oprah Winfrey interview, had talked of how dark Archies skin might be.

She declined to say sorry for endorsing the tweet on the grounds that Prince Philip had made many racial slurs over the years.

Nor did she regret the timing of her response to the tweet, made when the 99-year-old duke was in hospital.

Miss Winfrey has said the alleged comment did not come from the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh.

The professor also claimed: The monarchy couldnt even handle a light skinned beautiful woman. She was the wife of a prince... and was drummed out of this country by the media.

Defiant Dr Gopal said Dr Sewells race report was rigged and reads like a propaganda document. She stood by her comment, comparing him to Dr Goebbels. After finding out Dr Sewell had a PhD, she wrote on Twitter last week: Even Dr Goebbels had a research PhD.

Interviewed by Talk Radios Nick de Bois, who called her comments offensive, Dr Gopal said: Collaborating with racism is the same as collaborating with Nazism.

She also defended having criticised fellow Cambridge academics who supported Dr Sewell, saying: Cambridge has a long history of denying its own institutional racism.

When Dr Gopal first spoke out against Dr Sewell the university said it profoundly disagreed with her comments but supported staff expressing their views.

In February Dr Gopal led a Cambridge debate in which academics discussed Churchills views of white supremacy and his mythic status in British public life. Birmingham City Universitys Professor Kehinde Andrews used the debate to brand the British Empire far worse than the Nazis.
Apr. 4The 2021 General Assembly session produced several bills that earned the praise of advocates of criminal justice reform.

In particular, lawmakers passed bills that put numerous safeguards on when law enforcement officers can serve "no knock" search warrants, gave judges more leeway when deciding whether to transfer a juvenile to adult court, and raised the dollar amount for when a theft becomes a felony from $500 to $1,000.

Some of the bills lawmakers approved have been in the works for years. The "no knock" warrant bill, however, resulted from last year's shooting death of Louisville resident Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in her home late at night when officers attempted to serve a "no knock" warrant.

But members of Kentucky Smart on Crime, a coalition of agencies that work together on criminal justice reform, said last week their efforts will continue.

"The Smart on Crime coalition is very much in this for the long haul," said Jason Hall, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky. "We know there are a lot of steps on this journey."

Senate Bill 4, which was sponsored by Senate President Robert Stivers, makes several changes to how a "no knock" warrant can be served. A warrant without notice could only be used in certain circumstances, such as when giving notice would endanger lives, in cases involving a "violent offender" charge, terrorism or WMDs.

Officers wanting to serve a warrant without giving notice would need the approval of a supervisor, a member of their local county or Commonwealth's Attorney's Office and a judge. A no-knock warrant could only be served between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

"This is the first time we've talked about (these) issues at the state level," said Keturah Herron, a policy strategist with the ACLU of Kentucky.

"When you look at Senate Bill 4 as a whole, it's a great bill. It's a good step," Herron said. Later, he said Breonna Taylor's family "was very satisfied and happy with what we did with Senate Bill 4."

Story continues

House Bill 216, which was sponsored by Rep. C. Ed Massey, a Hebron Republican, raises the dollar amount at which theft becomes a felony to $1,000. Several surrounding states, including Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia also have felony thresholds of $1,000.

The change "is a modest step forward, but it is important," said Ashley Spalding, research director for the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. "There has been advocacy on this specific topic for a long time for this bill to move forward."

Raising the felony threshold was important because having a felony record causes "collateral consequences," such as difficulty finding employment, Spalding said.

"At $500 ... we were really out of step with other states," she said.

Other states have felony theft thresholds as high as $2,500 and "research does show that states that have increased their felony theft threshold haven't seen an increase in crime," she said.

Senate Bill 32, which was sponsored by Hopkinsville Republican Sen. Whitney Westerfield, prevents the automatic transfer of a juvenile to adult court for cases when a handgun is involved. The bill allows judges to determine whether a juvenile in a gun case should be sent to adult court.

The bill would give the judge several factors to consider in addition to the involvement of a gun, such as the child's prior court history, the best interest of the child and the community, the likelihood of rehabilitation and if the child has an intellectual disability.

"This bill is huge. This bill is going to make a huge impact on people's lives," Herron said.

The previous language required automatic transfer if a handgun was involved in a crime, which affected more Black juveniles than whites. Statistics provided by Kentucky Smart on Crime said in 2020, 53% of juveniles transferred to adult court were Black, although Black residents make up only 8% of the state's population.

Racial disparities are "almost in every area we work in. This is really throughout the criminal justice system," Hall said.

Lawmakers have become more interested in criminal justice reform through advocacy efforts, such as meeting the people who have been through the criminal justice system as defendants.

"I'm certainly hopeful there has been a real shift, because there is more work to do," Spalding said.

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  With one year of the pandemic behind us, one has been that theres always something to celebrate  like spring...and Smingus Dyngus, a Polish celebration the day after Easter.

So we turn our attention this year to that happy Easter tradition in Westerleigh and Monika Tutkas family who recently produced a robust supply of homemade kielbasa. As the garlicky sausages recently cured in the outdoors near a stream that runs behind the house, Monika shared her memories of frivolous day back in the Old Country as kids would sprinkle water on each other.

Flashback to Dyngus Day in Ohio before the pandemic: The Monday after Easter is full of light-hearted celebration in the Polish community, after a penitent and solemn Lenten season. (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer) The Plain Dealer

I used to live in a village, Biszcza. We loved to walk to the church. Wed always have to hide from the boys because theyd splash water...and not just a little bit. The boys had to spray the girls and it was mostly for the fun. Sometimes theyd come to the house  two or three boys would take you outside and the water was always cold, she said with a giggle, adding, Teenage things.

She continued, Now, were grown up. In some towns in Poland firefighters will go through the main streets to do the tradition spraying water. And on Smigus Dyngus on Staten Island, she and the family will eat up their bounty, a feast blessed by Fr. Jacek Wozny on Saturday at St. Stanislaus Kostka R.C. Church and not a single holy bite will go to waste.

GOING FORWARD

With another Easter Week and Passover just about behind us, its time to look forward and, simultaneously, look back, particularly to where we were just one year ago. A North Shore reader prompted this sentiment in an email that reminded of hopeful points in the pandemic, notably when restaurants were so generous as to feed the community.

Flashback to this time last year on Sunday, April 5, 2020: Michael and Maria Consolmagno of Arden Heights waved to the ice cream man as he drove through the neighborhood. At that dark time, "Turkey in the Straw" was not a welcome jingle on Staten Island in some communities, tempting kids who were not allowed to step up to the truck. (Courtesy of the Consolmagno Family)Consolmagno Family

Yes, a pause on what things were like for us around April Fools. From a business persons perspective, numerous proprietors in those early spring days shared that they stayed in business during the pandemic primarily to maintain their employees lifestyles. Religious gatherings were outlawed and markets inundated with hoarding shoppers fearing food shortages. There was the terror of getting sick and the impossible task of properly grieving over lost loved ones with no wakes, funerals or visits to cemeteries. And then there was the very strange time when the ice cream man came-eth to various neighborhoods, only to be rebuffed by parents who would not let their children buy from the masked worker on the truck.

An update on one of the few businesses that opened in the pandemic: Made In Sicily has called it quits in Dongan Hills, much to fan disappointment. But on a positive note the ownership will open Luce, another Italian concept restaurant, in Richmond Valley.

Letter to the Easter Bunny from James (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

The Easter bunny has landed at our house this Sunday. Our little guys, James and Andrew, now 12- and 13-years old arent so little anymore. Still, it is a day theyll nibble the ears off of milk chocolate bunnies and chomp through candy crosses with abandon.

Just three years ago, the brothers were traumatizing each other the night before Easter and the younger one just wasnt having it. In those more juvenile times James did what any self-respecting, passive aggressive sibling would do  he ratted out his bro to the Easter Bunny. After the boys pummeled each other that year  and there were some fightin words  James vented his grievances in a letter addressed to The Rabbit himself. The 9-year old inserted his complaint in his brothers candy basket where the mystical bunny would no doubt pick it up. Thankfully, bunnies are a forgiving breed but maybe James big brother will remember to roast him with it at, say, his rehearsal dinner one day.

Keep in touch.

Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com.

MORE IN FOOD SERVICE DIARIES FROM ONE YEAR AGO:

Pamelas Food Service Diary: Sunday, April 5, 2020. Staten Island, NY.

Pamelas Food Service Diary: Saturday, April 4, 2020. Staten Island, NY.

Pamelas Food Service Diary: Friday, April 3, 2020. Staten Island, NY.

Florencio Almazo Moran, 65, New Dorp bakery worker claimed by COVID-19, a one-man army

Andreas Koutsoudakis, beloved Tribeca restaurateur lost to coronavirus, is family of Andrews Diner owners

Anthony Fauci has roots in a Staten Island restaurant
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

MONTEZUMA  Like generations before him, Yasin Yousuf was destined to herd camels, goats and sheep. However, fate took the 22-year-old from Somaliland down a most unexpected path.

A second-year student at the United World College-USA, Yasin has received a full scholarship to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the worlds most prestigious schools, with a less than 7% acceptance rate. The scholarship is valued at $84,000 a year. Yasin is considering studying either computer science or electrical engineering.

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Yasin didnt think he had a chance to be accepted, particularly coming from Somaliland  a region of Somalia not recognized by any other country. He also had doubts about his familys finances.

Thats when I learned just how poor my family is, Yasin said. In my country, we have no financial system. We are nomads. We have no bank accounts. We live from hand to mouth. You only get what you can at that moment. Theres no way we have some kind of statement of income.

One of 11 children, Yasin was the third son born to his parents in three years. His grandmother offered to help his struggling mother by moving then 3-year-old Yasin to her home in another village. No longer a nomad, Yasin defied the odds and got to attend school.

Im lucky and Im grateful, he said. I got the fortune they (his siblings) never got because the village had a school.

In eighth grade, Yasin received one of the highest scores in Somaliland to continue his high school education at SOS Childrens Villages, a boarding school.

After graduating at age 19, Yasin had few options for college in his homeland, but was accepted to UWC Robert Bosch College in Freiburg, Germany; he learned about UWC from a student at SOS. Yasins visa was denied and his education delayed. The following year, Yasin received his visa to attend UWC-USA.

The Abaarso School of Science and Technology helped facilitate the UWC application. Yasin also took classes for one semester at Abaarso, which was founded in 2008 by Jonathan Starr, an American hedge fund tycoon who moved to Somaliland and set up a school for brilliant kids who otherwise wouldnt have a chance.

Yasin said theres no way he can describe the opportunity to study at MIT.

Im actually excited instead of nervous, he said. I like to challenge myself.

Due to travel restrictions, Yasin has not returned to Somaliland since arriving in the United States in the fall of 2019, but stays with an uncle in Houston during breaks. The uncle also helps out Yasin with pocket money.

Yasin believes education is one of the best ways to break the cycle of international generational poverty. He hopes to one day make it possible to educate his younger siblings and his own children.

What if some of my brothers and sisters would have had the fortune to go to school? he said. Their future would then be like mine.
Four members of a family were killed after a fire broke out at their house, which they also used to run a baby store, in Hanoi early on Sunday morning.

The house, located at 311 Ton Duc Thang Street in Dong Da District, began catching fire at around 1:00 am, when the victims were sleeping.

Firefighting police officers arrived at the location shortly after being notified, but all four people inside the house were already dead.

The deceased victims include Nguyen Thac Thi, 80, Nguyen Anh Hong  This 40-year-old daughter, Dinh Hung Vy  Hongs 38-year-old husband, and Dinh Ha Tue Man  Hongs 10-year-old son.

The first body was brought out of the house at around 6:45 am the same day.

Preliminary information showed that the house covers an area of 60 square meters and has three floors together with only one entrance.

Fire trucks and ambulances arrive at the location. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre

The family operated a shop selling such baby products as milk and diapers on the first floor.

They lived and stored their merchandise on the second and third floors.

The fire spread very quickly as there were a lot of inflammable objects including diapers and clothes.

Fire trucks and ambulances arrive at the location. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre

Hanoi authorities have provided financial support to the victims' families.

They are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the deadly fire.

Police officers probe a fire that broke out at a baby store in Dong Da District, Hanoi, April 4, 2021. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre

A victims body is brought out of the house in Dong Da District, Hanoi, April 4, 2021. Photo: Chi Tue / Tuoi Tre

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India on Sunday reported a net increase of 32,688 in active cases to take its count to 691,597. That is nearly 68 per cent of the September 18 peak of 1,017,754. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 3.04 per cent (one in 33). The country is 5th among the most affected countries by active cases. On Sunday, it added 93,249 cases, only 4.7 per cent shy of the all-time single-day high of 97,849 on September 27, to take its total caseload to 12,485,509. And, with 513 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 164,623, or 1.32 per cent of total confirmed infections.

With 2,738,972 more people getting Covid-19 vaccine shots on Friday, Indias total count of those inoculated reached 75,979,651. The count of recovered cases across India, meanwhile, reached 11,629,289  or 93.14 per cent of total caseload  with 60,048 new cured cases being reported on Sunday.
A man from Louisiana was arrested at Disney Springs this morning after refusing a routine temperature check. The park-goer allegedly explained to authorities he could not be told to leave because he had spent $15,000.

According to a police report by the Orange County Sheriffs Department, Kelly Sills somehow circumvented the February medical screening and declined Disney employees requests to have his temperature checked.

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Sills still refused to cooperate when police arrived on scene.

The Baton Rouge native pleaded with officers he had spent loads of money  $15,000  to go vacationing, after his presence was deemed trespassing.

The confrontation purportedly started when Sills argued with a security manager before being told that he was no longer welcome. The manager and officers approached the Louisianian outside the Boathouse restaurant, according to the police report.

In body cam footage, there was a woman bargaining with police to not arrest the man. Police had little sympathy for the man and said that he was not listening. All he had to do was get a temperature check, replied an officer.

At another point in the footage, Sills also tried explaining he was a Disney stockholder. His financial standings didnt seem to sway the emotions of any authorities.

Sills pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor trespassing charges, according to court reports. His attorney declined to comment on the case.

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Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment to the Ghana-Burkina Faso 1100km railway project.



The new Minister of Railway Development in Ghana, Mr John Peter Amewu was in Ougadougou Burkina this week to reaffirm that commitment.



Mr Amewu was accompanied by accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Railways Development, Ghana Railway Development Authority, and project Transaction Advisors (Represented by Team Engineering and Vision consult).



They were received in Ougadougou by the Burkinabe Minister for Transport, Urban Mobility, and Road safety, Mr. Vincent Dabilou.



Their discussions also included the conclusion of discussions on the selection of a private partner to build, operate and transfer the Ghana-Burkina 1100km railway line.



In his remarks, Mr Amewu stressed on the importance of the project to the development of Ghana and Burkina Faso and said that was why President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has shown an unwavering commitment to the successful completion of the project.



He stated that the completion of the project would boost economic trade, help in the transportation of freight and passenger between the two countries and further deepen the ties between Ghana and Burkina Faso.



Whiles in Ougadougou representatives of both countries and the transaction advisors held meetings to discuss and agree on the modalities for the selection of a fit for purpose BOT (build, operate, and transport partner) to work on the Ghana-Burkina Faso railways line.



Also, the provision of land (Right of way) by both countries for the construction of the proposed railway line was discussed among others.



Also, the respective ministers for both countries addressed a press conference to provide updates to the Burkina Faso media on the status of the project.



The two Ministers later signed a Communique after which they paid a courtesy call on Burkina Faso Prime Minister, Mr. Christophe Joseph Marie Dabre.



The delegation took the opportunity to report to the Prime Minister the progress made with regards to the implementation of the project and the agreements reached during the working visit.



Mr Amewu said he was personally excited about the project because the railway line will be passing through his constituency, Hohoe.

Source: Daily Graphic









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The distributor of Chinas Sinopharm vaccine in the United Arab Emirates says it has started offering a very small number of people a third shot after these recipients reported insufficient levels of antibodies following a two-dose regimen.

The distributor, G42 Healthcare, has found that some people were not really responsive to the Sinopharm vaccine, Walid Zaher, the companys chief researcher, told Dubai Eye Radio on Sunday.

Dr. Zahers disclosure could add to questions about the overall efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine, which has been rolled out to at least six countries. The state-owned company has not reported detailed Phase 3 clinical data for scientists to independently assess the strength of its vaccines. Sinopharm did not respond to a request for comment.

It is unclear which of Sinopharms two vaccines Dr. Zaher was referring to. One was developed in conjunction with the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, and the other with the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products. In December, the Emirates became the first government to approve the vaccine that was made with the Beijing Institute.
Amid parliamentary elections in Bulgaria on April 4, special crews with ballot boxes visited the homes of quarantined voters. Polling stations in the capital, Sofia, have also adopted strengthened hygiene measures amid the soaring COVID-19 outbreak. Apart from the pandemic, the European Union's poorest country is struggling with corruption and young people's emigration.
A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, as vaccinations resume after a brief pause in their use over concern for possible connection to blood clots, in Turin, Italy, March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Massimo Pinca

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.

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.

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.

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.
Imperial Valley News Center

Justice Department Settles Immigration-Related Discrimination Claim Against Security Services Company

Washington, DC - The Justice Department Wednesday announced that it reached a settlement agreement with G4S Secure Solutions, Inc. (G4S), a private security services company based in Jupiter, Florida. The settlement resolves a claim that the company discriminated against a worker by requiring him to provide unnecessary documentation to prove his immigration status because the worker was not a U.S. citizen, in violation of the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Employers are not allowed to ask workers for additional, unnecessary documents because of their citizenship or immigration status, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. The Justice Department looks forward to working with G4S to ensure its compliance with the INAs anti-discrimination requirements in the future.

The department initiated its investigation after a lawful permanent resident filed a charge alleging that G4S required him to provide additional employment eligibility documentation before assigning him to a worksite, even though he had already presented sufficient documents to prove his identity and legal right to work in the United States, which is all that workers are required to demonstrate. The investigation determined that a G4S Human Resources manager declined to place the newly hired security guard at a worksite because he had presented a Permanent Resident Card along with a notice showing that the card had been extended for one year past the expiration date listed on the card, and because the guard did not yet have his new Permanent Resident Card. Lawful permanent residents are authorized to work permanently.

In addition to showing his extended Permanent Resident Card, the investigation also revealed that the security guard had already provided G4S his unrestricted Social Security card, which alone is sufficient to establish indefinite employment authorization. The INAs anti-discrimination provision generally prohibits employers from asking workers for more or different documents than are required by law for the employment eligibility verification process based on a workers citizenship status or national origin.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, G4S will, among other things, pay more than $13,000 in back pay to the former employee and $1,400 to the U.S. Treasury; train its workers; and be subject to departmental monitoring for a two-year period.
An American flag flies above the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 9. AP-Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun



Samsung Electronics officials are set to attend a White House meeting with other firms in the industry later this month to discuss ways to tackle the global chip shortage.



A Samsung Electronics official said Friday he could not confirm the meeting, but the top chip maker was mentioned along with General Motors and GlobalFoundries as companies that would meet with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese to discuss the issue, in a Bloomberg report published April 1.



According to the report, the White House is also in talks with Congress and foreign allies over dealing with the semiconductor shortage.



The global shortage of semiconductors is attributed to a surge in demand for electronic devices amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as work and school were brought home.






Amazon issued an apology addressed to Democratic Representative Pocan in their Blogspot, acknowledging their workers' issue of urinating in bottles during their delivery. The apology of the company follows their exchange of tweets with the representative criticizing them regarding the company's workplace.

Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a "progressive workplace" when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles. https://t.co/CnFTtTKA9q  Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) March 25, 2021

Representative Mark Pocan noted in his tweet that an hourly wage of $15 does not make the company a "progressive workplace," as well as union-busting and making workers pee in plastic bottles. Amazon rebutted in Pocan's tweet, challenging the representative to ratify policies like what their company offers their employees.

READ NEXT: Amazon Tweaks App Logo After Unfavorable Comparisons to Adolf Hitler's Mustache

Amazon's Apology to Representative Pocan

Prior to their apology, Amazon has initially denied that their drivers were sometimes forced to urinate in bottles during their delivery. However, their recent post in their Blogspot acknowledged the practice as they address their apology to the democratic representative. "First, this tweet is incorrect. It did not contemplate our large driver population," said Amazon adding that their company narrowed to only their fulfillment centers.

Amazon also noted that their employees are encouraged to voice out a different experience in their fulfillment center so that the company may be able to fix it. Amazon emphasized that their typical fulfillment center has restrooms. The company has said that the issue is industry-wide, according to a Reuters report. However, Amazon noted that they do not still know how they will address the issue, but they will look for solutions.

Amazon also stated that they know that their drivers are having difficulty finding restrooms due to traffic or sometimes rural routes. The company emphasized that these instances are evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when many public toilets have been closed.

In 2018, an author went undercover at an Amazon fulfillment center in Britain and said that workers in the area urinated in bottles. This was done out of the employees' fear of bathroom breaks costing their job, according to a Cnet report.

Sigh.



This is not about me, this is about your workerswho you don't treat with enough respect or dignity.



Start by acknowledging the inadequate working conditions you've created for ALL your workers, then fix that for everyone & finally, let them unionize without interference. https://t.co/tdIns0AR66  Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) April 3, 2021

Despite the apology that Amazon has issued to the Democratic representative, Pocan quoted a Tweet arguing that the issue is not about him. Pocan emphasized that Amazon should start by acknowledging the inadequate working conditions of their employees. Pocan also noted that the company should let their worker "unionize" without interfering.

Amazon and Other Issues

Amazon did not receive backlash only from the issue of letting their workers pee in plastic bottles.

The company received backlash earlier in the year for AI-equipped cameras installed in their vans to monitor their drivers and confirm their identities. However, the company argued that the cameras installed will only be used as a safety measure.

Some critics have also claimed that Amazon does not pay enough taxes amid accusations of mistreating its workers. Addressing their apology, Amazon noted that they will continue to speak out whenever they are misrepresented. However, they pointed out that they will also work hard to be accurate at all times.

READ MORE: Amazon Developing Sleep Tracking Device With Alexa Tech

WATCH: Why are Amazon workers avoiding restrooms and peeing in bottles? - from TRT World
Johann Chuckaree is the epitome of the modern Indo-Trinidadian.

The 31-year-old is a proud descendant of East Indian indentured labourers. Prays to Jesus Christ. And plays the pan.

The Woodbrook-born musician exuded equal passion for all three during a virtual sitting with the Kitcharee on Thursday night.
 Flash

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.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Customs officers yesterday thwarted an attempt to smuggle in 700 grams of marijuana, a psychoactive drug banned in Bahrain, through Bahrain International Airport.

The marijuana packets were concealed cleverly inside packages of masks, officials said. Customs officials slashed opened the packets, which contained masks out of suspicion during a routine check-up by the K9 impact wing.

The drugs were neatly packed and concealed inside to avoid detection. Trafficking or even possession of marijuana is a serious offence in the Kingdom.

Officers transferred the seized drugs to the Anti-Narcotics Department of the General Department of Investigation and Forensic Evidence for legal action.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Plans are on the anvil to establish a government company to explore the possibility of hydroponics in agricultural production and encourage fish farming. The move aims at boosting agricultural and fish production by 10 per cent, said Dr Nabil Muhammad Abu Al-Fateh, the undersecretary for Agriculture and Marine Resources at the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning.

The agricultural production, he said, is expected to satisfy 20% of local demand, while 12% fish production to cover 62% of the local needs.

Dr Al-Fateh was speaking during a reception for the Taiwanese delegation at his office in Budaiya on Taiwanese experiences in the agricultural and fisheries sectors.

Present were the head of the Taiwan Commercial Representation Office ODI SUN and accompanying delegation, assistant Undersecretary for Agriculture Affairs, Dr Abdulaziz Muhammad Abdul-Karim and the Acting Director of the Fisheries Department, Ammar Yasser.

Discussions focused on cooperation in modern agricultural techniques, a training held last year for a group of Bahrainis in fish farming techniques and practical training in Taiwan.

Taiwanese delegation affirmed their readiness to provide technical support in the fields of soilless agriculture and fish farming.
Nearly 1.5 million Massachusetts residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the state Department of Public Health.

State officials did not release new coronavirus case totals on Easter Sunday; Sundays statistics will instead be rolled into Mondays update from DPH. But DPH did update its daily vaccination report, showing at least 3.9 million COVID vaccine doses have been administered across the state and that 1,478,520 are now fully vaccinated.

The state has administered more than 85% of the 4.58 million doses shipped to health care providers and pharmacies, DPH said.

As of Saturday, there are more than 34,000 active cases in Massachusetts, one of several states seeing spikes. More than 700 are currently hospitalized for the virus.

A Cape Cod surge of the P.1 COVID-19 variant has led to Massachusetts topping all U.S. states with 58 known cases of the antibody-resistant strain first detected in Brazil, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Monday, the state will expand vaccine eligibility, letting anyone 55 or older as well as residents with one qualifying medical condition, as opposed to two, book an appointment.

The virus has increasingly impacted younger groups as older residents have been vaccinated. More than 7,000 newly reported cases came among the 0-19 age group over the last two weeks, and more than 6,100 twenty-somethings tested positive, according to DPH.

The number of Massachusetts cities and towns at high risk for COVID-19 spread increased to 55 this past week, up from 32 the week before. The state has designated seven of Barnstable Countys 15 towns high risk for transmission of COVID-19, according to The Boston Globe and The Cape Cod Times. The countys seven-day average positive test rate was recently 9.6%, more than triple the state rate.

Massachusettss first P.1 case was a Barnstable County woman in her 30s, according to DPH. Health officials say the B.1.1.7. variant, first detected in the United Kingdom, is highly contagious, while the P.1 strain appears to be resistant to antibodies built up during prior infection.

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Relatives of the victims grieve near the site of the deadly accident, a day after a train derailed at a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan April 3, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap



Grieving relatives of those who died in Taiwan's worst rail disaster in decades held prayers at the crash site on Saturday as salvage crews worked to remove the tangled mass of wrecked carriages.



Officials said Friday's devastating collision, which killed at least 51 people and injured nearly 190, was caused when a parked railway maintenance vehicle slipped down an embankment and onto the tracks.



A train packed with as many as 500 people at the start of a long holiday weekend then hit the truck just as it entered a narrow tunnel near the eastern coastal city of Hualien.



The truck driver  who railway officials said may have failed to secure the parking brake properly  has been released on bail after being interrogated by prosecutors and is barred from leaving Taiwan pending further investigation.



Around one hundred relatives held an emotional Taoist prayer ceremony near the crash site on Saturday afternoon, shaded under a canopy of black umbrellas.



Many wept openly as they surveyed the scene, some holding makeshift shrines inscribed with the names of those who died.



Some called out the names of their loved ones as other family members held them tight.



Rescuers described an appalling scene as they rushed into the tunnel and found the front of the train pulverised into a twisted mesh of metal.



"Car number eight had the most serious injuries and number of deaths," rescue worker Chang Zi-chen told reporters on Saturday, referring to the most forward passenger car.



"Basically more than half of the carriage was split open and bodies were all piled up together."



Specialist teams spent hours extracting victims and survivors on Friday.



On Saturday, focus shifted to removing carriages now blocking one half of the sole train line down Taiwan's remote and mountainous eastern coastline.



Two giant cranes were being used to move the carriages and rescuers said further bodies might still be found inside the most damaged cars inside the tunnel.





In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen offers joss sticks at a memorial for victims of Friday's train derailment in Hualien, eastern Taiwan on Saturday, April 3, 2021. AP-Yonhap



'Really devastating'



The Interior Ministry ordered all flags to be lowered to half-mast for three days while President Tsai Ing-wen visited the wounded in Hualien's hospitals.



"Government agencies are making an all-out effort in the hope of minimising the impact of the disaster so the deceased can rest in peace and the injured can recover soon," she told reporters.



Friday's crash took place at the start of the Tomb Sweeping Festival, a four-day public holiday when many Taiwanese return to villages to tidy the graves of their ancestors.



A French and two American nationals were among the foreigners killed, authorities said. The youngest victim was 4-years-old.



Survivors gave terrifying testimony of their ordeal inside the train after the crash.



Many of those on board were standing in the aisles because the route was so busy with those leaving the capital Taipei and heading to their home villages.



"I saw bodies and body parts all over the place, it's really devastating," a man surnamed Lo told the Apple Daily newspaper.



"Humans are fragile and their lives are gone all of a sudden."



Investigators are focusing on how the maintenance truck could have slipped onto the tracks.



The driver was part of a team that conducts regular landslide checks on the mountainous route.



Officials said he may have failed to properly engage the parking brake.



Apple Daily reported that prosecutors had also raided the offices of the company contracted to do the trackside maintenance work.





A crane lifts the wreckage of a truck which was hit by the train a day after the deadly train derailment at a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan April 3, 2021. REUTERS-Yonhap
Hyderabad, April 4 : Telangana agriculture department has signed an agreement with Wadhwani Institute of Artificial Institute (Wadhwani AI) to deploy solutions for the benefit of cotton farmers on Saturday.

"Wadhwani AI has developed an AI solution that equips smallholder cotton farmers with scientific knowledge of an agriculture expert with the help of a simple smartphone," said an official.

The solution, delivered through an app provides real-time localized advisory and surveillance, enabling farmers to catch pest infestations early to take correct and immediate action to avoid significant crop damage and subsequently improve quality of the crop and incomes.

"The solution is based on the scientific concept of action thresholds and is able to predict pink bollworm and American bollworm infestation, two of the most devastating pests for the cotton crop," he said.

In 2020 kharif, the solution was deployed with 700 lead farmers and 17,000 cascade farmers across the four states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka through agricultural programmes managed by better cotton initiative (BCI) partners.
Ree Drummond didnt set out to be a Food Network star. The Pioneer Woman host actually had plans to attend law school. That was, until she met her future husband, Ladd Drummond, in an Oklahoma bar. These days, Drummond is living on her familys cozy ranch, raising her four children, and whipping up tasty recipes  including this picnic pasta salad.

The Pioneer Woman star Ree Drummond | Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Pioneer Woman Magazine

Ree Drummond is used to creating family-friendly recipes

When Drummond first met her future husband, shed graduated from school in California and was planning to pursue a law degree in Chicago. However, that all changed when Drummond met her husband, Ladd, at a local bar. Though he didnt call her for four months after their initial introduction, she knew it was worth stopping her world when he finally did.

Drummond chose to remain in Oklahoma with Ladd, where they married and had four children. She started her blog, The Pioneer Woman, as a way of sharing her experiences cooking for and raising a family on the farm. Eventually, it blew up, leading to her Food Network show.

Drummonds kids became the focus of her show in terms of cooking. She needed to make recipes that teenagers would love and that were filling enough after a long day on the ranch. Her easy, hearty meals became an instant hit, and she has since written several cookbooks.

The Pioneer Woman star Ree Drummond | Tyler Essary/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

RELATED: The Pioneer Woman: The 1 Ingredient Ree Drummond Always Keeps In Her Pantry

How to make Ree Drummonds picnic pasta salad

This kid-friendly pasta salad comes with an easy dressing recipe for an all-around quick meal.

Ingredients:

12 ounces fun-shaped pasta, such as radiatore

8 slices thin bacon

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dash sugar, optional

10 ounces grape tomatoes (yellow and red), halved lengthwise

1/2 pound cheddar, cut into small cubes

3 green onions, thinly sliced

Ground black pepper

24 whole basil leaves, chiffonade (cut into long, thin strips)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain and rinse under cold water to cool pasta.

Cut bacon strips in half, then add to a large skillet. Cook bacon until it just starts to crisp. Once done, transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to absorb the grease. Chop the bacon and set aside.

In a small bowl, add mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, salt, and sugar; combine and set aside.

In a large bowl, add pasta, tomatoes, cheese, bacon, and onions. Add dressing and toss to combine. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed, and finish with basil.

Ree Drummond loves making food for family and friends on any occasion

Drummonds cooking show highlights the everyday events in her life  and she cooks for almost all of them. Her Mercantile grand opening required plenty of snacks and drinks, and her kids birthdays have always been a reason to break out a few of her best recipes.

Fans have also grown to know Drummonds friends, plus other family members, including her best friend Hyacinth, for whom she loves to cook the occasional sweet treat or hearty meal. Her nephew, Caleb, has also made plenty of appearances on the show and has helped Drummond with filming during the pandemic.
About 300 unaccompanied immigrant children already arrived at a shelter created in Houston as part of a government plan to manage a surge of minors arriving at the southwest border with Mexico.

The number of children housed at the facility was announced by U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Houston, while visiting it Saturday afternoon.

It represents a partial count of a total of 500 minors expected to arrive in the coming days to this newly created emergency intake facility, as announced Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services. This governmental agency takes custody of unaccompanied immigrant minors, by law, who are transferred from the Department of Homeland Security after they are encountered at the border and processed by Custom and Border Protection.

Its important for everyone to know that this is a temporary shelter, said Jackson Lee, referring to the location in Houston, run by the National Association of Christian Churches.

HSS said the kids hosted by NACC are females ages 13 to 17. They added that capacity will be created at the facility for up to 1,300 beds.

These children will be processed through either their request for asylum or their request for some immigration status through their family members.

The congresswoman added that the task of the federal government in this instance is to move them safely, securely and expeditiously.

The government has created several emergency intake facilities in the last two weeks for immigrant minors, most of them in Texas. HSS said these transitional places aim to move minors quickly out of CBP overcrowded shelters near the border.

After the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the immigration flow, the cyclical surge of unaccompanied minors arriving at the border is having a strong comeback.

As of Friday, 13,359 unaccompanied minors were under the care of HHS and 5,381 in CBP's custody.

The first bus transporting children to the facility arrived Friday around 6:30 PM and three more on Saturday after 2:00 AM.

U.S. Representative Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat from Houston, said at the site yesterday that they could continue coming during the weekend and Monday. She said that between 80 and 85% of the children already have a parent or relative in the U.S.

Case managers at facilities such as the new one in Houston work with the children to identify and vet the relatives who would take care of them while they go through their immigration proceedings. Other minors are placed with scrutinized sponsors, according to HHS.

Local immigrant advocacy organizations such as FIEL Houston said that they are receiving calls from families expecting to be united with children who came unaccompanied to the country.

We are receiving calls from parents, aunts, to know if their kids are coming among those arriving in Houston, said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL.

Government authorities said that parents and relatives can call the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement National Call Center, 1 (800) 203-7001, to find out whether their children are under their care and locate them. They could also request assistance by writing an email to information@ORRNCC.com.
New Delhi: The Centre has directed states and UTs to not allow fresh registrations of healthcare and frontline workers for COVID-19 vaccination, according to a PTI report. No new registrations should be allowed since some ineligible beneficiaries were getting their names enlisted under this category, in violation of rules.

"Various inputs have been received from different sources that in some of the COVID-19 vaccination centres (CVCs), some ineligible beneficiaries are being registered as HCWs and FLWs and are getting vaccinated in complete violation of the prescribed guidelines," PTI quoted Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan as saying.

He added, "This issue was discussed with state representatives and domain knowledge experts in the NEGVAC meeting today, and as per the recommendation of National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC), it has been decided that no fresh registrations in categories of HCWs and FLWs will be allowed with immediate effect. Registrations of persons aged 45 years and above will continue to be permitted on CoWIN portal."

"I request you to kindly direct the officials concerned for wider dissemination of this policy decision for compliance. However, universal vaccination of already registered HCWs and FLWs should be ensured at the earliest," Bhushan stated in a letter to states and UTs.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday (April 3, 2021) evening informed that the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered across India crossed 7.44 crore.

A total of 7,44,42,267 coronavirus vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 8 pm on Saturday.

"These include 89,53,552 Healthcare Workers (HCWs) who have taken the 1st dose and 53,06,671 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 96,19,289 Frontline Workers (FLWs) (1st dose), 40,18,526 FLWs (2nd dose), 4,57,78,875 for more than 45 years old(1st Dose) and 7,65,354 for more than 45 years old (2nd dose)," the MoHFW stated.

The countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive kicked off on January 16, 2021, with the HCWs getting inoculated, whereas, the vaccination of FLWs started from February 2. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. This was further extended to everyone above 45 years on April 1.



ALSO READ | How safe is it to have sex after taking the COVID vaccine? Know from the health experts



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Safadi did not identify the foreign interests allegedly involved in the plot, but he said a longtime senior official who has business ties in several Gulf Arab states, Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah, was involved and had been planning on leaving the country. Jordans King Abdullah II. Credit:AP He also claimed Awadallah had been trying to secure a plane for Hamzahs wife to flee. Awadallah and a second senior official, Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, are among the suspects in custody. There is a joint co-ordination between Awadallah and the prince, but I will not go into the details, Safadi said. He declined to say whether the prince would be charged with any crime. Asked whether Hamzah could face charges, Safadi said that for the time being there were amicable attempts to deal with him, but added that the kingdoms stability and security transcends everything.

The plot is totally contained. Our security and stability are not shaken, he said. The US, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Israel and the United Arab Emirates all issued statements supporting Abdullah. A red line for the king The swift show of support underscored Jordans strategic importance as an island of relative stability in the turbulent region. While the harsh criticism from a popular member of the ruling family could lend support to growing complaints about the kingdoms poor governance, the kings tough reaction also illustrated the limits to which he will accept public dissent. Labib Kamhawi, a Jordanian analyst, said Hamzah had crossed a red line by indicating he might be an alternative to the long-ruling king.

This is something the king does not accept or tolerate, he said. This is why we are now witnessing what has happened. This file is now more or less closed. Early on Sunday, Hamzahs mother, Queen Noor, also weighed in. Praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander. God bless and keep them safe, she tweeted. In his video, Hamzah said he was visited early on Saturday by the kingdoms military chief and told he could not go out, communicate with people or meet with them. He said his phone and internet services were cut and his satellite internet, used to record the message, was being cut off as well. He said he was told he was being punished for taking part in meetings during which the king had been criticised, though he said he was not accused of joining in the criticism.

Hamzah lashed out at the ruling system without mentioning the king by name, saying it had decided that its personal interests, that its financial interests, that its corruption is more important than the lives and dignity and futures of the 10 million people that live here. Loading Hamzah is a former crown prince who was stripped of that title by Abdullah in 2004, five years after becoming king following the death of their father, the late King Hussein. Hamzah is a popular figure in Jordan, widely seen as pious and modest. It is extremely rare for senior members of the ruling family to clash so publicly. Stability in Jordan and the status of the king have long been matters of concern throughout the region, particularly during the Trump US administration, which gave unprecedented support to Israel and sought to isolate the Palestinians, including by slashing funding for Palestinian refugees.

That placed Jordan, which serves as the custodian of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem and is home to a large Palestinian population, in a delicate position. Loading Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994. The countries maintain close security ties, but relations have otherwise been tense in recent years, largely due to differences linked to Israels conflict with the Palestinians. With Hamzah remaining under house arrest on Sunday, it was unclear how long the standoff could continue without threatening Abdullahs international standing. Adam Coogle, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa for Human Rights Watch, said there has been a slow but steady slide in personal freedoms in Jordan in recent years.
Two people are fighting for life and four others are in a serious condition after a boat exploded north of Sydney.

Emergency services were called to the Hawkesbury River Marina, at Brooklyn, just after 5pm on Sunday following reports eight people were injured during an explosion near Dangar Island.

A NSW Ambulance spokesperson said two patients were rushed to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition while four people were taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a serious condition.

Two others were treated for minor injuries by paramedics at the scene.

Eight people have been rushed to hospital after a boat exploded at the Hawkesbury River Marina, at Brooklyn (pictured), just after 5pm on Sunday

Two people are in a critical condition, four people are in a serious condition, and another two suffered minor injuries

Rural Fire Service volunteers treated the patients at the scene until paramedics arrived, with several of the injured reportedly suffering burns to 60 per cent of their bodies.

'NSW Ambulance along with other emergency services established a triage area to assess all of our patients,' NSW Ambulance inspector David Morris said in a statement on Sunday evening.

'Once the area was established, patients were reassessed by NSW Ambulance medical teams.

'NSW Police provided assistance in escorting these patients to various hospitals with medical teams awaiting their arrival.'

Marine Rescue NSW said there was no one on the 28 foot Bertram when it caught fire, but those injured were believed to be refuelling the vessel at the time.

Two crews from Marine Rescue Hawkesbury began extinguishing the flames before the RFS arrived to put out the fire with assistance of Fire and Rescue NSW.

Fire and Rescue NSW said firefighters were tasked with driving ambulances to allow paramedics to treat patients in transit because of the seriousness of their injuries.

The vessel has sunk in shallow water with a slow fuel leak, with hazardous materials experts called in to contain it.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The driver who killed a US Capitol cop before he was gunned down by police is a Nation of Islam devotee from Indiana, according to reports and his social media.

Noah Green, 25, who may have been living in Virginia, described himself as a Follower of Farrakhan on his Facebook page, in reference to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Green appeared to have come on hard times from his Facebook page reviewed by The Post before his account was taken down.

I was on the right track and everything I had planned was coming into existence. It required long hours, lots of studying, and exercise to keep me balanced while experiencing an array of concerning symptoms along the path (I believe to be side effects of drugs I was intaking unknowingly), he wrote on March 17, signing the message Brother Noah X.
SLPMA wants President to intervene to protect the local drug manufacturing industry By Kumudini Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s):

Local drug manufacturers are up in arms against a move by the State Ministry of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals to renege on an agreement with them and has sought the intervention of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resolve this issue.

They caution that such an arbitrary decision may create a severe shortage of locally manufactured drugs in the state hospitals, which are the main consumers of these drugs.

The Sri Lanka Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (SLPMA) has written to President Rajapaksa on March 12 that a decision by the State Ministry, implemented through the State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation (SPMC), to disregard the governments Guaranteed Buy Back Agreement (GBBA) would have a severe adverse impact on the local industry.

It would hinder the attainment of self-sufficiency in pharmaceutical production by 2025, to provide affordable, high-quality essential drugs to the people, an SLPMA spokesperson said.

This situation has stemmed from a decision by the State Ministry to act outside GBBA and treat with favour so-called joint ventures with affiliations to large foreign holdings, the Sunday Times understands. This will also aid the funnelling out of foreign exchange due to their foreign links, to the detriment of Sri Lanka.

While urging the President to intervene to protect the local drug manufacturing industry, the SLPMA has also written to Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and State Minister Channa Jayasumana.

Giving the backdrop, the SLPMA spokesperson said that in the 1950s, all the drugs that Sri Lanka required were imported by multinational companies. Then in the 2000s, the authorities focused on local manufacture of drugs and until 2014, around 25 basic drugs (including anti-diabetic and cardiovascular medications) were produced here. This was still less than 5% of the countrys requirements.

Then the government of the day (that of President Mahinda Rajapaksa) set about increasing the local production of drugs to cover 50% of the requirement by 2025. With such a boost, the local manufacturers who closely studied what was happening in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, had signed the GBBA with the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) and are currently producing 93 essential drugs under the GBBA.

Ten local companies are signatories to the GBBA, while many more local investors are setting up plants to take up this crucial initiative.

We meet the needs of over 15% of the local requirement for pharmaceuticals, accounting for 25% of requirements of state hospitals, the SLPMA spokesperson said, adding that by the stroke of a pen this situation has been changed.

The SLPMA does not know why this sudden change has taken place.

Attempts by the Sunday Times to contact the SPMC proved futile.
Strong growth is seen in the GCC healthcare sector, driven by a surge in medical devices, a growing branded generics market and increased investment in infrastructure and innovation. This is the industry analysis from Mashreq, one of the leading financial institutions in the UAE, and the research firm Frost & Sullivan.

According to the report, GCC hospital revenues are predicted to grow by 5.8% in 2021.

The strength of rebound at 5.8% suggests that healthcare growth is on track to return to pre-Covid levels - between 2010 and 2020, the GCC region had the highest healthcare infrastructure investments with a major increase in the number of hospitals and beds. The number of hospitals almost doubled in most countries, and at least 80% of the hospitals and primary care clinics built in the GCC were driven by government initiatives and expansion plans.

Hospital revenues heavily impacted by a Covid-induced drop in outpatient visits and elective surgery volumes are forecast to bounce back strongly in Q1 and Q2 2021 in most GCC countries.

Karim Amer, SVP, Head of Healthcare and Education, Mashreq Bank, said: The Mashreq- Frost & Sullivan report indicates that the GCC healthcare sector is on the cusp of a promising recovery, with clear evidence of growth in domestic drug manufacturing to bring down the portion of imported medicines, and the enormous scope for technological investment  particularly in AI, analytics, electronic health records and robotics. For investors and innovators within the healthcare ecosystem, the Gulf is unquestionably full of opportunity. Increasingly digital opportunities are driving new trends - for example, soaring demand for e-commerce services will most likely result in a doubling of e-commerce providers by 2030. This shift to digital health will only continue to emerge in prominence moving forward.

According to the report, one of the challenges the GCC healthcare sector faces includes a dependency on imports of drugs and medical devices, which significantly hampered healthcare spending last year. In the US, for example, 70% of drugs in use are generics, while it is only 30% in the GCC. Additionally, healthcare digitisation is still limited in the region, with most applications still at a pilot stage. Private sector expenditure has also been less than 12 - 30% across GCC countries, placing a significant burden on the public healthcare system.

Conversely, however, there remain many growth opportunities, with many of these issues already being addressed by regional Governments. According to the report, digital infrastructure will be high on the agenda of both the public and private sectors, and virtual care, remote patient monitoring, and artificial intelligence (AI) are likely to account for 30% of hospital investments from 2023 to 2030. Trends such as home healthcare will be the new focus area for logistics companies, while primary care clinics, e-clinics and micro-hospitals will represent new areas of investment focus over the next decade. Public-private partnership opportunities will also support growth across the GCC in the future  with 40% of private sector healthcare growth being driven by such partnerships.

Additionally, pharmaceutical manufacturing is expected to become an $8 billion to $10 billion market in the GCC in the next few years; and about 25% of multinational manufacturers have already initiated discussions with local companies to collaborate and develop drugs in the region. Notably, monoclonal antibodies and next-generation sequencing solutions are also emerging growth areas in the life sciences industry and are expected to create a $7-$10 billion market in the Mena region in the next two years.

Highlighting specific opportunities for growth within the GCC, Amer added: While the UAE focuses on domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing and innovation, Saudi Arabia will spend big on nationwide infrastructure, and Bahrain will seek to attract large numbers of medical personnel to meet its growing demand for high-quality medical services. Like all GCC countries, Bahrain is very likely to see its medical devices market increase by 25% to 30% in 2021 as the number of elective surgical procedures increases.

GROWTH OF SPECIALISED SERVICES

Whilst there is clear growth in the development of non-specialised healthcare infrastructure, market dynamics across the entire GCC region point towards a significant opportunity for investment in specialized surgeries, tertiary hospitals and highly specialized clinics to treat chronic ailments, cancer and primary healthcare facilities, in addition to growth in specialised outpatient facilities such as diabetes treatment clinics, wellness centres and aesthetic procedures - with diabetes proving to be a growing problem in the region.

ONCOLOGY

The Frost & Sullivan / Mashreq report points towards growth in cancer cases linked to steady ageing of populations in the region. In Saudi Arabia, 70% of the population is over 40 years of age. Statistics show that in a country with at least 40% of the population older than 40, the risks of the onset of major chronic diseases is very high. It is estimated that new cases of common cancers are likely to increase to 150,000 by 2025 in Saudi Arabia, with 30,000 annual deaths by 2025. This points towards a very clear need for additional specialised oncology services provision. There are opportunities for investment in cancer treatment services in all GCC countries, and, notably, the UAE is likely to become the regional hub for robotic surgery and cancer therapies by 2030. Investments in modern cancer treatment technologies are projected to triple in the upcoming decade. Investments to strengthen long-term care, home care, and palliative care will be imperative for the successful management of the healthcare needs of the elderly by 2055, with a notable shortage of such facilities in Saudi Arabia and Oman.

LONG-TERM AND ELDERLY CARE

There is also a growing demand for long-term care facilities for those with chronic conditions and for the elderly right across the GCC. In Oman, 80% of the elderly require support for daily activities, and 60% of the elderly suffer from chronic disease in the country. The number of older people living in all Gulf countries is expected to rise exponentially over the coming decades.

UAE TOWARDS SELF-RELIANCE

The UAE is expected to move towards greater self-reliance on domestically manufactured pharmaceuticals in 2021 and beyond. The nation imports products from about 72 countries, but ten countries account for 80% of the supply. There were around 18 UAE-based companies in 2017, with this number expected to increase to 30 by 2021.

Similarly, the number of international scientific offices is expected to grow from 30 in 2013 to 75 by 2021. The UAE is also the first country to develop an effective fast-track system for the registration of innovative drugs, allowing both UAE patients and those from neighbouring countries seeking treatment to gain faster access to innovator drugs inside the UAE.

SAUDI ARABIA TO CONTINUE INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE

Healthcare is one of the main focus areas of the ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 and National Transformation Program 2020 (NTP), which seeks to improve healthcare services and facilities across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With a population forecast to grow from 34.3 million in 2019 to 39.4 million in 2030 and 45 million by 2050, the kingdom plans to invest SR250 billion on healthcare infrastructure by 2030 and aims to increase private sector contributions from the current 40% to 65% by 2030.

The report forecasts that private healthcare expenditure will increase from 30% in 2019 to 65% in 2030. An estimated 40 to 50% of this investment is likely to be on infrastructure until 2025 and on digital solutions and medical consumables and implants beyond 2025. Saudi Arabia is also poised to become a regional hub for medical consumables by 2023.

BAHRAIN INVESTING HEAVILY IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Bahrain is investing heavily in the digital transformation of healthcare services and delivery  with its nationwide drive towards healthcare digitalisation likely to reach its peak within the next two-to-three years, attracting investments of around $0.5 - $0.6 billion by 2025. Robotic surgery offers investors untapped growth potential and is forecast to become a $0.3 billion market by 2025.

Additionally, the medical devices, medical imaging, IVD, and digital health market in Bahrain was worth an estimated $0.8 billion in 2019 and is currently growing at an annual growth rate of less than 6%. Value-added products, rather than domestic manufacturing, will create growth opportunities over the next five years and, as the government focuses on elder care, the adoption of related home care products and solutions is likely to increase by 2025.

KUWAIT TO BOOST INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

The Mashreq-Frost & Sullivan report forecasts that Kuwait Vision 2035 is likely to boost investments in infrastructure development and upgrades. The public health system has huge opportunities in generics, which are forecast to account for 60% of pharmaceutical market revenues, with domestic manufacturers capturing 20% of that revenue. Domestic manufacturing of pharmaceuticals is also likely to gain momentum, increasing its contribution from current levels of 15% to 35% of the market by 2030.

QATAR TO ESTABLISH SEVERAL NEW HOSPITALS

Medical tourism is expected to gain prominence in Qatar and be a focal point for the governments strategy to diversify the economy away from oil. The Mashreq-Frost & Sullivan report forecasts that the private sector will play a bigger role in healthcare infrastructure and delivery in the future in Qatar, assuming a growing portion of the countrys healthcare burden in the process. The establishment of new facilities is set to continue with several new hospitals and clinics under construction to meet the growing demand for specialized services. This is in line with the Ministry of Public Healths determined long-term target of reaching 5,700 hospital beds by 2033. -- Tradearabia News Service
TWO YOUNG mums arrested at Dublin Airport after they refused to enter hotel quarantine on their return from Dubai spent last night in Mountjoy Prison's female wing, a source has claimed.

The pair are believed to have been placed in isolation in the Dublin jail - which is standard practice for new inmates admitted to the prison.

Yesterday, Tallaght District Court heard they had travelled abroad for what a judge said was referred to colloquially as a boob job, yesterday.

The pair, Kirstie McGrath (30), of St Anthony's Road, Dublin 8 and Niamh Mulreany (25), of Scarlet Row, West Essex Street, Dublin, appeared before a sitting of the special 'Covid' court in Tallaght yesterday afternoon.

Dressed in pink runners, pink leggings and a beige tracksuit top, Kirstie McGrath appeared first behind a Perspex enclosed dock.

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Giving evidence of arrest, charge and caution, Garda Robbie Barber said he had arrested McGrath at 2.50pm on April 2 for breaches of the Health Act after she failed to comply with Garda directions.

She was conveyed to Ballymun Garda Station and subsequently charged with resisting going into mandatory quarantine under the Health Act 2021. She made no reply when charged.

Objecting to bail, Inspector Luke Leacy said his objections were that the accused had been afforded numerous opportunities to comply with the health regulations, which were fully explained to her.

"She refused to comply," he said.

Offering further evidence, Gda Barber said officers had spent an hour and 40 minutes explaining the regulations to McGrath on her arrival at the airport and the consequences, but she "didn't comply."

"We afforded her the opportunity to make as many phone calls as she needed to take advice," he said. "We explained to her in plain language what would happen if she didn't  if she failed to attend the hotel for quarantine."

Addressing the court again, Insp Leacy said "this was a conscious decision made by the defendant to fail to comply".

Appearing on behalf of McGrath, solicitor Michael French said he was surprised to see the inspector in the court in respect of this matter.

He said "serious questions needed to be asked in respect of the legislation.

"I think the Government has gone a step too far," he said. "I believe this legislation amounts to a disproportionate erosion of my client's constitutional rights.

"My client had provided three negative Covid tests."

Mr French said his client has two children, aged 10 and six, and that she is their sole carer.

She is in receipt of lone parents' allowance.

He said there were exemptions in the act based on humanitarian grounds and that his client had children to look after.

Mr French said the penalties applicable in the act for failure to comply were a month in prison and a fine of 2,000 and in this context it would be unjust to deny his client her liberty in a case involving "such a minor offence".

He added his client had no prior warrants and would be willing to abide by any quarantine and bail restrictions if allowed to reside on bail in her own bond at her home address.

Mr French said his client will be fully contesting the charges and challenging the constitutionality of the legislation.

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He said he was asking his client be granted bail and that the case be adjourned for two weeks in order that she can quarantine at home.

He added his client had not been aware of the legislation when she had left the jurisdiction and had provided three negative Covid tests in the last seven days.

Countering Mr French's argument, Insp Leacy said: "If this defendant is allowed to leave court today on bail with no conditions it would make a mockery of the act."

Having listened to the arguments, Judge Miriam Walsh said she would grant bail on a number of conditions.

These included bail in the defendant's own bond in the sum of 800, with a 500 cash lodgement together with an independent surety of 2,000 with a lodgement of 1,800 in cash.

She said the sureties were to be approved by a district court judge and that on taking up bail the defendant was to supply gardai with a telephone number that would be kept on at all times.

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She further banned McGrath from international travel, except in the case of essential travel in line with the Covid guidelines, and ordered her to surrender her passport to An Garda Siochana.

On taking up bail, Judge Walsh ordered that McGrath must present herself to a quarantine hotel and reside there for 14 days, unless she can provide a negative PCR test after a 10-day stay at the facility.

Following on from an application for legal aid, Insp Leacy said gardai would be making an application in this regard as McGrath had travelled to Dubai to obtain cosmetic surgery.

Asked what the purpose of his client's trip to Dubai had been, Mr French said he would write it down as he did not wish to say it out loud, in the interests of his client, with the media present.

"I want to know how cosmetic surgery qualifies as essential travel," the judge said.

After Mr French handed in a piece of paper with the details of the cosmetic surgery written down, Judge Walsh said: "Well, I'm going to say what it is. It was cosmetic surgery for the purposes of breast enhancement. That's essential travel!"

Judge Walsh deferred the application for legal aid and adjourned the case for re-entry at the Courts of Criminal Justice on April 9.

Following a deep clean of the court room, Niamh Mulreany was brought before the court next.

Insp Leacy said he would be again objecting to bail on similar grounds to that outlined in the previous case adding "the two individuals were together".

Appearing for Ms Mulreany also, Mr French said his client will be challenging the constitutionality of the legislation and a remand in custody would be disproportionate given the offence she is charged with carries a maximum prison sentence of one month.

He said his client was the mother of a seven-year-old child and had refused to go into quarantine as she needed to get home to look after her child.

He said she would agree to bail conditions requiring her to quarantine at home for two weeks and to check in with gardai.

He said Mulreany also had provided three negative Covid-19 tests in course of the last week.

After hearing Mulreany had also travelled to Dubai to undergo breast augmentation, Judge Walsh responded that this was known 'colloquially as a boob job."

She imposed identical bail conditions to that which she had imposed on McGrath and remanded the accused in custody with consent to bail, on those conditions, to April 9.
The Biden administration, which had set a goal of 100 million shots in President Joe Bidens first 100 days in office, hit another milestone Friday. The U.S. became the first nation to vaccinate 100 million people.

However, cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, remain on the rise in some regions of the United States.

"I plead with you, don't give back the progress we've all fought so hard to achieve," Biden said Friday. "We need every American to buckle down and keep their guard up in this homestretch."

Earlier this week, Biden also said with the increased push to roll out the vaccine at least 90% of all adults in this country will be eligible to be vaccinated by April the 19th, just three weeks from now, because we have the vaccines. For the vast, vast majority of adults, you won't have to wait until May 1."

However, during a White House health briefing earlier this week, both Biden and the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, voiced dire warnings that too many Americans were easing COVID-19 protocols.

Biden said if that continued, the U.S. could see a fourth surge of COVID-19. Walensky said she had a feeling of impending doom at the rising cases of COVID-19.

Worldwide, there have been 130 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 2.8 million deaths. The U.S. leads all nations with 30.6 million cases of the virus, and 554,069 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center on Friday.

Compared with the U.S., European nations are struggling to get vaccination programs up to speed.

The World Health Organization said only 10% of Europe's total population has received one vaccine dose, and just 4% have received two doses.

One reason for the lag among European nations is their reliance on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. There have been reports of blood clotting in some people given the shot. The Netherlands on Friday followed Germany, which halted use of the vaccine for people younger than 60.

Incidents of people developing blood clots are rare. The European Medicines Agency has said the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe.

"We must err on the side of caution, which is why it is wise to press the pause button now as a precaution," Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said, according to Reuters.

France announced on Thursday plans for a third national lockdown to counter rising COVID-19 cases.

Also Friday, the CDC updated guidance to say that fully vaccinated people can travel without observing quarantines, although they should still wear masks, practice social distancing and wash their hands frequently.

It also issued guidance to the cruise ship industry, saying COVID-19 vaccinations were necessary before they could resume passenger voyages.

"COVID-19 vaccination efforts will be critical in the safe resumption of passenger operations," the CDC said.

The CDC said it would issue additional guidance before it would allow cruises to resume, according to Reuters.

The Cruise Lines International Association, which represents Carnival Corp., Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Cruises and others had pushed the CDC to issue new guidance. In a March 24 statement, the industry said the "lack of any action by the CDC has effectively banned all sailings in the largest cruise market in the world." It did not immediately comment on Friday, according to Reuters.
Arunachal Pradesh has been able



to contain the spread of the pandemic due to the dedication of medical fraternity and frontline workers, and the ccoperation of people in strictly following COVID-19 safety protocols, Health and Family Welfare Minister Alo Libang said on Sunday.

However, there should be no complacency in adhering to COVID-19 safety norms as the ongoing second wave of coronavirus, across the country, could peak by mid-April as predicted by Indian scientists by using a mathematical model, the minister told PTI in an interview.

Till April 3, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the northeastern state stood at 16,849, including 4 active cases, 16,785 recoveries and 56 deaths, Libang said, quoting the daily bulletin issued by state surveillance officer Dr. L Jampa.

Highlighting that the state did not report any fresh COVID-19 case in the last many days, the minister asked people to be on guard so that the record can be continued.

"This landlocked hilly state is a protected area where Inner Line Permit (ILP) is in force. Any Indian citizen intending to visit Arunachal Pradesh has to obtain ILP, which to a great extent is helping in controlling the spread of the virus due to the restricted movement of people from outside the state", he said.

The ILP is a travel document required by outsiders, including people from other states of the country, to visit Arunachal Pradesh some other northeastern states.

The COVID-19 vaccination drive, launched with Covishield vaccines on January 12, is continuing in the state, the minister said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A recent meeting in Alaska between high-level American and Chinese officials fleshed out some of the deep divisions between the two economic and military powers, but did not resolve any of them.

It did produce clarity, however, that President Joe Biden needs to reverse the first and one of the worst blunders of the Trump administration. On his first day in office in 2017, Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade agreement under which the United States would have a led its major Pacific allies in dealing with China.

It was not an anti-China initiative. But it would have set the competitive standards for trade around the vast Pacific Rim. U.S. withdrawal meant that China, rather than the U.S. and its allies, had the economic power to make the rules and dominate trade.

Biden is in no hurry to return the United States to the TPP because U.S. unions, one of his key constituencies, oppose it even though it includes much higher labor standards than many of the participating countries employ now.

The TPP also included substantial advances in trade-related environmental standards, which are in line with Bidens priorities for a greener economy.

Fortunately, the participating countries reached their own agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, after the U.S. withdrawal. Participants are Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, Canada and Mexico.

Biden should work with those allies to return to the pact to help drive rising labor and environmental standards and to establish common cause throughout the region in dealing with Beijing on economic issues.
A resort developer in Nha Trang, a beach city in the south-central Vietnamese province of Khanh Hoa, has been permitted to level a hill with over 64 metric tons of dynamite, which sparked concerns among residents living nearby.

Residents in Thanh Phat and Thanh Dat Villages in Phuoc Dong Commune, Nha Trang City have sent letters to local authorities to express their complaint and worry about the implementation of the Haborizon resort and villa project on Hon Ro Mountain.

Many people living near the foot of the mountain stated that their houses have sustained multiple cracks and often shake whenever the dynamite explodes.

Others said their roofs have been damaged by the use of the explosives.

The project developer previously sent some people to check the affected houses, but no solution or compensation has been suggested.

The locals also complained about air and noise pollution as many excavators start operating from 2:00 am every day, while many large trucks carrying soil and rocks often travel through residential areas.

A ditch was already dug up to discharge wastewater from the construction site down to the neighborhoods at the foot of the mountain.

A large volume of water often washes downhill during heavy downpours, as trees have been chopped down to make way for the construction.

The Gioi Xanh Company, the developer of the Haborizon project, was granted an investment permit in January 2018.

The project covers an area of more than 24.16 hectares on Hon Ro Mountain, including 9.8 hectares of protection forest.

On September 14, 2020, the Department of Construction in Khanh Hoa Province allowed the developer to use 64.5 metric tons of explosives and 20,000 detonators of all kinds to destroy part of the mountain and make way for the construction.

Meanwhile, the Nha Trang Peoples Committee stated that the construction method causes a very high risk of landslides, especially during torrential rains.

The administration added that the project does not fit in with the development master plan of the city.

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A woman who was going through the menopause when she donated one of her kidneys to her younger brother, has revealed he began to experience some of her symptoms for a few weeks after the transplant.

Denise Waldron from Salthill, Ireland, explained that she agreed to donate a kidney to her brother Raymond O Brien, a carpenter, who is father to Isabel, 10, twins Harry and Amy, eight, when he reached the end of his declining kidney function and was due to start dialysis.

The barrister said she received blessing from her daughters Hilary and Laura, before agreeing to undergo a living donor kidney transplant at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

'For a few weeks after the operation he was getting hot flushes and kicking off the blankets as he was overheating at night. Ethna and I found this hilarious. We joked that he is now more in touch with his feminine side and has a better understanding of what women have to go through,' Denise said.

The hot flushes were most likely a side-effect of medication to stop Ramond's body rejecting the new organ.

Denise Waldron (pictured right) from Salthill, Ireland, donated one of her kidneys to her brother Raymond O Brien (pictured left)

Raymond who also lives near Salthill with his wife Ethna and their three children, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 20.

The diagnosis let to him having laser eye treatment and two eye operations related to diabetic complications.

He was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2002 and within fifteen years of treatment had reached end stage kidney failure.

Denise said: 'I felt privileged to be able to help my younger brother Raymo as he was struggling with his health while trying to raise three young children with Ethna. My two daughters, Hilary and Laura, are grown up and I discussed the donation with them and got their seal of approval.

Raymond had been diagnosed with kidney disease in 2002 after suffering complications related to diabetes. Pictured: Raymond and his wife Ethna, with their children

Denise who was going through the menopause at the time of the transplant, said Raymond experienced her hot flushes. Pictured: Denise with her granddaughter Ayra

'The transplant team at Beaumont were wonderful throughout and I never felt pressured to proceed. There was rigorous testing including counselling and the team had me well prepared. They facilitated the transplant taking place in August while I was off work because the courts were on summer recess.

'The surgeons were amazing. I was wheeled down to theatre first and transplant surgeon Mr Gordon Smyth removed my kidney and Ms Dilly Little transplanted the kidney into Raymo.

'The transplant was a success. The after care in Beaumont was excellent. The transplant unit is brand new and state of the art, with an amazing team of doctors and nurses.

'I was well enough to be discharged from hospital after five days and Raymo after ten. I was back to work within six weeks and have never looked back. Raymo is looking and feeling much better and I have more energy now than ever, probably because I don't take my good health for granted and try to lead a healthy lifestyle most of the time.

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT? The kidneys have several important functions in the body including filtering waste out of the bloodstream and eliminating excess water or toxins in the urine. People need a kidney transplant if they have severe kidney disease or if the organ is failing. To determine if someone is a match to donate a kidney, they have to have matching blood types with the receiver. If this isn't possible, doctors can lower the antibody levels in both people to see if the organ can still be a match. Tissue typing tests (HLA) are taken to also determine if the body will reject or accept the intended donor organ. Parents and siblings are 50 per cent likely to match with someone who needs a donation. The numbers drop for people outside of the family. But the most common way that people receive a kidney donation is from someone who has died. And many people struggle to find a match that is suitable for them. People can spend years on the transplant list and on dialysis while waiting for a donor match. Like most surgical procedures, a kidney transplant can cause short-term risks such as blood clots and infection. Long-term risks can be weight gain, high blood pressure and an increased risk of cancer. Advertisement

'I swim in the sea all year round and have been doing so since I donated my kidney to Raymo in 2017.

While Denise and Raymond were undergoing surgery, their brother David O'Brien, a Consultant Neurosurgeon, was operating in the adjoining theatre.

The siblings are sharing their story in support of Ireland's Organ Donor Awareness Week 2021.

This year's Organ Donor Awareness Week campaign is built around the theme #Life is a Gift Pass it On and Share your Wishes.

Denise continued: 'The Irish Kidney Association supported us along the way and the charity is a cause close to our hearts. This January for my birthday, I decided to do a small fundraiser on Facebook for the charity.

'I was taken aback by the generosity of friends and family, as a total of 1,527 was raised. We are delighted to be able to share our story to help the IKA raise awareness about the importance of organ donation.'

Raymond revealed he had been expected to need dialysis within two years of being diagnosed with kidney disease,

Raymond said he managed to delay a need for dialysis by managing his condition, but he always knew 'someday' a transplant would be needed. Pictured: Denise and Raymond

Raymond said doctors refused to consider his wife for the transplant because she has three young children. Pictured left to right, siblings: Raymond, Paul, Denise and David

'But actually, held off for 15 years before a transplant was needed. The way in which I managed my condition played a huge part in delaying its progression,' he said.

'However, in the last year or two before my transplant, my kidney function and health deteriorated. My energy levels went down and I needed to rest a lot.

'It was now time to either get a kidney or start dialysis, which had been avoided thus far.'

Raymond said all of his siblings volunteered to donate their kidney, because medics wouldn't consider his wife for the transplant.

He continued: 'Ethna offered to donate a kidney straight away but was told that they wouldn't even test her because of having three young children. I was fortunate to also have two brothers and a sister who were all willing to donate a kidney to me.

Raymond revealed he's grateful for Denise and believes anyone who would agree to having surgery while healthy 'must be special'. Pictured: Raymond and Ethna with their children

'Denise when tested was a perfect match and a transplant was arranged for August 2017.

'We are so grateful to my sister Denise, my hero. Our family of five cannot thank her enough. She is an amazing woman. The only way we can show how grateful we are is to look after the kidney she gifted to me.

'It's hard to explain or express the gratitude that I have to my big sister for giving me a new lease of life.

'I'm incredibly grateful to all of my friends and family who have helped and supported us over the years, but especially my wife Ethna, who through thick and thin has always been there for me.
TOKYO -- Around 70% of coronavirus patients tested at a Tokyo hospital last month carried a mutation known for reducing vaccine protection, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday.

The E484K mutation, nicknamed Eek by some scientists, was found in 10 of 14 people who tested positive for the virus at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Medical Hospital in March, the report said.

For the two months through March, 12 of 36 COVID patients carried the mutation, with none of them having recently travelled abroad or reporting contact with people who had, it said.

Hospital officials were not immediately available for comment.

Ahead of the summer Olympics scheduled to begin in July, Japan is grappling with a new wave of infections. Health experts are particularly concerned about the spread of mutant strains, even as large-scale vaccinations of the general population have not yet begun.

On Friday, 446 new infections were reported in Tokyo, although that is still well below the peak of over 2,500 in January.

In Osaka, a record 666 cases were reported. Health experts have expressed concern about the spread around that western metropolis of a mutant strain known to have emerged in Britain.

NHK said none of the patients at the Tokyo hospital carried the British strain.
A longtime local imprint is fading as the public mostly reads nasty social media messages from frenemies and "news" that supports their political ideology.

Read more . . .

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Kansas City's BkMk Press, one of Kansas City's few book publishers and second oldest only to Andrews McMeel. Over the course of that long history, BkMk has acted as a platform for Midwestern voices, won many awards, and built a solid reputation for its publication of poetry, fiction and nonfiction - but it's also been no stranger to obstacles.
Prince Hamza Bin Al-Hussein (R) and Prince Hashem Bin Al-Hussein (L), brothers of King Abdullah II of Jordan, attend the opening of the parliament in Amman, Jordan, on Nov. 28, 2006. (Mohammad abu Ghosh/AP Photo)

Jordan Says Prince Liaised With Foreign Parties Over Plot to Destabilize Country

Jordans Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi said on April 4 that King Abdullahs half-brother and former crown prince, Prince Hamza, liaised with foreign parties over a plot to destabilize the country and had been under investigation for some time.

The military said on April 3 it had issued a warning to the prince over actions targeting security and stability in the key U.S. ally. Prince Hamza later said he was under house arrest. Several high-profile figures were detained.

The investigations had monitored interferences and communications with foreign parties over the right timing to destabilize Jordan, Safadi said.

These included a foreign intelligence agency contacting Prince Hamzas wife to organize a plane for the couple to leave Jordan, he said.

Jordans Prince Hamza and his wife Princess Noor arrive at Zahran Palace, where they celebrated their wedding ceremony in Amman, Jordan, on May 27, 2004. (Hussein Malla/AP Photo)

Initial investigations showed these activities and movements had reached a stage that directly affected the security and stability of the country, but his majesty decided it was best to talk directly to Prince Hamza, to deal with it within the family to prevent it from being exploited, he said.

Earlier, Hamzas mother Queen Noor, the widow of Jordans late king, defended her son.

Praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander, she wrote on Twitter. God bless and keep them safe.

Jordans Prince Hamza (L) with his mother Queen Noor (R) stand during his wedding ceremony in Amman, Jordan, on May 27, 2004. (Hussein Malla/AP Photo)

Safadi said the security services have asked for those involved in the plot to be referred to the state security court.

Jordans neighbors and allies expressed solidarity with King Abdullah over the security measures in the kingdom, an important ally of the United States.

Jordan is seen as one of the most stable countries in the Middle East. Echoing statements of support by other allies and neighbors of Jordan, Moroccos King Mohammed VI held a phone call with King Abdullah II in which he expressed solidarity and support for the countrys security measures, Moroccos royal palace said on Sunday.

King of Jordan Abdullah II addresses the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Jan. 15, 2020. (Vincent Kessler/Reuters)

Some opposition figures have rallied around Prince Hamza, in a move that has displeased the king, officials familiar with the situation said.

Prince Hamza was dismissed as heir to the throne in 2004 by King Abdullah, in a move that consolidated the monarchs power.

Although he has been sidelined, Prince Hamza has angered the authorities by building ties with disgruntled figures within powerful tribes.

Powerful Tribes

Prince Hamza is not seen as a major threat to Jordans monarchy and has been marginalized for years, but the move against him represents the first such incident involving a close member of the royal family since King Abdullah came to the throne.

The authorities have become increasingly concerned with his efforts to build ties with disgruntled figures within powerful tribes.

These people known as the Herak have in recent weeks called for protests against corruption in a country hit hard by the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, pushing unemployment to record levels and deepening poverty. The authorities had cracked down on several demonstrations, detaining dozens.

Tribes who dominate the security forces form the bedrock of support for the kingdoms Hashemite monarchy.

Jordans King Abdullah II inspects a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony on June 22, 2011. (Sergei Supinsk/AFP/Getty Images)

The state news agency said Bassem Awadallah, a U.S.-educated longtime confidant of the king who later became minister of finance and also adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Sharif Hassan Ben Zaid, a member of the royal family, were detained along with other unnamed figures.

It gave no details.

The Saudi royal court voiced its full support for King Abdullah and all decisions taken by him to maintain security and stability. Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar also stood by him. The U.S. State Department said the king was a key partner and had its full backing.

Arrests of top officials and royal family members are rare in Jordan, seen as one of the Arab worlds most stable countries.

Political Wilderness

Prince Hamza, who had been groomed by his mother Queen Noor to succeed his late father King Hussein, has been pushed into the political wilderness since he was sacked as crown prince.

Abdullah succeeded his father King Hussein, who ruled Jordan for nearly five decades.

The Jordanian Hashemite dynastys tradition under the 1952 constitution gives the succession to the eldest son but the monarch retains the option of naming a brother.

King Abdullah has succeeded in bringing political stability to the country and gaining stature as a prominent Arab leader whose message of moderation has found an echo, especially in Western forums.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Kwaku Atimba, a 36- year- old man has been allegedly mistaken for game and shot to death in a hunting expedition at Kplesu, near Krachi in the East Municipality of the Oti Region.



The deceased reportedly went to his usual hunting and was expecting to come home the following day but never appeared.



Madam Dora Chake, wife of the deceased, not hearing from him for about four days, informed traditional leaders of the disappearance.



The news went viral and a search party was dispatched to the forest, who discovered the lifeless body of the deceased with multiple gun-shot wounds in a thicket.



Official complaints have been made by the community to Tokuroano Police Service and the decomposing body taken to WoraWora hospital morgue for preservation, while wwaiting for autopsy to assist the Police investigations.



The deceased left behind a four-month old pregnant wife and three children.



Mr Nkrumah Kwadjo Nsanyan, the Assemblyman of the Area told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the sudden death of the deceased had impoverished the family and the community.



The Assemblyman said four young men were shot dead in similar fashions in the past by unknown gunmen in the same forest.



He said the wife who is unemployed would need support to cater for the children and therefore appealed to the Department of Social Welfare to extend a humanitarian hand to the family by putting the family on the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 22:49:39|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani security forces killed a Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist during an exchange of fire in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, an army statement said on Sunday.

The statement said that security forces conducted an operation in the Dewagar area of North Waziristan district in the province on information of the presence of terrorists.

During the exchange of fire, a TTP terrorist was killed, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said in the statement.

The killed terrorist was actively involved in target killings, terrorist activities against security forces, extortion and planting improvised explosive devices, according to the statement.

On Saturday, the army said that an active TTP terrorist was killed during an exchange of fire with security forces in North Waziristan.

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
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 15:05:48|Editor: huaxia

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China's land ports of Manzhouli and Suifenhe on the China-Russia border have seen over 10,000 China-Europe freight trains since the operation started in 2013, according to the China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd.



The China-Europe freight train service, seen as the "Belt and Road on rail," helps boost connectivity between China and the rest of Eurasia as it's cheaper than air freight and faster than traveling by sea.

As the largest land port in Heilongjiang, Suifenhe Railway Port has taken its geographical advantages to develop cross-border e-commerce business. Follow our correspondent to have a look at Suifenhe Railway Port in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service


Much of mainland Europe is now firmly in the grip of the more contagious variant of Covid-19 originally discovered in Kent, southern England, sending countries back into lockdown.

The data on the spread of variants shows more than 75pc of Covid-19 cases on the Continent in the first week of March were found to be the Kent variant, up from about 14pc at the end of last year.

For Europe, the picture is relatively bleak and it will take a substantial improvement before countries can find a way to reopen.

According to data published by the CoVariants project, which compiles international open-access genomic analysis, about 3pc were identified as the South African and Brazilian variants - strains scientists fear could be more resistant to Covid-19 vaccines. Countries will now be trying to trace their contacts to stop the spread.

France's President Emmanuel Macron blamed the Kent variant - commonly referred to as the British or UK variant - for the resurgence of infections when he announced a third national lockdown last Thursday.

New rules will see schools move to remote learning and non-essential shops will shut.

Daily cases have risen by 15pc in the last week in France, and the CoVariants data shows that about 60pc of sequenced infections at the beginning of March were detected as the Kent variant.

In Germany, an even higher proportion of cases analysed in the same period - 75pc - came back positive for the Kent variant.

Last week leaders of two of Germany's most infected states as well as the German intensive care association called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to impose a national lockdown, as confirmed cases climbed to more than 17,000 a day.

On March 23, Ms Merkel described the Kent variant as "a whole new pandemic" given its transmissibility.

Similarly, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland and Belgium all saw more than half of sequenced cases in the week ending March 8 come back positive for the Kent variant.

A relatively smaller but increasing fraction of cases in Europe are being detected as the South African and Brazilian variants.

Italy is back in full lockdown mode over this Easter weekend, with shops closed and restaurants and bars open for takeouts only, to try to minimise holiday outbreaks.

In addition, Italy's government imposed a five-day quarantine on people entering from other EU countries in a bid to deter Easter getaways.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands has stopped administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to people under 60 following the death of a woman who received one of the jabs.

Some 10,000 scheduled appointments for vaccinations were scrapped as a result of the decision, the report said. The Dutch decision comes days after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said there was "no evidence" to support restricting the use of the medicine "in any population".

Last week, Germany restricted the vaccine's use, also suspending it for under-60s.

Ms Merkel told reporters that the change was prompted by the occurrence of what she called very rare but very serious cases of thrombosis among younger and predominantly female recipients of the vaccine.

"We cannot ignore those cases," Ms Merkel said, adding that the EMA and the World Health Organisation (WHO) were notified of the incidents.

The European Union is struggling to show complete coronavirus vaccination solidarity among member nations, after a week of negotiations over the distribution of extra doses exposed fissures last Friday.

Five EU nations that struggled most to get their vaccination drive going were given extra doses from an alliance of 19 other countries. Three nations weren't part of the deal, however, showing the difficulties of compromise politics when Covid-19 cases are surging again.

Late last Thursday, a deal was reached on how to distribute an early batch of 10 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses with Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia receiving a proportionally large number of doses. Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia didn't get additional shots.

At an EU summit last week, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz criticised the allocation of shots in the 27-nation bloc, saying that some countries were receiving more than their fair share at the expense of others.

Under the joint procurement programme set up by the European Commission, doses are allocated on a pro rata basis, but some nations are taking less than their share. A large majority of EU members think the system is working well, but said some nations made a mistake to focus on AstraZeneca shots instead of diversifying their vaccine portfolios.

Overall, the EU continues to lag well behind nations like the UK and US when it comes to vaccinations.

The UK is now adding four more countries - Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines - to its travel ban list amid concerns over new variants. Under the terms of the travel bans, international visitors who have departed from or travelled through the countries in the preceding 10 days will be refused entry into England.

UK and Irish nationals, and those who have residence rights in the UK, can enter but must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days, at their own expense.

 Telegraph Media Group Ltd (2021)

Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
Fr Declan Kelly carries a crucifix ahead of Easter services to be broadcast online at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Dunboyne, Co Meath. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

A bishop has said there is "some unwillingness or inability" to value religion in Ireland as churches remain shut for regular services. He was one of two leaders of Christian churches to tell the Sunday Independent of a need to return to regular worship as soon as possible, along with the need to continue fighting the spread of Covid-19.

"I share the pain of many in Ireland at present as public worship is still not permitted," Catholic Bishop of Ferns, Denis Brennan, said.

"I'm very conscious of the need for everybody to do their utmost to arrest the spread of the virus and welcome the efforts of all who are pursuing same.

"There does seem to be some unwillingness or inability in Ireland to appreciate the value of religion or spirituality at present. I think this reality is worthy of attention and reflection at this time.

"I look forward to when we can return to worship as soon as possible."

Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Michael Jackson, said: "All attempts to bring us back to normal gathering I would welcome, and I would say all the people for whom I have care and responsibility for would welcome it too. But we need to be cautious for the vulnerable and for ourselves."

Archbishop Jackson said Easter is a time when people are convivial, but there is a great danger of another wave of Covid. All generations must be careful and "we in the church need to be likewise", he added.

He spoke of how church members had to embrace technology for virtual worship, which had the positive result of attracting people to join in services who may not have been able to visit a church. It also enables Irish people abroad to join in services in Ireland, including leading prayers and reading scripture.

But with people unable to gather together for Easter worship, he added: "It is a tough time for everybody and I stand in solidarity with all Christian traditions in the country in saying that it is not the same."

Funerals under the current restrictions were particularly tough as the bereaved were deprived of "the warmth of humanity".

Referring to the grief-stricken, he said: "What people want to do is to be touched, they want to be embraced, to put their head on your shoulder. These restraints are terribly difficult on the young."

He acknowledged that the Department of the Taoiseach offered regular meetings to the leaders of Christian churches and other faiths. He said they listened to the views expressed and made decisions based on public health facts, adding "they want us to flourish".

Attendance limits at funerals will rise from 10 to 25 on April 26. No date has been set for the resumption of regular worship.

Special Education and Inclusion Minister Josepha Madigan said there is "confusion" about the legal status of restrictions on religious practice, with legal arguments on both sides, and clarity is needed.

"We are out of step in Ireland compared to the rest of Europe in having a total ban on religious gatherings. Faith cannot be dismissed as a hobby. It's a really important source of solace and support for people of all ages, especially older people. For me, spiritual health is as important as mental health," she said.
This video provided by Mark Sung shows a man with a pole trashing an Asian-owned convenience store on Tuesday, March 30, 2021 in Charlotte, N.C. AP



An Asian-owned convenience store in Charlotte, North Carolina, was trashed by a man who wielded a metal post and yelled racial slurs, according to police and a son of the store's owners.



Surveillance footage shows a man pulling a merchandise rack to the floor and swinging a street sign post into the glass of the refrigerators. A man who appears to a friend of the attacker cheers him on.



The attack occurred Tuesday at a store called Plaza Sundries that is downtown near Charlotte's main transit hub. And it falls in the wake of an attack on a woman of Asian descent in New York City and the fatal shooting of eight people at three Atlanta-area massage businesses. Six of those victims were women of Asian descent.



Despite the increase in attention on such attacks, the violence and racially charged language was nothing new, said Mark Sung, whose parents own the store, and his wife Grace Lee Sung.



''When my husband got the call (about the attack), it was like a routine,'' Lee Sung said. ''He was like, ''Okay, check the mess. See the surveillance. File the (police) report.''



The pandemic has fueled the tension, the couple said, with some people blaming the coronavirus on the store's owners. They have lived in the U.S. for decades since moving from South Korea.





Korean Americans fall victim to anti-Asian hate crimes Jeremy Lin praises Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver for anti-Asian hate stance US Olympic star Chloe Kim reveals anti-Asian abuse ''It's like, 'Hey, you're different,''' Lee Sung said, offering a sanitized summary of the insults. '''You obviously can't be from around here. Go back to your country.'''



Suki Terada from the Japanese American Association, with the Executive Director of the Asian American Federation, Jo-Ann Yoo (2nd R) and US Representative Jerry Nadler (L), speaks during a Asian American anti-violence press conference on March 30, 2021, outside the building where a 65-year-old Asian woman was attacked in New York. AFP-Yonhap

But the owners have experienced a different sentiment in the days since the attack: A woman arrived at the store and gave the owners soup. A pizza deliveryman showed up with five pies. A local doctor dropped off a check. More than $30,000 has been raised through GoFundMe to cover the store's damage.



''My in-laws are more shocked that people actually care than they were about the (attack),'' Lee Sung said. ''And it took them a while to process why they were getting so much attention.''



Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said a company that's responsible for security at the transit center arrested Xavier Rashee Woody-Silas, The Charlotte Observer reported. He was arrested for robbery with a dangerous weapon, communicating threats, disorderly conduct, injury to personal property and resisting a public officer, according to public records. It's unclear if he's hired an attorney who could comment on his behalf.



Hate crimes nationally against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have increased 150% during the pandemic, according to a study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.



The outpouring of support for the store's owners is making them ''feel heard,'' Lee Sung said of her in-laws.



''My mother in law can't stop crying every time someone says, 'I'm so sorry for what you're going through,'' she said. ''It's just a reminder that _ wow, things are not supposed to be this way.''



But the family is being cautious moving forward.




Jakarta, April 4 : At least 20 people were killed, nine others injured and five reported missing as flash floods and landslides struck Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province on Sunday, the National Disaster Management Agency said.

The natural disaster took place in Flores Timur district at about 1 a.m., Xinhua news agency quoted Raditya Jati, spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency, as saying.

The disaster buried dozens of houses, swept away several others and destroyed a bridge, he said.

All the wounded persons are being treated in nearby health clinics, the spokesman said in a statement.

The meteorology and geophysics agency has forecast heavy downpours, strong winds and huge waves within a week.
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)

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.

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."

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.

"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.

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."
Daniel Andrews has revealed he's making 'steady progress' in his recovery after he slipped over and broke his ribs and back.

The Victorian premier posted an update on Twitter that he was back on his feet and now walking 18 minutes a day following his horror fall last month.

'Im making steady progress and being diligent with my physio exercises,' he tweeted on Sunday.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews posted an update on Twitter thanking Victorians for their support during the Easter season

He tweeted a photo of a card from the Victorian Egg Decorating Guild wishing him well during his long recovery (pictured)

'Also building up my walking and am up to about 18 minutes on my daily walk.'

Mr Andrews extended his gratitude to Victorians who sent him support during the Easter holidays for his ongoing recovery.

'Thanks for all your messages of support over the past couple of weeks,' he tweeted alongside a photo of a card and some chocolate eggs.

'Theyve really helped to keep my spirits up in whats been a pretty painful time.'

The premier narrowly avoided permanent spinal cord damage when he slipped on the wet steps of a rental beach house on the Mornington Peninsula last month.

Mr Andrews (pictured) said he is making 'steady progress' in his recovery after his horror fall last month

The Victorian premier on Easter Sunday revealed he is now walking 18 minutes a day

He was rushed to hospital on March 9, after suffering five broken ribs and an acute compression fracture of the T7 vertebra.

Mr Andrews was then transferred to a specialist trauma centre at The Alfred hospital before announcing he would take a leave of absence.

'It's been a long, painful and difficult week,' he wrote at the time.

'My doctors also want me to get rest and undertake a comprehensive program of physiotherapy. That's why I will take a leave of absence from my duties for at least six weeks.'

'These are serious injuries that require me to wear a brace throughout each day except when sleeping.'

Mr Andrews was released from hospital on Sunday, March 14, and is undergoing his rehabilitation process at his Melbourne home through Alfred Health's Better@Home service.

Mr Andrews (pictured, back) is undergoing his rehabilitation process at his Melbourne home through Alfred Health's Better@Home service

The Victoria premier (pictured with wife Cath) was rushed to hospital when he fell on wet stairs outside a house his family rented on the Mornington Peninsula

He also revealed that one doctor told him 'you are very lucky to be here in one piece' and urged him to buy a lotto ticket.

'I'm not sure about the Tattslotto ticket but I'm certain that with rest, continued high quality care and the support of family, friends, colleagues and the Victorian community, I'll be back doing the job I love as soon as possible,' Mr Andrews said.

Deputy Premier James Melino will continue to act as premier.

Mr Merlino, who has been deputy premier since 2014, sought to reassure Victorians he would be able to fill Mr Andrews' shoes for a longer period if required.

'We made a commitment back in 2014 when we first came into government to not waste a day,' he said.
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It appears that springtime scammers are starting to ply their trade in the Albuquerque area.

And that means solar installers are hitting the streets, falsely claiming that theyre connected to Public Service Co. of New Mexico. They are asking to see peoples electric bills and trying to sell them solar panels or other equipment.

It is our understanding that these are likely solar sales lead generators that are obtaining customer information and selling it to solar contractors, PNM spokeswoman Shannon Jackson said.

The utility does not sell anything related to solar, and does not do any kind of door-to-door sales, Jackson says.

ADVERTISEMENTSkip



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

Instead, it works with a lot of reputable solar companies that customers select on their own in order to interconnect their new solar system to the grid, she says.

Those who are targeted with this kind of scam should report it to the state Attorney Generals Office at www.nmag.gov/file-a-complaint.aspx.

Also report it to PNM at www.pnm.com/scam-calls.

*

In the ever-evolving world of coronavirus scams, the latest seems to be fake vaccine surveys.

People across the country have reported getting emails and texts out of the blue, asking them to complete a survey regarding the Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccine, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

In exchange, those targeted are promised a free reward  as long as they pay shipping fees. The messages come with the logo of the particular drug company in an attempt to appear legitimate.

One person, on an FTC website, said she was tempted to go along with the offer because it came with reviews supposedly from others about how great the gifts were.

Remember that no legitimate surveys will ask for your credit card or bank account information to pay a free reward, the FTC says.

Dont click on any attachments or links, and dont call or use the phone number in the email or text.

*

Last year, New Mexico residents lost nearly $24 million to internet scams, compared to nearly $18 million in 2019, according to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center.

The biggest share of losses  almost $10 million  was due to business email compromises involving illegitimate fund transfers.

Recurring examples are hacked or spoofed email accounts in which a top company official appears to be asking employees to send a wire payment or to provide personal W-2 information, according to the FBI.

The next most costly scams were confidence fraud and romance scams, in which a scammer preys on the victims heartstrings, the FBI says. That category racked up losses of $5 million  more than triple those incurred in 2019.

That includes the grandparent scam, in which a fraudster calls pretending to be a grandchild who is in desperate need of money.

The point is to trick the target into sending money, personal or financial information or valuable items.

A big hit among scammers, of course, was fraud connected to the coronavirus pandemic, the FBI says.

The FBI center received more than 28,000 reports of these types of scams.

While many New Mexicans struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber criminals didnt miss a beat, said Acting Special Agent in Charge Scott A. Rago of the Albuquerque FBI Division. The increased number of people teleworking or going online to stay in touch provided more opportunities for computer scams.

Contact Ellen Marks at emarks@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-888-255-9210 or file a complaint at www.nmag.gov/file-a-complaint.aspx.
A woman holds a placard as she participates in a "Stop Asian Hate" rally at Columbus Park in New York, Saturday. Reuters-Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo



Amid growing anti-Asian sentiment, people of Korean descent in the United States are being exposed to a torrent of hate and violence as one Korean American-owned convenience store was ransacked, while a Korean American couple was attacked as they were walking in the street.



Verbal harassment and physical assaults of Asian Americans have increased dramatically across the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, as some attribute the deadly coronavirus to China, given that the disease was first reported in the city of Wuhan.



According to the Associated Press (AP), the store called Plaza Sundries in Charlotte, N.C., was trashed by a man who wielded a metal post and yelled racial slurs. Surveillance footage shows a man pulling a merchandise rack to the floor and swinging a street sign post into the glass of the refrigerators. A man who appears to be a friend of the attacker cheers him on.



The Korean family owning the store told the AP that such an attack was nothing new, but the pandemic has ratcheted up racial tensions, with some blaming the coronavirus on Asian people  such as the store's owners, despite the fact that they have lived in the U.S. for decades.




The oil ministry will seeks tens of millions of dollars from Vedanta's Cairn Oil & Gas after the Delhi High Court held that the firm was liable to pay higher profit share to the government in lieu of its Rajasthan oil and gas block license being extended beyond initial term, a top official said. In the interim, the firm's Barmer basin block licence, whose initial 25-year term ended on May 15, 2020, has been given an eighth interim extension, the official, who wished not to be identified, said.

"Now that the Delhi High Court has upheld the government policy, we will issue recovery notices seeking higher profit petroleum since May 15, 2020," he said. "The exact amount is being calculated but it will be in tens of millions of dollars."

When contacted, a company spokesperson said, "We are in the process of reviewing the court's order, will assess any next course of action" after that.

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendrea Modi had in March 2017 approved a policy for extension of production sharing contracts (PSCs) for oil and gas blocks beyond their initial term. This policy provided that the government's share of profit petroleum (earning from sale of oil and gas after deducting all expenses) would be 10 per cent more during the extended period.

Vedanta's Cairn sought a 10-year extension of Rajasthan PSC, which the government approved. But the firm challenged in Delhi High Court the condition for additional profit petroleum. A single judge bench of the Delhi High Court in May 2018 upheld the company position that the extension has to be on same terms and conditions as the original licence.

The government challenged the order before a division bench, which on March 26 this year ruled that "there cannot be extension of the Production Sharing Contract unconditionally, on the same terms and conditions which were prevailing 25 years ago i.e. on 15th May, 1995, the effective date."

It set aside the May 2018 single judge order.

"In effect what the Delhi High Court has said is that the company has to pay higher profit share after May 15, 2020. So the company is now liable to pay higher profit petroleum for the period they operate the block post May 15, 2020," the official said.

Vedanta, he said, has the option to not agree to the government condition and relinquish the block.

"Even in that case, the company is liable to pay additional profit petroleum for the period they operate the block post May 15, 2020," he said.

The additional profit petroleum will be in addition to over USD 520 million that the government has sought from the company in a separate cost recovery dispute in the Rajasthan block - the the mainstay oil and gas block of Vedanta.

The government claims additional profit petroleum after re-allocating Rs 2,723 crore common cost between different fields in the block and disallowance of Rs 1,508 crore cost on a pipeline.

The company has challenged the demand through an arbitration.

It also had a dispute with its partner state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) over investments made in the block, which held up the computation of the government's share of profit petroleum for fiscal years ending March 31, 2019, and March 31, 2020.

ONGC holds 30 per cent interest in the block while Cairn Oil & Gas, a unit of Vedanta Ltd, is the operator with a 70 per cent stake.

Sources said the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) had way back in May 2018 raised a demand for additional share of profit oil for the government after disallowing Rs 1,508 crore out of the cost incurred on laying a heated-pipeline to transport Barmer crude and Rs 2,723 crore in the reallocation of certain common costs.

These costs pertain to only Cairn's share in the Rajasthan block as ONGC has agreed to pay the government if these costs are disallowed.

In all, Rs 4,828 crore, including interest, is being sought to be disallowed for the 2017-18 fiscal.

The company had previously stated that it believes that it has sufficient as well as a reasonable basis for having claimed such costs and for allocating common costs between different fields.

Also Read: PM Modi holds high-level meeting to review COVID-19 situation, vaccination drive

Also Read: Vedanta's Goa mining plant not allowed to operate without environment clearance, says NGT
Where do I get the vaccine? Can it make me sick? Is it safe? A team of public housing tower residents across Melbourne have been answering questions such as these to help their neighbours get the right information on COVID-19 shots.

Collingwood public housing resident Nikol Tap has been trained as a health concierge. Credit:Eddie Jim

Nikol Tap, 26, has been stationed about three times a week in the foyer of the Collingwood public housing estate  where she has lived for 14 years  to talk to people about COVID-19 and offer them face masks, hand sanitiser and information written in about a dozen languages.

Im a familiar face. When you see someone you know, you automatically establish trust with them, Ms Tap said.

Its the difference between seeing a flyer and [Premier] Daniel Andrews on TV versus me physically right in front of you with a smile on my face.
 Flash

More than 50 South African nationals remained missing after the terror attack in Mozambique last week, South Africa's Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans said on Saturday.

"South Africa is concerned about the security situation at Cabo Delgado in the northern part of Mozambique, and remains seized with the safety of South Africans in that province," said the ministry's Head of Communications Siphiwe Dlamini, "Government can confirm that, with the exception of one person who died tragically in violence, more than 50 South Africans who were reported missing through the South African High Commission in Maputo have been accounted for."

He said South African National Defence is bringing back citizens who want to return home. On March 30, the South African Air force carried back the body of the deceased with his family.

South Africa will attend the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Troika meeting called by the President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi to discuss Mozambican problems, Dlamini said.

"South Africa, as a member of SADC, will participate in the meeting with a view to assist in the development of a solution that will secure peace and continued development in Mozambique," Dlamini said.

Islamist extremists attacked the town of Palma in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province last week, leaving dozens killed.
PARIS  A powerful government minister recently condemned it as an organization whose activities are racist and could lead to fascism. Lawmakers accused it of promoting separatism and of aligning with Islamo-leftism before demanding its dissolution.

Frances 114-year-old university student union, Unef, has a long history of drawing the ire of the political establishment  most notably over the years when it lobbied for the independence of the countrys most important colony, Algeria, or took to the streets against employment contracts for youths.

But the recent harsh attacks zeroed in on something that resonates just as deeply in a France struggling to adapt to social change: its practice of limiting some meetings to racial minorities to discuss discrimination.

In recent days, the controversy over Unef  its French acronym standing for the National Union of Students of France  spilled into a third week, melding with larger explosive debates roiling the country.
The government on Sunday decided to impose complete lockdown on weekends and a night curfew in the state to control the spread of the novel

The curbs will come into effect from Monday night. They were announced as Mumbai recorded over 11,000 Covid cases. The state recorded over 57,000 cases on Sunday  the highest so far.

Malls and multiplexes will remain shut and all private offices, except those engaged in finance, insurance, banks, telecommunications, and essential services, will have to work from home. Attendance in government offices will be capped at 50 per cent.

Curfew will be in place during night, and prohibitory orders issued under Section 144 will be in force during the day, said Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik. There will be a ban on gatherings over five people during the day. Essential services have been exempted from the night curfew, he said.

Public transport will continue to operate, albeit at 50 per cent capacity. Rickshaws, taxicabs, and even personal vehicles will carry passengers at half their seating capacity.

From Monday, shopping malls, bars, and restaurants will be closed. Only takeaways and parcel service will be allowed.

E-commerce services will be permitted, but delivery personnel will have to be vaccinated. Else the individual and the establishment could face Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 fine, respectively, said a statement issued by the Chief Ministers Office.

The new restrictions termed Mission Break the Chain were announced, following a Cabinet meeting on Sunday.

During the weekend, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held consultations with political leaders and representatives of India Inc, including Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra; Ajay Piramal, chief of Piramal Group; Sajjan Jindal, head of JSW Steel; Harsh Goenka, chairman, RPG; Baba Kalyani, managing director, Bharat Forge; Niranjan Hiranandani of Hiranandani Group, among others. Actor Boman Irani, too, was part of the meeting with industry titans.

Manufacturing units will continue functioning, but the state has advised manufacturers to limit the number of workers on the shop-floor. Also, units have been asked to arrange housing for workers at the plant wherever possible.

A sharp spike in cases has put a strain on hospitals. While civic bodies are increasing the number of beds, it is feared these would get overwhelmed, given the fast spread of infection.




Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday slammed the Centre for allegedly spreading misinformation about the state's farmers with its recent letter on the plight of bonded labourers.

He said it was yet another conspiracy to defame Punjab's farmers", whom the central government and the BJP have been "persistently trying to malign by dubbing them as terrorists, urban naxals and goons to derail their agitation against the new central farm laws.

The chief minister was responding to the letter sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs to the Punjab government on the plight of 58 bonded labourers rescued in the northern state.

He castigated the Centre over its "unwarranted charges" of farmers using people as bonded labourers in Punjab and also termed the letter a bundle of lies.

An analysis of the whole episode reveals that highly sensitive information pertaining to national security regarding the arrest of some suspicious persons, apprehended by the Border Security Force (BSF) from close to the volatile Indo-Pak border, has been unscrupulously twisted on baseless conjectures to malign and tarnish the farmer community, Singh said in a statement.

This reality has been further substantiated by the fact that a selective leakage of the contents of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) letter to some leading newspapers and media houses has been done without waiting for an appropriate response from the state government, he said.

Asserting that his government and the state police are competent to safeguard the human rights of the poor and the downtrodden, the CM said suitable action has already been initiated in each case and most of the people are residing with their families.

If anything comes to notice at any stage, suitable legal action will be initiated against the culprits, he said.

In the March 17 letter to the Chief Secretary of Punjab, the home ministry had said the BSF 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 the state.

The home ministry said the BSF had informed that these labourers were apprehended from the border areas of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Abohar in Punjab in 2019 and 2020.

Rejecting the letter as "totally unwarranted and factually incorrect'', the Punjab chief minister alleged that neither the data nor the reports submitted by BSF were in tune with the content of the letter.

... it is not the job of the BSF to investigate such matters, and they are only responsible for detaining any person found to be roaming along the border in suspicious circumstances, and handing them over to the local police, he said in the statement.

The Congress leader also asserted that all the 58 cases alleged by the Centre have been investigated thoroughly and nothing of this kind had been found.

Giving further details, he said, of the 58 detainees, four belong to different areas of Punjab and were found roaming near the Indo-Pak border by the BSF, while three were found to be intellectually disabled.

One Paramjit Singh, a resident of Patiala who was apprehended near Pathankot, has been mentally disabled from the last more than 20 years. He had left his home about two months before his detention, the CM said.

"Roorh Singh, a resident of Gurdaspur, had to be admitted to the Institute of Mental Health, Amritsar on the day of his apprehension. Another person namely Sukhwinder Singh, a resident of SBS Nagar, was also facing mental health issues.

"Subsequently, all these three people were handed over to their family members on the same day after verification by the local police," he said.

Further, 16 of the 58 detainees were found to be intellectually disabled, of whom four were suffering from the disorder since childhood, he said.

"One Babu Singh, a resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, was undergoing psychiatric treatment from Agra. He was handed over to his family members on the production of his medical record," the chief minister noted.

The identity of three other persons apprehended by BSF could not be established due to their mental health conditions, Singh said.

"It has also come to light that 14 persons had come to Punjab only a few days/weeks prior to their apprehension, hence the conclusion that they were working as bonded labourers since long is totally refuted, he said, adding that none of the persons apprehended has made any allegation of being forcibly kept as farm labourers under inhuman conditions even before the courts.

The CM also refuted the charges that they were given drugs and made to work for long hours.

Nothing on record suggests that these persons were forcibly infused drugs to keep them working for long hours, and moreover, it is incorrect to conclude that the intellectual disability of these persons is drug induced.

"Most of them were medically examined with the help of the BSF and police, and nothing on record suggested that they were hooked to any habit-forming drugs," he added.

The home ministry had on Saturday termed as "distorted" and "misleading" media reports linking its letter to the farmers' agitation and said no motive should be ascribed to a routine communication over law and order issues.

(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.)
Stafford Bonded, a family business involved in the bond storage of alcohol, has received planning permission to develop a whiskey maturation facility in Waterford, which will have a value of 57m when built.

Last week, the company received a 10-year planning permission to develop the facility from Waterford City and County Council, subject to 12 conditions. The development will be at the Waterford Airport Business Park, Ballygarran.

Once fully developed, Stafford Bondeds whiskey site will include 38 whiskey maturation warehouses of varying sizes. The company will also develop a new on-site office, including conference rooms for its clients and whiskey investors.

Michael Stafford Jnr, managing director of Stafford Bonded, welcomed the councils decision to allow the development of the whiskey facility to begin. The first phase of development, which will include eight warehouses, is to start immediately.

We at Stafford Bonded are delighted with Waterford City and County Councils decision to grant planning permission, he said. The team  which has grown significantly over the years  are very proud of this milestone and very much look forward to seeing out the build project.

As a family business, we take pride in building long-term sustainable relationships with our valued clients, and theres no better sector to work in when it comes to enjoying the day to day. Our aim is to add value to the clients we service by providing cost-effective, quality solutions.

Stafford said the Waterford development would also create jobs. Currently, there are 15 staff on the Waterford site, but this is set to grow to 40 over the next three years.

He added there was the likelihood of a further 30 staff within five years, bringing the total team to 70 in Waterford and nearly 100 including Staffords Wexford site. The Wexford site specialises in bonded storage and logistics of cased alcohol products.

Read More

The Waterford development will include bulk whiskey-intake, disgorging and blending facilities and racked warehouses for private client cask storage.

Stafford Bondeds post-distillery solution allows distilleries to focus on their core business, distilling, said Stafford. By outsourcing the maturation, bottling and cased goods storage to industry specialists, distilleries need less capital for building warehousing and investing in IT, staff and customs and excise administration.

By outsourcing, they receive added value through economies of scale and expertise in a specialist area the value of which is often underestimated by new market entrants as well as avoiding the significant cap-ex.

Stafford Bonded counts several well-known whiskey brands as its clients, including Waterford Distillery, Dublin Liberties Distillery and West Cork Distillery.

According to Stafford, the company has eight million litres of pure alcohol of maturing spirit currently under its management.

To date, Stafford Bonded has built and filled six whiskey warehouse units to service Waterford Distillery and a further four whiskey warehouses to services its other clients.
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.


North Korea becoming more reclusive by limiting info outflow, foreign access



By Nam Hyun-woo



With its most recent missile launches further agitating the international community, North Korea is becoming even more reclusive, maintaining its border closure and severing diplomatic ties with Malaysia.



North Korea analysts say a series of recent moves hint at Pyongyang's growing efforts to limit information outflow and international access to the regime in order to prepare for its next moves against the ongoing international pressure on the Kim Jong-un regime.



The United Nations last month said the world body had no international staff left in North Korea, after the two last remaining World Food Programme staff left Pyongyang in late March.



This is attributable to the COVID-19 situation in North Korea, with U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric saying staffers traveled home to visit their families and they are expected to return to the North as soon as Pyongyang's pandemic-related border closure is lifted.



North Korea has been claiming it is COVID-19-free. Unlike other countries that sought vaccines or treatments, the North opted to quarantine itself, shutting down its borders to prevent overseas travel, which also affected diplomats and international workers for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the regime.



John Everard, former U.K. ambassador to North Korea, said in his recent op-ed for South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo that all NGOs that have been operating in the North for the past two decades have left the country due to enhanced anti-pandemic measures or supply shortages, and the staffs of the Czech Republic, Nigerian and Pakistani embassies also left Pyongyang as of March 18, with only 13 embassies operating with minimum manpower.





The sun rises behind the Sino-Korea Friendship Bridge, which spans the Yalu River between China and North Korea, as seen from the Chinese city of Dandong in this Feb. 22, 2019 photo. AFP-Yonhap
PORT HURON, Mich.  Officer Johnny Grays still fumes about the day he pulled his gun on a driver while the man's children screamed in the back seat, "Don't shoot my daddy!"

The driver wouldn't turn off his engine or roll down his window as asked at the inspection border station in Port Huron. Then he refused to show his hands, but instead reached in his coat pocket and then the glove box  so Grays drew his gun and pointed it at the motorist's head, fearing he was armed.

Turned out, the driver was only looking for his key fob.

He was Black. So is Grays, a Customs and Border Protection officer who is now suing the federal government, alleging racial profiling put him in harm's way that day, caused an innocent family to be terrorized and for years has demeaned and humiliated scores of Black travelers at the border crossing between Port Huron and Sarnia, Canada.

Johnny Lee Grays, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer under the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, Mich., on March 18, 2021.

In a new lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, three Black CBP officers are suing the Department of Homeland Security, alleging CBP routinely targets and harasses Black travelers at the Blue Water Bridge between Port Huron and Sarnia. Of the 275 CBP officers who work at that location, four are Black.

The Michigan lawsuit highlights what some immigration and civil rights advocates describe as a pervasive and unchecked problem of racial profiling at CBP, an agency they say has been steeped in institutional racism for decades. Similar racial profiling lawsuits have been filed over the years in Montana, Virginia, Texas, Washington, Ohio and Maine, though CBP has routinely denied culpability and avoided repercussions.

Nationwide, Black people account for less than 6% of the total CBP workforce of 21,185. More than 62% of employees are white; another 25% are Hispanic.

The CBP could not provide data on how many minorities versus white travelers are pulled over for secondary inspections at border crossings or how many are detained.

Story continues

But in a March 25 report, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan published the findings from thousands of documents involving Border Patrol arrests CBP released last year after a five-year legal battle.

The data, spanning nine years and including records of more than 13,000 stops, revealed that more than 95% of those arrested by Border Patrol in Michigan are people of color.

Video: Canadian officials say border closed until U.S. COVID under control

"These are issues that we are seeing over and over. There have not been consequences in a culture of racism, of a brotherhood that protects other officers at all costs," said Katy Murdza of the American Immigration Council and co-author of a report released in February titled: "The Legacy of Racism within the U.S. Border Patrol."

"Unfortunately," Murdza said, "a lot of these instances that we see have been consistent throughout history."

Grays hopes to change that.

Grays, 42, who is married with three children, has worked at CBP for almost 13 years. He said not only has he witnessed racial profiling, but he has also been ordered to take part in it. And when he and his co-plaintiffs have complained about workplace discrimination, the suit states, they've either been ignored, harassed, or retaliated against. Grays has been on desk duty since filing his discrimination complaint almost a year ago.

"There needs to be some accountability for whats going on. It needs to be exposed," Grays said in a recent interview with the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. He alleged racial profiling at the Port Huron-Canada border "is a daily thing."'

"These things are happening. Minorities and Blacks are being scrutinized at the border," Grays said. "The main purpose of this lawsuit is to expose that and change that."

CBP spokesman Kristoffer Grogan declined to comment, citing agency policy not to comment on pending litigation, though in a 2018 interview he denied racial profiling by the agency.

International Flag Plaza near the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, Mich., on March 18, 2021.

Grogan at the time was partially quoting the CBP's nondiscrimination policy, which explains under what "exceptional circumstances" race can be considered by federal police.

"CBP personnel may use race or ethnicity when a compelling governmental interest is present and its use is narrowly tailored to that interest," the policy states. National security is one compelling interest under the policy. Race or ethnicity-based information that is specific to particular suspects, incidents, or ongoing criminal activities may also be considered by CBP.

But the policy contradicts what Grays and others say they have witnessed at border crossings and checkpoints across the country.

"'Stop that Black guy' ... I have been told to do that," said Grays, stressing he typically "shuts down" those requests and demands explanations.

That's what he did the day he was ordered to pull over the Black driver who was fumbling for his key fob, he said.

But he never got a straight answer.

'I had to make a judgment call'

It was March 2020 when Grays got the radio transmission to pull over the white GM Suburban with Maryland plates and tinted windows. An officer had spotted the SUV leaving a Port Huron hotel and heading for the bridge and became suspicious, he said.

Grays did as he was ordered, quickly learning the travelers were Black.

Johnny Lee Grays says not only has he witnessed racial profiling while working as a Customs and Border Protection officer, but he has also been ordered to take part in it.

When the SUV pulled up at the inspection station, Grays asked the driver to shut off the engine, but the man didn't comply, he said. Then he asked him to roll his window down. Again, no response. Then he asked him to show his hands.

That's when the man reached into his coat pocket, rifled through the glove box and finally rolled down the window. But by then Grays had drawn his gun and reached into the car yelling, "What are you doing?"

"I was feeling to see if he did in fact have a gun," Grays recalled. "I had my gun about 12 inches from his face. I had to make a judgment call."

And he had to keep his calm. There was a family to consider.

"His two kids in the back seat were hysterical, crying, screaming, 'Don't shoot my daddy!'" Grays said.

Yet he remained calm, long enough for the driver to explain himself.

"He said, 'I was looking for the keys. This thing has a fob. It's a rental car,'" said Grays, noting the man simply got nervous because he didn't know if he needed the fob to roll the window down.

The incident sent him reeling. The family, he would learn, were U.S. citizens headed to New York to visit family and were cutting through Canada.

"I confronted management about it. I was livid," Grays recalled. "I said, 'Look, had that not been me out there, you may have had a completely different situation.'"

Grays said he pressed his supervisor to explain why he had to stop the vehicle. The only response he got: "They said it was a good look," he recalled. "When I asked what that means, I wasn't given any more information."

Shortly after that incident, Grays filed a race discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which granted him a right-to-sue letter on Jan. 12. Two months later, he and his colleagues, CBP officers Mikal Williams and Jermaine Broderick Sr., filed their lawsuit.

"I felt extremely bad for that family, especially for the kids," Grays said. "I couldnt think of a worse thing."'

'This is our country, too'

One month before the key fob incident, Grays witnessed a CBP officer pull over a group of 17 Black men who were returning to the U.S. from Toronto in two late-model SUVs. They were all U.S. citizens and had valid passports, he said, but a secondary inspection was requested.

Grays was the first officer who came into contact with the group at the inspection station.

"They were upset," he said, noting they had no idea why there were being scrutinized.

Grays said he explained to the group a secondary inspection typically occurs when an officer can't verify a traveler's information, documentation is missing or questionable, or the photo doesn't match the person in the car. Pulling drivers over helps inspectors conduct more research in order to verify information without causing delays for other passengers.

"They were completely compliant," Grays said. "They were minding their own business and what happens next is an additional officer came out, saw them. And then what happened is something I've seen happen hundreds of times  the demeanor of the officer's face changed.

"Nothing was said, his face just turned hateful. Its a look I saw frequently in Georgia while living there during my instructor time at the academy."

Grays said the situation grew tense in the waiting room. He felt the 17 men were being racially profiled. They did, too  if their words are any indication.

"They ended up getting up and leaving," Grays recalled. "And on their way out, they were saying things like, Hey, this is our country, too. We want to be treated like human beings. We legitimately had no reason to hold them there, so they got up and left."

According to Grays, one of the 17 travelers appeared to have an issue with his documentation. Still, he noted, no one at CBP pursued the group after they left on their own.

"They were all U.S. citizens, returning to the United States," Grays said.

After the incident, Grays went to his supervisors and requested the officers who interacted with the group receive disciplinary counseling, calling their behavior disrespectful and insulting. He also said "racial profiling was not in line" with the values of Homeland Security, which oversees his agency. According to the lawsuit, no one was ever disciplined.

Attorney Deborah Gordon, who is representing the three officers, said this lawsuit is about her clients being forced to work in a hostile environment by having to watch Black drivers get mistreated, and protecting drivers' rights at the border.

"Unlike an employment case where you go to your Human Resources department," Gordon said, "as a traveler at the border, you have no voice."

Traffic passes over the Ambassador Bridge.

This January 2019 photo, released by the ACLU of Montana, shows Martha

Follow Tresa Baldas on Twitter: @Tbaldas.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: CBP officers' lawsuit: Racial profiling an issue at US-Canada border
This update on the COVID Slide collects and shares news updates from the district, state, and national levels as all stakeholders continue to work on developing safe, innovative plans to resume schooling and address learning loss. Its an offshoot of the Collaborative for Student Success COVID Slide Quick Sheet newsletter, which you can sign up for here.

State education leaders across the nation are debating the most effective ways to maximize learning time for students after a prolonged year of classroom closures, with many considering extended summer programming, intensive tutoring programs, and other interventions.

Similarly, parents are also split on what will be best for their childrens progress. The 74s Linda Jacobson specifically highlights a number of states considering bills to allow parents the choice to have their child repeat a grade, a trend seen as national survey data from the CDC shows parents skepticisms about remote learning continue to build. For lawmakers, parents, and educators  who are also, of course, grappling with the implications of the pandemic on their craft  the nearing end of this school year is making apparent just how much COVID-19 might alter the course of public education in the U.S.

Here are eight other updates from across the country about how states and school systems are confronting the challenges posed by the coronavirus emergency  and working to preserve student learning amid the pandemic:

CONNECTICUT  Remote Learning Brings Four-Fold Increase in F Rates

The number of New Haven high schoolers failing classes has increased dramatically, mirroring a trend seen in many districts that relied on prolonged remote instruction. The number of students with Fs in five or more classes this winter was four times higher than the previous year, according to data from New Haven Public Schools. African-American and male students have been disproportionately represented among the students struggling with remote school.

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COLORADO  State Proposals Seek to Address Rising Mental Health Needs

Across Colorados 178 school districts, wide-spread concerns about students mental health and wellbeing are rising. Two state proposals to help track and address mental health concerns are being considered by lawmakers and, if approved, could provide students and educators with free mental health screenings and counseling sessions. This proposal, which is part of the Colorado stimulus package and our behavioral health roadmap, will help to connect students with critical services to help provide support during these difficult times, said Shelby Wieman, acting press secretary for Gov. Jared Polis.

MICHIGAN  Some Schools Reverse Course on Reopening Plans After Spike in Transmission

Despite recently instituted safety precautions, some Michigan schools have further delayed reopening or returned to a virtual setting after sharp spikes in COVID-19 transmission. Don Wotruba, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards, notes that the start-stop-restart process is not new and opines that the real test will come after spring break, as federal guidance weakens social distancing measures and ramp up testing and vaccine distribution.

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IOWA  Virtual School Prepares For Fall Launch

The Sioux City school district has provided more information about a new online school that will be open to all the districts over 15,000 students, as well as students from other Iowa districts. The K-12 virtual academy will provide laptops and internet equipment and online classes will begin this fall. Students will participate in classes daily and follow the same academic calendar as the traditional public schools.

ILLINOIS  Three Year Grant Program Will Expand Community Health Services

Chicago plans to spend $24 million of its $1.8 billion in federal stimulus funds on a plan to boost mental health services in the city. Over the next three years, a grant program will seek to expand the number of behavioral support teams for schools and increase services provided by community organizations and nonprofits. Chicago has not yet detailed how it will spend the remainder of its federal stimulus funds. But district leaders have said they will release an unfinished learning plan that will detail efforts to re-connect students with decreased attendance or who have lost contact with schools entirely.

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MASSACHUSETTS  Boston Schools Delay Reopening, Others Aim for Early May

Massachusetts education officials announced that all elementary schools in the state will be fully in person by May 3 as schools transition from remote learning. Districts were asked to stick to that timeline or request a waiver. Boston Public School officials are asking the Massachusetts education board for a three-week delay before returning to full-time in-person learning at its elementary and middle schools. Superintendent Brenda Cassellius is also asking for an extension to the same date for the Horace Mann School for the Deaf, the McKinley Schools, and the Carter School.

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CALIFORNIA  Schools Prioritize Mental Health Services in School Reopening

Education stakeholders at all levels are increasingly focused on the mental health needs of students as schools reopen, citing significant upheaval to their everyday lives, including being separated from their friends amid distance learning, losing loved ones, and facing family unemployment. Amy Cranston, executive director of the Social Emotional Learning Alliance for California, notes that schools can help students understand and process their emotional needs. Expert suggestions include daily check-ins with students, physical activity, engaging projects, and training teachers to recognize signs of serious mental health conditions to know when interventions are necessary.

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CONNECTICUT  New Task Force Aims to Help School Recovery, Looks at Summer Learning

The Connecticut State Department of Education has launched a task force focused on assisting the states education recovery and providing a framework for enhancing student learning and opportunities this spring and summer. The task forces top five priorities are expanding academic supports, connecting families and communities, prioritizing safety and social-emotional wellbeing, closing the digital divide, and building summer enrichment programming.

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Amman, Apr 4(UNI) The former crown prince of Jordan Hamzah bin Hussein was on Saturday put under house arrest as part of a crackdown on the governments' critics.

The BBC released a video of the prince which was passed by the prince's lawyer, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, the half-brother of King Abdullah, has accused the country's leaders of corruption, incompetence and harassment.

The prince's arrest comes after a number of high-level people were detained, which is a rare phenomenon in Jordan, for being linked to an alleged coup plot.

However, the military denied that Prince Hamzah has been put under house arrest. But at the same time it said that he had earlier been ordered to stop his actions which they alleged could be used to target the country's "security and stability".

Apparently, the move comes after the prince visited tribal leaders where he is said to have garnered some support.

Through the video Prince Hamzah denied any wrongdoing and said he was not part of any conspiracy.

Countries like Egypt, the US and the Saudi Arabia have expressed support for King Abdullah.

UNI XC ACL0656
History of IRC (Internet Relay Chat)

I've done my very best to gather information from as many sources as possible to verify facts, stories and dates. If you have additional information, have found errors in my text or just feel like commenting anything, email me, submit an issue or post a pull-request!

Feel free to link to this page or host it elsewhere. Please keep Daniel Stenberg credited as author.

Other stories about IRC history.

The Beginning

IRC was born during summer 1988 when Jarkko "WiZ" Oikarinen wrote the first IRC client and server at the University of Oulu, Finland (where he was working at the Department of Information Processing Science).

Jarkko intended to extend the BBS software he administrated at tolsun.oulu.fi, to allow news the usenet style, real time discussions and similar BBS features. The first part he implemented was the chat part, which he did with borrowed parts written by his friends Jyrki Kuoppala and Jukka Pihl. It was initially tested on a single machine, and according to the words from Jarkko himself "The birthday of IRC was in August 1988. The exact date is unknown, at the end of the month anyways.". The first IRC server was named tolsun.oulu.fi.

Jyrki Kuoppala pushed Jarkko to ask Oulu University to free the IRC code so that it also could be run outside of Oulu, and after they finally got it released, Jyrki Kuoppala immediately installed a server (which later became irc.cs.hut.fi). This was the first "irc network".

Ari Lemmke's own words: "At the same time Jyrki installed ircd, I was at the same room and had nothing to do, so I decided to crack into tolsun (the irc server Sun machine at Oulu), and naturally ;-) got in through a new hole in sendmail. (At that time Jyrki was still the best cracker I knew...)"

Jarkko got some friends at the Helsinki and Tampere Universities to start running IRC servers when his number of users increased.

Other universities soon followed. Markku Jarvinen helped improving the client. At this time Jarkko realized that the rest of the BBS features probably wouldn't fit in his program!

Jarkko got in touch with guys at the University of Denver and Oregon State University. They had got an IRC network running (they had got the program from one of Jarkko's friends, Vijay Subramaniam -- the first non-Finnish person to use IRC) and wanted to connect to the Finnish network.

IRC then grew larger and got used on the entire Finnish national network - Funet - and then connected to Nordunet, the Scandinavian branch of the Internet.

In November 1988, IRC had spread across the Internet.

In the middle of 1989, there were some 40 servers worldwide.

ircII was released 1989 by Michael Sandrof.

In July 1990, IRC averaged at 12 users on 38 servers.

In 1990, a new network was set up in order to develop a new version (2.6) of the ircd. The network named ChNet (about 25 servers and no users) existed a few months before disagreements among the programmers caused it to dissolve.

EFnet

In August 1990 the first major disagreement took place in the IRC world. The "A-net" (Anarchy net) included as server named eris.berkeley.edu. It was all open, required no passwords and had no limit on the number of connects. As Greg "wumpus" Lindahl explains: "it had a wildcard server line, so people were hooking up servers and nick-colliding everyone".

The "Eris Free network", EFnet, made the eris machine the first to be Q-lined (Q for quarantine) from IRC (wumpus' words again: "Eris refused to remove that line, so I formed EFnet. It wasn't much of a fight; I got all the hubs to join, and almost everyone else got carried along."). A-net was formed with the eris servers, EFnet was formed with the non-eris servers. History showed most servers and users went with EFnet. The name EFnet lived only shortly, as soon as ANet had died, the name EFnet became void too. There was one and only "IRC" left again for a while.

TubNet was the next network to splinter off. It was created by a crowd of people in #hottub that grew tired of all the netsplits. It got 5 servers and around 100 users. It died again in September the same year.

One often-talked-about event in the history of IRC is the gulf war. In early 1991, live reports were available and more than 300 concurrent users were experienced for the first time.

Undernet

Another fork effort, the first that really made a big and lasting difference, was initiated by 'Wildthang' in USA October 1992 (it forked off the EFnet ircd version 2.8.10). It was meant to be just a test network to develop bots on but it quickly grew to a network "for friends and their friends". In Europe and Canada a separate new network was being worked on (by '_dl' and 'WIZZARD') and in December the french servers connected to the Canadian ones, and in the end of the month, the .fr-.ca network was connected to the US one and the network that later came to be called "The Undernet" was born.

The "undernetters" wanted to take ircd further in an attempt to make it less bandwidth consumptive and to try to sort out the channel chaos (netsplits and takeovers) that EFnet started to suffer from. For the latter purpose, the Undernet implemented timestamps, new routing and offered the CService -- a program that allowed users to register channels and then attempted to protect them from troublemakers. (More or less a global defense bot.) The very first server list presented, from February 15th 1993, includes servers from USA, Canada, France, Croatia and Japan. On August 15th, the new user count record was set to 57 users.

RFC 1459

In May 1993, the Request For Comments 1459, for the IRC protocol is out for the public. It has since been subject to many violations and extensions.

It is notable that the CTCP parts and things like colors and formats are not included in the protocol spec. Nor is character encoding.

Dalnet

During the summer (some sources mention July) 1994, the Undernet is itself forked. This time, the new Network is called Dalnet (named after its founder: dalvenjah), and they formed the new network for better user service and even more user and channel protections. One of the more significant changes in Dalnet already from the beginning is their use of longer nicknames (the original ircd limit being 9 letters). Dalnet ircd modifications were made by Alexei "Lefler" Kosut.

Dalnet was thus based on the undernet ircd server, although the dalnet pioneers were EFnet abandoners. According to James Ng the initial dalnet people were "ops in #StarTrek sick from the constant splits/lags/takeovers/etc".

Dalnet quickly offered global WallOps (IRCop messages that can be seen by users who are +w (/mode NickName +w)), longer nicknames, Q:Lined nicknames (nicknames that cannot be used i.e. ChanServ, IRCop, NickServ, etc.), global K:Lines (ban of one person or an entire domain from a server or the entire network), IRCop only communications: GlobOps, +H mode showing that an IRCop is a "helpop" etc.

Much of Dalnet's new functions were written in early 1995 by Brian "Morpher" Smith and allow users to own nicknames, channels, send memos and more.

oz.org

Undernet split (again) in March 1996 when the sole Australian server delinked from Undernet because of difficulties with the connection across the TransPacific Australian/United States network link. The first few months of oz.org's existence were primarily a trial delink from the Undernet because of the inability to maintain a link during peak usage hours. One of the two designers (chaos and seks) of the original Undernet X and W chanserv was Australian, and the same code was used for Oz.org's Z (the name of the chanserv). In June 2001, ozorg boasted peak usages of 4,000 simultaneous users.

IRCnet

In July 1996, after months of flame wars and discussions on the mailing list, there was yet another split due to disagreement in how the development of the ircd should evolve. Most notably, the "European" (most of those servers were in Europe) side that later named itself IRCnet argued for nick and channel delays, where the EFnet side argued for timestamps. Most (not all) of the IRCnet servers were in Europe, while most of the EFnet server were in the US. This event is also known as "The Great Split" in many IRC societies. EFnet has since (as of August 1998) grown and passed the number of users it had then. In the autumn year 2000, EFnet has some 50,000 users and IRCnet 70,000.

Freenode - Open Projects Network

Yet another IRC network that opened its doors in 1998 named the Open Projects Network, and had about 100 users and less than 20 channels that year. In late 2001 it had grown to nearly 4,000 users and over 1,300 channels. The OPN uses the Dancer IRCD server, after having been using ircu the initial few years.

This network was later renamed to Freenode.

In 2011, it peaked at 65,000 users in 40,000 channels. In 2021 it reached 90,000 users.

libera.chat

In May 2021, there's a mass admin exodus from Freenode (after disagreements with the owner of parts of the infra) and many of the admins instead set camp over in the recently created libera.chat network. Many channels formerly on Freenode follows on over to libera.

Other Networks

Of course, while internet is booming so does IRC. There exists hundreds of independent IRC networks today (like amiganet, linuxnet, galaxynet, bestnet, NewNet, AnotherNet, ChatNet, UpperNet, ZAnet, X-Net, GammaNet, SuperChat, IceNet, RedBrasil, GR-Net, AlphaStar, SorceryNet etc), but luckily there is "only" four of the main ones (this was the reality back in 1998) that keep develop their own version of the ircd server software.

Of course, as of 2002, lots of other networks have popped up and now numerous of them are developing their own customized versions of the IRC protocol.

Further Standardization Attempts

IETF-IRCUP was an initiative started in January 1998, to gather all the flavors of IRC servers to document a new RFC and possibly set a new standard for all networks to commit to. That project died.

CTCP/2 was an attempt, started in 1997 by Bjorn Reese, to develop and standardize the Client To Client Protocol that was never in the RFC. Clients have been known to extend and modify the original CTCP protocol without allowing non-compliant clients to filter the new codes. CTCP/2 was meant to define how codes and perhaps more important new codes should be introduced in order to let old clients remain functional. It was also meant to address the IPv6 problems the DCC initiating sequence has. The CTCP/2 project died as well.

IRCv3 - "Were the IRCv3 Working Group  a collection of IRC software developers and network staff that develop extensions to the IRC client protocol"

We'll just have to wait and see what the future of IRC has to show...

IRC Popularity

According to measurements done by irc.netsplit.de, IRC in general have lost users gradually ever since 2004/2005. Those years, the top 4 IRC networks all had over 100,000 users each on a daily basis. Those networks were Quakenet, Undernet, IRCnet and EFnet. Quakenet was in the lead with more than 200,000 users.

In the beginning of 2011, Quakenet is just above 100,000 users and the only network over 100K.

In 2021, Freenode (before its demise) is the largest one with peak of 90,000 users in February.

Thanks to

I did not experience all of this. I found information on various places and I received information from various people in order to write this. People that have helped me with this include:
The countdown to salons opening on 12 April starts here  with ten pages of style inspiration to get you excited about slipping into that chair. Youll never moan about an uncomfy basin again, says Suzanne Scott

For an easy update, try an Alexa Chung-style long fringe

Face-framing highlights like Sarah Jessica Parkers are super flattering; Curl power, 2021 style: embrace your hairs natural texture like Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Go grey glamorously like Emma Thompson; The new down-do: Louise Redknapp showcases the chunky plait

THE NEW COLOUR CODE

Bored with the same shade youve had for years? The worlds greatest colourists have ideas

'NATURAL' HIGHLIGHTS

Its all about the makeunder  techniques and colours that flatter the skin tone

Adam Reed London stylist @whatsarahdoes showcases 90s face framing: Combining boldness and softness Majorly inspired by the iconic Guess Campaigns of the 1990s feel

THE BALAYAGE: Darker roots, seen here on Naomie Harris (left) and Chrissy Teigen, have become more popular since lockdown, explains top colourist Jack Howard. This balayage effect is more forgiving when youre growing colour out

RED IS HOT AGAIN

Forget the rose-tinted hair of lockdown 1. The shade for now is red, red, red. And now is the time to experiment

For a full-on crimson a la Rihanna, 'be aware that it will take more to maintain it, so speak to your colourist first,' says Jack; The Queens Gambits Anya Taylor-Joys standout orange bob lit up our screens last year. For a more subtle look Add hints of red with lowlights and glazes, says Jack

If you naturally flush, choose something less vibrant, like Stacey Dooleys golden shade, says Rita; Deeper reds like Isla Fishers look great as solid colours, says Rita

To keep your red rich

Rita Hazan True Color Ultimate Shine Gloss in Red (21, net-a-porter.com) restores vibrancy, intensity and shine.

Josh Wood Shade Shot Gloss (19, joshwoodcolour.com) comes in four shades to maintain warmth and colour.

Moroccanoil Color Depositing Mask in Bordeaux (28.85, lookfantastic.com) delivers a rich red tone and conditions.

Oribe Shampoo (44) and Conditioner For Beautiful Color (49, net-a-porter.com) help block colour-fading UV rays.

The secret to keeping your colour vibrant like Julianne Moores? Use a gloss at home in between salon appointments, says Rita

GREY MATTERS

Ever more women are embracing their natural shade. So how can you grow into your grey and survive the transition stage while still looking pulled together?

To achieve Diane Keatons subtle silver, Im using reverse techniques, where i take the colour out with bleach, says colour expert Nicola Clarke

To give a cropped cut more oomph like Emma Thompsons or influencer Tia Taylors: I use a subtle blue or violet gloss on greys to help brighten them, explains Josh

To keep long grey hair looking fabulous like Vogue magazines Sarah Harris, use a weekly deep conditioning treatment, says Josh

To make your silver glow

Josh Wood Icy Blonde Gloss (19, joshwoodcolour.com) boosts vibrancy, strength and hydration.

Color Wow Dream Coat Supernatural Spray (25, colorwowhair.com) keeps frizz at bay and adds shine.

Virtue Restorative Treatment Mask (64, spacenk.com) restores strength and moisture with a keratin protein.

LOreal Paris Elvive Colour Protect More Than Shampoo (6.99, lookfantastic.com) is like a more intense version of your regular shampoo. It will wash away any product build-up, oils and dirt that can make grey hair appear dull.

FOR CUTS ABOVE THE REST

Youll be back in the salons hot seat soon, so try one of these styles to update your look

THE SHAG: For a total shake-up, try a Miley Cyrus-style shag. Why? This style doesnt just suit all hair types  it is easy to look after and looks great, says award-winning stylist Adam Reed

KEEP IT LONG: If months without a trim have left you wanting your long hair to be more like Kate Mosss or the Duchess of Cambridges, top stylist Andreas Wild advises: with shoulder-length hair, avoid layers as they add too much flick. For finer hair, an outgrown fringe will create a fuller look

THE JUMBO BRAID: rock thick braids like (left to right) Cara Delevingne, Mindy Kaling and Joan Smalls. Not only are they quick to do but they are the perfect canvas for showing off accessories like beads and jewels, says stylist and texture expert Charlotte Mensah

THE FLAT-IRON WAVE: cut it like Karlie Kloss with this grunge-inspired look. A modern take on the bob, it uses the flat iron to create subtle undone waves. Its the hair equivalent of the no-make-up make-up look, says top stylist George Northwood

Go for a fringe

From long and heavy to short and statement, its one of the quickest ways to update a hairstyle

Consider a statement fringe  like model Lily Coles (left). I love all fringes, says Andreas, but my favourite is super short because it creates such an extreme look

When choosing a fringe, consider the texture of your hair as it will affect how your fringe sits, advises Andreas. Jameela Jamil has perfected a sleek centre-parting effect

Yes, you can have a fringe with curly hair, says Andreas. You just need the right products to stop it jumping around

Let it grow, like model Caroline De Maigret, Alexa Chung and actress Daisy Edgar-Jones. The grown-out fringe isnt just low maintenance, it highlights your bone structure and flatters all face shapes, says George

Find the fringe for you

Longer faces suit heavier fringes.

Open fringes work best with rounder faces.

If you have a square face, try a grown-out fringe or anything that softens the chin line.

Oval faces usually suit everything. Its all about confidence.

SHORT CUTS

While some may have come to love their long lockdown hair, there will be others who are more than ready to chop it all off. If youre tempted, now is the time to give it a go. A-list stylists Adam Reed and George Northwood have the lowdown on shorter cuts

There are so many incredible mature, short-haired icons, in particular Helen Mirren [above] and Judi Dench. If you do decide to go for a shorter style, you need to maintain it regularly so it always looks sharp and sophisticated, says George

Make it chop-chop! From top, Letitia Wright, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Zoe Kravitz, Vicky McClure and Gillian Anderson prove that as long as your hair is in great condition and the cut suits your face, short hair is for all, says Adam

How to make less hair more

Texturising spray, such as my Undone by George Northwood Wave Holding Spray (15, georgenorthwood.com) or Sam McKnight Cool Girl Barely There Texture Mist (25, net-a-porter.com), is a must. Plus a good finishing cream to remove any frizz or flyaways and to give a super sleek finish, says George.

(15, georgenorthwood.com) or (25, net-a-porter.com), is a must. Plus a good finishing cream to remove any frizz or flyaways and to give a super sleek finish, says George. I love Larry Kings range, says Adam, and use LOreal Professionnel Mythic Oil (19.70, lookfantastic.com) on every single one of my clients. A good hairdryer is essential for styling short hair; the GHD Helios (159, ghdhair.com) is my go-to.

BOW DOWN TO THE BOB

Its been tipped as the big thing for 2021, and a bob is a surefire way to switch up your look. Luke Hersheson, CEO of Hershesons salons, tells us about his signature textured bob which, he says, is the most universal, adaptable haircut ever

Pictures are an excellent way of showing your stylist the kind of look you want. For great inspo, check out, (left to right), actress Lucy Boynton, model Kaia Gerber and influencer Taylor Lashae

Play it soft and loose like actresses Sarah Paulson and Natalie Portman (right). The key to the textured bob is that it looks lived-in. To create it we use a mix of scissors and razors. Its not a classic precision technique  its more freehand painter

From model Jourdan Dunn to actress Naomi Watts (right), a textured bob suits all. Its timeless, works on all face shapes and hair types. The key is to embrace your natural texture then put your own spin on it

UNFURL YOUR CURLS

Many of us have learned to love our natural waves over the past year. Texture expert Charlotte Mensah shows how to make the most of them

For 3C-style corkscrew curls like Gugu Mbatha-Raws, the key is condition. Curly hair needs more moisture because its harder for the natural oils from the scalp to travel its length, so apply a moisturising treatment at least every two weeks

The right cut is crucial. Kerry Washington has a style that emphasises her natural texture and is easy to manage between appointments

To enhance loose curls, you can air-dry or blowdry with a diffuser. From left: Emma Stone, Sandra Oh and Nicole Kidman

The secret to super-conditioned curls is to wash your hair less, massage your scalp with a hair oil and always detangle from bottom to top. From far left: TV presenter Elaine Welteroth, Andie Macdowell and, below, Jesy Nelson and Shakira





YOUR ESSENTIAL CURL KIT

Living Proof Curl Shampoo and Conditioner (31 each, livingproof.co.uk) deliver a hit of moisture and help to prevent curl damage.

Color Wow One-Minute Transformation Styling Cream (19, colorwowhair.com) tidies up ends and neatens flyaways, as well as smoothing and taming unmanageable areas without weighing hair down.

Dizziak Deep Conditioner (22, libertylondon.com) is unbelievably hydrating.

Charlotte Mensah Manketti Oil (from 15, charlottemensah.com) adds moisture and shine, tames frizz and smells incredible; you can even massage it into your scalp as a hydrating treatment.

Slip Pure Silk Turban (70, net-a-porter.com) is great for tucking your hair into at night to prevent friction breakage and frizz, and to help your curls hang on to their moisture.

IF YOUR HAIR NEEDS A TREAT...

These three salon favourites will help to keep it strong, soft and shiny

Redken Acidic Concentrate System, available from Redken salons nationwide

This treatment, designed for coloured and bleached hair, adds moisture, strength and restores pH. Amino acids boost hairs resilience, while glycerin delivers nourishment and moisture. If youre bleaching, tinting, perming or enhancing your greys, you need this.

John Frieda Hair Health MOT, John Frieda Salon, Aldford Street, London W1, 020 7491 0840

Devised by John Frieda Salons creative director Zoe Irwin, this uses a three-step process of detoxifying, strengthening and repairing, to restore hair to its best. This is like a facial, but for your hair and scalp, she explains. We work in layers; the scalp is exfoliated, an Indian head massage helps to relieve stored tension in the scalp and stimulate, then we nourish with masks.

Matrix High Amplify Root Upwash, available from Matrix salons nationwide

This intensive cleansing treatment has an acidic pH, meaning it effectively cleans build-up from oils and dirt so fine hair can feel more voluminous.

Picture credits: Broadimage, VICKIE FLORES/EPA-EFE, Chelsea Lauren, Anthony Harvey, Startraks, David Fisher, Richard Young, Rob Latour, Gregory Pace, James Shaw, Matt Baron, Laurent VU/SIPA, LMK/REX/Shutterstock, David M Benett/Getty Images, Wireimage, Vantage News, Landmark Media, Backgrid, Sophia Beck, Brian Ach/Invision/AP, MATRIXPICTURES.CO.UK, @juliaroberts/instagram, GoffPhotos
Demonstrators taking part in a 'Kill The Bill' protest against the government's Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill hold up placards as they march in central London on April 3, 2021. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

Thousands Protest Across England, Wales Against Policing Bill

Protests broke out on Saturday across England and Wales against a new bill that would give police the power to break up disruptive protests.

The new Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill, which covers a wide range of policy areas, would give police new powers to impose conditions on protests that are noisy enough to cause intimidation or harassment or serious unease, alarm, or distress to bystanders, and increase the sentence for damaging memorials to up to 10 years.

These new powers were introduced in response to several disruptive Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion protests last year, which caused road closures, disruption of newspaper printing, and vandalism of statues.

Saturdays protests took place over the long Easter holiday weekend in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Bristol, and the Welsh capital of Cardiff.

Demonstrators held placards such as KILL THE BILL, and Defend Our Right to Protest, while other posters include slogans such as CAPITALISM IS RACIST, Black Lives Matter, and [expletive] The Patriarchy.

Small groups of demonstrators blocked traffic, threw projectiles, and there were some clashes between police and demonstrators, but police said the protests were mostly peaceful.

Protesters in London walked past Buckingham Palace towards Parliament Square, just outside the Houses of Parliament. A ring of officers positioned themselves around the statue of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Parliament Square. The statue was defaced twice last year, during a Black Lives Matter protest and then during an Extinction Rebellion protest.

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd next to a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, telling people to stand up for the right to protest.

Commander Ade Adelekan from Londons Metropolitan police thanked the vast majority of the protesters for adhering to social distancing rules and cooperating with officers, while saying a small minority did not engage despite the repeated efforts of officers on the ground.

According to the Met Police, a total of 107 people were arrested during Londons protest over a range of offences including breach of the peace, violent disorder, assault on police, and violating COVID-19 restrictions.

One woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon. Outcomes await for those arrested, police added.

About 1,500 people attended a demonstration on Saturday in Bristol, where two weeks ago a Kill the Bill protest descended into widespread violence that saw police officers injured, a police station damaged, and police vehicles torched.

Police said the main event on Saturday was peaceful, and that around 100 people gathered late at night and briefly occupied both carriageways of the M32 motorway.

Simon Veazey and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 15:55:40|Editor: huaxia

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NEW DELHI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of security personnel in India's central state of Chhattisgarh rose to 22 in clashes with armed rebels Naxals that began on Saturday, confirmed a government official on Sunday.

As many as 20 dead bodies of security personnel were recovered on Sunday, while two were recovered on Saturday.

Around 15 Naxals, including a couple of women rebels, were also gunned down and over 20 injured in the encounter that took place in a forest area near Sukma and Bijapur districts of the state, local media reported.

Besides, a total of 31 security personnel, including two senior officers, were also injured in the clashes. Some of them who were grievously injured were shifted to a government hospital in state capital Raipur.

Hindi news TV channel Aajtak quoted Chhattisgarh Director General of Police (DGP) D.M. Awasthi as saying, "two dead bodies were recovered yesterday, and 20 have been recovered today. One security person is still missing."

Gunbattle with the Naxals continued for three to four hours on Saturday till darkness enveloped the area, he said.

According to sources, there were more than 200 Naxal rebels who ambushed the security personnel on Saturday afternoon.

Paying homage to those killed in the encounter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted saying his thoughts were with the families of those martyred while fighting Naxals in Chhattisgarh.

"The sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten. May the injured recover at the earliest," he added.

Home (internal security) Minister Amit Shah also expressed condolences at the killing of the security personnel. Enditem
Whether youre dining out or welcoming family into your home, these Connecticut restaurants and caterers will make your Easter meal special.

The Cottage, 256 Post Road E., Westport, will be celebrating Easter by offering in-house dining from noon to 7 p.m., with a prix-fixe menu ($85 per guest; $45 per child under 12). Entree options include Maine halibut, king salmon, roasted saddle of lamb and confit pork brisket. Reservations can be made via phone (203-557-3701) or OpenTable. Information: thecottagewestport.com.

Shell & Bones, 100 S. Water St., New Haven, offers both in-house Easter dining and curbside takeout packages. Restaurant specials include salmon ceviche, roasted pork shank and passion fruit cheesecake.

For takeout, a carryout package is available for four ($165), which includes fig and shallot confit flatbread appetizer, choice of one entree for four (roasted lamb pappardelle or twin whole branzino) and choice of one dessert (passion fruit cheesecake or Mexican doughnuts). A special vegetarian dinner for four is also available for $130. The full a la carte takeout menu will also be available, as well as the restaurants new Marketplace option, offering seafood and shellfish, pantry staples and wine selections. shellandbones.com.

Luna Azzurra Italiano, 238 Post Road, Fairfield, offers brunch seatings at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., with a variety of buffet offerings for $35 per person (buffet will be served by staff one table at a time). Cost is $35 for adults; $15 for kids 12 and under.

A feed the family takeout option includes prime rib, rack of lamb or spiral ham with potatoes and vegetable for $100 to $150 (feeds 4 to 6). 203-292-8202, luna-azzurra-italiano.business.site/.

Centro Ristorante & Bar, 1435 Post Road, Fairfield, offers an Easter catering menu with appetizers, entrees, desserts, and meals to go for two or four people. Order deadline is March 31. Visit Centros Facebook page for details.

BONDA, 75 Hillside Road, Fairfield, offers a large catering menu with breakfast options, soups, salads, main courses and sides. Visit bondarestaurant.com for details.

Herbaceous Catering, which serves the Westport and Fairfield areas, features an Easter menu with appetizers, entrees (including ham), blue oyster mushroom Wellington, vegetable sides, quiche and desserts. herbaceouscateringholidaystore.com

Match Restaurant, 98 Washington St., Norwalk, hosts Easter brunch with entrees like brioche French toast, breakfast burrito, wood-roasted chicken or swordfish and rack of lamb. 203-852-1088, matchsono.com.

Brick Walk Tavern, 1275 Post Road, Fairfield, offers a special Easter menu with entrees like Berkshire pork chop, grilled whole branzino, rare tuna, roast lamb loin, Grandmas lasagna and pappardelle Bolognese. 475-888-9966, brickwalktavern.com.

Hilton Mystic, 20 Coogan Blvd. Mystic, offers brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Brunch will take place in the ballroom, allowing guest seating to be spread out comfortably to allow for social distancing. The menu includes stations with omelets, breakfast favorites, salads, soups, raw bar, hot entrees, carved meats and desserts. Cost is $45 for adults, $20 for children (kids 5 and under are free). Book online at https://bit.ly/2ZZE2ml.

The Wharf at Madison Beach Hotel, 94 W. Wharf Road, Madison, is serving an Easter prix fixe menu for dine-in from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. for $58, with entrees like carved ham, rack of lamb, prime rib, seafood Newburg, Cornish game hen and eggplant ratatouille. Easter dinner to go is also available (order by 2 p.m. on Mar. 31 for pickup Apr. 3 between noon and 4 p.m.). Order online at http://bit.ly/WharfEaster.

Saybrook Point Resort & Marina, 2 Bridge St., Old Saybrook, hosts an Easter prix-fixe brunch from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with entree options like pan-seared salmon, roasted chicken, hoisin-glazed duck, carved prime rib, pistachio Dijon rack of lamb and spring vegetable pasta primavera. Cost is $69.95. Information: saybrook.com/event/easter-sunday/.

To-go options are also available. Visit saybrook.com/eat-drink/easter_takeout/.

The Capital Grille, with locations in Hartford and Stamford, offers a three-course Easter meal (starting at $155) for takeout, including whole rack of bone-in filet, salad, grilled asparagus, mashed potatoes, and flourless chocolate espresso cake. Extras like lobster tails, shrimp cocktail and lobster mac and cheese are available. Each dinner serves 4 to 6 and can be prepared to reheat or ready-to-serve. Pre-order is available with pickup on April 3 or 4.

Easter brunch is also available at the restaurants, with a $49 prix-fixe menu featuring entree choices of sauteed jumbo shrimp and grits, lobster frittata, bone-in NY strip and eggs, center-cut filet mignon and pan-seared sea bass. Information: thecapitalgrille.com.

The Fresh Market, with locations in Avon, Guilford and Westport, offers a rack of lamb dinner for two ($39.99) and two sizes of Easter ham meals for 4 to 10 guests ($49.99 to $79.99). Meals include vegetables, sides and desserts. The Easter Bunny will be visiting stores April 1-3 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. thefreshmarket.com.

Waters Edge Resort & Spa, 1525 Boston Post Road, Westbrook, offers an Easter brunch prix-fixe menu with entrees of ham, prime rib, rack of lamb, salmon and spinach and mushroom ravioli ($42 to $49) and to-go meal options. Visit watersedgeresortandspa.com/events/category/holidays/list/ for details.

Wood-n-Tap, with 9 locations in Connecticut, is open on Easter Sunday, with its spring menu featured. Entrees include chicken Milanese and crab-stuffed sole. woodntap.com/menus/seasonalmenu.

Que Whiskey Kitchen, 461 Queen St., Southington, offers individual smoked leg of lamb dinners for $24, with garlic mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts and a Guinness gravy. Its available both for in-house dining or carryout curbside pick-up. Cost is $24. For more information, visit qwhiskeykitchen.com.
The vaccination drive in Delhi received a boost on Saturday with over 80,000 beneficiaries, the highest daily figure so far, taking the jab, including more than half in the 45-59 age group.

According to official figures, the number of people who received the jab till 6 pm was 80,797, including 72,232 who received the first dose of the vaccine.

The first dose was given to 21,432 people aged 60 years and above and 45,787 in the age group of 45-59 years.

A total of 8,565 beneficiaries received the second dose of the vaccine.

Those inoculated on Saturday included 3,131 frontline workers and 1,882 healthcare workers. No serious issues were reported with just three people complaining of minor side effects, data showed.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who received the first dose of Covaxin at the Maulana Azad Medical College, requested the Centre to allow mass vaccination by lifting the age criterion for it.

He said mass vaccination is key to defeat COVID-19.

"We aim to vaccinate all the citizens of Delhi by May 3-4 once the receives a good number of COVID-19 vaccine doses from the central government," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said in a statement.

He also urged the Centre to increase the supply of COVID-19 vaccines in Delhi and begin the vaccination drive for citizens below the age of 45.

The third phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, which will cover 65 lakh people aged above 45 in the national capital, began on Thursday.

The vaccination centres, both at government and private facilities, will operate from 9 am to 9 pm.

Only the registered beneficiaries will be given the vaccine shots between 9 am and 3 pm while the unregistered ones can take the jab from 3 pm to 9 pm. They need to carry their Aadhaar card or any other valid identity proof, an official said.

The third phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be carried out across 192 health facilities, including 136 private hospitals, in the national capital.

The vaccines will be administered for free at government hospitals and health centres, while up to Rs 250 per dose will be charged at private health facilities.

(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.)
KYODO NEWS - Apr 4, 2021 - 12:44 | All, World, Japan

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Sunday he will closely cooperate with U.S. President Joe Biden in leading global efforts to tackle climate change.

The two leaders are scheduled to meet in Washington on April 16, while the White House said last month that Biden invited 40 world leaders to a virtual climate summit he will host on April 22 and 23.

Suga has pledged to make Japan carbon neutral by 2050. "I would like to jointly lead (such efforts with the United States)," he told a television program.

He also said he is hoping to confirm at the meeting with Biden that their countries will cooperate in addressing the past abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korea.

The abductions are "the most important issue for my administration. I want the president to understand it so that Japan and the United States can cooperate firmly," he said.

The bilateral summit comes as the Biden administration ramps up criticism of China's treatment of the Muslim Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang region and actions concerning Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Suga said human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong must be addressed based on universal values, freedom and basic human rights rules.

To ensure peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, he said, "It is important that Japan and the United States, while maintaining deterrence, collaborate and create an environment where Taiwan and China can solve the issue peacefully."
Twenty-two jawans were killed and 31 were injured on Saturday in an encounter with Naxals in Chattisgarh. Security forces in Chhattisgarh had launched an operation along the Sukma-Bikapur border. This led to an intense face-off with Maoist forces. Twenty-two jawans lost their lives while one soldier is still missing.

CPRF Director-General Kuldiep Singh reached Chhattisgarh on Sunday morning to take stock of the situation, according to India Today TV.

Officials have stated that 24 jawans were admitted to the Bijapur hospital. While at least seven jawans were referred to a Raipur hospital.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to Twitter to express his condolences for the families of the fallen soldiers. He wrote, "I bow to the sacrifices of our brave security personnel martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh. Nation will never forget their valour. My condolences are with their families. We will continue our fight against these enemies of peace & progress. May injured recover soon."

I bow to the sacrifices of our brave security personnel martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh. Nation will never forget their valour. My condolences are with their families. We will continue our fight against these enemies of peace & progress. May injured recover soon. - Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 4, 2021

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had wished the injured jawans a speedy recovery and also expressed condolences for the families of the soldiers who died in the encounter. "My thoughts are with the families of those martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh," the PM had said in a tweet.

The bodies of two Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA) jawans were recovered on Saturday. One of the jawans that died in the encounter belonged to the CoBRA unit while the other was a part of the Bastariya Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Bodies of three other jawans are yet to be recovered. The three jawans were enlisted with the District Reserve Guard (DRG).

Inspector-General of Police (Bastar) P Sunderraj has stated that at least nine Naxals lost their lives during the encounter with the Indian forces which lasted for three hours. Among the Naxals killed in the encounter was a Maoist woman. While security forces themselves have estimated that over 15 Maoists were killed in the encounter.

Tribute was paid to the fallen CPRF Jawans at the forces' Jagdalpur camp on Sunday morning.

Also Read: PM Modi holds high-level meeting to review COVID-19 situation, vaccination drive

Also Read: India records 93,249 new coronavirus cases in last 24 hrs; highest since Sept 19
The Catholic church of the parish of Hard is one of many in Austria which decided to fly the rainbow flag in solidarity with the LGBT community after the Vatican ruled last month that the Church couldn't bless same-sex partnerships.

The powerful Vatican office responsible for defending church doctrine, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), handed down a ruling that same-sex unions could not be blessed despite their "positive elements".

The office wrote that while God "never ceases to bless each of His pilgrim children in this world... he does not and cannot bless sin".

Hard's parish priest Erich Baldauf says he and the hundreds of other clergy who belong to the reform-oriented "Priests' Initiative" movement decided to fly the flag to show "that we do not agree with this outdated position", with many other churches also making the gesture.

Soon after the rainbow flag in Hard was put up, there was an attempt to damage it, and last Tuesday Baldauf was saddened to discover that it had been burnt.

"We were shocked... it pains us," Baldauf said.

While the perpetrator has not been caught and there is no proven motive, Baldauf notes that other flags that have flown in the same place were never subject to attack.

In the following days, another rainbow flag outside a church, also in the far western state of Vorarlberg, was burnt, while a third was stolen.

In the following days, two other rainbow flags hanging outside churches, also in the far western state of Vorarlberg, were also burnt.

Contrary to the impression that these incidents may give, surveys show that Austrian public opinion is firmly on the side of equal treatment for same-sex couples.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Austria since 2019 and a survey last week found that a full 64 percent of Austrians opposed the Vatican's recent decision.

A mere 13 percent said they could understand the Vatican's stance.

Story continues

Austria is still a majority Catholic country, with the Church counting just under five million adherents in a country of 8.8 million.

But this represents a steep decline from the decades after the war, in which almost 90 percent of Austrians belonged to the Church.

Experts say differences between Austrian social attitudes and Church teaching on issues such as homosexuality and abortion contribute to tens of thousands choosing to leave the Church each year.

- 'Hurts to the core' -

It's not just the explicitly reform-oriented Priests' Initiative who have spoken out on the CDF ruling.

No less a figure than the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, said he was "not happy" with the Vatican's pronouncement.

"The message that went out via the media to the whole world was a simple 'no' and in fact a 'no' to blessing, which is something that hurts many people to their core," he explained to the Catholic newspaper Der Sonntag.

Toni Faber, the priest of Vienna's iconic St Stephen's Cathedral, was even more forthright.

"If I had the job of causing the most damage possible to the Church with two pages of text, I would write exactly the sort of letter that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has written," he told the Profil news magazine.

The CDF's statement "totally misfired" in the aim of "upholding the sacrament of marriage", Faber said, adding that none of the heterosexual couples he marries "feel diminished by the fact that I give blessings to same-sex couples".

The unhappiness has found an echo among Germany's Catholics, with priests using a hashtag calling for "disobedience" online.

While some prominent German bishops have supported the Vatican's stance, others accused the CDF of seeking to stifle theological debates which have been active among German Catholics in recent years.

A German petition calling for the CDF's ruling to be ignored has been signed by 2,600 priests and deacons, as well as 277 theologians.

The reaction in Germany and Austria speaks to broader global fault lines on social issues between socially conservative and liberal congregations.

However, according to Jesuit priest and former head of Vatican Radio's German section Bernd Hagenkord, German-speaking countries also have "a very particular tradition of theology which acts very independently" and is less amenable to being overruled by Church hierarchy.

Back in Hard, the parish church decided to leave the remnants of the burnt flag in place for several days after the attack.

"It had the effect of a cross," says Baldauf.

But in time for Good Friday, a new rainbow flag once again flew proudly outside the church, a sign of welcome for all parishioners at Easter.

jsk-ilp/kjl
Digana tremors no cause for panic, but dont take nature for granted: Experts By Tharushi Weerasinghe View(s): View(s):

Committee concludes natural processes the likely cause; calls for long-term seismic monitoring to produce conclusive evidence

Victoria dam chief engineer assures tremors not connected to dam that was built to withstand tremors up to nine and beyond on the Richter scale

The area of Digana in Kandy, particularly near the periphery of the Victoria reservoir, is experiencing earth tremors of a frequency not seen in years.

Last year, the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) recorded ten tremors between August 29 and December 5a period of just eight weeksalthough instruments only picked up six main events. They were the first to be recorded since nine accelerometers were fixed in the Kotamale, Randenigala and Victoria dams in 2016, said Wasantha Ehelapitiya, Deputy Director/ Chief Engineer at Victoria dam.

The most significant tremor measures 3.5 on the Richter scale and occurred on August 28 last year in Digana. Another, on November 11, was between 2.5 and 3.5 on the scale. Residents from Rajagalla South near Victoria dam have also noted the frequency of tremors. Previously, these were felt once or twice a year; before that, only once in around four years.

There was a thundering sound and a sudden wave of pressure moved in waves upstream, said D G P Asela, a 39-year-old fish vendor. While this only lasted a few seconds, the sound circulated before stopping. It could not have been caused by mining. Having worked in the industry for a while, he could tell the difference.

We are worried that theres something wrong with the dam because we live just two kilometres away from it, Mr Asela said, adding that residents were concerned about the waterways around the dam having strong flows when the reservoir was full.

These fears are unfounded, reassured Mr Ehelapitiya. The dam was built to withstand tremors up to nine and beyond on the Richter scale. The movements last year had absolutely no impact on it. But experts say tremors are likely to increase and are urging the authorities to impose strict guidelines to ensure buildings are erected to withstand reasonable degrees of tremors.

The Indo-Australia tectonic plate on which Sri Lanka sits is breaking up, said Prof Chandana Dissanayake, Retired Senior Professor of Geology, who wrote in 2010 about the possibility and probability of increased tremors.

Theoretically, experiencing a massive earthquake is remote, he maintained. Of course, the odd one which might be a little stronger might happen, its always possible. Those who are building high-rise structures must take note and not neglect standards.

Minor tremors will definitely continue, he added. There will be more and more as the plate is breaking up and moving towards the Himalayas. While this is nothing in terms of human years, in geological terms it will be significant some day.

The regularity of tremors prompted the Environment Ministry to appoint an expert committee to investigate. Its report has now concluded they are likely to have been caused by natural processes.

The 12-member group acknowledged that there were public concerns about whether the tremors were signs of a large earthquake in future or were connected to the dolomitic marble mining industry in the area. It held, however, that the tremors may have been caused by ground motions associated with the uplift of the Central highlands.

The committee also called for long-term seismic monitoring to produce conclusive evidence. The quantity of data that had been available was limited as there were only a few seismic stations. This meant the expert team were unable to point the exact epicenters. But it was agreed they were all in the vicinity of the Victoria reservoir.

How tremors are experienced is based on their proximity to seismic stations, their mode and how much attention people are paying, said Atula Senaratne, Chair Professor of Geology at the University of Peradeniya. He was a committee member.

Tremors followed by a blast-like noise usually happen when rocks break. Shallow tremors are closer to the surface and, therefore, felt more. They are also more dangerous than deeper tremors that take place around 10km away from the surface, nearer the crust. Some tremors are felt in waves when energy moves across the strata.

In Sri Lankas Central highlands, there was minute, constant vertical movement. This is what brought about changes like creation of continents over millions of years. Energy in the earths core, called convention current, drives the movement of the crust at about 1mm per year, Prof Senaratne said.

Sri Lanka is not situated near any plate boundaries, therefore, doesnt suffer the dangerous impact of movements happening close to the surface in the form of earthquakes. Nevertheless, slight movement under the Central highlands still happens. The tremors were concerning from a geological point of view as it could point to instability in the slopes and threats to dam security, Prof Senaratne said: We dont know enough to understand it yet so we need to read the earth more and that requires more equipment.

The strata under Sri Lanka were made up of crystalline rocks that contained cracks between 70 and 80 km long, mostly in the Central parts. There were notable cracks Mahaweli fold and near the Randenigala fold near the dam and reservoir.

These lineaments are also found near the Victoria dam and these movements can cause tremors, Prof Senaratne observed. While Victoria dam had been built to withstand tremors, a sudden increase could point to deeper underground activity. The use of more accelerometers, which monitor seismic activity, will also help experts identify the reason for tremors more precisely.

Another unusual occurrence was that, while tremors were usual after the rains, these were recorded before the rains. The severity of the their sound indicated they were natural but more in-depth analysis involving further data was required for a conclusive decision.

Prof Dissanayake, who agreed with Prof Senaratne, said the break-up of the Indo-Australia tectonic plate could also trigger tremors as the Northern part of the plate moves further up and the Southern part moves further down, knocking against landmasses. There is a release of pressure.

The tremors in Digana need not cause panic. Nevertheless, do not take nature for granted, Prof Dissanayake said.

Committees recommendations Some of the committees recommendations are: Deploy a dense, short-period seismic network to monitor natural and anthropogenic (originating in human activity) micro-seismic activities in addition to accelerometers already installed at dam sites; Carry out seismic micro zonation mapping with reference to dam and building safety; Establish a satellite-based GPS monitoring system for studying crustal movements; Carry out proper assessments on measuring the impact due to limestone and other quarry blasting activities in and around the Victoria damn and reservoir area; Carry out landslide mapping in all reservoir areas around the Central highlands; Analyse the relationship between reservoir dynamics and local seismic activities (water level fluctuations, conditions on the banks, down-streams); Do a dam assessment. The committee also recommends the restriction of mining and quarrying within a 200m limit from the reservoir full supply level; and the cancellation of mining and quarrying licences within a 100m limit from the reservoir fully supply level.
Imperial Valley News Center

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Issues Statement on Death and Injury of Capitol Police Officers

Washington, DC - U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland issued the following statement:

The entire Department of Justice mourns with the U.S. Capitol Police and the family of Officer William Evans. Our thoughts are also with the other brave officer injured in the attack.

As the members of the U.S. Capitol Police have demonstrated this year, they will give their all to defend the seat of our democracy. The Washington Field Office of the FBI is assisting the Metropolitan Police Department with their investigation of this tragic attack.
https://www.aish.com/jw/s/Untold-Story-of-Jewish-Women-Resisting-Nazis.html

Judy Batalions new book documents Jewish women who fought Nazis during WWII.

Growing up in Montreal, Judy Batalion was surrounded by vibrant Jewish culture and role models. I come from such a robust heritage, she explained in a recent Aish.com interview.

She attended Jewish school where she learned Yiddish, and was particularly close with her Bubbe Zelda, a Holocaust survivor from Poland. Bubbe Zelda babysat Judy every day after school and would tell her about her familys painful history, describing the tragic fate of many relatives with tears in her eyes.

Bubbe Zelda had escaped Nazi-occupied Warsaw and made her way east to the Soviet Union where she was imprisoned in Siberian work camps and saved from death in Nazi hands. Bubbe Zeldas parents and three of her four sisters remained in Warsaw where they all perished.

Judy considered herself well educated about the Holocaust, yet she discovered how little she knew about Jewish resistance. I didnt know anything about the scope of the resistance, including details about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

After studying at Harvard, then moving to London to earn a Ph.D. in art history, she also worked as a performer, and in 2007 decided to research heroic Jewish women for a potential show. Researching the Jewish partisan Hannah Senesh at the British Library changed her life.

Hannah Senesh  Partisan Hero

The starting point for Judys historical journey was Hannah Senesh. Born in 1921 in Budapest, Hannah was a brilliant writer and an ardent Zionist. When she was 18, in 1939, she moved to Israel where she worked on a kibbutz and wrote beautiful poetry and accounts about life in Israel. In 1943, with the Jews of Europe facing annihilation, Hannah volunteered for a daring spy mission for the British Army. Along with 32 other volunteers, she parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe with the goal of instituting contact with resistance fighters and helping Jewish communities.

Hannah Senesh

After three months fighting with Yugoslavian partisans, Hannah smuggled herself over the border into her native Hungary. The date was June 7 1944, and the Nazis deportation of Hungarian Jews to death camps was at its height.

Hannah Senesh was soon arrested by Hungarian police and turned over the Nazi authorities, who tortured her brutally for months. Senesh refused to reveal any details of the British Armys spying plan, and she was sentenced to death by firing squad. On November 7, 1944 Senesh was executed. She refused a blindfold, looking straight at her executioners as they shot her.

Women in the Ghettos

Judy Batalion found that despite her fame, there were relatively few books about Hannah Senesh in the British Library. She ordered several books that mentioned Seneshs name. When the books arrived at the front desk, Judy noticed that one of them was written in Yiddish. She almost put it back.

Instead, she began to use the Yiddish shed learned as a child to read the volume. It was an old book, published in 1946, called Freuen in di Ghettos  Women in the Ghettos. This 185-page book described dozens of heroic Jewish women who fought Nazis as part of resistance movements. Their stories were incredible. Women smuggled arms into Jewish Ghettos. They assassinated Nazi officials. They spied for the Soviet Union, helped smuggle Jews out of Nazi Ghettos to safety, looked after the sick and taught Jewish children. Some fought with armed partisans while others acted alone. Why had she never heard of these stories, Judy wondered? She decided to research some of these phenomenal stories.

Her project took a dozen years. Judy discovered that thousands of Jewish women fought in the Jewish resistance against Nazis during the Holocaust. Realizing that she had enough material to write a book, -- there were so many incredible stories that Judy had to make hard decisions about whom to research and include  Judy decided to focus on Polish Jewish women who helped Jewish resistance fighters in the ghettos. There was so much material out there, Judy explains, and the story had never been brought together in one narrative.

The result is The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitlers Ghettos, to be published on April 6, 2021.

1,000 Ghettos

When Germany conquered Poland in 1939, over two million Polish Jews came under Nazi control. (Several million more Jews were subject to Nazi dictates after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.) To subdue this vast population, the Nazis set aside over 1,000 Ghettos in towns and cities in lands they conquered. The largest of these were in Poland: nearly half a million Jews were forced into the notorious Warsaw Ghetto. The Lodz Ghetto housed over 200,000 Jews.

The Jewish Ghettos were established in the oldest, shabbiest parts of towns and were surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by Nazi guards. Jews were transported to the Ghettos from across Nazi-occupied Europe. Romas were also interred in some of the Ghettos. Residents were forced to remain indoors at night and couldnt leave the Ghettos without express permission. Starvation and disease were rife and thousands of Jews died in the Ghettos from hunger and overwork. Nazis routinely rounded up and deported Jews from Ghettos to death camps, often to make more room for new Jewish residents who were shipped in from newly-conquered areas.

There was a significant uprising of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto in April 1943, and Judy discovered that over 90 other Ghettos had armed Jewish resistance units too. Approximately 30,000 European Jews joined the partisans, Judy wrote. Rescue networks supported about 12,000 Jews in hiding in Warsaw alone. All this alongside daily acts of resilience  smuggling food, writing diaries, telling a joke to relieve fear, hugging a barrack mate to keep her warm. Women, aged 16 to 25, were at the helm of many of these efforts. I learned their names: Tosia Altman, Gusta Davidson, Frumka Plotnicka. Hundreds of others.

Tosia Altman  Ghetto Courier

One of the many women Judy Batalion writes about is Tosia Altman. Born in 1919 in Poland, Tosia grew up in the town of Wloclawek, where her family was cultured and stalwarts of the local Jewish community.

Tosia Altman

Judys prose helps readers conjure this remarkable young woman. Tosia was considered a fashionable Polish type a well-educated, well-spoken young woman who wore sporty outfits. She was frightened of dogs and of the dark. Instead of giving in to these fears, she forced herself to deal with them: one night during a pogrom, when Jews were being attacked and the sounds of screams and barking dogs filled the air, she forced herself to walk outside in order to subdue her terrors.

Tosia was a passionate Zionist and worked as a youth leader for the Ha-Shomer ha-Zair Zionist youth movement, eventually rising to leadership of the local branch. After attending the Fourth World Convention of Ha-Shomer ha-Zair when she was sixteen, Tosia made the momentous decision to move to the Land of Israel, and joined a training kibbutz in Poland to learn how to farm. Instead of moving to the future state of Israel, Tosia was appointed leader of youth education in Warsaw, and moved there in 1938. She had no way of knowing then that moving to Poland instead of Mandatory Palestine would prove to be her death warrant  and that in the next few years she would be inspired to show incredible bravery and strength.

When World War II broke out, Tosia and other Zionist youth group leaders made their way  partially on foot, and at times through fighting and bombing  to Vilna, Lithuania, where they hoped to regroup and leave Europe for the Land of Israel. When that proved impossible, Tosia was given a daunting mission. Since she was blonde, pretty and outgoing, would Tosia return to German-occupied Poland and organize Jewish youth group members to resist the Nazis?

Jews werent allowed to travel on trains, but Tosia disguised herself as a non-Jewish Polish woman and travelled between the Jewish Ghettos that were being established. In Warsaw, she and other youth group leaders set up educational programs and a newspaper to help sustain the spirit of the Jewish imprisoned there.

As Ziva Shalev, author of Tosia Altman: From the Leadership of Ha-Shomer ha-Zair to the Leadership of the Uprising, wrote, once Warsaws Jews were confined in the Warsaw Ghetto in November 1940, Tosias blonde hair and fluent Polish were no longer enough; with every trip, she risked death. Forged papers, outdated documents and stamps, and the danger of Polish informants who sniffed out Jews were all a constant peri. But Altman continued to travel (throughout the region), her visits serving as a source of strength and encouragement to the young people.

Members of The Young Guard in Wloclawek, Poland during Lag BaOmer, 1937. Tosia Altman is at the bottom. (Courtesy of Yad Vashem Photo Archiva, Jerusalem. 1592/1)

When news of the systematic murder of Jews began to reach the youth group leadership, Tosias mission changed: she traveled throughout Poland, warning Jews that the Nazis were carrying out genocide. Nothing less than the complete elimination of the Jewish community seemed to be their goal. In 1942, when the first large-scale deportations of Jews began from the Warsaw Ghetto, Tosia and other youth group leaders helped start the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB), the Jewish Fighting Organization to facilitate armed resistance to Nazi.

Once again, relying on her non-Jewish looks and her charismatic personality, Tosia smuggled herself in and out of the Warsaw Ghetto, coordinating with the two main Polish resistance organizations, the nationalist Armia Krajowa (AK) and the Communist group Armia Ludowa. Her goal was to obtain donations of arms to help Jews fight within the Warsaw Ghetto. She managed to smuggle guns and grenades through the Polish countryside, hiding the arms in her clothes, and smuggle them into the Warsaw and Krakow Ghettos. At one point, in 1943, Tosia was arrested but managed to escape her Nazi prison and continue to fight.

When the Warsaw Ghetto uprising broke out on April 18, 1943, Tosia was in the thick of the fighting. Her job was to relay information within the Ghetto and also to the outside world. She also helped smuggle Jews out of the Ghetto through sewers. After three weeks of fighting, Altman and a few other survivors managed to leave the Ghetto through sewers. Her hiding place caught fire on May 24, 1943, and a badly injured Tosia was arrested by Polish officers who promptly turned the Jewish resistance hero over to Nazi officials. Tosia was tortured, denied medical treatment, and died two days later.

Gusta Davidson  Inspiring Others and Leaving Written Testimony

Another woman investigated by Judy Batalion is Gusta Davidson (also spelled Dawidson). Born into a Chassidic Jewish family in Krakow in 1917, Gusta joined the religious youth movements Bnos Yaakov and Akiva where she worked as a teacher and writer. She eventually became the editor of Zeirimi, the newspaper of the Akiva youth movement in Cracow.

Gusta Davidson (left) and Minka Liebeskind at an Akiva summer camp, 1938. They both became members of the Krakow ghetto underground. (Courtesy of Ghetto Fighters' House Museum, Photo Archive)

By the time World War II broke out, 22-year-old Gusta was one of the leaders of the Akiva group. She and a handful of others remained in Krakow to help rally the Jewish community and keep up morale. Gusta fell in love with a fellow Jewish newspaper editor, Shimshon Draenger. They made a pact that if one of them would be arrested, the other would join them in jail. When he was arrested by the Nazis for running anti-Nazi articles, Gusta turned herself in to the Gestapo so she could be with him in prison.

The pair were freed in 1940, though they remained under intense surveillance. Gusta and Shimshon married, and despite the grave danger it put them in, they continued their youth group activities, forging documents, printing underground newspapers, and taking part in armed resistance. Akiva merged with other Zionist youth groups to form a more potent resistance force. Gusta was charged with searching for safe houses for these underground activities.

In her book, Judy Batalion poignantly describes the change that came over Gusta and Shimshon, as well as a whole generation of Jewish youth pioneers. Their idealism of building a Jewish state slowly turned into the cynical realization that they had to fight their Nazi oppressors, and that European Jewry faced total annihilation. We want to survive as a generation of avengers, Shimon said at a youth group meeting. If we survive, it has got to be as a group, and with weapons in our hands.

Writing of Gustas transformation from bookish intellectual to ruthless fighter, Judy Batalion quotes Gusta after her father and sister were murdered by Nazis: Hands, now caked with fertile loam, would soon be soaked in blood as she and other Jews engaged in armed battle.

In December 1942, Jewish youth group fighters carried out the Cyganeria operation: the bombing of a cafe that was popular with senior Nazi and Gestapo officials. Shimshon was arrested in the aftermath of the attack, and soon after Gusta was arrested too; she was sent to the fearsome Helzlaw womens prison where she was brutally tortured.

Gusta secretly wrote a book about her activities while in prison, painstakingly recording her testimony in tiny letters on toilet paper. Miraculously, her account survived the war and was published in 1946. Its one of the most complete and moving accounts of Polish Jewish resistance fighters during the Holocaust. From this prison cell that we will never leave alive, Gusta wrote, we young fighters who are about to die salute you. We offer our lives willingly for our holy cause, asking only that our deeds be inscribed in the book of eternal memory. May the memories preserved on these scattered bits of paper be gathered together to compose a picture of our unwavering resolve in the face of death.

Pages from Gusta Davidsons manuscript

At one point, Shimshon was taken to see Gusta. The Nazi guards apparently thought that after seeing how brutally his wife had been tortured, Shimshon would give in and reveal all his secrets. Instead, as Shimshon and his guards walked into Gustas cell, Gusta announced Yes, it is true. I organized groups of Jewish fighters and I promise that if we are saved from you, we will do it again. Neither Gusta nor Shimshon revealed their youth groups secrets to the Nazis.

In April 1943, Gusta and Shimshon took part in a prison break. Gusta was the only woman in the group of prisoners to survive. She and Shimshon travelled to a secret resistance hideout in the Polish countryside near Krakow, where they continued to take part in resistance missions. Each Friday, they distributed 250 copies of a ten-page underground newspaper to Jews in the Krakow, Bochnia and Tarnow Ghettos.

By August 1943, with fascist forces closing in, Shimshon and Gusta tried to get themselves smuggled over the border into Hungary. They were betrayed, and executed by Nazis that month. Gustas final words are lost to history, but the account of her underground activities that she wrote in prison lives on:

History will never forgive us for not having thought about it. What normal, thinking person would suffer all this in silence? Future generations will want to know what overwhelming motive could have restrained us from acting heroically. If we dont act now, history will condemn us forever. Whatever we do were doomed, but we can still save our souls. The least we can do now is leave a legacy of human dignity that will be honored by someone, some day.

Telling Their Stories

The stories of these women are just some of the incredible tales of resistance and bravery that have yet to be discovered and retold. In researching her remarkable new book, Judy Batalion has grappled with the question of why so many Jewish women resistance fighters were overlooked. For many female survivors, silence was a means of coping, she has found.

One of the most incredible women she profiles in her book is Renia Kukielka, who worked as a courier in and around the Polish town of Bedzin during the Holocaust. Evading Nazis, she managed to link Jewish undergrounds. She was arrested and tortured, and eventually escaped and made it first to Hungary, and eventually to Mandatory Palestine. Though she wrote a Hebrew language book about her experiences in Poland during the War  one of the first full length accounts of the Holocaust  Battalion notes that Renias family home after the war was not filled with stories of the resistance, but with music, art and tango nights; she was known for her fashionable tastes, and for her sharp sense of humor. Like so many refugees, the resisters wanted to start afresh, to blend into their new worlds.

Renia Kukielka

I dont think any of this has been covered by typical World War Two histories, Judy explains to Aish.com. This is a story of young Jewish women that were incredibly daring  this is part of our legacy and our heritage as Jews. Her book is an attempt to remedy this absence in our history books.

Teaching the next generation is crucial, and Judy wants the stories of the Jewish women resistance fighters shes documented to be part of the legacy we leave our children. Judy has already started telling these stories to her daughter, and a youth edition of The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitlers Ghettos is also being published on April 6, so that younger readers can start learning this history.

I want people to read this story and to be inspired by their courage and bravery, Judy notes. I want people to understand that our history is multifaceted and complex.

The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitlers Ghettos (Harper Collins) is being published April 6, 2021.
Pemba, Mozambique (PANA) - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is deeply concerned about reports of continuing violence in northern Mozambique that has displaced thousands of people, the majority of whom are women and children, from Palma to neighbouring districts
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A Greek immigrant who kept his crumbling milk bar open for 62 years has moved into a nursing home aged 91.

Nick Fotiou ran the Olympia Milk Bar in Sydney's inner west and barely took a day off after buying it with his brother, John, in 1959.

Even as the streetscape of Parramatta Road in Stanmore changed around him, Mr Fotiou suited up in his apron and served milkshakes, tea, and burgers.

While the shopping strip is now unrecognisable, hardly anything changed inside since the shop was fitted out in 1939.

Olympia Milk Bar in Sydney's inner west was opened in 1939

Owner Nick Fotiou has been a constant presence on Parramatta Road in Stanmore in Sydney's inner west, but has now moved into a nursing home

Even as the streetscape of Parramatta Road in Stanmore changed, the store stayed the same

Decades-old posters lined the walls, including for 1970s band The Street, and the shelves were stocked with old boxes of chocolate bars and drink cans.

Mr Fotiou would emerge from the shadows to take orders and process payment on an ancient cash register.

Lights in the milk bar were always turned off, and Mr Fotiou lived above the shop and was reluctant to speak about his private life.

He refused to quit even as dust collected on the antique decorations and mould started appearing - or when the ceiling caved in.

The building became so decrepit that the local council, after a long battle, closed him down in 2018 until repairs were taken out.

But the elderly proprietor refused to be hurried, and insisted he was able to carry on and fix the asbestos, rodent problem, and leaky ceiling at his own pace.

The decrepit building has been decaying for many years and is now boarded up

While the shopping strip is unrecogniseable barely anything changed inside since the original Olympia he bought was fitted out in 1939

Mr Fotiou would emerge from the shadows to take orders while hunched over the bar and process payment on an ancient cash registe

Decades-old posters lined the walls, including for 1970s band The Street, and the shelves were stocked with old boxes of chocolate bars and drink cans

He even briefly reopened last year during the coronavirus pandemic.

'I've had troubles and troubles and troubles,' Mr Fotiou told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2018 of his struggle to keep the place open.

'Slowly, slowly, slowly... But not to rush me. How long it will take, no idea,' he said in broken, heavily Greek-accented English about his plans to restore his shop.

The shop had legions of fans, including a 4,500-strong Facebook page, but the proud owner refused all offers of help to fix it.

'He talked like he is planning to do the repairs himself,' one person wrote on the page during a 2017 effort to avoid the council shutdown.

'Without prompting he admitted his ladder is not safe to use when he is alone. I strongly discouraged him from getting up there.

'When I asked him if he would accept money to assist with repairs like a grant or a gift with no strings attached, he said, "I tell you what I told the council, I want my customers to come back".'

Olympia had legions of fans, including a 4,500-strong Facebook page, but the proud owner refused all offers of help to fix it

All he allowed was some temporary, and ultimately fruitless, work the patch up the ceiling

Mr Fotiou bought the building with his brother John in 1959, and the property retains its original fitout dating back two decades before that (pictured is the interior)

Known as Dr Death or Dracula because lights in the milk bar are always turned off, Mr Fotiou lives above the shop and is reluctant to speak about his private life (pictured is the milk bar)

All he allowed was some temporary, and ultimately fruitless, work to the patch up the ceiling.

Now the milk bar is boarded up, and Mr Fotiou has finally accepted the end of an era and moved into a nursing home.

The NSW Heritage Register describes the milk bar as 'of historical significance as evidence of the development of commercial leisure related activity along this section of Parramatta Road from 1912'.

Originally a pool hall, it reopened as a milk bar in 1939 and has kept its name and furnishings since then, including a coloured terazzo saying 'Olympia' on the floor.

The Olympia has featured in at least one novel, two songs, several artworks and been the subject of a radio documentary.

Any redevelopment of the shop will have to meet strict requirements to keep its wealth of history as intact as possible.

Some photos provided by Eamon Donnelly, taken for The Milk Bar Book.

The Olympia has featured in at least one novel, two songs, several artworks and been the subject of a radio documentary
The national media like the New York Times as well as small-market media like the Hartford Courant have extensively documented the disparate impact COVID has had on minorities. In Connecticut, the media has implied racism during Democrat governor Ned Lamonts tenure. If you didnt know better, you would think that even Democrat and therefore immune administrations like Lamonts are systemically racist based on how its handling of COVID vaccination is described. To most casual observers, that may seem counterintuitive, since it is a Democrat administration and therefore socially conscious and progressive. But the continued coverage of this issue, including a recent article in the Courant (3/27/21) titled Racial disparities in CTs Covid vaccination rollout are supposed to be narrowing. Theyre not, implies differently. After all, systemically racist institutions, it is thought, often hide behind anti-racist rhetoric such as when Lamont compared racism to COVID as a contagion and that there is such a small margin for error in COVID and in racism... and if we let that door swing ajar, its incredible how fast that infection can spread.

Talk is cheap. Even Gov. Lamonts excessive, and by definition nonmeritorious, success in hiring lots of women and minorities could be seen as a smokescreen for this suspected system. When it comes to race, one can never be progressive enough. Even a solidly Democrat base constituency, a union, noted: as protests rage across the state and country... Lamont continues to support policies that oppress American minorities in the workplace. And not just in the workplace -- in matters of life and death also, like COVID. No matter the area of society, the system is at work hurting minorities in some mysterious way -- despite all institutions being made up of actual human beings. Lamont claims to allocate vaccines proportionately to all populations. But how does one know? Are we being fooled?

In CT, the Lamont response to criticism has been to implement a target meant to help close the vaccination gap between whites and residents of color. But the disparities have grown. What accounts for this? In todays media -- and to some extent in the public at large -- its an effect-cause easy answer: disparity equals racism, which accounts for the perception of Gov. Lamonts failure here. It may appear like progress, but as Queen put it in "Bohemian Rhapsody," perhaps its Bismillah...no!

If Lamont was not a Democrat, the current media coverage, although not positive, would be decidedly less so  similar to how George W. Bush was portrayed after Hurricane Katrina when he was lambasted for carelessness caused by racism. It would probably not be quite as bad as that, since Katrina was such a catastrophe. But a non-Democrat Lamont would be eyed suspiciously, and likely condemned by many, of racism.

The Lamont administration had decided to allocate vaccines in a socially progressive way to benefit those in certain groups. The administration uses the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) that allocates doses according to 15 criteria such as: % below poverty, per capita income, % persons aged 25+ with no high-school diploma, % single-parent households with children under 18, % minority, % 5 and older who speak English less than well, % housing with 9+ units, % households with more than one person/room, % households with no vehicle, etc. Looking at each criterion, what do they have to do with vaccine distribution fairness? They are designed to benefit some groups over others. Especially when it comes to life and death, there should be no designed favoritism by the government.

But is systemic racism a fabrication? It has been embraced by many on the far left, but I suspect the majority of the population doesnt agree and are cowed into silence. Systemic racism -- is unseen -- it cant be measured -- it is completely unscientific -- it doesnt matter! It is like the Middle Ages before the Enlightenment (The Age of Reason) when orthodox religion, not science, ruled society. We are moving more and more away from science and toward a new religious orthodoxy -- postmodernism. That people like Galileo who moved away from orthodox religion and toward science were criticized/persecuted, matters not. In fact, postmodernism, which critics say has taken over the social sciences in the last 30 or so years and is creeping into engineering and math, specifically rejects truth, objectivity, and logic. The previous hallmarks of Western Civilization. The not-so-new thinking is that everything is socially constructed and nothing is innate, where everyones truth is different and real. I have pointed out to some of these advocates: if that is true, then by definition everything they say is meaningless (since it cant be true, objective or logical) -- but they are defensive and unmoved. You may as well shut down all the research organizations now, according to this thinking.

Government policies that are designed to benefit one group over another should be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. That clause essentially states that no State shall make/enforce a law which abridges the privileges/immunities of U.S. citizens nor deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process or the equal protection of the law. But freewheeling (mostly positively-motivated -- think Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer) activist judges expand on meanings of words and make them whatever they like. So, in that light, disparity, in the absence of evidence, is nonetheless a result of systemic racism.

However, despite Lamonts efforts, the administration has fallen short of its SVI driven index of a 25% allocation to communities of color. Before the targets went into effect, 16% of white residents had received at least one vaccine dose, compared with about 7% each of Black and Hispanic residents. After the targets went into effect, the disparities increased from 37% for whites, 20% for Blacks, and 17% for Hispanics. But the administration points out many reasons for this, including that for a portion of those vaccinated, race was not recorded, the states focus on age-based rollout skew to the majority white older crowd, state officials have taken steps to increase the goal beyond what is proportional, it takes time for these systems to adjust/provide more access, there are non-race barriers like technology, transportation, and language, a partnership with Access Health to increase additional outreach in 10 high-risk municipalities is occurring. If true, these are all legitimate reasons for disparities.

The irony is that the last thing I would want to see withheld from any human being of any race, color, etc. is a vaccination for a serious illness that can cause death, but therein lies the problem. If one group is favored, by definition that means others are not. Its a dilemma one cannot escape from unless it is done 100% scientifically and without favoritism.

Blah, blah, blah, a systemic racism believer would say. That would be blind indoctrination talking. Heres a disparity for you: notice the quote above and throughout the Courant article where whites is not capitalized while Blacks is -- this is a good disparity -- nothing to see here, move along. If one allows science/facts to be replaced by feelings/opinion, any case can be made and never be disproven. Democrats need to wake up and realize that these types of extremist illogical doctrines are what got Trump elected and what surely will flip the Congress in 2022. Mark it down.

The writer is the former director of the Connecticut Legislatures nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis and a former University of Connecticut Chief of Staff. Twitter: https://twitter.com/APCalandro

Image: CT Dept. of Public Health

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A controversial financier at the centre of a lobbying row was able to push through a Government loan scheme from which he benefited by citing the authority of then prime minister David Cameron, according to a fresh report.

The Sunday Times reported that a cache of leaked emails showed how Australian Lex Greensill told officials in 2012 that the PM had requested that he implement his ideas across government.

He was said to have sent his proposed loan plan for NHS pharmacies to senior officials but was so confident he told them: We are not seeking your approval.

Lex Greensill told officials in 2012 David Cameron had requested the Australians ideas be implemented across Government (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The latest disclosures will add to the pressure on Mr Cameron who brought Mr Greensill into No 10 as an unpaid adviser on supply chain finance.

After leaving office he then went to work as an adviser for Mr Greensills firm, Greensill Capital, and lobbied ministers on its behalf for support through the Governments corporate Covid finance scheme.

The firm subsequently filed for insolvency after its application was rejected.

Its collapse put the future of 5,000 steel making jobs in the UK at risk while tens of millions of pounds of share options which Mr Cameron was reported to have received became worthless.

Greensill Capitals collapse put the future of 5,000 steel making jobs in the UK at risk (Liberty House/PA)

According to the latest disclosures, civil servants were so alarmed by Mr Greensills proposals for a system of supply chain finance  fast-tracking funds vulnerable to late payments  they warned it could leave the Government open to legal challenge.

One official described him as a semi-private sector agent, adding: Rein him in  stop him approaching departments unilaterally.

The paper said that a deal was reached with Mr Greensills former employer Citigroup to run the scheme for pharmacies without a tender.

The financier was said to have shocked officials by writing that there was no formal contract with Citigroup, adding this situation is entirely normal in the private sector.

Neither Mr Cameron nor Mr Greensill has commented publicly over any of the claims that have appeared in recent weeks.

For Labour, shadow cabinet office minister Rachel Reeves said the Conservatives must make clear how they were going to tackle the problem of cronyism in government.

The allegation that billions of pounds of taxpayer and NHS cash was put at the mercy of Lex Greensill without so much as a contract signed is shocking, and Conservative cronyism down to a tee, she said.

We need Cameron to come out of hiding and apologise, but we also need answers.

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A Government spokesman said: Lex Greensill acted as a supply chain finance adviser from 2012 to 2015 and as a crown representative for three years from 2013.

His appointment was approved in the normal manner including registering any potential conflicts of interest.

There are robust processes in place for the award of government contracts. The pharmacy early payment scheme, which benefits over 2,000 pharmacies, was initially financed through the government banking service as part of its portfolio of services for government departments.

Following an open competition in 2018, the service has been provided through a direct contract with Taulia Inc, with no additional cost to the taxpayer.
Church accuses London police of brutally exceeding their powers after shutting down service

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Police in Britain shut down a Good Friday service at a Roman Catholic church in London, claiming violation of COVID-19 rules, and threatened to impose a fine of $280 on each person sitting on the pews, according to media reports.

Calling the gathering unlawful, police disrupted a Liturgy of the Lords Passion service at Christ the King Polish church in Balham, south London, on Friday evening, according to Sky News, which reported that one of the police officers can be seen in footage telling the congregation that such a gathering was unfortunately unlawful under the coronavirus regulations.

You are not allowed to meet inside with this many people under law, the officer continued. 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. Its Good Friday, and I appreciate you would like to worship, but it is unlawful.

Churches are allowed to hold services without any limit on the number of congregants during Englands lockdown, provided the congregation follows social distancing and wear masks, according to the U.K.s Independent newspaper.

The newspaper quoted a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police as saying, 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.

We are particularly concerned about the risk of transmission of the Covid-19 virus as a result of large indoor gatherings at which people are not socially distanced and some are not wearing masks. As such, officers made the decision that it was not safe for that particular service to continue.

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.

However, the church refuted the police departments claims, saying in a statement that the faithful obeyed ... without objection when police ordered them to leave.

We believe, however, that the police brutally exceeded their powers by issuing their warrant for no good reason, as all government requirements were met, the church said.

The latest government guidelines of March 26, 2021, and the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales on the experience of Holy Week, clearly allow  with all sanitary rules  to be celebrated in places of worship with the participation of the faithful.  We ask everyone to observe the current sanitary requirements in the Church and the space of social life, and to pray that such situations will not be repeated.

Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan called the incident distressing.

Being of Polish heritage, I understand the sanctity of this day. No doubt this was deeply distressing, she was quoted as saying. I have spoken with the Metropolitan Police and am assured the police are working with the priest and the wider community on this matter, with church sessions having resumed today.
A young mum has told how she became a recluse and tried to take her own life after her ex-fiance plastered nude pictures of her all over social media.

Chloe Leigh McIlwaine (23), from north Belfast, became the victim of revenge porn when ex-partner Stevie Brunty hacked into her Facebook account and posted a series of private sexual photos of the mum-of-two.

Devastated Chloe said she was left unable to leave the house following the incident.

Brunty, also from Belfast, was convicted of disclosing private sexual photographs at Laganside Magistrates Court on March 26. Now, Chloe has decided to share her story in a bid to raise awareness about the impact of revenge porn.

Expand Close CONTROLLING: Stevie Brunty would check Chloes social media accounts / Facebook

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Whatsapp CONTROLLING: Stevie Brunty would check Chloes social media accounts

"I can finally live my life now without having those photos or him hanging over my head," she said.

"He knows now that he's been found guilty, so he can't hold this over me anymore.

"I really hope people see what I have been through and realise you don't have to just be a victim of this. There is something you can do about it.

"Go through the justice system and speak out. Never, ever hold back. Don't ignore the warning signs. Your body is your body and nobody has the right to share indecent pictures of your body."

Chloe and Steven were friends who became lovers in August 2018.

They initially enjoyed a whirlwind romance and Brunty proposed to Ms McIlwaine on New Year's Eve 2018, with a love-struck Chloe saying yes.

But as quickly as the romance blossomed, it turned sour and the pair split in June 2019.

"Up to the point he proposed and afterwards for a while, it was like a honeymoon period," she said.

"Then we went on a weekend away in Manchester in February 2019 and things turned sour. We had a huge row and it was a real shock to the system.

"I thought maybe things would improve, but things just got worse and we kept falling out and arguing.

Expand Close SUICIDAL: Chloe found it difficult to leave her house after the images were uploaded Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX / Facebook

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Whatsapp SUICIDAL: Chloe found it difficult to leave her house after the images were uploaded

"He was very paranoid and controlling. He would log on to my Facebook account on his phone and did things to try and trip me up.

"I would have no knowledge of it until I would maybe get confirmation of new friends I hadn't added or things like that.

"In June 2019, we broke up after I had a complete breakdown over our relationship. I just said 'No, I can't do this anymore' and opened up to my mum about how bad things were between us."

In August 2019, shortly after leaving Brunty, Ms McIlwaine awoke to find private sexual photographs of herself on her Facebook account, which had been uploaded by Brunty, and her whole world came crashing down. "I couldn't get onto my Facebook because he had changed the password. He took all control of my social media," she revealed.

"There were these indecent pictures of me uploaded at 4am while I was sleeping. They appeared on my account as if I had posted them myself. They were pictures of me completely naked.

"I had taken them and sent them to him and him alone, without the intention anyone else would ever see them.

"When I sent them to him at the time, I thought to myself 'We're in a relationship. We're engaged. We're going to be married'. I didn't think anything like this would ever happen.

"The way he was with me at the start, I never thought he'd be capable of doing something like that.

"I think he thought to himself 'How else can I control this situation?' because he was losing me and losing control of the situation.

"Whenever I saw those pictures, I was convinced the whole world had seen them and I couldn't go out over the door for weeks.

"I attempted to take my own life after seeing those pictures - my whole dignity was took from me. They were all over social media and I just kept thinking about people screenshotting them or them being shared in group chats.

Expand Close Chloe Leigh McIlwaine / Facebook

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"I wondered if my neighbours or people in my area had seen them. It just drove me mad. There was so much going through my head.

"I have two young children and I kept thinking 'Are they going to grow up and hear about their mum having naked pictures all over the internet?' It was really very hard."

Ms McIlwaine went immediately to the police, who were able to regain her access to her Facebook account before arresting Brunty (right).

However it wasn't long before Chloe discovered her father had seen the pictures, compounding her misery.

She said: "I was so worried about my mum and dad seeing them. I found out my daddy had and that was really hard.

"What daddy wants to look and see a picture of their naked daughter on Facebook? He was very angry and upset, but I asked him to let me go through the justice system.

"I wanted to do things the right way because I needed justice for myself and for other women out there.

"I'm really lucky that my family were really supportive. When it came to it all, they were great, but the weeks after it initially happened were awful. Even now, to this day, I wonder who saw the pictures and where they went. It's so disgusting that he would do that to me. It's not right.

"If I didn't have such a supportive family and extremely supportive friends, I don't think I'd have been able to get through that stage of my life.

"That's really scary because I have two amazing wee kids and they could have been left without a mum."

Expand Close Stevie Brunty who has been convicted of revenge porn against his former partner / Facebook

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Brunty denied disclosing private sexual photographs but was convicted after a hearing at Laganside Magistrates. He was also charged with improper use of a public electronic communications network, but the charge was dismissed.

Although she found the process of going to court stressful and upsetting, Ms McIlwaine was overjoyed with the outcome and feels justice was done.

She said: "I had got a non-molestation order against him after four attempts because I was terrified of what he might do to me.

"He denied it, so I had to go to court and give evidence, but he was found guilty after a contest. He had failed to appear a number of times and it was really frustrating because I felt like he was still trying to control me.

"On the day of the contest, he didn't initially appear at court and I broke down in tears. I knew he didn't want me to get justice for myself, but the judge was lovely and said the case would be heard without him.

"He eventually appeared after I gave my evidence. I didn't break down during the hearing, which I was grateful for because I didn't want him to see that and think I was weak.

"Once I heard he was convicted, I felt like a new girl. Everybody who called me a liar or doubted me was proved wrong. The courts, the judge and the justice system knew I wasn't lying and I finally got justice.

"Whatever sentence he gets, it won't make up for the years of my life he has wasted and the stress I have had to go through thanks to his actions.

"He's been running about enjoying his life for the past two years while I've been stuck in the house thinking 'What did I do wrong?' and 'Who else has seen those pictures?'

"I've been living a paranoid life whilst he's been free and not worrying about anything like that."

Stevie Brunty will be sentenced later this month.
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable.
By Connor Dunleavy,Yale Climate Connections. Originally published at Yale Climate Connections.

WHITTIER, ALASKA  The worlds high-latitude regions experience climate change at a rate twice as fast as the rest of the world. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Prince Williams Sound in South Central Alaska. This shelter body of water off the North Pacific is home to some of the tallest coastal mountains in the world and dominated by glaciers and icefields. But with the extreme warming and drier than average summers the cryosphere here has undergone a massive transformation.

The fjords of Prince Williams Sound echo like thunder as glaciers calve off into the sea at an ever increasing rate. The ice loss from this region measures in the tens of billions of metric tons each year. For the roughly 200 year-round residents of Whittier, this loss amounts to far more than just a change in scenery.

Daily Life in Whittier, Now with COVID and Climate Challenges

Whittier is a small, understated community nestled between the icefields of the Chugach Mountains and the shores of Prince Williams Sound. At its surface, the town is not much more than a port, a small collection of tin-roofed restaurants and shops, and the 14 story concrete apartment building that houses nearly everyone in town. There are no chain stores or private homes. The only way in or out of town by land is through a single lane two-mile long tunnel open only periodically throughout the day. Given a complicated arrangement with the Alaska Railroad, which shares it, the tunnel closes each night at 10:30, or earlier in the winter months, essentially trapping residents in town until morning.

Despite this challenging geography, the small number of residents are proud to call this special place home. Walk through town on any given day and several locals can be seen sporting POW Prisoner of Whittier shirts, a symbol of town pride referencing the nightly tunnel closures.

Despite the small year-round population, Whittier residents still often get together. For instance, the Fourth of July is celebrated with a parade made up of local vehicles draped in banners and a fireworks show that, at least in local lore, has more rockets than the one held in Anchorage, the largest city in the state.

Whittier is a close-knit community, even by rural Alaskan standards, whose residents look after one another. This fidelity is on full display in the towns Facebook group: Whats What in Whittier. Here community members help each other get supplies from Anchorage, report daily bear sightings in summer, share small town news, and, at least in pre-pandemic times, share items and baked goods, often for free.

When asked what she thought about living in Whittier, long-time resident Ashley Swain shared that she grew up in town and would not have it another way. Others like Oliviah Franke, who has worked for the US Forest Service in and around Whittier for several years, shared that Whittier is magical  it is like its own world up in the mountains.

But Oliviah has become increasingly worried about the future of the town, and she is not alone in that concern. Like many other communities, Whittier has been dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the resultant loss in tourist revenue from it. But by May 2020 city officials had another thing to worry about: A team of geologists had discovered that the town is at risk from a tsunami, driven not by seismic activity, but by climate change.

Concerns Over Ice Loss for Nearby Barry Glacier

Some 28 miles from the town of Whittier lies a glacier-filled fjord in Prince Williams Sound known as Barry Arm. The steep walls of this fjord rise nearly vertically out of the water some 2,000 feet high. The fjord is home to three glaciers: Cascade, Cox, and Barry, all of which have experienced rapid ice loss in recent decades.

The largest and fastest receding glacier in this fjord is the Barry Glacier. Its losing billions of tons of ice each year resulting in a thinner shorter glacier. This has left large sections of the fjord walls exposed and vulnerable.

According to a statement released by the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) As alpine permafrost thaws and glaciers thin and retreat, support of the valley walls is degraded and removed, allowing rockfalls and landslides to occur; landslides entering the water have the potential to create tsunami.

With so many glaciers in retreat around Prince Williams Sound and elsewhere in the world, it is not surprising that the Barry Arm fjord is not the only one destabilizing. According to DGGS, many fjord walls across Alaska are becoming unstable as glaciers retreat. Some have already resulted in a tsunami.

Most recently, the destabilization of the Taan Fjord near Icy Bay in 2015 created a tsunami when a landslide was triggered by the retreat from the Tyndall Glacier. The tsunami was estimated to have reached a maximum height of 240 meters or nearly 790 feet according to authors of a 2018 study.

DGGS reports that the tsunami threat from Barry Arm has the potential to be even larger than the one generated in Taan Fjord. Fortunately as these tsunamis travel they lose force and height, but a tsunami reaching Whittier from Barry Arm likely will still be 30 to 40 feet in height.

Despite sensors placed on the fjord wall and in Whittier, DGGS and several other agencies have concluded that the best warning Whittier will receive most likely will be natural warning signs: unusual water movement as the wave approaches, or the sound of the water rushing into the Passage Canal Fjord where Whittier is located.

Whittier and the Tsunami Prospect

Being in a seismically active area, the threat of tsunami is nothing new to Whittier. Every Friday at noon, a tsunami alarm rings out as a test of the towns early warning system, as has been the case since well before the discovery of the tsunami threat from Barry Arm.

Whittier was hit by a tsunami in 1964 after the historic Good Friday Earthquake, the largest on record for North America. According to the Whittier Historical Museum the tsunami killed 13 residents and destroyed the railyard, harbor, and several buildings. The large seven-story military barracks, known locally as the Buckner Building, was still sits ramshackled and windowless on a hill overlooking the harbor. Notably, the BTI, where most residents in Whittier currently live, was largely unharmed.

At that time, 57 years ago, Whittier was predominantly a military installation and rail yard. It is now a popular recreational sight for out-of-state tourists and Alaska residents alike.

The Whittier marina and small boat harbor are now filled with pleasure crafts for the Anchorage elite, commercial fishing vessels, and tour and charter boats. Large cruise ships routinely docked in Whittier during the summer month before COVID-19, and they have plans to return in 2022 once pandemic restrictions are lifted. Compared to 1964, there is a lot more infrastructure along the waterfront and, during the summer also many more people.

Harbor Master: Fear of Tsunamis Cant dictate Our Lives

Mike Blansky, the Harbor Master for Whittiers Cliffside Marina says he fears the projected tsunami from the Barry Arm landslide would be catastrophic for the marina and waterfront of Whittier. Asked if there is a way to mitigate the risk, he said any realistic attempt to do so would be futile, like trying to stop tsunamis that decimated communities of Japans northeast coast in 2011 killing nearly 18,000 people.

Despite the pending calamity, Blansky says, We all live with the knowledge that catastrophes can and will happen, but we cannot let that dictate our lives. This approach is pretty common around town. Its perhaps comparable to the attitudes of many Californians aware of, yet somehow somewhat oblivious to, recurring earthquakes and the next big one.

Town officials, joined by scientists from the state and federal agencies have held town meetings to keep residents informed about the landslide, but the subject is not one often discussed outside of those meetings. For some, it seems a taboo topic: Asked about it, many locals say they arent paying close attention. Like much of the world, Whittier is far more concerned with the pandemic.

City officials have been grappling with the unique challenge of having a population in such close quarters yet so far from a health facility. Residents, aware of their increased risk given their geography, seem especially focused on staying safe. Business owners scramble to make up lost revenue from losses of tourism brought on by the pandemic. Not fearing the tsunami so much, Blansky does worry about people avoiding Whittier, leading to further economic strain.

The towns focus seems somewhat justified. Aside from putting up sensors, which it has already done, there seems little it can do now to prevent the disaster from occurring.

While the threats from climate change to many communities are vague and distant, the threats to Whittier are very much present. Other communities have the ability to deal with the pandemic first and resume climate change planning later. However, Whittier has run out of time to act. All locals can do now is hope and wait.

Whittier, the Canary in the Cave on the First Frontier

Alaska is known to many as the Last Frontier, but what is happening in Whittier, on the first frontier of the states climate change concerns, is not unique to this town. The same climate forces that are contributing to the crisis in Whittier are part of the global system that has already affected communities like Paradise, California, and parts of eastern Australia, both destroyed by climate-driven wildfires in recent years.

Climate change also affects weather patterns. What is happening in Whittier is, then, also not so different from the climate-driven extreme weather events like the unprecedented hurricanes that destroyed parts of Puerto Rico and Texas in past years. The very glaciers that are melting in Barry Arm and elsewhere in Prince Williams Sound are the same ones that contribute to sea-level rise threatening communities like Miami, Norfolk, Boston, and Venice.

While it is hard to pinpoint a single extreme weather event or wildfire as being directly caused by climate change, it is clear that changes in climate patterns are enabling these types of events to occur more frequently and or more severely.

Whittier shows us that climate change poses an unequivocal threat to human life and livelihood, not in some distant future, but here and now.

The events are already in motion for Whittier, there will come a day, perhaps soon, when Whittier looks vastly different. Whittier needed aggressive international climate action to be taken some 30 years ago, but there is no time to dwell on what could have been. However, it is never too late to start doing the right thing.

By embracing bold climate action now and being mindful of our own carbon footprints, we can start to build a stronger and safer future for ourselves and for our communities. What other choice do we have?
US loses focus by inserting anti-China in infrastructure plan

Global Times) 12:57, April 04, 2021

A woman walks at a platform of a subway station in Chicago, the United States, January 17, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

US President Joe Biden unveiled a roughly $2 trillion American Jobs Plan focused on infrastructure and the climate crisis in a speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. To win support, he said that the "once-in-a-generation" investment would "put [the US] in a position to win the global competition with China in the upcoming years."

Much of infrastructure in the US has been old. Both Democrats and Republicans are on the same page on this matter. US former president Barack Obama in September 2010 proposed his ambitious plan to renew the US' transportation infrastructure, but failed to achieve it in both of his terms. Neither did Donald Trump. Biden launched the third round of such attempt. His plan contains the greatest details and seems to be the most serious one.

However, the Biden administration's infrastructure plan was met with opposition from Republicans when it was announced. Trump slammed the infrastructure plan as a "giveaway to China" in a statement on Wednesday, and said that the proposed tax increases designed to fund the $2 trillion proposal would end up backfiring by sending American jobs overseas. Biden may once again have mired himself down in a situation where everyone agrees that it was the right thing to do, but no one can agree on how to do it or where the money will come from.

US society has been gravely divided. The more interests involved in carrying out a big plan, the more opportunities for political struggles to be created, which will hinder the goal to be achieved. This is the root of the US' problem. To engage in infrastructure construction, the internal driving force of society should have been far greater than the resistance from disputes by different interest groups, but this is not the case in the US. Exploiting "defeating China" as a thrust to push the plan sharply deviates from the appropriate track. This makes the plan hard to achieve.

Has China ever thought of competing with the US as it builds high-speed trains, widen the highway network and build network base stations? They are entirely China's own national agenda. The incentive to invest is strong, and the general public is very supportive. We can say that China's infrastructure advances with ease. Our concern is often that we should not work lavishly on these projects in case they lead to interim waste or debt.

The US now has China everywhere in its mind with regard to its domestic policy, attaching labels of national security randomly, and blaming China for any industrial imbalance in the US. Apart from instigating nationalism, this would do little to solve the problem. Over time, the US will not only be down with an anti-China syndrome and strike at anything Chinese, but will also only be able to make its policy with anti-China elements. This will lead to the misdirection of its goal time and again and cause it lose its way in development.

The US should force itself to forget about China more often. What the US needs to do is struggling with itself. It has been more than a decade since it has called for the construction of the high-speed railway. Why hasn't a single kilometer been built? What does this inefficiency have to do with China? Trump overturned many of Obama's policies and now Biden overturned Trump's policies. Is this what China seduced the US to do?

It is quite impressive that Washington is beginning to value some important lessons from China. Conflict is also a way to learn from each other. China's key experience is to mind its own work well. Biden's determination to improve infrastructure and increase investment in technology seems to have taken something from China's direction. We hope that the US could adhere to this idea. It is the right way forward.

If the US really initiated a new investment in infrastructure, it is believed that Chinese society in general will be optimistic about its success. More of this kind of engagement by the US will increase its market demand, which is a positive factor in the expansion of China's economic growth. After all, the contest between China and the US should have been focused on the competition of domestic development, rather than playing chess on the diplomatic front.

If Washington had refocused its attention, it might not have exaggerated the "China threat" theory as much as it does now. They will find that the benefits of China-US cooperation may outweigh the zero-sum competition with China "from a position of strength." China could be a partner, not a rival, in Biden's plan to revitalize US infrastructure, if Washington so desires.

Obsessive focus on making enemies or confrontation is narrow-minded and an exhausted strategy. It is an unwise one. This is true of a person, and it is also true of a country.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
Kanakuk Kamps expose takes closer look at past sexual abuse scandal

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A major Christian camp has come under scrutiny years after its most popular and charismatic director was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting an untold number of campers over many years.

In an expose published by The Dispatch, David and Nancy French detailed how Kanakuk Kamp in Branson, Missouri, handled reports of abuse committed by Pete Newman, a former camp counselor who rose in the ranks to become the camp's director and used his position to groom boys.

Though trusted by many, even parents, Newman was a serial sexual abuser who groomed and abused boys at the camp, in their own homes, and even during an overseas trip to China. He pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual abuse of boys in 2010 and is serving two life terms plus 30 years.

Yet many of the details of this abuse and how the camp evaded accountability has been shrouded in secrecy through a combination of nondisclosure agreements from Newmans victims  57 of them according to a civil complaint, though the prosecutor on the case believes the actual number might be in the hundreds  and lack of media scrutiny, according to The Dispatch.

One of the victims who resisted pressure to sign a nondisclosure agreement spoke with The Dispatch on condition of anonymity about what he endured at the hands of Newman.



In 1995, when Newman was first hired by the camp, he reportedly began engaging in predatory grooming and other inappropriate behavior in violation of camp rules. In addition to crossing boundaries outlined in camp policies, when Newman spoke to boys about sexual morality and lust, he also engaged in mutual masturbation.



Unknown to parents, instead of teaching the children not to masturbate, he gave them lessons on how to do it. According to victims and Newmans own account, he masturbated them and taught them how to masturbate him. This sexual activity, he explained, wasnt biblically wrong, as long as the campers avoided lusting for women or looking at porn while he molested them, the Dispatch reported.

Newman would also stay in the homes of campers' families when traveling as the ambassador to promote the camps programs during the offseason and abuse boys while there. In addition to masturbation, he performed and received oral sex, and on one occasion, a victim alleged that Newman sodomized him in a shower at the camp.



Kanakuk Kamp managed to evade legal obligations regarding Newmans misdeeds when concerns were repeatedly raised, specifically about his habit of doing things around the camp while naked and encouraging boys to do the same, along with other infractions. When Newman finally confessed to his crimes in 2009, the camp allegedly delayed reporting to the authorities, which is required by state law. The camp instead started alerting families of victims of the abuse and offered to pay for counseling.



Yet, according to several families who spoke with The Dispatch, the camp sent victims families a copious amount of Kanakuk gear, PlayStations, iPads, iPhones, and snack baskets. They also directly reached out to victims, offering hunting trips and weekends away at [the home of camp CEO Joe White]. The camp offered free camp tuition to various victims  a policy still in place to this day  in an effort, as one person described, to rediscover lost childhood.

Kanakuk revamped camp policies following Newmans arrest, but the updated protocols were apparently not enough to keep another abuser out.

The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reported in 2013 that in 2011, 23-year-old Lee Bradbury [sic], abused three boy campers ages 9, 10 and 12 in a span of four weeks. He was subsequently found guilty of second-degree statutory sodomy, sexual misconduct, and two counts of child molestation.

During the legal proceedings that followed Newmans firing, it emerged that White had reportedly been around another pedophile  a pilot who flew him to various events  who admitted to sodomizing his own daughter from age 5 onward.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation is not convinced that the camp has sufficiently implemented safeguards to protect children from becoming victims like past campers.



When entire organizations foster, allow, and even encourage exploitation to occur, we cannot step back and say enough has been done when a lone perpetrator is caught and apprehended, said Dawn Hawkins, senior vice president and executive director of NCOSE in a statement.



As we know, there wasnt just one bad actor at Kanakuk. Institutional abuse happens because multiple levels of leadership and the very structure of the organization itself becomes a haven for predators  they are given access to their intended prey, and they are given positions of trust and leadership. The time is up for institutional abuse and exploitation to continue to be swept under the proverbial rug. Until the organizations, corporations, and institutions are held accountable for their hand in the sexual exploitation and trauma of countless men, women, and children, full justice will not be served.



In response to The Dispatch report, Kanakuk Kamps issued a statement on its website apologizing for what took place 12 years ago and defended the protocols they have implemented since then.

Weve said it before and will continue to say it again and again, we are forever sorry for the pain inflicted on victims and their families. Any act of abuse is absolutely deplorable and stands counter to Kanakuks beliefs. Although there were many measures in place to prevent such a tragedy that were consistent and compliant with then-current industry recommendations, this individual's deception of family, friends, Kanakuk, and our camp families was deep, the statement read.

Our comprehensive Child Protection Plan was created as a result of this tragedy, and has been rigorously followed each summer since. It has more than 340 identifiable and measurable protective elements that make it more complete, inclusive and reliable than the background checks that are often relied upon in summer camp hiring practices.

"Kanukuk continued that in what followed the events of 2009, no criminal charges were ever filed against any member of camp staff and that no one knew of any criminal activity was taking place.

The Kanakuk name is not more important than the hearts and lives of individuals. Forgiveness and healing are not immediate things, and thus we will say it again, we are forever sorry.


UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio  On April Fools Day, University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan posted a message on UHs Facebook page announcing he signed a proclamation to change the citys name back to Idlewood Heights.

Many residents likely knew it was a joke considering the proclamation was signed at 12:01 a.m. on April Fools Day. In an email to cleveland.com on Sunday, Brennan said it was some April Fools Day fun and a way to honor the history of the community.

The prank didnt register with everyone. Some people took to Facebook to express their feelings of confusion and disappointment.

Maybe in your free time, you could pick up some of the trash in front of city hall, a person replied to the proclamation post on Facebook.

The city was originally known as The Village of Idlewood, which was established in 1907 by Alonzo Silsby. In 1914, part of the village was annexed by Cleveland Heights, and then a smaller part by Shaker Heights. On Feb. 3, 1925, Idlewood Village Council passed Resolution 992 by Mayor John Howard to change the name from Idlewood Heights to University Heights, when John Carroll University announced its plan to move from Ohio City to Idlewood.

Were returning to our roots, and changing it back, Brennan said in the April Fools Day statement on Facebook.

The mayor and his office went above and beyond to make their charade believable.

They flipped the citys logo sideways, where the letters U and H, for University Heights, formed an I. They printed the logo and phrase Idlewood Heights and stuck it to a coffee cup in another photo. The city said merchandise with the new design would be for sale in the summer.

The announcement was printed on Idlewood Heights letterhead and the last sentence directed people to the new website for more information. But when people visited the new website -- www.idlewoodheights.com -- it directed users back to the original University Heights website.

John Carroll University is vital to our city and our community, Brennan wrote in an emailed statement. We are proud to be, quite literally, University Heights.
SOUTH ROXANNA  The Illinois Department of Transportation announced that intermittent lane restrictions will begin on Old Alton-Edwardsville Road between Wanda Road and Cahokia Creek Road on Monday, weather permitting.

The lane restrictions are needed to complete a new asphalt surface and the project is expected to be completed by the end of May.
The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act is a bill outdoor enthusiasts dream of. Written by top scientists and regional community members, it will be reintroduced to the U.S. Senate on April 14.

The bill would protect a biologically rich assemblage of ecosystems along the Continental Divide where one might glimpse charismatic lynx and wolverines and hear the boreal owls soft trill. Please inspire Congress to pass this visionary plan by asking your House members and senators to cosponsor it.

The bills targeted lands in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming are ecologically relevant for fulfilling part of President Bidens executive order aiming to conserve 30% of land and 30% of ocean waters by 2030. It also supports our carbon-reduction agreement by preserving carbon-rich forest biomes.

Protecting the Northern Rockies Bioregion will sustainably contribute to the areas cultural and economic vitality while creating forest- and wildlife-oriented jobs. The bill would efficiently protect ecosystems by designating 23 million acres of national forest as Wilderness, granting 1,800 miles of waterways as Wild and Scenic, and employing wildlife corridors on public lands to connect large fragmented habitats. This will help ensure that these biological resources survive into future generations.

The immense watersheds feed some of our most important rivers, supporting the migrations and spawning grounds of native salmon, steelhead, arctic grayling, white sturgeon, bull trout, and cutthroat trout.

The need for substantive ecosystem and biodiversity protection has been recognized for over 30 years and the U.S. can become an environmental leader by passing the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act to safeguard natures resilience in this iconic American bioregion.

Katy Belt, Ashland
Senior officials of the Election Commission on Sunday held a review meeting with the expenditure observers of the poll-bound Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, according to sources.

As per sources, Special Expenditure Observers and officials from the State Election Commission of the respective states were also present.

While polling for 30 Assembly seats in will be held on April 6. As many as 10,02,589 electors will choose the candidates for the Legislative Assembly of

In Tamil Nadu, the 234-members assembly will go to elections in a single phase on April 6. As many as 6,28,23,749 electors will choose candidates for the sixteenth legislative assembly in the state.

The election for 140-member Assembly 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.)
Delhi Chief Minister on Sunday alleged that the BJP-led Centre was trying to punish his government for supporting the farmers' agitation by creating hurdles in its functioning with the new law that gives primacy to the Lieutenant Governor.

Addressing a farmers' 'mahapanchayat' in Haryana's Jind district, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener asserted that he is ready to make any sacrifice for the sake of farmers who are agitating against the three central agri laws.

He went on to say that anyone who opposes the farmers' stir is a "traitor".

They (BJP) have brought a Bill in Parliament to punish Kejriwal. We bore the brunt. They are punishing us for supporting farmers' agitation, said Kejriwal, while lashing out at the Centre for the enactment of the Government of Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill in March.

The chief minister said all powers will be now be with the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

What kind of law is this, he said, adding that his party despite winning 62 seats would have no power.

He claimed that each member of the BJP had said in Parliament that Kejriwal was punished for supporting farmers' agitation.

I want to tell them that our 300 farmers have laid down their lives. For the sake of this agitation, even if Kejriwal dies we are not scared of your punishment, he said.

He said he was ready for any sacrifice for the farmers' agitation.

Today farmers are seeing us as their well-wisher. Whatever punishment the central government wants to give me, I do not care, he said.

Kejriwal said that it is the responsibility of every Indian who loves his country to support the farmers.

Any person who is with this agitation is a patriot and the one who is against the farmers' agitation is a traitor, he said.

He said that his government in the capital carried out various development works be it setting up schools and hospitals, free water, etc in the last six years and alleged that the BJP was putting stumbling blocks to disrupt the works that were being done for the Delhi people.

He claimed the BJP, despite being the most powerful party in the country, has failed to deliver in the areas of education and health, while his government has made significant progress.

I want to tell the BJP that for building schools and colleges and serving people, there is no need for power. There is a need for intent. You have so many powers but your intention is wrong, he said.

Kejriwal does not have power and but our intent is clear, 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 Rev. Henry Torres told his parishioners, who had gathered on Palm Sunday in socially distanced rows of half-empty pews, that God had not abandoned them.

The coronavirus had killed dozens of regulars at the church, St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church in Queens, N.Y., and the pandemic forced it to close its doors for months last year. But the parishioners were there now, he said, which was a sign of hope.

Even through difficulties, God is at work, Father Torres said. Even when people are suffering, even if it may seem that God is silent, that does not mean that God is absent.

That is a message that many Christians  and the cash-strapped churches that minister to them  are eager to believe this Easter, as the springtime celebration of hope and renewal on Sunday coincides with rising vaccination rates and the promise of a return to something resembling normal life.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 23:24:59|Editor: huaxia

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2021 marks the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Join us as we visit Hunan First Normal University in central China, where late Chinese leader Mao Zedong studied and taught in his youth.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Autumn QRP contest

In South Africa, the QRP contests are intended to be fun activities to promote QRP operation between radio amateurs.

Using homebuilt equipment or operating as a portable/field station and using temporary antennas is encouraged but is not a requirement.

The autumn contest will run from 12:00 to 13:30 UTC (14:00 to 15:30 CAT) on Saturday 10 April 2021 using CW and phone with 5 Watt (PEP) output or less. The first 45 minutes is limited to the 40-m band only, the remaining 45 minutes the contesters are free to use any HF (non-WARC) band as they see fit.



The exchange is a realistic RS or RST report and your 6 character grid locator. Each QSO counts 1 point and there are Prefix/Country and Station type multipliers.

Submit your log sheet in ADIF, Cabrillo or MS Excel format by 15 April 2021 to info@zs6wr.co.za. A photo or photos of the station operating (JPG format) MUST accompany every log entry.

SARL
Eight people have been arrested by gardai as part of a policing plan around a protest planned for this afternoon in Dublin city centre.

Six people, five of those male and one female, were arrested for breaches of the Health Act.
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.'
A woman who was left with permanent facial scars after her boyfriend 'fly-pegged' a whisky glass at her head has told how the man she thought was her soulmate became controlling and obsessive before launching into the violent attack.

Delia Fernandez, 24, was inside the studio apartment she shared with Julian Sebastiao in Parramatta, Sydney's west, in May last year when he unleashed his fury, leaving her dripping in blood and needing emergency surgery.

The couple had been together for about a year at the time, with Ms Fernandez initially enamoured by 23-year-old Sebastiao, who would turn up to her work with flowers in hand and carrying her lunch.

'I really could not fault him at the start. He ticked all the boxes and he was kind and I thought I had found my soulmate and my place in the world,' Ms Fernandez told 60 Minutes on Sunday.

'I would have died for that man. We were very, very in love. I could not even believe he did it. I couldn't believe my life was just flipped in the blink of an eye.'

Ms Fernandez said the Covid pandemic changed their relationship, with the couple spending a significant amount of time together inside the small apartment while she worked from home and he demanded 'we're not leaving the house'.

Delia Fernandez appeared on Channel Nine's 60 Minutes program on Sunday where she told of the terrifying moment her then boyfriend 'fly-pegged' a whisky glass at her head in May last year

Pictured: Ms Fernandez is seen with stitches in her face after her ex-boyfriend Julian Sebastiao threw the whisky glass at her head at the studio apartment they shared

'The biggest problem started after work from home had begun - I had nowhere to go,' she said.

'I was right there always, 24/7. I was isolated with him. You just become like a caged animal sometimes.'

Ms Fernandez said in the lead up to the terrifying domestic violence attack, Sebastiao became possessive, developing an obsession with keeping her to himself.

She revealed how she thought she was going to die as she crawled along the floor after Sebastiao forcibly threw the whisky glass.

'He was screaming, he was freaking out. That's when I really thought my life was over because I knew that he was now in self-preservation mode. He didn't care about my wellbeing,' she said.

'I couldn't even walk. I was trying to crawl to a mirror to see the damage. And he ripped me back by the legs and told me If I tried to look in the mirror again, that was it.

'He turned every mirror in our apartment around face down or against the wall and said I was not allowed to look in the mirror and I knew then how horrific the injury must have been.'

Ms Fernandez said the horrific attack changed her life in an instant, leaving her with the feeling she had 'lost everything'.

Ms Fernandez is pictured with Sebastiao before the attack. The couple had been dating for just over a year

Ms Fernandez made a joke about one of her boyfriend's friends and Sebastiao became so enraged he grabbed her shirt and pushed himself on to her. He then threw the glass at her

'I was not only mortified by what happened but I was also grieving. I lost my whole life that night. I lost everything. I lost my normal way of life. I was defeated,' she said.

'You look at it and you're like but why. Why did I have to be permanently and viciously scarred like this. I can't escape it. I can't wake up and pretend it's not there because it's right there for me to see.'

But almost a year after the incident, Ms Fernandez said she feels like she has regained her life and sense of freedom.

'I feel like I've got my life back, the old me, where I see my friends. There's a lot of trauma that came along with it but it was also like a blessing in disguise because I'm free now,' she said.

Sebastiao, 23, escaped a jail sentence despite pleading guilty to common assault and grievous bodily harm.

Ms Fernandez previously took to Instagram to share photos of a handwritten card Sebastiao had written her on their one-year anniversary - just ten days before the shocking attack.

'They gaslight you and treat you like a Queen one day and the next they threaten you with suicide if you try to leave. There's just no winning,' she wrote alongside an image of the card.

'It isn't all name calling and aggression. They use words like these to confuse and manipulate you into staying. Everything he stated was true. I did bring all of the above to the table and I was a good partner.'

Ms Fernandez shared a handwritten card to Instagram her former partner had given her for their one-year anniversary - 10 days before the shocking attack

Ms Fernandez also posted another card her then partner had given to her, accompanied by a warning to other women

She revealed how terrified she was of Sebastiao's words because they were penned so close to the attack.

'Yet it didn't stop him attacking me when he didn't get this way (or) thought he was going to lose me. These words scared me the most because this was given to me just 10 days before the incident,' Ms Fernandez said.

Another card given to Ms Fernandez over Christmas was also posted to her Instagram, accompanied by a warning to other women.

'They are consumed by their feelings and then blame you when you are the one hurt. Never allow this. You think it's love girls but it's not. If someone loves you they won't do what these men do,' she wrote.

'It is so hard to leave because it's a bunch of really high highs but then really low lows and they always remind you of the good times because it's like a drug.'

Ms Fernandez and Sebastiao were lying in bed together on May 26, 2020, when she made a comment that angered him, the Parramatta Advertiser reported.

'He was saying of the whole male population, (not) one wanted to be my friend or family member, and said they saw me as a piece of meat and I laughed and said ''That's how your brain works''?' Ms Fernandez said.

The couple began to discuss whether Ms Fernandez's friends would find Sebastiao attractive.

'He was getting frustrated that I wasn't getting jealous,' Ms Fernandez said, adding that she is not an insecure person.

Ms Fernandez (right) was left with permanent scars following the domestic violence attack inside the apartment she shared with her then-boyfriend, Julian Sebastiao, in Parramatta, in Sydney's west

Ms Fernandez then made a joke about one of her boyfriend's friends and Sebastiao became so enraged he grabbed her shirt and pushed himself on to her.

She struggled to breathe as he leaned his weight on her chest. Sebastiao eventually let go and began to pace around the couple's dining area.

Ms Fernandez threw a TV remote control in his direction and Sebastiao hurled the 10cm tall glass at her head.

She suffered a 5cm laceration to her left cheek, a 1.5cm cut to her left eyebrow and numerous superficial wounds after the glass shattered on her face.

The injury caused Ms Fernandez to bleed profusely. In the wake of the attack, Sebastiao refused to call an ambulance for his injured partner.

According to police facts, he instead took Ms Fernandez's clothes off and put her in the shower to try and clean off the blood. He later called his mum who advised he should phone for an ambulance.

Magistrate Rodney Brender said the level of domestic violence was 'completely unacceptable'. Sebastiao (left) was convicted and sentenced to a 15-month intensive correction, to be served in the community

The couple instead stayed at the apartment until Sebastiao's mum arrived and she tried to clean Ms Fernandez's wounds.

Sebastiao's mum took Ms Fernandez to Westmead Hospital, while he was picked up by a friend. Ms Fernandez underwent surgery two days after the attack.

Sebastiao was sentenced in Parramatta Local Court, where Magistrate Rodney Brender said the level of domestic violence was 'completely unacceptable'.

He was convicted and sentenced to a 15-month intensive correction, to be served in the community.

Magistrate Brender also ordered Sebastiao to pay a $700 fine and complete 200 hours community service.

Ms Fernandez has used her Instagram to document her recovery and speak out against domestic violence following the attack.

Almost a year on from the horrific attack, Ms Fernandez (pictured) said: 'There's a lot of trauma that came along with it but it was also like a blessing in disguise because I'm free now'

'Thank you to everyone for your constant love and support, you are all the reason I rebuilt my life from scratch in such a short amount of time,' she wrote on an Instagram post in December.

'I've accepted these scars and they are a constant reminder everyday of what we all came back from with strength. There's hope for all the ladies out there suffering in silence, we have so much life to live.'

Ms Fernandez also shared Instagram stories after her ex-partner was convicted.

'This was confronting but I'm glad this nightmare is finally over,' she wrote.

For domestic violence support, call 1800 RESPECT

For 24/7 confidential support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14
When it comes to climate change and the need to update and innovate in the face of changing weather patterns, Russian President Vladmir Putins strategy is simple: deny, deny, deny. While other fossil-fuel dependent economies scramble to diversify or race to build up clean energy infrastructure in a bid to put themselves at the forefront of the coming renewable revolution, Russia has taken the opposite approach: the worlds largest nation is sitting tight and waiting to be the last man standing in a shrinking fossil fuels market. While Russia, with its massive land area and enviable geopolitical positioning, is extremely resource-rich, its oil is more costly to extract than other oil superpowers. Nevertheless, Putin is trying to outlast them all as they are forced to transition away from the oil due to falling prices and political pressure. The world is still decades away from weaning itself off fossil fuels and there will potentially be even more money to be made as the competition begins to fall away. The calculation Russia needs to make is when will its oil industry move from being a profit driver to a burden as demand plateaus and then falls.

While the potential for profit is undeniably in oil markets, when it comes to the clean energy transition, Russia is being left behind. They are being left behind in terms of infrastructure, innovation, and a dogmatic attachment to business as usual. Putin and other Russian leaders have periodically flirted with outright climate change denial, Bloomberg reports. Scientists have estimated that melting permafrost could cost Russia $84 billion in infrastructure damage by mid-century while releasing vast quantities of greenhouse gases. Carbon Action Tracker, a non-profit, gives Russias climate policies a bottom grade of critically insufficient.

While Russia will soon be feeling the pain from the side effects of climate change, there will also be a silver lining to all that northern ice-melt for the worlds largest country. The receding ice caps will unveil a veritable treasure trove of oil, gas, and minerals never before accessible - not to mention an extremely valuable set of new sea lanes to ease access for trade. The tradeoffs for this new natural capital, however, are so costly in terms of devastating ecological externalities that almost all of the worlds biggest banks wont touch it.

Related: Recent SEC Decision Could Spark Investment In Big Oil

In the meantime, Russia has doubled down on natural gas. In recent years, the Kremlin has bet the countrys economic and geopolitical future on natural gas, Bloomberg reports, building new pipelines to China, Turkey, and Germany, while aiming to take a quarter of the global LNG market, up from zero in 2008 and around 8% today. Within the vast expanses of Russia, where entire regions are reliant on fossil fuel for their entire economy, the prevailing belief is that natural gas is the future, and will always be cheaper domestically than renewable alternatives. Whats the alternative? Russia cant be an exporter of clean energy, that path isnt open for us, Konstantin Simonov, director of the Moscow consultancy National Energy Security Fund, told Bloomberg. We cant just swap fossil fuel production for clean energy production, because we dont have any technology of our own.

While renewable energy is still an emerging sector, with plenty of potential opportunities for Russia to stake its claim in the global clean energy game, its clear that the Kremlin has a long way to go in terms of ideological politicking for that to become possible.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
SondraP / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Moving into a new home is one of the most thrilling experiences a person can have. Buying one, not so much. Even home sales that go quickly and easily are never truly quick and easy. First, there are the weeks or months of perusing, comparing, taking notes, checking out properties and going to open houses. Then theres the joy of applying for loans, getting preapproved and having underwriters comb through your finances, income, taxes, debt and payment history. Then, of course, theres the really fun part of shelling out cash for things like inspections and appraisals along the way.

Find Out: What Homes Will Be Worth in Your State by the End of 2021

Ideally, your efforts pay off in the end when you turn a key in the lock of your perfect new home. No home, however, is perfect if you pay too much, which about 1 in 3 American homebuyers do, according to a Harvard University study. Here are the signs you need to recognize to avoid falling into an overpaying trap.

Last updated: Feb. 2, 2021

A confident young adult female real estate agent review contract terms and conditions with a home buyer.

Your Agent Is Just OK

A home is the biggest purchase most Americans will ever make. Having a great agent that you trust to shepherd you through the process is the single best way to wind up in the right home at the right price. Homelight suggests doing the obvious things like scouring online reviews and asking friends, family and local homeowners for referrals. But also watch out for red flags, like an agent who pressures you to buy, and always seek out an agent who specializes in your area and your home type.

Read: 20 Key Signs That Your House Is Losing Value

A home for sale sign pointing directing people to a house for sale.

Its Been Collecting Dust on the Market

Generally, a real estate listing is considered stale if it stays on the market for more than 90 days. There are many reasons that a home can linger without attracting buyers. In some cases, it can simply be a bad economy or a cold market. Other times, listings go stale because there are major problems with the home. In other cases, it appears to potential buyers that something is wrong even if its not because the seller did a lousy job staging and showing the home. The No. 1 reason that homes stay on the market for months on end without getting any bites, however, is that theyre simply overpriced by a stubborn owner with unrealistic expectations.

Story continues

Find Out: 32 Insider Tips for Buying and Selling a House

Confident male real estate agent gestures toward a beautiful view out the window of a new home.

Its Priced Much Higher Than Comparable Neighborhood Homes

Its always better to own the cheapest house on a good block than the nicest house on a lousy block. Dont look at the estimated value of homes similar to the one youre considering. Instead, look at what real buyers actually paid for comparable homes in the area. When you buy a property that costs less than comparable homes  comps in real estate speak  you can get into a block you might otherwise have been priced out of. Soon enough, the bigger, swankier homes will appreciate, and when they do, your homes property value will tick up right along with them.

Read: Top Home Improvements To Complete on a Budget in 2021

house for sale sign

You Miss the Big Picture

Its easy to develop tunnel vision on a property when you find the perfect home that checks all your boxes  but its a mistake to think that a homes value is tied only to the home itself. If foreclosures dot the block or the neighbors dont maintain their homes or yards, you might be buying into a neighborhood on a downward trend. Likewise if for sale signs linger for long periods of time, if the schools are underperforming, if the towns population is in steep decline, if crime is on the rise, etc. suddenly, the perfect home doesnt seem so perfect.

Find Out: Buying a Home in 2021? Heres What You Need To Know

Female sales agent meeting with clients in front of a house for sale.

Youre Too Eager

Study after study shows that first-time homebuyers consistently overpay. Part of the reason is that theyre novices but part of the reason is also that their enthusiasm tends to outweigh their sense of caution. Maybe youve been looking for so long you just want to get it over with. Maybe youre certain youve found the perfect home and youre terrified someone else will snatch it up. Maybe you moved to a new town for a new job or your kids school and one or the other is about to start. Either way, when buyers allow their eagerness to trump their sense of prudence, the seller always wins.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Signs Youre About To Overpay on That House You Want
Police officers were attacked with petrol bombs last night as violence erupted once again in Northern Ireland amid loyalist riots over the post-Brexit trading arrangements.

A total of 30 bombs were hurled at police in Newtownabbey, on the outskirts of Belfast on Saturday, and three cars were hijacked and set alight in what has since been termed as an 'orchestrated attack'.

The fifth consecutive night of disorder came just a day after 12 officers were injured in Derry on Friday by a large group throwing masonry, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks.

Some 27 police officers were injured on Friday night across Belfast and Derry.

North Area Commander Chief Superintendent Davy Beck said 30 petrol bombs were thrown last night after a crowd of 20 to 30 people people gathered in the O'Neill Road/Cloughfern area from around 7.30pm to 10.30pm.

A man walks past a burning car after it was hijacked at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey and set alight

A police van is engulfed in flames after violence breaks out in Newtownabbey, north of Belfast

A burnt car and flames are seen on the street after rioters descended upon the scene nt out car in Newtownabbey last night

He said: 'In total 30 petrol bombs were thrown at police and three vehicles were hijacked and set on fire,' he said.

'One man aged 47 was arrested and he currently remains in police custody.'

Mr Beck continued: 'My officers put on their uniform every day and go out into the community they serve, not knowing what lies ahead of them.

'However this does not deter them from turning up every day to do their duty.

'No-one, no matter what line of work they are in, deserves to be subjected to any kind of violence.

'The officers who serve the Newtownabbey area are fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, they have families who wait every day on their loved ones coming home, hoping they have not been injured, or worse.'

He added: 'We are living in unprecedented times, dealing with a global pandemic, no-one needs the added pressure of disorder in their community.

'I would appeal to those who are taking to the streets to stop immediately, their actions are causing nothing but harm and distress to the very communities they claim they are representing.'

The scenes come amid rising tensions within loyalism across Northern Ireland.

Loyalists and unionists are angry about customs checks on goods coming from Britain to Northern Ireland, which has caused shortages and is viewed as the erection of a hard border in the Irish Sea.

Many unionists and loyalists are against the protocol because they believe it has created an economic barrier between the region and the rest of the UK, undermining the constitutional integrity of the Union.

In Co Antrim, a recent series of drug seizures against the South East Antrim UDA - a renegade faction of the main grouping - have caused particular ill-feeling towards police.

A person stands at the scene as smoke rises into the air after another night of disorder in Northern Ireland

The Police Service of Northern Ireland attends the scene in Newtownabbey after 30 petrol bombs were thrown at officers

Police cars rush to the scene after three cars were set alight in what has since been termed as an 'orchestrated attack'

The faction is believed to have been behind the disturbances in Newtownabbey on Saturday.

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.

DUP leader Arlene Foster and other unionist parties have condemned the violence.

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly claimed the disturbances were 'a direct consequence of the actions of political unionism'.

'The disturbances in loyalist areas across the north are an outworking of the DUP's rhetoric and undermining of the PSNI and criminal justice system,' he said.

'By their words and actions they have sent a very dangerous message to young people in loyalist areas.

'The DUP and political unionist leaders need to show leadership and end the incendiary rhetoric.'

Meanwhile seven people have been charged with riot after the disturbances in the Sandy Row area.

Four adults - three men aged 25, 21 and 18 years old, and a woman, aged 19 - have been charged with riot.

All four are due to appear at Belfast Magistrates' Court on April 30.

Three teenagers, aged 17, 14 and 13, have also been charged with riot.

They are due to appear at Belfast Youth Court on April 30.

As is normal procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

An eighth person arrested in connection with the unrest on Friday night, a man aged 19, has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
This is the shocking moment a pole-wielding maniac trashed an Asian-owned convenience store while yelling racial slurs in the latest racially-motivated attack.

Surveillance footage shot at Plaza Sundries in Charlotte, North Carolina, shows a man pulling a merchandise rack to the floor and shattering refrigerator glass with a street sign post.

The maniac continues his rampage around the store as a man who appears to be his friend cheers him on during the vicious attack on Tuesday at the store near Charlotte's main transit hub.

It comes in the wake of a uptake in anti-Asian violence, with a 65-year-old woman kicked in New York City and eight people shot murdered at Atlanta massage parlors, six of whom were Asian women.

Surveillance footage shot at Plaza Sundries in Charlotte, North Carolina, shows a man pulling a merchandise rack to the floor and shattering refrigerator glass with a street sign post

Despite the increase in attention on such attacks, the violence and racially charged language was nothing new, said Mark Sung, whose parents own the store, and his wife Grace Lee Sung.

'When my husband got the call [about the attack], it was like a routine,' Lee Sung said. 'He was like, "Okay, check the mess. See the surveillance. File the [police] report."

The pandemic has fueled the tension, the couple said, with some people blaming the coronavirus on the store's owners. They have lived in the U.S. for decades since moving from South Korea.

'It's like, "Hey, youre different,"' Lee Sung said, offering a sanitized summary of the insults. '"You obviously cant be from around here. Go back to your country."'

She said similar violent attacks happen around once a year.

But the owners have experienced a different sentiment in the days since the attack, with locals offering to help them.

This includes a woman arriving at the store and gave the owners soup; a pizza deliveryman showed up with five pies; a local doctor dropped off for a check and more than $30,000 raised through GoFundMe to cover the store's damage.

'My in-laws are more shocked that people actually care than they were about the [attack],' Lee Sung said. 'And it took them a while to process why they were getting so much attention.'

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said a company that's responsible for security at the transit center arrested Xavier Rashee Woody-Silas, 24, The Charlotte Observer reported.

It is not known precisely what insults he used, but a witness said that after the attack Woody-Silas' friend 'stuck his head round the door' and said: Thats what you get. Thats what you get you Chinese motherf******.

The maniac continues his rampage around the store as a man who appears to be his friend cheers him on during the vicious attack on Tuesday at the store near Charlotte's main transit hub

He was arrested for robbery with a dangerous weapon, communicating threats, disorderly conduct, injury to personal property and resisting a public officer, according to public records. It's unclear if he's hired an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said a company that's responsible for security at the transit center arrested Xavier Rashee Woody-Silas, 24 (pictured in a booking photo)

Hate crimes nationally against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have increased 150% during the pandemic, according to a study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

The outpouring of support for the store's owners is making them 'feel heard,' Lee Sung said of her in-laws.

'My mother in law cant stop crying every time someone says, "Im so sorry for what youre going through,"' she said. 'Its just a reminder that - wow, things are not supposed to be this way.'

But the family is being cautious moving forward.

'Shes also scared because she is not used to all this attention,' Mark Sung said of his mother. 'So, shes also kind of nervous... Were just trying to be careful.'

A teenager was arrested Friday for an attack that took place on November 19, 2020 in the late afternoon, in Tacoma, Washington - a suburb of Seattle

Last week, a 65-year-old woman was viciously attacked while walking to church near New York City's Times Square. The attack heightened already palpable levels of outrage over anti-Asian attacks that escalated with the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a teenager was arrested Friday for a random attack on an Asian couple in November, after footage of the attack resurfaced online and was seen on the news by the victims' daughter.

The attack took place on November 19, 2020 in the late afternoon, in Tacoma, Washington - a suburb of Seattle.

The attack began when the suspect intentionally bumped into the male victim as the couple was walking home, court documents allege.

The suspect, who has not been named by police, then allegedly began punching the male victim, ultimately breaking one of his ribs.

The incident was reported to police at the time, but footage of the attack only emerged online recently, KING 5 reports.

The daughter of the victims called police after seeing the footage shown on the news.

New York City police are hunting a subway passenger seen on video brutally beating an Asian man and putting him in a chokehold in Brooklyn. The video was released Monday

Meanwhile, New York City police are continuing to hunt a subway passenger seen on video brutally beating an Asian man and putting him in a chokehold in Brooklyn.

The NYPDs hate crimes unit tweeted footage from the incident Monday.

It is unclear when the assault occurred but it believed to have taken place on a Manhattan-bound J train. The condition of the man assaulted is not known.

No one steps in to help to the attack, according to the footage. Police said: 'The NYPD is aware of this video and is investigating.'

There has been a wave of high-profile and sometimes deadly assaults against Asian Americans since the COVD-19 pandemic began. Protesters have taken to the streets in response what many said has become a troubling surge of anti-Asian sentiments.

Meanwhile, today former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee was slammed for a 'racist' and 'anti-Asian' tweet claiming he will 'identify as Chinese' so that Coca-Cola, Delta and Nike will like him.

'Ive decided to identify as Chinese. Coke will like me, Delta will agree with my values and Ill probably get shoes from Nike & tickets to @MLB games. Aint America great?' Huckabee tweeted Saturday morning.

Huckabee appeared to be referring to Georgia's sweeping new voting law, which many have blasted as voter suppression, while also mocking those who oppose hate and violence against Asian Americans.

Today former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee was slammed for a 'racist' and 'anti-Asian' tweet claiming he will 'identify as Chinese' so that Coca-Cola, Delta and Nike will like him

US Attorney General Merrick Garland has ordered a review of how the Justice Department can best deploy its resources to combat hate crimes during a surge in incidents targeting Asian Americans.

Garland issued a department-wide memo announcing the 30-day review, citing the 'recent rise in hate crimes and hate incidents, particularly the disturbing trend in reports of violence against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community since the start of the pandemic'.

Asian American activists say Trump is partly to blame because of his rhetoric around COVID-19, which he frequently referred to as the 'Chinese virus'.

They say he gave license for people to show racism that was already rooted in decades of anti-Asian sentiment in the US.

According to a report from Stop AAPI Hate, more than 3,800 anti-Asian incidents were reported to the organization between March 2020 through February.

The group, which tracks incidents of discrimination, hate and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S., said that number is "only a fraction of the number of hate incidents that actually occur."

According to the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, hate crimes targeting Asians ballooned by 150 per cent last year, while hate crimes overall during the pandemic went down 7 per cent.
HUALIEN, Taiwan  Two days after Taiwans deadliest rail disaster in decades, investigators were working on Sunday to determine why a truck had slipped downhill from a construction site into the path of an express train, resulting in the collision and derailment that killed dozens of people.

The operator of the crane truck, Lee Yi-hsiang, was ordered detained on Sunday by a judge, who reversed an earlier decision to grant him bail. Mr. Lee, who has not been charged with a crime, told reporters he had caused the crash and said he would take full responsibility for it.

I hereby express my deep regret and my sincerest apologies, Mr. Lee said, his voice choking as he bowed in apology.

But investigators were still trying to determine whether Mr. Lee had neglected to use the emergency brake, or if the truck had malfunctioned in some way. Mr. Lee told reporters on Saturday that he had engaged the brake.
The fatal alchemy of mud, water and sheer force struck in eastern Indonesia at an hour past midnight on Sunday, killing at least 41 people, disaster-relief officials said.

Flash flooding and landslides submerged entire neighborhoods in East Nusa Tenggara Province, which includes more than 560 islands. Seven villages were badly affected, according to Raditya Jati, a spokesman for Indonesias National Disaster Mitigation Agency. Twenty-seven people were missing, and nine were injured, he said.

Some of the worst damage was on the remote island of Adonara, where many residents were preparing to celebrate Easter Sunday. Torrential rain and strong winds had churned since the day before. The damage left dozens of houses under mud and water. Five bridges were severed, Mr. Raditya said.

The rescue effort has been hampered because the only access to Adonara is by sea, and waters are choppy because of the heavy rain, he said. But the priority is to ensure that survivors are moved to areas safe from further flooding or landslides.
Boris Johnson is planning an 'emergency' plan to improve children's reading standards after shock figures revealed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on literacy.

After spending months of the past year at home, as many as 200,000 primary school pupils could head to secondary school in September without being up to the required standard.

The figure, which includes a 30,000 increase in the number struggling with literacy during the pandemic, has led the Prime Minister to set out a four-year improvement scheme.

It will be outlined in a speech late next month after the official state opening of Parliament on May 11, the Sunday Times reported.

It said that education tsar Sir Kevan Collins 'put a rocket up' up officials at a meeting last week.

Sir Kevan has already publicly suggested the school day could be extended to help pupils recover from the coronavirus crisis.

The Government has announced that secondary schools will be given funding to run summer schools for the pupils who need extra classes the most.

Ministers considered a wide variety of options as part of their recovery plans, including longer school days and shorter summer holidays, but neither proposal was included in the details set out last month.

The Prime Minister (pictured at a nursery school in London) is expected to set out a four-year improvement scheme in a speech late next month after the official state opening of Parliament on May 11

Education tsar Sir Kevan Collins 'put a rocket up' up officials at a meeting last week over thwe scale of efforts required to improve literacy

A source told the Sunday Times: 'Making sure children can read and write properly and have the skills they need to prosper is the prime minister's central focus.

'We know coronavirus has wreaked enormous damage to people's lives. We have to be honest about what happens next.'

Mr Johnson prioritised school reopening under his roadmap out of lockdown. They were the first institutions to be allowed to reopen, on March 8.

In February, the outgoing Children's Commissioner Anne Logfield warned that children in England would have lost 850million hours of in-person teaching by then.

In a blunt assessment of Government policy the outgoing commissioner warned the Prime Minister his plan to 'level up' Britain would remain 'just a slogan' unless he stumps up cash on a large scale.

Education minister Gavin Williamson has already announced a 700million Covid catch-up package including summer classes to help pupils recoup time lost out of the classroom.

Yesterday he told a teaching union conference that investing in the next generation of teachers is 'crucial' to the Government's long-term recovery plans, and central to closing the attainment gap between children.

In a pre-recorded speech to the NASUWT teaching union's conference, Mr Williamson said that enabling staff to deliver high-quality teaching to 'motivate a new generation is more important than ever'.

Addressing teachers at the virtual conference on Saturday, Mr Williamson said: 'After all the disruption to our schools, including to teacher training, over the past year, investing in our next generation of teachers, and enabling them to deliver high-quality teaching to inspire and motivate a new generation, is more important than ever and crucial to our long-term recovery plans.

'It is also central to closing the attainment gap, which the pandemic has cruelly exposed between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.'

The Government has made 1.7 billion of funding available in England to help children who have faced disruption amid school and college closures.

As part of the recovery package, this year summer schools will be introduced for pupils who need it the most, while tutoring schemes will be expanded.
Lawyer Sidney Powell speaks to media while flanked by President Donald Trump lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (L) and Trump campaign senior legal adviser Jenna Ellis at a press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, on Nov. 19, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Wisconsin Governor Asks Court to Force Sidney Powell, Trump to Pay Over $100,000 in Legal Fees

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on March 31 asked a federal court to force lawyer Sidney Powell and her client to pay more than $106,000 in legal fees over a lawsuit regarding the states presidential election results, and hes seeking $144,000 from former President Donald Trump and his lawyers, according to court filings.

A message must be sent that this type of behavior cannot be tolerated in the judicial system, and that attorneys should avoid these types of frivolous attempts to disenfranchise voters in the future, attorneys for Evers said in court papers (pdf) filed last week.

This litigation imposed significant costs on the taxpayers of Wisconsin, the attorneys said about Trump in separate court papers. Those costs were needless, because Trumps suit never had any merit, this litigation was precluded by exclusive state-court proceedings, and the costs were exacerbated by strategic choices made by Trump and his lawyers.

Powell and Trumps team didnt immediately respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.

We deny the claims, said William Bock, a lawyer representing Trump, according to Reuters. Theyre attacking in the pleadings my motives and the motives of my partners, of which they know nothing. The statements made about our motives were absolutely false.

Powell told Forbes magazine that Everss request in court was baseless, improper, and out of time.

The case is closed, she said.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court rejected Powells lawsuit in Wisconsin and Arizona. Writing on March 1, the high court issued a one-sentence order: The petitions for writs of mandamus are denied.

One of Powells mandamus petitions had stated: A submission directly to this Court seeking an extraordinary writ of mandamus is unusual, but it has its foundation. While such relief is rare, this Court will grant it where a question of public importance is involved, or where the question is of such a nature that it is peculiarly appropriate that such action by this Court should be taken.

In February, Powell announced that she launched a super PAC dedicated to freedom of speech, constitutional rights, and fair elections.

The American people deserve a voice that exposes and rejects the self-interest of political parties, the control of tech giants, and the lies of the fake news, she announced at the time of the creation of her Restore the Republic Super PAC.

Powell had filed a number of third-party, election-related lawsuits following the Nov. 3, 2020, contest in a bid to help Trump. She appeared alongside then-Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis at a news conference in November last year before Giuliani confirmed about a week later that she wasnt part of their team.
: Chief Minister



on Sunday condemned the in Chhattisgarh in which at least 22 security personnel were killed and 30 others injured.

"Condemn the on security personnel in Chhattisgarh, unequivocally. There can be no space for armed rebellion in a democracy," Vijayan tweeted.

Violence should be shed, democratic and peaceful means shouldbe upheld to strengthenour democracy, he added.

At least 22 security personnel were killed in a fierce gunbattle with Naxals in a forest along the border between Bijapur and Sukma districts in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.

(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.)
Philippine defense chief, Delfin Lorenzana, renewed a demand for dozens of Chinese vessels to leave a Manila-claimed reef in the South China Sea as he said that he would not be fooled by Chinese claims that the vessels were taking shelter from bad weather. The Chinese Embassy responded to it and called it a perplexing statement. It insisted that the vessels had the right to take shelter in what they termed as Chinese territory. Nobody has the right to make wanton remarks on such activities, said the Embassy.

This comes after Philippines on April 1 said that it has discovered illegally built structures on features in the Union Banks which is a series of reefs in the South China Sea. The structures are discovered near where Manila has already located a flotilla of Chinese fishes vessels that are allegedly manned by militias and gathered only recently. As per CNN report, the Philippines military on Thursday said that the structures were spotted during the maritime patrols conducted on March 30. However, it did not give the exact location of the structures or any more details as to who was behind erecting them in the South China Sea. The Philippines military only said that the structures presence violated international law.

China has been previously accused of using its vast fishing fleet to help assert its territorial claims throughout the 1.3 million square miles of the South China Sea. Reportedly, China has dismissed accusations of operations as an irregular naval force as groundless. Reportedly Philippines Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said in a statement that The Laws of the Sea gives the Philippines indisputable and exclusive rights over the area. These constructions and other activities, economic or otherwise, are prejudicial to peace, good order, and security of our territorial waters and added, These structures are illegal".

China claims Whitsun Reef overriding UN ruling

Union Banks that the Philippines calls the Pagkakaisa Banks also has Whitsun Reef, called Julian Felipe Reef by Manila. The reef is actually a part of the Spratly Islands archipelago and is claimed by both the Philippines and China. The Philippines claims that it falls inside the countrys exclusive economic zone and even United Nations (UN) ruled in 2016 that Chinas claim to virtually all of the South China Sea. however, China has refused to adhere to the recognition.

(Image Credits: AP)
Pension Plans

The following proposals submitted to the House Government Operations Committee are available on the committee website in its pensions document folder. They were made in response to the initial proposal from Reps. Sarah Copeland Hanzas and John Gannon.

They include:

 Reps. Peter Anthony, Robert Hooper and Tanya Vyhovsky

 Vermont State Employees Association Rep. Samantha Lefebvre

 Working Vermonters Caucus

 Bills filed by Rep. Scott Beck: H. 119 and H. 442
Sery Kim, who is campaigning to be a congresswoman from Texas, faces backlash after saying of Chinese immigrants, I dont want them here at all.



Two Republican congresswomen from California announced theyll no longer support GOP House candidate Sery Kim of Texas after disparaging remarks she made about Chinese immigrants, according to a story by NBC News.

I dont want them here at all, Kim said during a candidate forum in Fort Worth on Wednesday. They steal our intellectual property, they give us coronavirus, they dont hold themselves accountable.

Sery Kim speaks during a panel discussion at the AFI Docs Film and Politics Boot Camp Presented By Audi on June 20, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images)

Sery Kim, who formerly served in the Small Business Administration during the Trump administration, inspired laughter and cheers amongst the audience, according to another NBC report, as she went on And quite frankly, I can say that because Im Korean.

California Republican Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel, also Korean American, made a joint statement Friday withdrawing their support for Sery Kim.

We cannot in good conscience continue to support her candidacy, they said, according to the report.

Read More: Halle Berry reacts to radio hosts racist comments: All Black women are beautiful

As the first Korean American Republican women to serve in Congress, we want to empower and lift up fellow members of the AAPI community who want to serve their communities, they said.

Young Kim and Steel spoke to an unapologetic Sery Kim in hopes of encouraging her to make amends, however, NBC reports that their efforts were unsuccessful.

We talked with Sery Kim yesterday about her hurtful and untrue comments about Chinese immigrants, and made clear that her comments were unacceptable, they said.

The Dallas Fort Worth Asian-American Citizens Council reportedly made a statement admonishing Sery Kim for her comments in a statement to NBC Dallas on Friday.

Read More: Mom takes legal action after LA teacher accidentally goes on racist rant on Zoom

The DFW Asian-American Citizens Council strongly condemns the remarks of Sery Kim, they said. Racist and ethnic slurs, regardless of the source, have no place in todays society. Ms. Kim being of Korean descent does not give her license to use harmful language against Chinese or any other ethnic group.

Story continues

The Centers for Disease Control discovered that many of the first cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. resulted from people traveling from Europe, where they were likely infected.

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The post GOP House candidate Sery Kim loses support after xenophobic comments appeared first on TheGrio.
Press Release

April 3, 2021 IMEE: EMERGENCY FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR MORE HEALTHCARE WORKERS Senator Imee Marcos has assured nurses and hospitals that the government has the funds to address their pleas for more health care workers, personal protective equipment, and quarantine facilities. As daily cases of Covid-19 reached a new high of 15,310, Marcos said at least Php33 billion was readily available to increase health care capacities and health worker protection, and to reduce joblessness especially among registered nurses including repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). ""Tama na ang penitensya ng ating mga doktor, nars, at may sakit. Ilabas na ang GAA (General Appropriations Act) 2021 Contingent Fund under the Office of the President na Php13 billion, at yung calamity fund o NDRRMF (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund) na Php20 billion," Marcos said on Black Saturday. (Doctors, nurses, and the sick have done enough penitence. Bring out the Php13-billion Contingent Fund in the GAA 2021 under the Office of the President, and the calamity fund or NDRRMF of Php20 billion.) "If we ever needed these emergency funds to pay health workers, buy medicines to treat the sick, and build facilities, it is now!" Marcos added. Hospital staff are becoming overstretched due to the spike in Covid-19 cases which reached more than 15,000 in a single day, past a peak of 6,638 recorded by the World Health Organization on August 11, 2020. Marcos lamented the delay in creating a medical reserve corps and increasing the domestic manufacture of medical equipment, both of which she proposed via Senate bills 1592 and 1708 in June and July last year. "It would be useless to add more hospital beds and quarantine facilities without hiring more health care workers. The present crop is on the brink of fatigue, even depression, and may actually get sick," Marcos said. The senator cited that 110 of 180 employees of the Philippine Orthopedic Center have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. The ongoing vaccination of health care workers will also keep many of them on a two-week quarantine and put hospital capacities below optimum, Marcos also said. Expected delays in vaccine deliveries due to AstraZeneca's global supply problems and Pfizer's additional demands on an indemnification agreement with the Philippines will also slow down the fight against Covid-19, the senator added. At present, the country's nurse-to-patient ratio stands at about 1:60, far from the Department of Health's ideal ratio of 1:12. "Nasa Diyos ang awa, pero nasa tao ang gawa. (God's pity awaits human effort). Heed the warning signs and hire more health care workers now!" Marcos urged.
Questions have been raised about whether lockdown decision-makers are suffering from an "unconscious bias" when deciding Covid restrictions because they are "predominantly a group of educated, white, middle-aged Dublin-based men".

The issue has been raised by psychologist Professor Orla Muldoon, who sits on the behaviour and communication subcommittee that advises Nphet.

Prof Muldoon told the Sunday Independent the group has expressed its concerns to the decision-makers about the "need to diversify".

"As it stands, there are no women on the Covid-19 Cabinet sub-committee and there are no women in the room when decisions are being made about the implementation of Nphet regulations," she said.

On the issue of 'groupthink', she said: "We had a very good example of that 10 years ago, before the crash. When people who are all quite similar in their views make decisions, then it can lead to mistakes.

"But unfortunately when someone like myself says, 'You need more women in the room, you need more people from outside Dublin, you need more people who can tell you about the experiences of ethnic minorities,' then they think that somehow it's a 'feminist woolly liberal agenda' at play - when actually it is said to prevent poor decision-making because the people in the room don't have the richness of experience to take everyone's experiences into account.

"The other thing that is very unfortunate is that our politicians are very sensitive to demographics. So they are paying undue attention to where they think their key voters are."

Prof Muldoon pointed to a body of evidence to show that women and people in ethnic minority groups tend to make decisions based on relationships and connections.

But she said: "Men don't think in the same way. Relational issues aren't their primary concern."

She said this led to mistakes at the beginning of the pandemic.

"Back then when men were making decisions, people were often thought of as individuals - they weren't viewed in terms of their relationships with other people.

"So we were getting situations like what happened in nursing homes when groups of people from ethnic minorities were working in nursing homes and care settings and then going home and sharing a house with other people who were working in other nursing homes.

"Anyone who was thinking 'relationally' would have asked the question, 'Well where is that nurse going home to? Who are they connected to and where are they going to next?' And if they even had one person on the Nphet group who was part of an ethnic minority group, that would have been spotted as a potential problem right away."

Prof Muldoon gave another example of the "horrific" situation on March 4 when Nphet had to tell Irish women that a number of suspected cases of Covid placentitis had occurred. Covid placentitis is a rare condition that results when the virus attacks the placenta of an unborn child.

"At the very beginning, they put out several men to talk about the stillbirths and one of the things that was said was that 'the advice to pregnant women remains unchanged'," she said. "Now, of course if you were pregnant, you wouldn't think things were 'unchanged' that day. It was a very stressful thing to hear and all the talking seems to have been done by Dr Ronan Glynn. Could they not have found a midwife or a female obstetrician for the press conference?"

Giving a more recent example, she points to Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe who said that people could buy shoes for their children online. "When I repeated this to one woman, she said, 'What they are missing is that people on welfare don't have credit cards so they can't buy things online,'" she said.

There was also a serious lack of awareness that people from disadvantaged backgrounds would have had an issue with "the quality of clothing and their clothes might not last as long as you would hope. So actually they really did need clothes during lockdown".

She said she doesn't doubt the "intentions" of the Government or Nphet, but explained: "The people in the rooms making the decisions are invisible to their bias.

"They still don't have the richness and experience to get how these lockdowns affect single people living in an apartment for example, people from disadvantaged areas, ethnic minorities or the so-called 'sandwich generation' who are squeezed in the middle and looking after both an older and younger generation."

Her comments come as research suggests male predominance in Covid-19 expert groups and task forces is undermining the pandemic response.

The authors of the study collected information up to June 2020 on the membership of Covid-19 global and national decision-making and expert bodies for 193 United Nations member states.

They found gender equality in just 3.5pc of the 115 expert groups and decision-making Covid-19 task forces studied. They said the pattern of male predominance found in over 85pc of the groups "undermines an effective Covid-19 response - ultimately costing lives".
NEWPORT, N.Y. (UPDATED)  Rescue crews are still searching for an elderly man in his 90's who they believe fell into West Canada Creek Friday  but they are now calling it a recovery effort, rather than a search and rescue.

New York State Police say the man was not far from his home trying to throw something in the water when he fell into the creek somewhere along Route 28.

Crews have been searching for the man since Friday evening. Police found a shoe in the area on Saturday, which belonged to the missing man.

"We did find a shoe floating in the water downstream that we were able to confirm was our victim's. So we are very confident that he did enter the water and was not able to come back out," said State Police Captain Mark Barbera

A helicopter returned to the scene Monday, to fly over the creek and attempt to locate the man. Neighbors also stepping into help with the search. State Police said members of the community lined the creek looking for the missing man.

"It's a tragedy because we're a small community and everyone knows everyone and our hearts are broken for the family," said Jaime Laporte.

State police are also working with the New York Power Authority to lower the water levels, to help with the search effort.

Dive teams, a drone, K-9 units and local fire departments have been assisting with the search since Friday.
New Delhi:

The government's drive towards transforming India into a clean and transparent country by way of linking Aadhaar with key personal identification documents has been on the up in the recent past.

The govt has clearly stated deadlines for linking your Aadhar card to a range of documents ranging from ITR returns to applying for a PAN Card to using a mobile phone connection.

The government is moving ahead with linking Aadhaar with mobile SIM cards, according to a report by news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS). All mobile phone numbers or SIMs not linked with Aadhaar will be deactivated after February 2018, the agency said citing informed sources.

Many telecom companies have asked their customers to finish the process of linking their Aadhaar card with the mobile number citing a government directive.

Be it linking of Aadhaar with PAN, mobile SIM cards or bank accounts, there are different deadlines specified in each case. Here are four important deadlines to remember for you to link your Aadhaar card with various documents or products:

So here is a look at the deadlines set by the govt for linking the Aadhar to various documents

1. Deadline for linking Aadhaar with PAN: December 31, 2017

In August, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extended the last date for linking of Aadhaar with PAN "to facilitate ease of compliance by the taxpayers". The new deadline is December 31, 2017. Earlier, this deadline was August 31, 2017. Linking Aadhaar-PAN is mandatory for processing of income tax returns (ITRs) for the assessment year 2017-18, the income tax department has said.

"If this linking (PAN-Aadhaar) is skipped, the return could be considered invalid and the person may have to file it again which shall be considered belated and may attract penalty, interest and other consequences like disallowances for losses," says Sandeep Sehgal, director of tax and regulatory at Ashok Maheshwary & Associates LLP.



2. Deadline for linking Aadhaar with mobile number (SIM): February 2018

Mobile phone service users will have to link their Aadhaar numbers with SIM cards. Many telecom companies have now started sending alerts to customers about completing the Aadhaar-Mobile number linking process. They had earlier instructed their customers to start the process of linking their Aadhaar card numbers with phone numbers.



"As per the government directive, linking Aadhaar to your mobile number is mandatory for all existing customers," Bharti Airtel, the country's largest telecom operator, said on its website. (Read: Telecom operators share guidelines on Aadhaar linking)

3. Deadline for submitting Aadhaar details to banks/financial institutions - December 31, 2017

The government has made it mandatory for all banks and financial institutions to mention the Aadhaar details of clients in the KYC (Know your Customer) document. A KYC document basically provides all the details that authenticate the identity of a user. People who have taken loans are also required to file their Aadhaar details. If you fail to link it with your bank account by December 31 this year, it may even become inoperable.

4. Last date to give Aadhaar details to avail social security schemes - December 31, 2017

Aadhaar number has to be provided for all social security schemes by December 31, 2017. In order to avail pension, LPG cylinders or government scholarships, one must provide his or her Aadhaar card details.

Meanwhile, the government also plans to make linking of Aadhaar mandatory for driving license. "It (Aadhaar-Licence linking) would be done soon to check the menace of multiple licensing," Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said.

(With agency inputs)

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She soared to fame on Love Island in 2018.

And Georgia Steel proved she's still loyal to her 1.6 million Instagram followers as she shared a collection of snaps on Sunday.

The Influencer, 23, looked incredible as she promoted a baby blue crop top and matching sport shorts.

Stunning: Georgia Steel looked sensational as she shared a collection of snaps to her 1.6 million Instagram followers on Sunday

Georgia exuded confidence as she displayed her toned physique in her comfortable loungewear.

The reality star paired the relaxed look with blue and white Nike trainers and crisp white Nike socks.

She wore her long brunette locks down and styled in a centre parting.

The beauty also opted for a neutral makeup look to accentuate her naturally pretty features.

Sporty: The Influencer, 23, looked incredible as she promoted a baby blue crop top and matching sport shorts

Comfort is key! Georgia exuded confidence as she displayed her toned physique in her comfortable loungewear

The former Love Island star captioned the post: 'AD. Sundays were made for lounging',

'Have been living in this baby blue set from @bouxavenue, designed in London.'

Georgia mentioned the brand are supporting a suicide charity and people can donate via their website.

'Boux Avenue are supporting @papyrus_uk a charity for the prevention of young suicide, donate via their website at checkout.'

Natural beauty: The beauty also opted for a natural makeup look to accentuate her naturally pretty features

Relaxing Sunday: The former Love Island star captioned the post: 'AD. Sundays were made for lounging'

Beautiful: Georgia also took to her Instagram stories to give her followers another look at the outfit

Georgia also took to her Instagram stories to give her followers another look at the outfit.

She captioned the images: 'Love this cute little blue set' before tagging the brand.

It comes after the star, who turned 23 last week, recently revealed her excitement to be embarking on a solo mission to build her own home.

She told fans on social media: 'Can't believe my dream home is actually happening. Words can't explain how excited/grateful I am for this next step in my life. I'm just so overwhelmed. As if this is me doing this... Little George wouldn't believe it.'

New home! The star, who turned 23 last week, recently revealed her excitement to be embarking on a solo mission to build her own home

She is taking on the venture solo after speaking openly about how happy she is being single.

Georgia famously had a whirlwind romance with Callum Izzard, 26, in August 2019 when they met during the filming of Ex on the Beach: Peak Of Love, with the couple becoming engaged just a month later.

The couple split in April last year after a seven month romance, with the hunk soon moving out of their home together.

Prior to that, Georgia dated Sam Bird, 28, after meeting in the Love Island villa in 2018, but they split three months after leaving the show.

Ex: Georgia famously had a whirlwind romance with Callum Izzard, 26, in August 2019 when they met during the filming of Ex on the Beach (pictured in 2019)

Speaking on a podcast last year, Georgia addressed her past relationship and noted it was a 'toxic' one, though she didn't name any names.

The beauty said that she had to spend some time 'finding herself', but added that though she's not quite there, she's looking forward to the future.

Georgia said: 'The last relationship I was in was quite a toxic relationship so it definitely took some time to rebuild my confidence, to find myself again.

'I would definitely say that now, I am almost there. I feel like the future is bright, theres good things ahead.'

Hinting that she didn't truly know her ex boyfriend, she added: 'The next one, Ill get to know the person before so I will never be in the same situation as the last.'
Dancer-turned-Dancehall artist Queen Nikki, formerly DHQ Nickeisha, kept a low profile on Instagram in March but reemerged over the weekend to slay with photos of her new snatched body.

In her Instagram post on Saturday, the 2013 St Catherine Dancehall Queen showed almost all, save for the blurred bits, revealing signs of a boob job, liposuction, wider hips, and a Brazilian butt lift compliments of Designer Bodys, a popular Dominican Republic-based plastic surgery outfit.

Hair layed body slayed, she wrote in the caption. Thanks @designerbodys I told you exactly what I wanted and yall came through.

In another post, she credited her dental veneers to Designer Bodys and wrote, A woman who doesnt require validation from anyone. is the most feared individual on earth.

Her transformation has earned high praise and rave reviews from fans on the platform for its enhanced yet also natural look.

The best body me ever see , Best body ova yah suh, girlll yuh come right tru! Mi nah ask , and The best body mi see so far a swear, were just some of the over 2,000 comments.

Other female Dancehall artists who have enhanced themselves via plastic surgery include Spice, Starface, Shauna Controlla, and Yanique Curvy Diva.

Is this real..Im confused. Her body was great before.this is good too, but kinda unexpected, one astonished person wrote.

Nikki is credited as the inventor of the Mosquito Net and Needle Eye Whine, over which she and Spice had a public falling out in 2015 for money issues.

She began a transition to recording artist in 2017, alongside her then partner and father of her child, Marvin The Beast. The duo released Clean and Fresh and Fk Once Again before they separated. Shes also collaborated with Kiprich on Happy Life.

I am done with dancing as a career, but will still shake a leg when I hear music because dancing is a part of me. But right now, I am focusing on my music 100 per cent, Queen Nikki told the STAR earlier this year. My plan for 2021 is to push my music career out there even more, so the people can know me as an artiste and not just DHQ Nickeisha.

I dont feel any pressure trying to get my name established in this industry because I know I am very talented, and once I put my mind to something, I am going to do it.

These days she going by a rebranded Queen Nikki and recently released Nuh Dog Ears under Boysie Records, and True Stallion from Empire Records.
Amman, April 4 : Jordan's Prince Hamzah said that he was told by the head of the armed forces not to leave his house or communicate with people, in videos released to international broadcasters hours after the military denied he was under house arrest.

The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Yousef Ahmed al-Hunaiti, denied reports that the former Crown Prince and King Abdullah's half-brother was under house arrest or detained, dpa news agency reported.

However, Hamzah released two videos shortly after contradicting the army's statement.

"I had a visit from the 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 has been criticism of the government or the king," Hamzah said in a video published by the BBC, where he was speaking in English.

Hamzah said he was not accused of making the criticisms himself.

He said his security has been removed and the internet and phone lines have been cut.

"This is my last form of communication, satellite internet," he said, adding that the company told him it was instructed to cut it as well.

"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," the Prince added.

Another video, where he spoke in Arabic, was broadcast by Al Jazeera.

While there has been previous rumours about division within Jordan's royal family, such a public split is rare.

Hamzah, 41, was Jordan's Crown Prince between 1999 and 2004, when Abdullah removed him and appointed his own son.

At the time, he said he will remain a devout support to Abdullah in official letter published by state media.

A report by The Washington Post said Hamzah was placed under house arrest amid an ongoing investigation into an alleged coup plot.

Al-Hunaiti denied this, but said that Hamzah was asked to refrain from activities that could be damaging to the kingdom's stability.

Following "comprehensive investigations by security services", the Prince was "asked to stop activities and movements that are employed to target the security and stability of Jordan", al-Hunaiti said in a statement.

"Investigations are ongoing and results will be revealed with full transparency," he added.

These investigations have led to the arrest of several high-profile figures, al-Hunaiti cnfirmed.

Unconfirmed reports said the head of Hamzah's office, Yasser Majali, was also arrested, though he was not identified in official statements.

Majali's niece, Basma, wrote on Twitter that their family house was raided and Majali was taken to an unknown destination.

Al-Hunaiti's statement only confirmed the identities of two high-profile figures previously revealed by Petra news agency.

One of them is Bassem Ibrahim Awadallah, who was the chief of the Royal Hashemite Court for one year in 2007.

He is also a former Finance Minister.

The other is Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family.

Support from Arab neighbours poured in to King Abdullah.

Saudi Arabia expressed its full support to "any decisions or measures" taken by King Abdullah and Crown Prince al-Hussein to maintain the security and stability of the kingdom.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council have issued similar statements.
The National School of Business Management (NSBM) Green University, which is the first of its kind in South Asia, currently serves more than 10,000 undergraduates. It is currently in the process of expanding. Education Minister G. L. Peiris visited the university this week. The Minister speaking to some of the undergraduates. (See more pix on page [...]
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.
Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his ''Congress Mukt Bharat'' jibe and said the BJP leader seems to have issues only with the grand old party and not with the CPI(M).

Addressing a rally in Keralas Thiruvananthapuram, The Left front does the same division as the BJP, they spread the same hatred. It's interesting to me, the PM spends every single day saying 'Congress Mukt Bharat', I have never heard him say 'CPM Left Front Mukt Bharat or Kerala'.

The Wayanad MP, who is in the final phase of campaigning for the Kerala Assembly elections opined that the BJP does not have a problem with the ruling CPI(M) but only the Congress. Gandhi also alleged that the BJP uses Central agencies to crackdown on rival politicians.

In every single government where BJP is not present, the PM uses the CBI and ED to overthrow or attack the govt. I want to understand why they are not doing that to Left Front. It is a mystery to me, the Congress leader said.

While Congress has allied with the Left in West Bengal, the Congress-led UDF is the main contender to the Left-led LDF in Kerala. Rahul Gandhi has now launched an open attack on its own ally, alleging that it colludes with the BJP. Besides this, Congress has often called out the LDF government over corruption charges and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Kerala elections

In the 2016 Kerala Assembly election, the CPI(M)-led Left Front swept the 140-member Assembly by bagging 91 seats. On the other hand, UDF managed to win only in 47 constituencies. After the LDF won, CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Kerala on May 25, 2016. While the UDF made huge gains in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by winning 19 out of 20 seats in the state, the ruling alliance made a comeback in the local body polls held in December 2020 by winning 7,262 seats as against that of UDF and NDA that could win 5,893 and 1,182 seats respectively.

Though Vijayan remains the CM face for LDF, the UDF has not yet projected any Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming election. On the other hand, BJP is hoping to make inroads in the state by roping in Metroman E Sreedharan as its election candidate from Palakkad. In Kerala, 140 seats are up for grabs and people will be able to cast their votes at 40,771 polling stations. While the polling will be conducted in a single phase on April 6, the counting of votes is scheduled for May 2.
North Korea's Sinuiju and the Broken Bridge over the Yalu river are seen from Dandong, Liaoning province, China March 19, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

US, Japan and South Korea Agree to Keep Up Pressure on North Korea

WASHINGTONThe United States, South Korea and Japan agreed in high-level security talks on Friday to work together to keep up pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

In a joint statement after a day of talks, U.S. President Joe Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Kitamura, and South Koreas national security adviser Suh Hoon reaffirmed their commitment to address the issue through concerted trilateral cooperation towards denuclearization.

The three countries also agreed on the need for full implementation by the international community of U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea, preventing proliferation, and cooperating to strengthen deterrence and maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, the statement said.

The national security advisers also discussed the value of working together to address other challenges such as COVID-19, climate change and promoting an immediate return to democracy in Burma (also known as Myanmar), the statement said.

The talks held at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, were the most senior-level meeting between the three allies since Biden took power on Jan. 20 and came against a backdrop of rising tensions after North Korean missile launches last week.

Biden, whose administration is finalizing a review of North Korea policy, said last week the United States remained open to diplomacy with North Korea despite its ballistic missile tests, but warned there would be responses if North Korea escalates matters.

The White House has shared little about its policy review and whether it will offer concessions to get Pyongyang to the negotiating table to discuss giving up its nuclear weapons.

However, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday that denuclearization would remain at the center of policy and any approach to Pyongyang will have to be done in lockstep with close allies, including Japan and South Korea.

Biden has sought to engage North Korea in dialogue but has been rebuffed so far.

Pyongyang, which has long sought a lifting of international sanctions over its weapons programs, said last week the Biden administration had taken a wrong first step and revealed deep-seated hostility by criticizing what it called self-defensive missile tests.

A U.S. official briefing before the talks said the North Korea review was in its final stages and were prepared now to have some final consultations with Japan and South Korea as we go forward.

Joseph Yun, who was the U.S. special envoy for North Korea under both former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump and is now at the United States Institute of Peace, said the policy options were obvious: You want denuclearization and you want to use your sanctions to get to denuclearization.

But how to make the first step, so that at least North Korea is persuaded not to do anything provocative. Thats the challenge. he said.

Some proponents of dialogue are concerned that the Biden administration has not highlighted a broad agreement between Trump and Kim at their first meeting in Singapore in 2018, and warn this could make it difficult to build trust.

Asked whether that agreement still stood, the official said: I understand the significance of the Singapore agreement, but did not make clear to what extent the issue would be part of the Annapolis talks.

The three officials were also expected to discuss a global shortage of semi-conductor chips that has forced U.S. automakers and other manufacturers to cut production.

By Steve Holland and David Brunnstrom
After the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, Frederick and Marjorie Hurst made a decision to come home to Springfield to try and make a difference in their community.

We were both set up in Washington, where we would have lived well, but then Martin Luther King got shot, and we have been motivated since then, explains Frederick Hurst. To be frank, I was not that active in the civil rights movement before that, but since then we have both been very active.

For Hurst, as with many people across the country, Kings death changed the course of their lives.

We were just shocked into a different life, he says, It was not a rash decision. It was a determined decision to come back home and make an impact. And, we werent alone. That happened to people across the country who decided to go home.

On April 10, the Hursts will be among the honorees at Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services fourth annual Social Justice Awards for their work in the community, specifically the publication African-American Point of View, a monthly print and online news magazine.

The awards will be presented at a virtual celebration at 11 a.m. Tickets are $50 and are available online at mlkjrfamilyservices.org or by calling 413-746-3655, ext. 127.

Ronn Johnson, president and CEO of Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Springfield. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)

When we began this in 2016 it was really about being able to celebrate those individuals who are iconic leaders in education, economic development, health disparities, entrepreneurship and race relations, says Ronn Johnson, president and CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services, explaining how the recipients are nominated by the community. There are a lot of names that kept coming up, and its obvious that those folks are affecting people across the spectrum.

Along with the Hursts, the awards will be presented to: retired educator Cliff Flint for the area of education; Annamarie Golden, director of community relations for Baystate Health for the area of health; Jeff Sullivan, president and CEO of New Valley Bank & Trust; and Zelmon Zee Johnson, owner of Olive Tree Books-n-Voices for the area of entrepreneurship. A posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award will honor the civil rights work of the late Rance A. OQuinn, who retired as member of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was long active in community service, including having been a two-term president of the Greater Springfield Chapter of the NAACP. He died last June.

The event will also honor change makers in the community, including Ralpheal Desir, Zaida Govan, Ed Nunez, Shakenna Williams and Jenal Rentas.

Keynote speaker will be retired state Supreme Judicial Court Judge Roderick L. Ireland, a native of Springfield, who says his message will focus on the importance of community activism.

We all have a collective responsibility to lift up each other and thats what the recipients are doing, the judge says. I think Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be so pleased to see that there are people out there who are trying to make a difference.

The Hursts, who are both attorneys and have been politically active in Springfield, were ultimately chosen for the impact Point of View has had in the community, according to Johnson.

This paper has become a place that not only the Black community looks to for information, but clearly the larger community also to get an understanding on what is happening on the ground level, Johnson says. They focus on topics that relate to race, culture and issues of oppression and how that impacts people of color in the city and beyond. The publication is an incredibly valuable asset.

Marjorie Hurst served on the School Committee for 12 years, and Frederick Hurst ran for office several times. But, beyond politics, he says, as a couple, they wanted to give a voice to people they believed desperately needed an outlet.

We felt like if we could figure out how to produce an excellent paper and get it well distributed on time every month, that people would buy into it, and they have, Frederick Hurst says.

Point of View is approaching its 20th anniversary. The past several years and the pandemic, in particular, have taken a toll on advertising revenue, according to Hurst. Most of the writers are now community volunteers.

I dont think we could get a more loyal bunch of writers, he says. These are people who have always had something to say, but never had an outlet. If for only that reason, we are hanging on.

The goal of the social justice awards, explains Johnson, is not just to focus on people who you would traditionally see as social activists, but those who through their work in areas like health care, banking and business are affecting and improving the life of residents across Greater Springfield and Western Massachusetts.

Zelmon "Zee" Johnson is the owner of Olive Tree Books-n-Voices, a community bookstore located on Hancock Street. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

Zelmon Zee Johnson is being honored with the entrepreneurship award for her success with her independent bookstore, Olive Tree Books-n-Voices in Springfield.

Johnson opened the store on Hancock Street in 2005 and established it as more than just a book shop.

The bookstore was designed purposely as a social hub, she says. Folks came to the bookstore and browsed and networked, so we did not have an online presence intentionally because our business model was to have folks get to know each other.

In the face of the pandemic, Johnson adjusted her business model to do phone and online ordering and offer curbside pick-up. Now, the store has limited hours and allows only three customers in the store at one time. She also established a personal shopping system in which customers can reserve specific times to browse solo.

I can tell you that we remained steady, and I am very appreciative to all of my customers who have supported the store even through this pandemic, she says.

The Black Lives Matter protests that occurred after the death of George Floyd by a white police officer last May also brought new customers to the store, Johnson said.

I have been able to establish a lot of new relationships with customers coming from outside of the Springfield area. I have had a lot of customers from the Amherst and Northampton areas and even from Connecticut because they wanted to support the book store because its owned by an African American, she says. Many of the new customers have been Caucasian, and they have really wanted to tap into race relations. They came in wanting to have conversations about how to help their children acknowledge their privilege, but also understand that the have to treat everyone with dignity.

The MLK Jr. Family Services Social Justice Award winners and change maker award winners. From left to right Shakenna Williams; Jeff Sullivan; Zaida Govan; Ed Nunez with his mom; Clift Flint with his granddaughter; Bea Dewberry and brothers for Rance OQuinn; Annamarie Golden; Ralpheal Desir with his son.

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The Government is to create a taskforce to create innovative new coronavirus treatments  with one goal to develop a pill that combats the effects of the virus.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Health Secretary Matt Hancock is setting up an Anti-Virals Taskforce to help provide further protection against the disease.

A key aim will be to come up with a tablet that could be taken as soon as someone has tested positive for Covid. The drugs currently used to treat the virus are usually given only when serious symptoms are present.

The taskforce  similar to the vaccine taskforce that supercharged Britain's development, acquisition and distribution of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer jabs  will be set the challenge of 'turning the latest research on anti-viral therapeutics into approved medical treatments for coronavirus within months', according to individuals familiar with high-level discussions on the subject.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is setting up an Anti-Virals Taskforce to help provide further protection against the virus

A senior Government source added: 'The success of the vaccine programme has shown what our country can achieve, identifying and deploying cutting edge medical treatments to save lives and beat the pandemic. Matt [Hancock] wants to replicate those achievements with anti-viral drugs. The new taskforce will be another crucial tool and is a further step towards making the UK the best place in the world for life science.'

Whitehall mandarins, who are currently seeking senior private sector industry experts and researchers to join the project, plan to announce full details in the coming weeks.

It is hoped that the taskforce will build on previous successes  several of them led by British scientists  in developing and identifying treatments which have helped slash the death rate among patients hospitalised with Covid.

Among them has been dexamethasone, a cheap steroid found to cut deaths among those on ventilators by more than a third.

Another steroid, hydrocortisone, also improved survival rates among the critically ill.

Far less progress has been made, however, in finding treatments that stop the virus soon after a person has tested positive for Covid  and it is in this area that the taskforce will concentrate its efforts.

One of the problems is that by the time a person shows symptoms, the virus has already spread throughout the body and infected vast numbers of cells.

Scientists say the best time to administer anti-virals, which stop the virus entering cells and taking them over, is as soon as possible after an infection is detected.

The move comes almost a year after the Government set up the Vaccine Taskforce to co-ordinate research by British scientists into possible jabs, as well as securing access to vaccines developed in other countries.

The team, led by biochemist turned venture capitalist Kate Bingham, helped the Government secure agreements for access to six different vaccines across four different formats, amounting to 357 million doses.

No members of the new taskforce have been selected, but a Government source ruled out a return for Ms Bingham who stepped down from the temporary and unpaid vaccine role at the end of last year.
Ruining the natural beauty of the Emerald Isle View(s):

While most eyes were on Geneva last week awaiting the inevitable outcome of the vote against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council, a remark by a very senior Cabinet Minister caught the attention of locals immersed in an ongoing battle to protect the countrys endangered environment.

The remark, coinciding with World Water Day, was a proposal to raid the Sinharaja Natural Forest reserve once againthis time to start a water project inside this UNESCO world heritage site with Chinese assistance. And to cap it all, to grow rubber in place of deforestation.

The senior Minister comes from the southern Hambantota district and no doubt, has long witnessed the suffering of his constituents for the lack of drinking water. The fields cry for water during the harsh droughts. He has long campaigned for this primary need of his fellow citizens. Given a choice of portfolios, he even chose Irrigation. It is just that his proposal sounded so preposterous to the rest of the country.

A previous mega project with the same objective of providing water to the southern districts by diverting the Uma Oya in the central highlands came a cropper. It deprived the people of Bandarawela and its environs of their water in the process and bowsers driven by home guards had to deliver water to residents in houses that had cracked due to engineering defects on the dam.

Last years focus on Water and Climate Change to mark World Water Day was extended this year to focus on the environmental, social and cultural values placed on water. The fact that everyone needs water be they humans, animals or plants, with no substitute for it, places it in the galaxy of priceless possessions for any nation and its people. For an island nation like Sri Lanka with limited land mass and an increasing population, it is a precious resource to be harnessed with care.

Kings of yore built massive reservoirs recognising this need. They must have cleared forests but the population then was small and the cost-benefit of such development favoured the long-term benefits accruing for generations to come. The colonial British on the other hand introduced a Waste Lands Ordinance to plunder thousands of acres of forests in the highlands to grow their coffee and tea plantations, and one might argue about their benefits to the country.

As a string of incidents of jungle clearance is reported right across the country, environmentalists and concerned citizens, especially young peoplethe Millennials and Generation Z (those up to 23 years), from the big cities to the village hamlets are raising their collective voice, protesting the rape of the forests and the resultant damage to the environment. There is, thankfully, greater consciousness of the environment now, probably due to the subject being discussed in schools. It is a matter that impacts the youth for tomorrow, even if it is the responsibility of the elders to put food on the table for their children, today.

The proposed Sinharaja project, though now reportedly shelved, seems to have been a fairly well constructed long-term plan from the looks of it to make inroads into the reserve in the name of development. When just a few months back a new road was being paved therein, the country was told that it was merely reinforcing an already existing mud path used by villagers to access schools and hospitals. It now seems it was not such a simple upgrading exercise given the fact that the new project proposal required moving heavy machinery to tap water from the reserve.

The National Heritage, Wilderness Areas Act No. 3 of 1988 was introduced coinciding with Sinharaja being declared a world heritage site. It provided for preserving in their natural state, unique eco-systems, genetic resources, or physical or biological formation.the habitat of endangered species of animals and plants for enhancing the natural beauty of Sri Lanka

Globalisation has seen the denudation of forests worldwide from the Amazon to Madagascar and now Sinharaja by private companies in partnership with Governments to extract the earths resources. It is, no doubt, an irony for the people of the southern districts to be without drinking water when there are gushing natural springs next door. But there must be alternative solutions. Desalination for instance.

Ill-conceived projects such as the proposed water reservoir in Sinharaja will do irreparable damage to the flora and fauna and natural beauty of Sri Lanka, but so too will the very people it is intended to help, go bone dry in the decades to come by the exploitation of nature. That such a proposal was even entertained in this world heritage site whose wealth of biodiversity is without question, is a sad reflection on the shortsightedness of those who, under the guise of developers, worm their way into officialdom and are able to present it as a Government initiative.

No Justice and Dignity for victims of British troops?

Great Britains notorious colonial Divide and Rule policy seems to have metamorphosed into a new brand of do as we say; not as we do policy.

Just this week, a report by the United Kingdoms Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities states, inter-alia, that on an average, over 140 racially motivated hate crimes take place in Britain per day. Meanwhile, a glaring contradiction has emerged between the UKs domestic policy on accountability for human rights abusers and the moralistic lecturing that it gives other nations in the Commonwealth, including Sri Lanka. Central to this contradiction is the Overseas Operations Bill adopted in the House of Commons and now pending in the House of Lords.

The Bill proposes a presumption against prosecution of British troops engaged in overseas operations for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed more than five years ago. Prosecutors are directed to consider factors that reduce culpability including exceptional demands and stresses to which members of Her Majestys services are likely to be subjected to. Prosecutors are allowed to proceed in such cases only in exceptional circumstances with the Express consent of the Attorney General. Directly contrary to international criminal law standards, the Bill prescribes near-immunity retrospectively, for crimes of murder and torture.

Persistent allegations of war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan have dogged British soldiers. The Bill will take the UK out of a rules-based system and allow it to escape accountability which it preaches to other nations as in the case of Sri Lanka. The UKs primary role in moving Resolution 46/1 on Sri Lanka in the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva was premised on the basis of war-time accountability for Sri Lanka.

Silent enim leges inter arma (the laws are silent in times of war) seems to be a principle that the United Kingdom is willing to accept, but only for its own troops, not others.
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What will Boris Johnson announce at today's 5pm press conference? The next step of easing lockdown will go ahead as planned: The PM is expected to confirm that non-essential shops, gyms, hairdressers and libraries will reopen from April 12 while pubs and restaurants will be allowed to serve customers outdoors. A mass-testing scheme: Everyone in England will be promised two rapid lateral flow tests every week, starting from April 9, in a bid to cut the chain of transmission as lockdown rules are loosened. Vaccine passports: The PM will unveil the initial findings of a Whitehall review into the potential use of 'Covid status certification'. The documents are likely to combine vaccination, testing and immunity data and could be used to determine access to large-scale events. It is unclear whether they could be used at pubs. Foreign travel: A traffic light system will be unveiled by Mr Johnson which will pave the way for non-essential international travel to resume. Countries will be rated either green, amber or red based on criteria like vaccination levels and infection numbers. Travel from green countries will not require a quarantine period. The earliest foreign holidays could resume is May 17. Advertisement

Travel chiefs fear a summer holiday booking 'fiasco' as Boris Johnson unveils a new traffic light system to allow international trips to resume.

The Prime Minister's initiative will allow Britons to go on summer holidays to countries with high vaccination rates.

The system will see destinations rated as red, amber and green using criteria including the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated, the rate of infection, any emerging variants and the country's access to reliable data and genomic sequencing.

The criteria could result in European countries like France and Italy being ruled out of bounds for British holidaymakers as parts of the EU suffer spikes in cases and the bloc's vaccination drive continues to stall.

Industry bosses today warned they 'cannot go through the fiasco of cancelling bookings because a system has been ill thought through' as they highlighted the risk for potential customer 'confusion'.

They also warned that many European nations now face a race against time to reduce infection rates and boost vaccination levels so they can make it onto the green list before the summer season.

Under the Government's scheme, sunseekers returning from countries in the green category will not have to isolate, although they will need to have tests before and after they fly.

Those coming back from red list countries would have to quarantine in a hotel for ten days, while arrivals from amber destinations will have to isolate at home.

The Prime Minister will use a Downing Street press conference this afternoon to re-affirm May 17 will be the earliest that foreign holidays can resume and the new system comes into effect. But he will say he is unable to advise yet whether any countries will be classed as green on this date.

The traffic light scheme announcement came as the PM faces a growing Tory revolt over the potential rollout of domestic vaccine passports.

Many Conservative MPs support using the documents for international travel but they oppose using them for day-to-day life, with Mr Johnson targeting a domestic rollout of some sort by June 21.

Mr Johnson is expected to offer the House of Commons a vote on the issue, in a move which could risk a damaging defeat, with Labour continuing to express concerns about the documents and increasing numbers of Tory backbenchers opposed to them.

Health Minister Edward Argar today said an increase in cases in Europe showed why the UK must 'get this right' on travel rules in order to avoid importing potentially vaccine-busting variants of the disease.

He told BBC Breakfast: 'We are seeing many of our friends in Europe seeing an increase in infections. That is one of the reasons why we have to be very careful that as we see an increase across the world in infections that we get this right because one of the things we don't want to see  and just as the vaccination programme is working so well  is getting new variants or risking new variants getting imported into this country.'

Holiday chiefs insisted there is still time before the summer for European countries to get coronavirus case numbers under control again.

Asked what the most likely holiday destinations could be when travel is allowed, Andrew Flintham, managing director for Tui UK and Ireland, told the BBC: 'Cyprus have come out and been very positive, Greece and Turkey have come out and been very positive, and Spain again.

'So I think all these European countries, whilst to a degree they are struggling with their rates at the moment, we are still a significant period away from the summer season properly opening up, we are probably 11 weeks away.

'The world has been changing on a weekly basis, never mind an 11-weekly basis. So we are still positive about those destinations. We are also positive that the Caribbean and some of those destinations will open up.'

Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told MailOnline he believes a 'handful' of European countries will be on the UK's green list in May with more to follow in June and July.

He said that last year many European countries had high infection rates which were brought under control by the start of summer, adding: 'I think the same will happen this year because there is also the added bonus of the vaccine and the [EU] rollout will speed up. I am confident that much of Europe will be accessible by early July.'

Martyn Sumners, executive director of the Association of Independent Tour Operators, warned of the time pressures the industry faces, telling The Times: 'The fact that we won't know until next month which countries are permitted for travel will make it very difficult to get programmes up and running. It does not happen overnight. There are many elements of a holiday to organise.

'The travel industry cannot go through the fiasco of cancelling bookings because a system has been ill thought through and leave customers and operators angry because of the confusion.'

Many in the industry fear a repeat of last year when countries were added to the travel red list at very short notice, leaving holidaymakers scrambling to get home or cancel their trips.

It came as leading scientific adviser Professor Neil Ferguson said testing everyone coming from Europe, with no exemptions, would be 'sensible' as he expressed concerns about the spread of the South African variant on the continent.

It came as -

Boris Johnson today urged everybody to take two free Covid tests a week to help safeguard the unlocking of the country;

The PM prepared to brief the Cabinet today that the conditions have been met to allow shops, gyms and hairdressers to reopen as planned on April 12;

Millions of Britons filled up parks and commons during pleasant weather over the weekend;

Hairdressers and barbers are allowed to reopen in Scotland from today as further lockdown restrictions are lifted;

Mr Johnson looks at risk of failing to get Commons approval for vaccine passports, as Michael Gove promised MPs who are critical of the scheme the chance to vote against it.

The Prime Minister will unveil a traffic light system that will see destinations rated as red, amber and green

Britons will be allowed to holiday in countries with high vaccination rates this summer, Boris Johnson will say today (File image)

Health Minister Edward Argar today said an increase in cases in Europe showed why the UK must 'get this right' in order to avoid importing potentially vaccine-busting variants of the disease

Fears 'false positives' could cripple the UK as Boris unveils plan to test EVERYONE twice a week Ministers today scrambled to play down fears that 'false positives' could cripple the country after Boris Johnson unveiled a plan to screen the whole population for coronavirus twice a week. The PM has announced a huge expansion of testing with free rapid kits made available to everyone in England from this Friday. Mr Johnson said the multi-billion pound move can help the return to normality by picking up asymptomatic cases and identifying local outbreaks faster. But concerns were immediately raised as when used on that scale the tests could wrongly label tens of thousands of people a week as having Covid - forcing them to isolate and get more reliable PCR checks to show they are clear. At an Easter Monday press conference this evening, Mr Johnson will confirm the next stage of the lockdown roadmap is on schedule  with shops, gyms and hairdressers allowed to reopen from next week. Pubs, restaurants and cafes will also be given the green light to return for outdoor customers. The premier is also set to give a hint on the way forward for foreign holidays, with a 'traffic light' system expected to be introduced for destinations when the blanket ban on travel is dropped - potentially from May 17. And Mr Johnson will give a 'high level' indication of the government's plan for coronavirus passports, with pilots being held to try to get crowds back at sporting and other events. But the government faces prospect of losing a vote on the controversial concept as Tory rebels join forces with Labour to raise civil liberties objections. The fast-turnaround tests, which produce results in just half an hour, do not require lab analysis and will be available for use at home. Mr Johnson last night said the huge testing programme was needed to ensure that the sacrifices made in recent months 'are not wasted'. Advertisement

A Government source said last night: 'It is too early to predict which countries will be on which list over the summer. As such, we continue to advise people not to book summer holidays abroad.'

One scientist said yesterday the traffic light system could be too simplistic to stop the spread of new cases.

Professor Gabriel Scally, a member of the Independent Sage committee, said: 'It is not quite as simple as looking at what the situation is in an individual country from which a flight originated. We know people will mix together from all over the world, and this is what spurred the autumn surges of cases.'

Malta's health minister yesterday said there was 'no reason' why holidaymakers should not be allowed to travel between countries that have vaccinated a high proportion of their population.

Christopher Fearne told Radio 4's The World This Weekend: 'Malta by the summer will probably be one of the safest places to travel to certainly in Europe and probably in the world. That is because we are vaccinating at a high rate.'

Malta has announced British travellers who have had both doses of the vaccine are welcome from June 1.

Travel chiefs urged Mr Johnson to add a fourth tier to the system which would eliminate the need for testing or quarantine to very low-risk countries.

Chief executive of easyJet John Lungren, Jet2 boss Stephen Heapy and Manchester Airports Group boss Charlie Cornish have handed ministers 'independent and scientifically-robust' research they each commissioned which suggests safe travel 'to Europe and beyond will be possible this summer, in many cases without any restrictions'.

Thousands of tourists are still being let into the UK every day even thought the government have tightened controls on Britons coming from abroad.

Hundreds are arriving on Home Office visas, according to Border Force staff.

One visitor from Peru got a visa after saying on their application form that their reason for travelling to Britain was to 'visit Big Ben'.

Of the around 20,000 people arriving every day, around 8,000 - or 40% - are tourists, figures compiled by border staff reveal.

This rises to 80 or 95% at Gatwick and Eurostar terminals, while at Heathrow the proportion is around 20 to 30%, The Times reported.

Boris Johnson will today urge everybody to take two Covid tests a week to help safeguard the unlocking of the country.

At a press conference this evening, the Prime Minister will confirm the next stage of the release from lockdown is on schedule  with shops, gyms and hairdressers allowed to reopen from next week.

At a press conference this evening, the Prime Minister will confirm the next stage of the release from lockdown is on schedule  with shops, gyms and hairdressers allowed to reopen from next week

'Prof Lockdown' warns AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine is 'vulnerable' to South African variant Professor Neil Ferguson today called for tighter border controls with Europe to keep out the dangerous South African of coronavirus amid fears it could undermine Britain's vaccine roll-out. The SAGE adviser - dubbed 'Professor Lockdown' because his gloomy modelling of the first wave spooked ministers into the spring shutdown - warned while the strain had failed to take root in the UK it was behind up to 20 per cent of infections in some countries on the continent. He added immunity from AstraZeneca's jab is 'particularly vulnerable' to the mutant strain, raising the risk of a spike in cases. South Africa has already suspended its use citing concerns the shot is not effective enough. Nonetheless, experts are still confident the jab is strong enough to protect the vast majority of people from falling severely ill with the B.1.351 strain. Britain has already spotted 469 cases of the variant, sparking surge-testing in dozens of postcodes in a desperate attempt to root out the virus. Advertisement

Pubs, restaurants and cafes will also be allowed a limited reopening for outdoor customers.

But ministers fear that even this cautious freeing of the economy could lead to a surge in cases that could slow the further release from lockdown, or even send it into reverse.

Today they will unveil a multi-billion-pound scheme inviting everyone in England to take two free Covid tests per week.

The fast-turnaround tests, which produce results in just half an hour, do not require lab analysis and will be available for use at home.

Mr Johnson last night said the huge testing programme was needed to ensure that the sacrifices made in recent months 'are not wasted'.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was vital that people take up the testing offer, adding: 'The vaccine programme has been a shot in the arm for the whole country, but reclaiming our lost freedoms and getting back to normal hinges on us all getting tested regularly.'

Writing in the Mail, Jenny Harries, head of the new UK Health Security Agency, said twice-weekly testing could 'help us get back to normal'.

She added: 'If we are going to reclaim our lost freedoms for the long term, we must ensure we can withstand expected but unpredictable attacks in the form of variants of the virus.

'That will require us to use the massive testing capacity to discover where variants of concern are and respond to them swiftly.'

Government sources confirmed that the surge in testing was likely to lead to a rise in detected case numbers, which yesterday fell to just 2,297  the lowest figure since September 5.

However, the move will fuel concerns among Tory MPs that any rise in cases could lead to further releases from lockdown being delayed.

Former minister Steve Baker said that even the false positives generated by tens of millions of additional tests could be enough to knock the Government's road map off course.

Hundreds have hit Britain's beaches and parks for Easter Sunday amid gloriously warm temperatures in the South of England as lockdown restrictions are eased. Pictured: Durdle Door in Dorset

Visitors flock to Durdle Door in Dorset on a day of warm spring sunshine and a cool breeze during Easter Sunday

Q&A: How will the regular testing programme work? What is being proposed? Ministers want everyone in England to take a Covid test twice a week to help quickly identify any surge in cases as the economy and society are unlocked in the coming months. How will it work? People will be able to order so-called lateral flow tests for use at home, or get tested at work or at sites run by local councils. They are already used by millions of children following the return to school last month. What are lateral flow tests? These pregnancy-style tests can deliver results at home within half an hour. Like a regular test they involve taking a swab from the back of the throat and nose but the samples do not have to be sent for laboratory analysis. Are these tests reliable? They are not as sensitive as a standard PCR laboratory test. One study found they missed 40 per cent of asymptomatic cases. However, they perform much better at picking up cases where people have a high viral load. The Government says they have picked up 120,000 cases which would not otherwise have been identified. What if I test positive? People who test positive will be asked to self-isolate in the normal way, as well as providing details of their contacts to the Test and Trace service. What about false positives? Recent analysis by NHS Test and Trace suggests fewer than one in a thousand lateral flow tests will produce a false positive. However, anyone who does test positive will be offered a PCR test to confirm the result. How much will this cost? Officials were tight-lipped about the likely cost, but acknowledge it will run into billions of pounds. Lateral flow tests are much cheaper than the standard PCR ones, with some reports suggesting the Government can buy them for as little as 5 each. But if 25 million people were to test twice a week, the cost would still top 1 billion a month. What will it cost me? Nothing. The Government will pick up the bill for all tests. Advertisement

Mr Baker, deputy chairman of the 70-strong Covid Recovery Group of MPs, said: 'It is now obvious that in an environment of low prevalence, mass asymptomatic testing makes false positives a real issue.'

Today's announcement introduces a universal mass testing regime for England which is likely to become part of the 'new normal' and remain in place for many months.

NHS and care home staff, along with millions of school children are already using fast-turnaround tests twice a week.

The tests are said to have identified 120,000 cases that might not otherwise have been picked up.

Government sources said that more than 100,000 businesses have also requested test kits to run their own schemes designed to make workplaces Covid secure.

Under the new regime, which will be introduced on Friday, people will be able to request packs of test kits for home use.

Individuals will also have the opportunity to get tested at council-run sites or as part of workplace schemes.

And a new 'Pharmacy Collect' scheme will be introduced, allowing adults to pick up boxes of seven rapid tests.

Mr Johnson said the rollout will help stop Covid outbreaks 'in their tracks'.

He added: 'As we continue to make good progress on our vaccine programme and with our road map to cautiously easing restrictions under way, regular rapid testing is even more important to make sure those efforts are not wasted.'

Dr Susan Hopkins, of Public Health England, urged 'everyone' to take up the testing offer, saying they were vital in 'breaking the chains of transmission'.

A major new advertising campaign will be launched this week encouraging Britons to take up the tests.

Mr Hancock said that, with one in three people infected with Covid showing no symptoms, mass testing would be 'fundamental in helping us quickly spot positive cases and squash any outbreaks'.

The new drive will use so-called 'lateral flow tests' which provide on-the-spot results in the same way as a pregnancy test.

Users still have to take a swab from their nose and throat, but the results can be determined at home in half an hour, without the need for laboratory analysis.

Health sources last night said the tests produced fewer than one false positive in a thousand.

But this could still result in almost 1,000 false cases for every one million taken.

Ministers have now agreed that anyone testing positive will be offered a 'gold standard' PCR test to confirm the result.

New technology means these tests can also now be used to detect new variants of the virus, allowing their spread to be picked up more quickly.

The Government was unable to say how much the new scheme would cost.

But with tests thought to cost at least 5 each, take-up of 25million would generate a bill of more than 1billion a month.

We all want a return to normality regular tests can only help, writes DR JENNY HARRIES

The new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) launched last week with the unique mission to protect the nation's health, both from existing hazards  such as hepatitis or radiation risks  but also from external and emerging threats.

As its first priority, it will continue the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Regular, rapid testing means we are finding cases of the virus that we wouldn't otherwise detect, which prevents transmission to families, friends and communities  and which could ultimately save lives.

Around one in three people experiences no symptoms when they contract the virus and by getting tested regularly people will rapidly break chains of transmission that could begin unwittingly.

Twice-weekly testing using lateral flow devices, commonly known as LFDs, has already protected millions of people who need to leave home for work, including frontline NHS workers, care home staff and residents, and schoolchildren and their families.

Regular, rapid testing means we are finding cases of the virus that we wouldn't otherwise detect, which prevents transmission to families, friends and communities  and which could ultimately save lives, writes Dr Jenny Harries

Regular testing in the months ahead can help us all get back to normal, and from this Friday we will make twice-weekly LFD testing available to every person in England.

An LFD is the testing equivalent of a Formula 1 pit stop. With a rapid turnaround time of 30 minutes for a result, these swab tests can be done from the comfort of a living room and are capable of quickly giving a snap verdict on whether someone is or isn't likely to be infectious.

Just like an experienced mechanic, people get quicker at doing the test, and get better results, the more frequently they carry them out.

Vaccines are tipping the scales in our favour but as cases, deaths and hospitalisation charts continue to fall, the importance of our testing and tracing capabilities grows.

An effective testing and tracing system is our radar for spotting new outbreaks and suppressing them and for watching out for new variants. The new variant in Kent, which rapidly increased cases across the country, is a stark reminder that viruses are shapeshifters and they mutate all the time.

Regular testing in the months ahead can help us all get back to normal, and from this Friday we will make twice-weekly LFD testing available to every person in England. Pictured: A student uses a swab at a testing site in the University of Hull's Allam Sport Centre

If we are going to reclaim our lost freedoms for the long term, we must ensure we can withstand expected but unpredictable attacks in the form of variants of the virus.

That will require us to use the massive testing capacity to discover where variants of concern are and respond to them swiftly. Our diagnostics system is ready for testing on a level that matches the vaccination rollout, both in scope and ambition. The UK is now a testing juggernaut.

At the most recent count we have been testing over a million people a day, genome sequencing 32,000 tests in a week, and we have traced and contacted 3.2million who have tested positive in the past year, and a further six million of their contacts.

Regular testing is a way we can all help to bring about the return of much that has been missing in all of our lives and I have every confidence people will continue to give their selfless support in this next stage, just as they have throughout this pandemic.

Dr Jenny Harries is chief executive of the UKHSA.
Over 93,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 93,249 fresh infections on Sundaythe highest since mid-September taking the cumulative caseload to 1,24,85,509, according to a report in the Scroll. The country saw 513 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 1,64,623, according to central data. The active caseload is at 6,91,597, while the total recoveries have surged to 1,16,29,289. As many as 74.4 million shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Read more here

45+ or not, teachers want to be included in vaccine drive

Calls to open up the vaccination programme to teachers of all ages are getting louder, a report in ThePrint said. In the new phase of the rollout that started on Thursday, all people above the age of 45 are eligible, but this leaves out a large chunk of school teachers, many of whom are in the 25-40 age group. This has prompted private schools, state teachers associations and other bodies to ask the government to prioritise shots for teachers. A official told ThePrint that the government is considering all proposals for expanding the scope of vaccination. We have received requests for inclusion in the ongoing vaccination drive from several quarters of educational institutes including schools. Apart from schools, other sectors have also requested inclusion in the beneficiary pool such as pharma companies employees, the official said. Read more here

More Indians now willing to take the vaccine: Survey

A new survey has indicated that the percentage of the Indian population willing to take the Covid-19 vaccination has surged to 77 per cent from 38 per cent since the rollout began in January, according to ThePrint. The survey was conducted last week by LocalCircles, a community social media platform. As many as 27,000 respondents from 299 districts took part in the survey, out of which 67 per cent were men and 33 per cent were women. Read more here

Explained: Covid-19 reinfections

Reinfection with the novel is the subject of an ongoing scientific discussion. As of now, there is no clarity on if an individual develops permanent immunity after contracting and recovering from the virus for the first time, an explainer in The Indian Express said. Few cases of reinfection have been found around the world. There have been several cases of people testing positive for Covid-19 multiple times, even in India. But not all such cases are considered reinfections. Recovered patients can at times continue to carry low levels of virus for up to three months. The levels would not be enough to make the person sick, but they can get detected in Covid tests. Read more here

Harvest operations for Rabi crops not hurt by second wave

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has not hampered the ongoing harvest work in the country with farmers already harvesting over 55% of their crops as of Friday. This shows the resilience of the farm sector in the face of the pandemic, the report said. Read more here




Haiti - News : Zapping...





More than a thousand women in the streets of the Capital

Saturday in Port-au-Prince, National Day of the Haitian women's movement, more than a thousand women demonstrated in the streets of the capital to denounce gang violence and defend democracy, accusing the power in place of wanting to impose a "new dictatorship".



Me Eno Rene Louis released for ransom

The kidnappers of the titular judge of the Peace Court of Petion-Ville Eno Rene Louis, kidnapped on April 27, 2021 by the Gang "400 Mawoz" in Croix-des-Bouquets released their hostage for ransom very early on Friday April 2.



Japan : Honoring traditional Haitian clothing

The traditional Haitian dress was honored, on March 27, during a fashion show called "Parade of Nations" organized by "Runway for Hope", a non-profit association that promotes cultural diversity in Japan. This event took place in the presence of several Japanese personalities operating in the cultural and tourism sector.



Kenol Felix businessman released and hospitalized:

Kidnapped on March 19, the businessman Kenol Felix, owner of the funeral home, Sainte Rose de Lima https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33287-haiti-news-zapping.html was released by his kidnappers Friday April 2 after 15 days of sequestion and against ransom. The businessman was rushed to a hospital due to his state of health.



OPC : installation of the Departmental Director of the North West

This week Me Renan Hedouville the Protector of the Citizen, proceeded in Port-de-Paix to the installation of Ms. Elmide Edmond Jean Baptiste as Departmental Director of the Office for the Protection of the Citizen in the North-West.



Japan : discussions on the political situation in Haiti

On Tuesday, Haitis Ambassador to Japan Helph Monod Honorat met with MP Hakubun Shimomura, one of the influential leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Discussions focused on the political situation in Haiti, the referendum on the new Constitution and the general elections to be held at the end of this year. In addition, the Ambassador of Haiti invited Shimomura to support him in his efforts to reactivate the Japan-Haiti Parliamentary Friendship League.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















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
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 07:40:56|Editor: huaxia

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Participants dance at the Spring Ball in the Victory Museum in Moscow, Russia, on April 3, 2021. More than 200 participants from different cities of Russia gathered here to attend the traditional Spring Ball on Saturday. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)
Photo: University of British Columbia UBC professor Sheryl Lightfoot is also the Canada Research Chair of Global Indigenous Rights and Politics.

Sheryl Lightfoot has been named the North American member on the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The announcement was made March 24 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Lightfoot, 53, is the first Indigenous woman from Canada to be appointed to the UNs prestigious position.

The UN Expert Mechanism consists of just seven people in the world. Members provide the UNs Human Rights Council with their expertise and advise on the rights of Indigenous peoples as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Lightfoot will join representatives from the UNs six other regions on the Expert Mechanism. Those individuals represent Africa, Asia, the Arctic, Europe, South American and the Pacific.

I think its significant, Lightfoot said, adding she is the first academic from Canada to hold the title.

Lightfoot is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia in First Nations and Indigenous Studies and the Department of Political Science.

In 2018 she was also chosen to serve a five-year term as the senior advisor to the universitys president on Indigenous Affairs.

Lightfoot is pleased that she will be able to bring her academic perspective to the UNs Expert Mechanism.

It does concentrate on understanding and translating high-level documents into policy and practice, she said. Its a good fit.

Lightfoot said she had been approached last fall to see if she would be interested in the position.

My name had been put forward and I had agreed to let it stand, she said.

Lightfoot believes there were as many as 10 nominees for the North American position. In January she found out she was one of four people shortlisted for the role.

After discovering she would indeed be offered the position, Lightfoot had to double check with her university to ensure she would be able to fulfill her duties.

It is a voluntary role and they say its 25-30 per cent of ones time every year, Lightfoot said. UBC has said I will get some release time.

Lightfoot will be expected to attend an annual meeting in Geneva. Shes also expected to attend several other meetings that are typically staged throughout the year in various other countries, though it remains to be seen whether meetings will be held virtually in 2021 because of the pandemic.

Lightfoot, who is Anishinaabe, was born in Minnesota and is from the Lake Superior Band of Ojibwe. She is a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in northern Michigan.

Lightfoot, however, has been living in Vancouver since 2009. After years of being a permanent resident, she became a Canadian citizen last year and now has dual citizenship.

Lightfoot has been appointed for a three-year term to the UNs Expert Mechanism. Her term is renewable once and just two others have held the position before.

She's is replacing Kristen Carpenter, a law professor at the University of Colorado whose four-year term on the Expert Mechanism has now expired.

Lightfoot said she has been in touch with Carpenter and that she has offered to assist her with the transition to her new role.

Chief Wilton Littlechild, who is from Maskwacis in Alberta, is the only other North American rep that has served on the UNs Expert Mechanism, which was established in 2007.

Littlechild served two terms before Carpenter took on the role.

As for Lightfoot, her initial responsibilities will be contacting various Indigenous leaders not only in Canada but the United States as well to determine that their priorities are in sync.

One of Lightfoots pressing concerns is the revitalization and preservation of Indigenous languages.

What the pandemic has illustrated is keeping our languages alive is a top priority item, she said.

Lightfoot said many Elders and language speakers were lost during the pandemic.

That has pushed some of our languages to an even more dangerous brink, she said.
Dublin city was transformed into the 19th century over the weekend with Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto taking centre stage as she filmed scenes for her latest movie.

The Hollywood actress was photographed in period costume but carrying a very modern plastic water bottle as she filmed in Dublin Castle yesterday.

Parts of Dublin and Kildare have this week been turned into scenes from 1800s England for a new movie, Mr Malcolm's List, being shot here.

The film is based on the novel by Suzanne Alani about a young woman in England who enlists the help of her friend to get revenge on a suitor who rejected her for failing a requirement of his list.

Among the stars of the new movie is Divergent heartthrob Theo James,.

Pictured here in a carriage at Dublin Castle over the weekend is Freida Pinto.

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Indian-born actress Freida rose to prominence in Slumdog Millionaire, for which she received several nominations as Best Supporting Actress.

The star, whose biggest commercial role has been in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, brandished a water canister during a break in filming, while production staff wore masks.

Also starring in the movie is Emily In Paris actress Ashley Park.

The American memorably played Emily's sidekick Mindy Chen in the Netflix series.

Ashley was captured in full period costume in one picture posted on Instagram alongside actor Sope Dirisu, who plays Mr Malcolm.

English actor Theo (36) is best known for portraying Tobias "Four" Eaton in The Divergent Series film trilogy

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In 2015, he became the brand ambassador for Hugo Boss fragrances for men, appearing in print ads and commercials.

James recently married Irish actress Ruth Kearney, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2009, having initially met at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

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Although Ruth was born in London to Irish parents she moved to Dublin at the age of five and grew up in Monkstown.

She is best known for her leading role as Jess Parker in the science fiction-drama Primeval, while she has also starred as Daisy in The Following.

Mr Malcolm's List also stars The Invisible Man's Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Lord Cassidy).

Directed by Emma Holly Jones, fans have been travelling to Celbridge, Co. Kildare, to try and grab a glimpse of Theo James in particular.

Fans got a glimpse of all the action as filming took place earlier in the week at one of Kildare's landmark buildings, Castletown House.

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Mr Malcolm's List is based on the novel of the same name written by Suzanne Alani, who also wrote the script.

"Julia is a society lady jilted by London's most eligible bachelor, Mr Malcolm, when she fails to meet one of the items on his list of requirements for a bride.

"Feeling shunned and humiliated, she enlists her friend Selina to help her take revenge on Mr Malcolm by tricking him into thinking he has found his perfect match," according to the Irish Film and Television Network.

A fan under the name Bellawherehaveyoubeenloca took to TikTok with footage of Theo on set in Castletown.

The video has gone viral with over 300,000views and 62,000 likes.
Members of the Russian asylum-seeking community on Guam once again took up protest Saturday morning over their inability to leave the island for the States. The protest comes after a two-week hunger strike at Adelup. This time, demonstrations took place just beyond the steps of the District Court of Guam.

"It's the place where foreigners become citizens," said asylum-seeker Fedor Simanov. "It's very important for us because we applied for protection from the United States. We urge United States government to help us, to restore justice, to make improvements to that (asylum) process. Because people stay here for years, five years, and it's very sad."

Long delays in the adjudication of asylum claims have meant years in limbo for asylum-seekers on Guam.

At the same time, travel to the states is barred as the asylum-seekers are found inadmissible under the pre-inspection process because their cases are pending and they do not yet have legal status. This leaves them without the option to travel stateside for work, medical care or any other purpose.

"This is the precise place where asylum-seekers should be protesting because the federal government has been creating a lot of difficulties and, honestly, a lot of suffering for asylum-seekers in Guam," said Chris Rasmussen, assistant professor of history at the University of Guam. "What the asylum seekers want and what they deserve is the right to seek asylum and the right to move. Right now, they're being denied both."

Rasmussen said the asylum-seekers don't have advance parole, a type of authorization that could allow travel to the States while waiting for claims to be adjudicated. But the federal government could remedy that immediately if it wanted, as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have significant latitude to grant advance parole, Rasmussen added.

Moreover, the professor highlighted the federal government's failure to address asylum claims in general and called the issue a "moral stain" that federal authorities need to acknowledge and immediately remedy.

"(The U.S.) haven't been processing claims. And honestly, a whole lot more people, particularly on the southern (U.S.) border ... this is a massive problem that has not changed at all. The same policies, that were in place before the Biden administration came in, are still in place right now and denying asylum-seekers safety and refuge," Rasmussen said.
At least 23 people were killed and two are still missing after flash floods swept an island in Indonesia's easternmost province Sunday morning, rescue officials said.

Hours before people woke to celebrate Easter, torrential rain unleashed flash floods in the Catholic-majority Flores Island.

Mud inundated homes, while bridges and roads in the eastern end of the island were destroyed, according to National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Raditya Jati.

Rescuers are struggling to reach the remote and worst-hit area in East Flores regency.

"The only access there is by the sea from Adonara Island, but the rains -- as well as strong waves -- have prevented any crossing," Jati told AFP on Sunday.

Extreme weather is expected to continue in the coming week, he added.

Separately on Sunday, major floods also killed two people in Bima city in the neighbouring province of West Nusa Tenggara, according to the disaster agency.

Dams in four subdistricts also overflowed, submerging nearly 10,000 houses in Bima following a nine-hour downpour, said Jati.

Fatal landslides and flash floods are common across the Indonesian archipelago during the rainy season when downpours are frequent and relentless.

In January, flash floods damaged the Indonesian town of Sumedang in West Java, killing 40 people.

Last September, at least 11 people were killed in landslides on Borneo while a few months earlier, dozens died in landslides in Sulawesi.

Indonesia's disaster agency has estimated that 125 million Indonesians -- nearly half of the country's population -- live in areas at risk of landslides.

hrl/
Dolomite is used in the manufacture of refractory bricks, fettling materials and for the blast furnace. The mineral available at this place is said to be of high quality and its mining in the region could last a century, as the reserves are heavy. (Photo: VizagSteel.com)

Hyderabad: The Telangana government is devising a strategy to be adopted on the future of the dolomite mines allotted to Vizag Steel Plant in case the major entity is privatised. VSP has a captive dolomite mine in Madharam village in Khammam district.

Around 950 acres of land spread over five-gram panchayats in and around Madharam had been allotted for the Madharam Dolomite Mine (MDM) in the 1980s.

Dolomite is used in the manufacture of refractory bricks, fettling materials and for the blast furnace. The mineral available at this place is said to be of high quality and its mining in the region could last a century, as the reserves are heavy.

Mining operations are currently underway in the core mining zone spread over 100 acres. There are around 160 regular employees including workers on its rolls apart from nearly 60 contract workers.

In view of the Centres recent decision to privatise the VSP, local leaders of various trade unions have launched a relay hunger strike in Madharam against the privatisation move.

TRS MLA from Wyra constituency Lavudya Ramulu Naik is already extending his support to the agitation and assuring workers that the TRS government would oppose the Centres move.

Naik said he has taken up the matter with chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and industries minister KT Rama Rao and requested them to oppose the privatisation and cancellation of the MDM mining lease if VSP is sold to private players.

Naik quoted the CM and KTR as saying the state would soon finalise a strategy on how to handle the present situation vis-a-vis the Madharam mines.

Rehabilitation issues are also involved in MDM as the VSP had failed to provide the promised jobs to the displaced even after three decades. The MDM was commissioned in 1989 as a captive mine of the VSP with a 1500 tonnes per-day capacity. Trade unions say VSP acquired 950 acres of land from 287 farmers in 1982, promising them jobs and development of the village. Initially, the company provided employment to 70 oustees and ignored the claims of 127 oustees. Later, it removed 30 employees working as security guards.

Though it triggered sharp protests from the displaced and political parties, the management carried on with its mining activity. Though the company agreed to provide jobs and develop the village in 1997 and 2006, it failed to do this. The displaced farmers even approached the courts against the company.
Vietnam jumps one notch to ranked 41th in the International IP Index 2021. Photo by Shutterstock/ProStockStudio.

Vietnam has earned a higher score in the International IP Index 2021 for reaching a trade agreement with the E.U. last year.

According to the intellectual property (IP) index, released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC), the country's score increased from 36.62 percent (18.31 out of 50) last year to 37.49 percent (18.74 out of 50).

The annual ranking maps the IP ecosystem in 53 economies, representing over 90 percent of global GDP, by using 50 indicators across nine categories - patents, related rights and limitations; copyrights, related rights, and limitations; trademarks, related rights, and limitations; design rights, related rights, and limitations; trade secrets and the protection of confidential information; commercialization of IP assets; enforcement; systemic efficiency; and membership and ratification of international treaties.

Out of the nine indicators, Vietnam performed best in the international treaties category and worst in design rights.

Vietnam has moved up a notch to be ranked 41st, thanks to 0.5 points increase in the Post-TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) FTA indicator.

The center said the reason why it gave Vietnam a higher score is because of the EU-Vietnam FTA that took effect on August 1 last year, saying this agreement helps with growing integration into international IP platforms.

Even though the report lauded Vietnam for having a basic IP protection and enforcement framework in place, it also noted some weaknesses, including inadequate protection of life science patents with a challenging enforcement environment, lack of measures to address online infringements, and high physical counterfeiting rates and online infringement.

It praised Vietnam for making efforts in drafting legislation to align its IP Law with both EU FTA and CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) to fulfill treaty obligations, quoting the drafted IP Law "strengthen the protection of copyright online as well as improve the technological protection measure and digital rights management environment."

In Asia, the country placed above Thailand at 45th, Indonesia at 48th and Pakistan at 52nd.

There was not much change in the ranking of the top five nations. The U.S. continues to top the index with the U.K. in second. Germany moved up one place to third and pushed France down to fourth. Japan also outperformed Sweden to finish in fifth place.

China, the worlds second-largest economy, moved up four spots to 24th place while India, the worlds second-most populous country, retained it position at 40th.

The bottom five economies are Kuwait (49th), followed by Nigeria, Algeria, Pakistan and Venezuela (53rd).
Pictured: Abdul Rauf has been pictured in Rochdale six years after the Home Office said he would be deported following his conviction for child sex offences

The convicted ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang is walking freely around the very town where he abused young girls - six years after he was told he would be deported.

Qari Abdul Rauf, 51, was jailed for six years for trafficking and sex with a girl, who was just 15.

He was freed on licence in 2014 but was told he faced deportation to Pakistan because he holds a dual-nationality passport.

But it appears he has been somehow able to frustrate the authorities efforts to get him removed and has been seen shopping for food and drink in the town.

He and his fellow abusers Abdul Aziz, 50, and Adil Khan, 51, were all supposed to be deported but are all still in Britain.

Pictures showed Rauf shopping in Rochdale and he appeared to be carrying an insulated food delivery bag suggesting he may be a courier. Pictured: Abdul Rauf in Rochdale back in 2019

The Rochdale grooming gang's abuse was dramatised in a BBC programme called Three Girls

All three are dual nationals, having moved to the UK from Pakistan but gaining British citizenship due to their time in the country.

Their vile abuse of underage girls appalled the nation and their crimes were dramatised in the BBCs Bafta-winning Three Girls.

Aziz carried the more sinister title of 'the master' and is a father of three. He was originally sentenced to nine years for trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sex with a child.

Adil Khan was given eight years for conspiracy and trafficking a 13-year-old girl who fell pregnant.

The three men appealed but were told by the courts in 2018 that the decision regarding their citizenship stands. It is understood they still have the right to appeal the deportation decision.

Now, six years after they were warned they could be deported, Rauf has been pictured by the Sun shopping for food and drink in Rochdale.

Pictured: Adil Khan and Abdul Aziz were both also told they would be stripped of their citizenship in 2015. As of 2019, they were still living in Britain along with Abdul Rauf

He appeared to be carrying an insulated bag for a takeaway delivery service.

Maggie Oliver, the Greater Manchester Police detective who resigned to speak out about failures in dealing with grooming gangs, told the Sun it was 'another kick in the teeth' for the victims after 'pitiful' sentences.

A Home Office spokesman said case had 'recently been reviewed' and that 'the victims through the proper channels'.

In 2017 the men had appealed against moves by the Government to strip them of their British citizenship.

But in 2018 their claims were dismissed on all grounds by the Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.

The then home secretary Theresa May ruled in 2015 that all three men - who have dual British and Pakistani nationality - should have their names deleted from the roll of British citizens.

Lord Justice Sales said that what they and others did to vulnerable girls in Rochdale amounted to 'serious organised crime'.

Gerald Clifton, the judge who jailed them at Liverpool Crown Court in May 2012, said victims were 'raped callously, viciously and violently'.

As revealed by the Mail in June 2019, four of the group were still living in Britain, with no signs of any being prepared for deportation to Pakistan.
A new batch of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine will arrive in Romania on Monday, and it will be delivered by air to the airports in Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara, the National Coordinating Committee for anti-COVID-19 Vaccination (CNCAV) reported.

Transport to storage centers is provided by the producing company, including by land. The vaccines are transported in optimal safety conditions, in special containers, with carbonic ice and sealed foil, according to the information sent on Sunday by CNCAV.

Thus, the vaccination process continues both in the centers in Bucharest and in the country, the doses being distributed as follows:Bucharest National Storage Center: 171,990 doses;Brasov Regional Storage Center: 66,690 doses;Cluj Regional Storage Center: 76,050 doses;Constanta Regional Storage Center: 58,500 doses;Craiova Regional Storage Center: 33,930 doses;Iasi Regional Storage Center: 45,630 doses;Timisoara Regional Storage Center: 58,500 doses.According to CNCAV, Romania has received up to now 2,863,439 doses of vaccine produced by Pfizer, and 2,641,069 have already been used to immunize the population.The vaccination centers will use both doses received by Romania in the current batch and in the previous ones, based on the requests sent to the National Center and the regional storage centers, through the county and Bucharest public health directorates.In Romania, the allocation of vaccine doses is made according to the delivery schedule provided by the producing company, meaning that, weekly, Romania receives the vaccine batches necessary to immunize the population, CNCAV also mentions.
(Natural News) A study published in the Astrophysical Journal suggests that the sun can unleash a massive burst of energy called a superflare within this century. Such an event can knock down the power grid and satellites, pushing society to the brink of collapse.

Our study shows that superflares are rare events, said Yuta Notsu, an astronomer currently performing research at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and the lead researcher of the study. But there is some possibility that we could experience such an event in the next 100 years or so.

The sun is not as tranquil as previously thought

Superflares are high-powered versions of solar flares, which are sudden bursts of solar energy that cause stars to appear brighter than usual. They can be seen from hundreds of light-years away and are thought to occur mostly on young and highly active stars.

The first evidence of superflares came from the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations Kepler Space Telescope, which was launched in 2009 to search for planets several light-years away. Data from Kepler showed that the light from distant stars seemed to get suddenly and momentarily brighter. This suggested the existence of solar flares that are hundreds to thousands more powerful than the brightest ones ever recorded using modern instruments on Earth.

Before the CU study, scientists were unsure whether the sun could produce superflares, though some were convinced that the sun is too old to be able to pump out that much energy.

When our sun was young, it was very active because it rotated very fast and probably generated more powerful flares, Notsu said. But we didnt know if such large flares occur on the modern sun with very low frequency.

To that end, Notsu and his colleagues searched for superflares generated by sun-like stars using data from the European Space Agencys Gaia spacecraft and the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. After analyzing those events, the researchers confirmed that younger stars tend to produce the most superflares, discharging enormous whips of energy once every week or so.

But older stars like the sun, which is currently aged around 4.6 billion years, can also generate superflares once every 1,000 years on average. (Related: Scientists warn of MASSIVE solar storms: We need to be better prepared.)

Earths magnetic field can blunt the effects of solar flares, but high-powered versions can be disastrous since coronal mass ejections  fast-moving streams of charged particles that typically accompany solar flares  can barrel toward Earth and knockout satellites, power grids and other electronics.

If a superflare occurred 1,000 years ago, it was probably no big problem. People may have seen a large aurora, Notsu said. Now, its a much bigger problem because of our electronics.

Past solar storms caused widespread auroras, downed communication lines

Powerful solar storms hit Earth multiple times before, bringing down communication lines and causing widespread auroras  the polar lights  that reach near the equator. A recent study in the preprint server arXiv shows that an intense solar storm in 1582 illuminated the skies over Portugal for three consecutive nights.

Researchers compiled old eyewitness accounts by observers in Lisbon. According to one of the texts, the night sky looked like it was burning in flames, which no one in the area had ever seen before. The texts author had the same observation at the same time the next day, though it was less intense.

Sightings of auroras were not unheard of at the time because the polar lights commonly occur at the planets northernmost and southernmost latitudes. But witnessing auroras in near-equatorial regions such as Portugal was extremely rare.

In 1859, the worst known solar storm to hit Earth caused auroras that were seen as far as Hawaii and Cuba. Known as the Carrington Event, this solar storm also knocked down telegraph wires in the U.S. and Europe, triggering widespread fires. Reports showed that if a solar storm this severe occurred today, it could cause up to $2 trillion in initial damages by crippling communications and fueling chaos  a scenario that would take society up to 10 years to recover.

Learn more about the impact of a powerful solar storm at Disaster.news.

Sources include:

ScienceDaily.com

EarthSky.org

StrangeSounds.org

Space.com
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Pueblo kiva steps scatter across Jody Naranjos pottery like butterflies. But this time, they glitter with light.

The Santa Clara potter is collaborating with the legendary Tlingit glass artist Preston Singletary to create glass pottery with Naranjos distinctive pueblo designs. Their pairing resulted in 15 pieces displayed at Santa Fes Blue Rain Gallery through April 17.

The show marks the third time the two artists have worked together. Singletary first approached Naranjo about the idea 12 years ago.

It was a natural because she is such a sweetheart, Singletary said in a telephone interview from Seattle. I had also collaborated with (potter/sculptor) Tammy Garcia and (bead artist) Marcus Amerman.

My own work has become much more sculptural, he continued. So the return to these classical vase forms is relaxing. I have a great appreciation for all the subtleties of the pueblo form.

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Singletary grew up in the Seattle-area listening to stories told by his great-grandparents, who were both full Tlingit. In high school, he met and became friends with future glass artist Dante Marioni.

Singletary says he learned how to work with glass nearly by accident when Marioni asked him to work at what was then the Glass Eye, a glass-blowing studio. He eventually became a glass blowing assistant and took a workshop at the famous Pilchuck Glass School. Singletary has blown glass around the world from Sweden to Italy to Finland. He has incorporated traditional Tlingit designs into his work since the 1980s.

Accustomed to working with the earthy tones of clay, the Albuquerque-based Naranjo immediately thought of creating the pieces in brown and black. But Singletary urged her to expand her color palette.

By the end of the day, I was like purple! Turquoise! she said. Its wonderful because youre working in light and color.

Naranjo carved into the blown glass using an X-Acto knife, the same tool she uses to carve her pottery designs.

I sat and carve them for at least three or four months, she said. Its very different. I spend a lot of time at the window looking at the inside of the design.

At first it was real challenging, she continued. You have to carve it in a different way; its harder.

Singletary worked from a series of Naranjos drawings.

Shell draw on the piece and cut the stencil, he said. He fixes lines, smoothing irregularities. Then he sand-blasts the work to cut into the thickness of the glass.

The stencil holds the pattern, he explained. When Im doing the blowing, Ill create a two-color object  an interior color and an exterior color. That (interior) color is exposed.

Naranjos Santa Clara gene pool helped. The artist comes from at least eight generations of pueblo potters.

My grandfather actually used a nail to carve, she said.

Naranjo grew up watching her mother and her aunt shape clay into pottery. She remembers sitting under the Palace of the Governors portal at age 5 with her mother as she sold her work.

Id make little animals and little pots and sell them on the Plaza for a dollar, she said.

When she began working, she thought she might not be as good at polishing or building as some of her family members. But she knew could carve.

I couldnt do realism, but I could do these little pueblo cartoon characters, she added.

She often finds local inspiration, whether it be the Sandia Mountains or the fish swimming in the Albuquerque BioPark Aquarium. Her Balance piece pairs rams with fish.

The Mimbres potters did a lot of designs of deer holding fish, she said. I like to bring in those old Mimbres designs.

Kiva Steps pairs Taos Pueblo, the mountains and Naranjos signature step design.

People call it my pueblo lace, she said.

If you go

WHAT: Preston Singletary and Jody Naranjo

WHEN: Through April 17

WHERE: Blue Rain Gallery, 544 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe

CONTACT: 505-954-9902, blueraingallery.com
Christians in Indian village beaten, forced to reconvert to tribal religions

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Christian families in a village in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh fled after villagers belonging to a tribal religion ostracized and threatened to kill them if they did not convert back to their ancestral religion, but the 10 Christians who could not flee were beaten and forced to reconvert, according to a report.

The village gathering (last month) threatened to beat us to death if we did not attend the ceremony, Raidhar Nag, 21, who was among the Christians who fled Chhingur village in Chhattisgarh states Bastar District, told Morning Star News. They stopped us from fetching water from the village well, obtaining the free government ration or even working in our own fields.

Nag added that while his family and a few others fled the village on March 10, four Christian families decided to hide inside the village. But they were tracked down, beaten and forced to recant their faith and worship tribal deities in a ceremony.

They took them along and forcibly sprinkled some water on them as per the tradition and made them worship the tribal deities, Nag said of the ceremony.

Tensions in Chhingur village began on March 2 when a villager, who had requested that a local pastor pray for him for healing, died and the tribal villagers refused to allow him to be buried. With the intervention of police, area Christians took him to another village for the burial.

Also last month, a mob of about 70 people carrying weapons attacked a group of Christians who were praying at a believers home in Surguda village Bastar District, burning Bibles and vandalizing furniture and injuring at least six Christians, according to the U.K.-based group, Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

Christians in Chhattisgarh state, the majority of whom are from tribal or indigenous people groups, have witnessed a rise in attacks since last September.

The persecution is taking place amid radical Hindu groups campaign to stop the countrys tribal people from converting to Christianity. These groups have been demanding that the government ban those who convert from receiving education and employment opportunities.

Most tribals do not identify as Hindus; they have diverse religious practices and many worship nature. However, the governments census identifies them as Hindu. Radical nationalist groups, which have been working in tribal-majority areas to compete with Christian workers, have influenced some groups among the tribal population.

In three separate attacks in Chhattisgarhs Kondagaon district in September, tribal villagers vandalized 16 houses belonging to Christians from the same tribe and attacked at least one tribal Christian woman, forcing all male family members to flee into jungles for safety at the time.

The Christian men were able to return to their homes days later after the Bilaspur High Court passed an order in a Public Interest Litigation filed by 12 Christians to seek security for the displaced Christians.

Chhattisgarh is one of the states where an anti-conversion law is in force. These laws, which presume that Christians use money or other fraudulent means to convert Hindus, have been in place for decades in some states, but no Christian has been convicted of forcibly converting anyone to Christianity. These laws, however, allow Hindu nationalist groups to make false charges against Christians and launch attacks on them under the pretext of the alleged forced conversion.

Since the current ruling party took power in 2014, incidents against Christians have increased, and Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences, noted Open Doors World Watch List last year, which ranked India as the 10th worst country for Christians.

The view of the Hindu nationalists is that to be Indian is to be Hindu, so any other faith  including Christianity  is viewed as non-Indian. Also, converts to Christianity from Hindu backgrounds or tribal religions are often extremely persecuted by their family members and communities, Open Doors said at the time.
Silent revolution: Myanmar workers strike to force juntas hand

MYANMAR: Tens of thousands of Myanmar workers have gone on strike over the past two months, hoping that economic paralysis will force the hand of the wealthy generals who ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1.

Myanmarpoliticscorruptiondeathviolence

By AFP

Sunday 4 April 2021, 11:10AM

Tens of thousands in Myanmar have gone on strike since the February 1 coup, hoping that blocking the economy will force the hand of the generals. Photo: AFP / file

Bank employees, doctors, engineers, customs officers, dockers, railway staff and textile workers have all downed tools as part of a civil disobedience movement.

Some striking workers are among the 550 people killed in the militarys crackdown on anti-coup protests, while many others have been arrested or gone missing.

But they say the junta has forced them to take radical action, even if they cannot march in the streets alongside many of their compatriots.

I have no more money, I am terrified, but I have no choice: we must destroy the dictatorship, Aye, a 26-year-old bank employee in Yangon, told AFP.

We dont demonstrate in the street, we are too afraid to be on the military lists and to be arrested, she said. Our revolution is silent.

That continued resistance comes despite repeated appeals  and threats  from the military in state media for people to get back to work, and strikers say they are getting stronger.

Our movement is growing, Thaung, a civil aviation employee tells AFP, saying more than half of the 400 people in his department have not returned to work.

RISKY BET

The chaos is already undermining one of Asias poorest economies, already battered by the coronavirus pandemic, where a quarter of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.

The World Bank is now forecasting a 10% contraction in GDP in 2021, a huge step backwards for a country that had seen considerable growth during the democratic transition led by Suu Kyis civilian government.

The junta was not ready for such resistance, says Francoise Nicolas, Asia Director of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), who described the strikes as a risky bet.

With the banking sector paralysed, employees are having problems getting paid and cash machines are empty.

Myanmars garment sector, which was flourishing before the putsch with some 500,000 employees, is collapsing.

Foreign companies such as Swedens H&M and Italys Benetton have announced that they are suspending their orders, while Chinese-owned textile factories working for Western brands have been set on fire.

As a result, thousands of female workers have gone unpaid and have had to return to their home villages.

The situation is also alarming for farmers  the cost of seeds and fertilisers is rising, while the currency, the kyat, is depreciating, causing their income to dwindle.

Meanwhile, prices are soaring.

Palm oil has risen by 20% in Yangon since the coup and rice by more than 30% in parts of Kachin state, a poor northern region, according to data from the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

The price of fuel oil in Yangon rose by nearly 50% in March, according to the Myawaddy newspaper.

Products such as construction materials, medical equipment and consumer goods, normally imported from China, are starting to run out.

Chinese entrepreneurs no longer want to export because the Burmese population is boycotting their products, accusing Beijing of supporting the junta, said Htwe Htwe Thein, a professor of international business at Curtin University in Australia.

THE JUNTAS BILLIONS

Despite the economic turmoil, the junta is still turning a deaf ear to the pleas of the protesters.

It can still count on comfortable revenues thanks to the powerful conglomerates it controls, active in sectors as diverse as transport, tourism and banking, which have provided the military with billions of dollars since 1990, according to Amnesty International.

The United States and Britain have sanctioned these entities, but many countries that do business with them refuse to do so.

The army also benefits from vast informal resources from the illegal collection of natural resources, such as jade and timber, said Htwe Htwe Thein.

It can count on significant oil and gas revenues too.

French giant Total alone had to pay about US$230 million to the Burmese authorities in 2019 and US$176mn in 2020, in the form of taxes and production rights, according to financial documents published by the multinational.

Totals chief executive on Sunday ruled out stopping gas production in the country, but said it was of course outraged by the repression. The firm pledged to fund groups working for human rights in Myanmar.

Unless the juntas access to resources like this is blocked, said Nicolas, it will be difficult for protesters and international powers to make them heed the calls for change.
The U.S. Pentagon gives its approval on Friday to house the unaccompanied migrant children in its military base in California.

Pentagon To House Unaccompanied Migrant Children

The young Biden administration faces a significant challenge to address the surge of migrant children at the southern border. The numbers of unaccompanied migrant children attempting to step inside the country are very historic.

According to a recently published article in FOX News, the U.S. Pentagon approved on Friday the use of its military base in California to house the unaccompanied migrant children as their numbers continue to surge.

Pentagon's Camp Roberts in California is now the third military base used to house the unaccompanied migrant children. The other two military bases are Fort Bliss and Joint Base in Texas, according to a report in Sioux County Radio.

US Military Officials Confirm Pentagon Is on High Alert, on the Lookout for Russian Activities

Defense Department Approves the Request of Health and Human Services

The Health and Human Services first requested the Defense Department to house the unaccompanied migrant children at Camp Roberts. The military base is located about two hours northwest of Santa Barbara, GNews reports.

An official from the Defense Department said that the DoD approved the HHS request on April 2, which temporarily housed the migrant children at Camp Roberts in California. The official also said, "This support is being provided on a fully-reimbursable basis."

Meanwhile, the official also clarified that the Defense Department only gives this kind of assistance. It does not impact its military readiness and will not compromise its ability to conduct military missions.

Also Read: Kamala Harris' Stance Before Joe Biden Puts Her In-Charge of Migrant Influx on US-Mexico Border

Numbers of Migrant Children Continues to Spike

According to data obtained by a news outlet, Customs and Border Protection now track the more than 171,000 migrants they encountered in March. It was also reported that the increase was significant compared to the data last year and in February 2021.

Furthermore, the Customs and Border Protection projects around 184,000 unaccompanied migrant children could reach the border before the fiscal year ends. One of the agents in the agency also said that they have never seen these numbers before.

More than 13,000 migrant children are under Human and Health Services' custody, while more than 5,000 under Customs and Border Protection.

Critics Blamed the Biden Administration

Critics blamed the Biden administration for the increase and arrival of unaccompanied migrant children in the country's different borders. One of these is how the Biden administration unraveled the Migrant Protection Protocol, which was implemented during former Pres. Donald Trump's era.

Former CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan and Heritage senior research fellow Lora Ries said in a joint statement that the Biden administration continues to refuse to acknowledge the crisis happening on the different borders.

They concluded, "Today's numbers are just more evidence of this undeniable reality - and proof that President Biden's policies are driving this crisis."

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Faithful across Australia were allowed to attend Easter mass in person on Sunday, unlike last year's services which were conducted online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Anglican Dean of Sydney Kanishka Raffel said it was a ''joy'' for worshippers to be back in church. In Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral (Anglican), the COVID-19 pandemic was in everyone's mind including during the sermon read by Bishop of South Sydney Michael Stead.

In his sermon, Stead praised the ''power of the Easter message'' after a year of illnesses and high mortality. In Parramatta's St Patrick's Cathedral (Catholic), Reverend Vincent Long, the Bishop of Parramatta, delivered the Sunday mass.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Imperial Valley News Center

Court Authorizes Service of John Doe Summons Seeking Identities of U.S. Taxpayers Who Have Used Cryptocurrency

Boston, Massachusetts - A federal court in the District of Massachusetts entered an order Thursday authorizing the IRS to serve a John Doe summons on Circle Internet Financial Inc., or its predecessors, subsidiaries, divisions, and affiliates, including Poloniex LLC (collectively Circle), seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who conducted at least the equivalent of $20,000 in transactions in cryptocurrency during the years 2016 to 2020. The IRS is seeking the records of Americans who engaged in business with or through Circle, a digital currency exchanger headquartered in Boston.

Those who transact with cryptocurrency must meet their tax obligations like any other taxpayer, said Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Departments Tax Division. The Department of Justice will continue to work with the IRS to ensure that cryptocurrency owners are paying their fair share of taxes.

Tools like the John Doe summons authorized today send the clear message to U.S. taxpayers that the IRS is working to ensure that they are fully compliant in their use of virtual currency, said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. The John Doe summons is a step to enable the IRS to uncover those who are failing to properly report their virtual currency transactions. We will enforce the law where we find systemic noncompliance or fraud.

Cryptocurrency, as generally defined, is a digital representation of value. Because transactions in cryptocurrencies can be difficult to trace and have an inherently pseudo-anonymous aspect, taxpayers may be using them to hide taxable income from the IRS. In the courts order, U.S. Judge Richard G. Stearns found that there is a reasonable basis for believing that cryptocurrency users may have failed to comply with federal tax laws.

The courts order grants the IRS permission to serve what is known as a John Doe summons on Circle. The United States petition does not allege that Circle has engaged in any wrongdoing in connection with its digital currency exchange business. Rather, according to the courts order, the summons seeks information related to the IRSs investigation of an ascertainable group or class of persons that the IRS has reasonable basis to believe may have failed to comply with any provision of any internal revenue laws[.] According to the copy of the summons filed with the petition, the IRS is requesting that Circle produce records identifying the U.S. taxpayers described above, along with other documents relating to their cryptocurrency transactions.

The IRS issued guidance regarding the tax treatment of virtual currencies in IRS Notice 2014-21, which provides that virtual currencies that can be converted into traditional currency are property for tax purposes. The guidance explains that receipt of virtual currency as payment for goods or services is treated as income and that a taxpayer can have a gain or loss on the sale or exchange of a virtual currency, depending on the taxpayers cost to purchase the virtual currency (that is, the taxpayers tax basis).
#Comunicado

Todo ciudadano extranjero que se encuentra en el Peru, ya sea su condicion regular o irregular, esta en la obligacion de actualizar sus datos en la pagina web institucional https://t.co/Mia7DkeCP5. pic.twitter.com/hS0NghDFb6
Donors to Donald Trump s reelection campaign were unknowingly charged several times what they intended to give, according to a report by the New York Times .

The campaign and WinRed, a contractor that processed the donations, automatically enrolled donors in an option to make their contribution not once, but again and again, every week until the election. If users wanted to make a one-time donation, the Times reported, they had to sift through several lines of fine print and uncheck a box.

The result, in many cases, was Trump supporters having thousands of dollars unexpectedly withdrawn from their bank accounts and not knowing why.

It felt like a scam, Russell Blatt, whose brother Stacy was charged $3,000 by the campaign, told theTimes.

Stacy Blatt had only intended to donate $500, but was charged that amount five more times in less than 30 days. At the time, Mr Blatt was in hospice care for cancer and living on less than $1,000 a month. His bank account emptied out, and his checks for rent and utilities bounced.

Read more:

He asked Russell for help, and the two brothers called their bank to report the withdrawals as fraud.

They were far from the only ones. Victor Amelino, 78, made a $990 donation that the Trump campaign multiplied eight times, charging him $7,920.

Im retired, Amelino told theTimes. I cant afford to pay all that damn money.

In the end, the Trump campaign refunded $122.7 million in donations in 2020. The Biden campaign, by comparison, refunded $21 million.

Jason Miller, a spokesperson for Mr Trump, disputed those numbers.

Our campaign was built by the hardworking men and women of America, and cherishing their investments was paramount to anything else we did, Mr Miller told theTimes.

Gerrit Lansing, president of WinRed, pushed back as well, saying the company always emailed donors to confirm they wished to make repeat donations.

WinRed wants donors to be happy, and puts a premium on customer support, he told theTimes. Donors are the lifeblood of GOP campaigns.

The Independent has also reached out to WinRed for comment, but the company has not yet responded.
Hundreds of feral horses were released into the Kosciuszko National Park over the past year, sparking criticism that government policy is undoing the benefits of programs to rein in the habitat-damaging animals.

The Victorian and ACT governments have plans to shoot feral horses in their alpine areas, but over their borders in NSW the law bars culling and protects horse heritage value.

Feral horses cross Long Plain in Kosciuszko National Park last week. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

One-third of the feral horses trapped in the park since July have been released back into the wild by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). In that time, 484 horses were removed and rehomed.

Significantly, 279 mostly mares and foals were released from traps and allowed to continue breeding. There are an estimated 20,000 horses in the Australian Alps, and 14,000 in Kosciuszko alone. Twenty years ago, the figure was about 1500.
Dhaka, April 5 : Ahead of the seven-day countrywide lockdown, Bangladesh government has issued an 11-point directive, including the suspension of public transport services, to contain the alarming spread of coronavirus cases in the country. Prior the lockdown many people left the Capital and the district towns of the country by bus, train and launch.

The Cabinet division issued the gazette on Sunday which will remain in force from 6 a.m. on April 5 till 12 a.m. on April 11 as part of countrywide restriction.

As per the gazette, all modes of public transport (road, river, rail and domestic flights) will remain suspended during the period while emergency services, carrying of goods, production, overseas passengers and returnees will remain out of the purview of the restriction.

The offices, staffers and vehicles of the organisations providing emergency services including law enforcement, relief distribution, health services, power, water, gas, fire services, port activities, telephone, and postal services will also remain out of the purview of the restriction.

All government, non-government, autonomous, private offices and court will be allowed to carry out operations with limited number of employees.

No sitting has been allowed in the restaurants while takeaway/online services will continue.

All shops, including shopping malls, will remain closed but shops can continue wholesale and online services while maintaining the health guidelines and buying and selling of kitchen items and daily essentials will be done only in open spaces.

Bangladesh Bank will give directives to continue bank activities on a limited scale.

Armed forces will take measures to establish field hospitals in a suitable location in Dhaka and district and field-level administration will take necessary measures to implement the directives while the law enforcement agencies will patrol areas on a regular basis across the country.

The gazette also said that legal action will be taken if anyone violates these directives.
A pleasant night out at the Wendt Reviewed by Francesca Mudannayake English theatre returns to the stage after about a year with Art produced by Broken Leg Theatre Company View(s): View(s):

Praise the Lord! Theatre in Sri Lanka is slowly and surely making a comeback. The past couple of weeks have seen Sinhala theatre companies and smaller independent groups taking the incremental steps to open up the industry. With Art being the first English theatrical show to be staged at the Lionel Wendt in just over a year, Broken Leg Theatre Company had their work cut out for them.

The process was streamlined  get your online tickets checked by an assistant, sanitise your hands, get screened, pass through a metal detector, and then sit yourself in a non-cordoned off chair. It was slightly disconcerting to see gaps between audience members as the communal aspect of theatre is one of its greatest attributes but happily, a buzz was present and the show carried itself off with aplomb.

Art a comedy written by French playwright Yasmina Reza which premiered in 1994 was later translated by Christopher Hampton. Broken Leg Theatre Co. actually staged Art a decade ago but this time around Shanaka Amarasinghe (one of the original cast members) persuaded Steve de la Zilwa to come out of his fourteen year hiatus to direct.

The focal point of the show is an entirely white painting that features three white lines running diagonally across it. Shehan (Shanaka Amarasinghe), its buyer, is elated with his two million rupees purchase. Marc (Chamat Arambewela), his friend, less so. Ian (Lihan Mendis), the last of the trio, remains apathetic.

What ensues is lengthy dialogues and group discussions on modern art and philosophy which ultimately lead to a lot of backbiting, temper tantrums, and tears. As the play progresses, we see all three friends bring out the worst in each other  Shehans pompous demeanour a cruel match for Marcs wild opinions and non-assertive Ian an easy target of their bullying.

Beyond questions around what is considered art, the play is an examination on friendship and how it intersects with the changing nature of people. How do you remain friends with somebody whose views now oppose your own? How honest is too honest?How dependent are you on them as a means to complete your own personality? As Ian remarks by way of his therapist, If Im who I am because you are who you are, and youre who you are because of who I am, then Im not who I am, and you are not who you are.Wrap your head around that.

The script, though funny and sharp, had its weak points. Theres a lot of repetitive back and forth between the characters  He finds these colours to be touching., Oh he finds these colours to be touching?, Yes he finds these colours touching!  which becomes a bit tedious. Additionally, the final scene is quite anti-climactic following what would have been a better ending when *spoiler alert* Marc draws on the painting with a felt-tip.

However, the three actors successfully balanced out the plays wit and intensity with their impeccable comic timing and command over the script.There was also a good rapport between them thanks in part to the incubatory nature of their rehearsal process (they spent four days a week living and rehearsing at the directors house in Puttalam). A chic and minimal stage design also allowed the characters relationships, theories, and philosophies to play out without much distraction.

I wouldnt say I agreed with all the directorial choices though. For instance, the appearance of a clarinetist in the shows prologue was a nice touch but unnecessary. The characters would also frequently break the third wall, revealing their inner thoughts under a spotlight but it sometimes felt overkill to go back and forth between lighting changes.

Additionally, the script was adapted to add a more Sri Lankan flavour with references to Kusuma the maid, Flower Road art collector types etc. Its difficult to imbue a French/English play with a Sri Lankan sensibility so slipping it in alongside mentions of Yvonne, Angela, and bridge players felt a bit incongruous.

What I mostly struggled with was investing in each character; plenty is said about who these people are and what they represent but I unfortunately had no inclination to care. Perhaps this was due to a disconnection between actor and character but I did leave the show feeling like something was lacking.

Having said that, the play was a perfectly pleasant night out at the theatre, providing just the right dose of humour and thought provoking ideas to leave you sated. Yes, there were weak points, but as an entire production, it did a solid job. To the theatres, thespians, and their companies, oh, how we have missed you!
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke has not ruled out a run for governor after all.

Earlier Friday, The Dallas Morning News published remarks O'Rourke made on an upcoming morning program that roused the Texas political class and suggested he no longer was interested in running for governor.

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 on NBC DFWs Lone Star Politics, which will air Sunday. Im just going to keep doing what Im doing now.

The O'Rourke camp then quickly reached out to The Texas Tribune to clarify his sentiment.

"What I said today is what I've been saying for months: I'm not currently considering a run for office," he said in a statement. "I'm focused on what I'm doing now (teaching and organizing.) Nothing's changed and nothing I said would preclude me from considering a run in the future."

The El Paso Democrat flirted with a run earlier this year when he said in an interview that running against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott was "something I'm going to think about." Last month, he stoked more rumors of his interest in the seat when he reemerged as an organizing force amid the Texas winter storm.

MORE TEXAS NEWS: Snakes lurk in bluebonnets, Texas officials warn

He's also been a vocal critic of Abbott's on various issues, including the winter storm, the 2019 mass shooting by a white supremacist in El Paso and Abbott's lifting of the state mask mandate.

O'Rourke is coming off an unsuccessful campaign for Democratic presidential nominee in 2019, and a narrow loss to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.

There will be no U.S. Senate race this year, so the person Democrats nominate for the gubernatorial race will have outsized impact on down-ballot races. The Democratic party came out of the 2020 election with dashed hopes, despite high expectations.

O'Rourke suggested suggested Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins as other potential gubernatorial candidates in the television interview. Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro is another oft-mentioned potential contender, and Austin-based actor Matthew McConaughey is also publicly mulling a run.

My plan right now is to run for reelection, Hidalgo told Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith on his Point of Order podcast last month. Asked if she would rule out running for something else in 2022, she said, I wouldnt say its something that Im actively pursuing right now.

Patrick Svitek contributed to this report.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) hosted the April 3 episode of Saturday Night Live and used his monologue to discuss the differences between American and British racism.

The London-born actor of Ugandan lineage stepped on stage at Studio 8H in New York City to host NBCs late-night sketch comedy series for the first time with this episode, and the first thing he noted was that he is basically what the royal family was worried the baby would look like, referencing The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs son Archie.

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When he said that people often ask him whats worse, American or British racism, an audience member could be heard loudly exclaiming American racism, but he said, Let me put it this way: British racism is so bad white people left. They wanted to be free  free to be able to invent their own kind of racism. Thats why they invented Australia, South Africa and Boston.

In his Golden Globe winning and now Oscar-nominated role, Kaluuya played Fred Hampton, a Black Panther leader who fought for the rights of his community. In speaking about the activist, Kaluuya did not expand on the resistance he faced, but he did show a clip of him winning the Golden Globe, when the start of his acceptance speech  which was on Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a virtual show  was muted. I felt like I was in the sunken place, he said, referencing his breakout role in Jordan Peeles Get Out.

Kaluuya also referenced his family being from Uganda, to loud cheers, which he joked was from his auntie.

My mom is one of 22 kids and my dad is one of 49, he said. My familys sperm is literally about that life. They say Black dont crack but condoms do.

Story continues

Before he kicked off the show, he spoke about a play he wrote when he was only 9-years-old, that he got produced with real actors and everything  and that was based on SNL cast member Kenan Thompsons previous television series, Kenan & Kel.

Saturday Night Live is live coast-to-coast on Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT on NBC.

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Sery Kim, on the left, speaks during a panel discussion at the AFI Docs "Film and Politics Boot Camp" Presented By Audi on June 20, 2013, in Washington, DC. Kris Connor/Getty Images

A candidate running for a vacant congressional seat in Texas has lost two GOP endorsements.

Sery Kim, who's Korean American, made anti-Asian remarks, leading two California reps to revoke their support.

She said she does not want Chinese immigrants in the US "at all."

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Sery Kim, a candidate running for the 6th congressional district in Texas, has lost two GOP endorsements after news that she made anti-Asian remarks.

In early March, Sery Kim, who is Korean American, received the backing of California Republican Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel. The two have since dropped their endorsement, following Sery Kim's comments earlier this week, in which she said Chinese immigrants aren't welcome in the US.

During a GOP candidate forum on Wednesday, Sery Kim and others running talked about China's influence and immigrants who come to the US from China.

"I don't want them here at all," Sery Kim said about Chinese immigrants, to applause from the audience. "They steal our intellectual property. They give us coronavirus. They don't hold themselves accountable."

"Quite frankly, I can say that because I'm Korean."

In a statement, the two California lawmakers said they "cannot in good conscience" continue to back Sery Kim.

"As the first Korean American Republican women to serve in Congress, we want to empower and lift up fellow members of the AAPI [Asian American and Pacific Island] community who want to serve their communities," the lawmakers wrote.

They asked Sery Kim to apologize for her remarks, saying they "talked with Sery Kim yesterday about her hurtful and untrue comments about Chinese immigrants, and made clear that her comments were unacceptable."

Sery Kim has not "publicly shown remorse, and her words were contrary to what we stand for," they said, also adding that the two "will continue to speak out in support of our AAPI community."

Story continues

Sery Kim, speaking to CNN, said her remarks were intended only with respect to the Chinese Communist Party.

"I am shocked that in an effort to counter Asian-American hate the liberal media is targeting me, an Asian and an immigrant, in an effort to paint me as anti-Asian and anti-immigrant just for speaking against the oppressive Chinese Communist Party," Sery Kim said in a statement to Insider.

"It is indisputable that, even here in TX 06, the Chinese Communist Party is the foremost threat to the free world," the statement continued. "I will not back down from speaking the truth about the Chinese Communist Party being a perpetrator of genocide."

Sery Kim also added in her statement that she will continue to talk about the "Chinese Communist Party stealing intellectual property," "spying on Texans," and "spreading coronavirus around the world."

Sery Kim's comments come at the same time as numerous anti-Asian attacks unfold.

Just on Monday, a 65-year-old Asian woman was assaulted and yelled at in broad daylight on a New York City sidewalk. Her assailant, 38-year-old Brandon Elliot, kicked her to the ground and stomped on her head repeatedly while two doormen in a luxury apartment watched, security footage released by the police shows. When Elliot walked away, the doormen closed the apartment doors on her.

Nationally, recent stories related to anti-Asian violence also paint a grim picture.

Two weeks ago, police arrested a man in connection to a string of deadly shootings at three Atlanta-area massage parlors. Six out of eight of the victims were Asian women. Each attack had taken place at three massage parlors within an hour of one another on Tuesday.

The shooter, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long from Woodstock, Georgia, suggested to police that the attacks were due to a sex addiction and were not racially motivated.

Sery Kim is running to take the seat left open by the deceased Rep. Ron Wright. She had previously worked in the Small Business Administration in the era of former President Donald Trump.

Sery Kim said in her statement that she has "received more death threats and racist comments in the past 48 hours than in my previous 42 years combined," a few of which she attached to her statement to Insider.

Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at ydzhanova@insider.com.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Residents inspect the damage at a village hit by flash flood in East Flores, Indonesia (AP/Ola Adonara)

Landslides and flash floods from torrential rain in eastern Indonesia have killed at least 41 people and displaced thousands.

Mud tumbled from surrounding hills onto dozens of homes in Lamenele village on Adonara island in East Nusa Tenggara province. Rescuers recovered 35 bodies and at least five injured people, said Lenny Ola, who heads the local disaster agency.

Flash flooding killed at least six people elsewhere, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. Relief efforts were hampered by power cuts, blocked roads covered in thick mud and debris as well as the remoteness of the area surrounded by choppy seas and high waves, said the agencys spokesperson, Raditya Jati.

Expand Close Landslides and flash floods have killed a number of people and displaced thousands (AP/Ola Adonara) / Facebook

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Seasonal downpours cause frequent landslides and floods, killing dozens each year in Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

Indonesias disaster agency lowered the death toll late on Sunday to 41  down from 44  after search and rescue team reverified victims data. At least 27 people were still missing.

The bodies of three people were recovered after being swept away by floods in Oyang Bayang village, where 40 houses were also destroyed, Mr Ola said. Hundreds of people fled submerged homes, some of which were carried off by the floodwaters.

In another village, Waiburak, three people were killed and seven remained missing when overnight rain caused rivers to burst their banks, sending muddy water into large areas of East Flores district, Mr Ola said. Four injured people were being treated at a local health clinic.

At least six villages have been affected by flash floods and a landslide that cut five bridges on the island.

Photos released by the agency showed rescuers and police and military personnel taking residents to shelters.
Many lessons were learned from the Suez Canal blockage but what no one was expecting to take away from the incident were lessons on how not to be sexist. But here we are. Egypt's first female ship captain Marwa Elselehdar was dragged into the middle of a fake news campaign that blamed her for the fiasco that disrupted global trade.

When reports of the container ship Ever Given wedged across the Suez Canal made headlines, 29-year-old Elselehdar was in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, hundreds of miles away.

"I was shocked. I felt that I might be targeted maybe because I'm a successful female in this field or because I'm Egyptian, but I'm not sure," she said, as mentioned in a report in BBC.

Screenshots of a fake news headline and a doctored image of the captain were making the rounds on social media that led many to believe that she was involved in the incident. "This fake article was in English so it spread in other countries. I tried so hard to negate what was in the article because it was affecting my reputation and all the efforts I exerted to be where I am now," she said.

Elselehdar said that people still don't accept the idea of girls working in the sea away from their families for a long time. She said that it is not necessary to seek everyone's approval if you do what you love. The captain is one of the 2 per cent of women seafarers in the world.

More than 300 ships were waiting to pass as the container ship remained stuck for six days in the Suez Canal. The ship was refloated on March 29. Global commerce resumed its course by April 3.

Also read: Egypt may seek $1 billion in compensation over Suez Canal blockage

Also read: Suez Canal shipping backlog to end on Saturday
Officers of the German Federal Police check passengers arriving by plane from Prague at the Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan. 24, 2021. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)

Airline Trade Group: COVID-19 Vaccines Should Not Be Mandated for International Travel

While airlines advocate for a digital health passport that can prove peoples vaccination or negative test status to open up international travel again, an international airline trade group is saying COVID-19 vaccines should not be mandated.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says governments should not require a vaccine as proof for entry into a country as it could discriminate against people who are medically exempt or refuse to get inoculated.

In fact, IATA does not support making vaccines a mandatory requirement for international travel, Perry Flint, head of corporate communications USA at IATA, told The Epoch Times in an email. However, governments set the requirements for border entry and it is up to airlines and air travelers to comply with them.

IATA has developed its own digital passport, called the Travel Pass, which has been tested with over a dozen international carriers.

Flint says the Travel Pass does not contain a tracking code and allows travelers to store their vaccination or test results on their smartphone.

In terms of protecting the information of IATA Travel Pass users, travelers always remain in control of their data with their privacy protected, Flint said. The IATA Travel Pass does not store any data centrally. It simply links entities that need verification (airlines and governments) with the test or vaccination data when travelers permit.

In a report from Top10VPN, a security research organization, of the 73 COVID-19 digital health certificate apps operating globally, 60 apps, or 82 percent have inadequate privacy policies and 32 apps (44%) monitor users precise location.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

A handout image shows the Excelsior Pass, a platform that lets New Yorkers present proof of COVID-19 vaccination at events. (Office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo)

Governments around the world are turning to the private sector to develop vaccine passports, or health passports, to allow vaccinated individuals to travel or enter certain spaces and events. New York launched its own version, the Excelsior Pass, on March 26, while Hawaii state officials say they are considering adopting a vaccine passport to encourage inter-island travel.

Jeff Price, a leading expert in aviation security and airport management, says that vaccine passports are a solution looking for a problem as they would require too much infrastructure and training to implement.

Theres going to be a lot of infrastructure that needs to be put into place and a tremendous amount of training for the ticket agents, for gate agents, [and] for all the people within the airline system as to how do I vet whatever this new credential is, Price told NTDs The Nation Speaks.

Were talking about putting a lot of responsibility on people that really didnt sign up for this and arent necessarily qualified to make a lot of these decisions, he added.

Dr. Teryn Clarke, communications director for Americas Frontline Doctors, told The Epoch Times in an email that there is no place in a free society for vaccine passports.

Corporations threatening to deny access to services in order to coerce consumers into accepting an investigational vaccine is without precedent, Clarke said. We have collected hundreds of thousands of signatures from concerned citizens which ought to signal to the Biden administration and its industry allies that a vaccine passport is both unconstitutional and medically irresponsible.

Roadmap to Restarting International Travel

Over two dozen air travel groups and other organizations urged the Biden administration on March 22 to create a roadmap to rescind inbound international travel restrictions by May 1, coinciding with Bidens directive to make vaccines available to every American adult by that day.

The group is asking that the roadmap include the development of health passports, exempting vaccinated passengers from the international testing requirements, not mandating vaccination as a prerequisite to travel, and updating the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) guideline to state that vaccinated individuals can travel safely while continuing to keep other preventative measures in place.

The CDC recently updated its guidance on April 2 that people whove received their final COVID-19 vaccine may travel without self-isolating or taking a test.

Fully vaccinated people can travel within the United States and COVID-19 testing or post-travel self-quarantine are not required as long as they continue to take COVID-19 precautions while traveling-wearing a mask, avoiding crowds, socially distancing, and washing hands frequently, the CDC said.

There are currently no requirements to travel within the United States, except to Hawaii where visitors have to quarantine for 10 days without proof of a negative test. For international travel, countries including the United States only require evidence of a negative COVID-19 test several days prior to departure for entry.

2nd Tiered System

While vaccine passports are seen by some as the key to safely opening up the economy, critics say it would create a two-tiered society, punishing those who do not get inoculated.

Bioethics expert at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Sarah Chan, told NTD that vaccine passports are a disproportionately technologically heavy solution that would turn people into second and third class biocitizens.

The rollout of vaccine passports would discriminate against a certain group as was seen with the mask mandate that airlines had put in place in 2020.

Several major airlines that allowed no exemptions to fly without a mask refused to accommodate people with medical exemptions and parents of autistic children or toddlers who were not able to keep their childs mask on.

People wait for a flight at an international terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York City, on Jan. 25, 2021. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Southwest Airlines issued a mask mandate last summer that did not allow exemptions for anyone over the age of two and banned customers who didnt comply with their new mask policy.

But now anyone who refuses to wear a mask at airports and on board will be in violation of federal law, according to the CDCs mask mandate for traveling on public transportation issued on Feb. 2, following an executive order from President Joe Biden.

Then-Acting Secretary of Homeland Security David Pekoske empowered the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to take actions consistent with the authorities in ATSA [Aviation and Transportation Security Act] to enforce the CDCs mask requirement by signing a Determination of National Emergency (pdf).

In an updated press release, the TSA says individuals violating the mask mandate may be fined from $250 for the first offense up to $1,500 for repeat offenders. However, fines may be higher depending on substantial aggravating or mitigating factors. The mask mandate is to remain in effect until May 11, 2021.

The CDCs mask order exempts children younger than two and medically exempt individuals.

American Airlines updated their policy to allow for the exemptions provided that passengers must put in a request at least 72 hours to be exempted from the mask mandate, and then submit a physicians note and a negative test three days prior to departure or proof of recovery from COVID-19.

Alaska Airlines also took the same approach but requests that customers call the airline at least one week before departure to begin the exemption process.

Delta is requiring passengers claiming an exemption to undergo a virtual consultation with a third-party medical professional prior to departure at the airport that may last about an hour. The airliners Clearance-To-Fly process was implemented last July.

Masks may only be taken off when eating, drinking, or taking oral medication for brief periods, according to Delta, adding, Prolonged periods of mask removal will not be permitted for eating or drinking, and the mask must be worn between bites and sips.
A founding member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Yaw Boateng Gyan says recent happenings in his party is likely to affect their chances of winning the next election if not solved amicably.



He was discussing the Member of Parliament for North Tongus resignation from Parliaments Appointments Committee in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie.



Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, announced his resignation from the Appointments Committee of Parliament.



He indicated in his resignation that the decision was after days of careful thought. He added that I shall like to state that the reasons for this difficult decision are both personal and on principle.



But, Yaw Boateng Gyan sees Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwas resignation as unfortunate  adding that his expertise is much needed on the committee.



The former NDCs National Organizer, however, bemoaned Mr Ablakwas thoughtless decision to resign from the committee without any consultation with the party leadership.



This should have been discussed within the party. There are elders in the party and he [Ablakwa] should have consulted some of us for advice, he said.



Adding that What he did was disrespectful. They belong to a party and must bring such issues to the party leaders to solve this issue.







Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com









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Advocates may be all aboard with Amtrak expansion, but there is no evidence most other Ohioans are (Advocates are all aboard with Amtrak expansion, April 2). Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority light-rail trains ran close to empty most of the time, even pre-pandemic. Building expensive infrastructure for a statewide train system few people use will not help either the economy or the environment.

There is an easy way to gauge public receptivity to large-scale interurban public transportation. For a fraction of the cost of expanding train service, bus routes could be established following prospective train lines at frequencies of once an hour or more. This could be done in partnership with existing commercial carriers. Such a system could provide well over 100 daily connections to other cities from Cleveland, against a mere 22 for far more expensive train service. If the demand for bus service starts to exceed capacity, then it is time to consider expanding rail service.

Eric Klieber,

Cleveland Heights
One of Californias perpetual political conflicts may be heating up again, which requires some background to understand because it is so convoluted.

To begin at the beginning, for more than a century, California employers have been required by law to provide medical care and, if needed, cash payments to workers who suffer job-related illnesses and injuries.

Its called workers compensation, or work comp for short, and the term embraces countless specific provisions governing eligibility for benefits, payment rates and medical care, each of which affects the financial bottom line of an immense system. California employers are spending more than $21 billion a year either to buy insurance coverage or pay claims from their self-insurance reserves, roughly $2 for every $100 of payroll.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

Work comp is so immense that it supports a permanent cadre of interest groups and their lobbyists who joust constantly over operational rules.

Over the last half-century, a predictable cycle has emerged. Once a decade  or once a governorship  the five contending factions go to war, three of the five cut a deal to grab bigger slices of the financial pie, and push it through the Legislature. It takes a few years for the changes to impact the system and a few more for a new tripartite alliance to form for another battle.
The Philippines' defence chief Delfin Lorenzana on Sunday said the continued presence of Chinese maritime militias around the Whitsun Reef reveals their intent to further occupy features in the West Philippine Sea.

This comes as Lorenzana has repeated calls for the Chinese boats to leave Whitsun Reef (Julian Felipe Reef), located within its exclusive economic zone in the

"The continued presence of Chinese maritime militias in the area reveals their intent to further occupy features in the West Philippine Sea. They have done this before at Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc and at Panganiban Reef brazenly violating Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights under law," Lorenzana said in a statement.

"China should respect Philippine sovereignty over the Kalayaan Islands ( Spratly Islands), and its sovereign rights over its Exclusive Economic Zone as defined by UNCLOS and affirmed by the arbitral award," he added.

On Saturday, the Philippines' defence chief had called out Beijing to explain why there are 44 Chinese ships massed in the Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun) in the

Earlier this week, the US and the raised concerns over the presence of China's maritime militia vessels near the disputed Whitsun Reef in the

The White House in a statement said the National Security Advisors from the US and discussed their shared concerns regarding the recent massing of People's Armed Forces Maritime Militia vessels at Whitsun Reef.

Last month, the announced the deployment of additional navy ships to the South China Sea after over 200 Chinese vessels were spotted in the Whitsun Reef. Later, the Philippines also filed a diplomatic protest over the issue.

On Monday, US Secretary Antony Blinken had come out in support of the Philippines after "China's maritime militia" massed Chinese vessels at a boomerang-shaped Whitsun Reef in the West Philippine sea.

The Whitsun Reef belongs to the Spratly archipelago, the territory of which is claimed by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

China considers the Spratly archipelago to be its territory, despite the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling, which said there was no legal basis for China's maritime claims. The arbitration proceeding was initiated by the Philippines in January 2013, Sputnik reported.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scientists are to meet in Accra to deliberate on ways to strengthen West Africa's diagnostic and research environment to combat infectious diseases.



The long term impact of COVID-19 patients treatment on the fight against drug resistance in West Africa is one of the many issues that will engage the attention of West African scientists when they converge in Accra, Ghana, from 21st to 22nd April for CelebrateLAB West Africa 2021 Conference.



With no known treatment for COVID-19, antibiotics are used globally in patients management, even where there is no confirmed co-infection requiring antibiotics  leading to increasing rate of antibiotics prescribing in many healthcare settings.



The 7th annual meeting of laboratory scientists, researchers, clinicians, regulators, policy makers and other players in the health care team, will place emphasis on how stronger health laboratory systems in the sub region will help prevent emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Convened by Africabio Enterprises, Inc., the Accra Conference is being organized in partnership with the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists and co-hosted by the Ghana Health Service and Akai House Medical Laboratory, and other partners.



Researchers have been sounding the alarm on the likely long-term impact of wide spread and indiscriminate use of antibiotics since the pandemic, with many experts concerned that Africa, already burdened with Antimicrobial Resistance or AMR, will be most impacted.



Building a laboratory capacity for microbiology culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing for patient management is crucial in fighting AMR in developing countries, states Dr. Kassaye Tekie Desta, Diagnostic Network Advisor, Infectious Disease Detection and Surveillance (IDDS) in Liberia.



Diagnostic stewardship is the cornerstone of antimicrobial stewardship programs, adds Dr. Desta, who will be presenting at the conference session on: Global Health Security Agenda and Clinical Best Practices in West Africa.



Scientists fear that progress made in the fight against drug resistance in West Africa could be derailed as a result of the pandemic. Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, drug resistance has been on top of the global health security agenda and had been blamed for the dramatic increase in the costs of fighting tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, and other childhood infectious diseases; due to over prescribing and lack of policies, resulting in antibiotics abuse in the sub-region.



Under the theme: Combating Emerging and Re-Emerging Infections through Standardization of Laboratory Practice across West Africa, the meeting, among other issues, will deliberate on how to balance COVID-19 pandemic response while protecting public health gains in laboratory diagnosis of HIV, TB, and Malaria.



Health Laboratories play vital roles in disease surveillance and mitigation of outbreaks. Improving standards in laboratory diagnosis in the sub-region, experts say, will significantly impact health outcomes in West Africa.



There are numerous gaps within the medical Laboratory value chain in the sub-region. The gaps offer opportunities for scientists and governments to start thinking about creating policies and legislations around the laboratory value chain to create value for service users, notes Dr. Anthony Laud Basing, Consultant Medical Laboratory Scientist and Lecturer at Kwame Nkrumah University Science Technology, Ghana, who will be leading a session on Creating and Sustaining the Value Chain in the Health Laboratory Industry.



Dr Basing who is also the CEO of Incas Diagnostics, a company that is focused on developing simple test kits for diagnosis of infectious diseases that largely impact women and children in Africa, added that African governments must invest in research and local production of diagnostics devices in order to ensure that the supply chain challenges experienced at beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, dont recur in future pandemic.



With negligible local manufacturing, Africas health sector was affected at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when, the world-wide medical supply chain was disrupted. It is a wakeup call for the region to invest in local manufacturing of devices and other supplies instead of over reliance on donor support.



The West African Laboratory Scientists and researchers will also, among other things, share experiences and best practices on the benefits of Creating Standards in laboratory practice across the West Africa region, and examine the issue of Biological and Hazardous Waste Management in the Era of COVID-19.









Source: Graphiconline.com









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Pope Francis delivers his traditional Easter message Urbi et Orbi  to the city and the world  underscoring how today we celebrate the event that gives us the hope that does not disappoint: Jesus who was crucified has risen.

By Vatican News staff writer

Throughout the world, the Church proclaims the joyous news that Jesus, who was crucified, has risen as He said. Alleluia!, Pope Francis said at the start of his Easter message broadcast live around the world.

He delivered his Urbi et Orbi message inside St. Peters Basilica, just like last year, due to coronavirus safety measures.

He had just concluded presiding over the Easter Sunday Mass at the Altar of the Chair with a small congregation participating. The Basilica featured arrays of Avalanche roses given by Dutch florists who traditionally filled St. Peters Square with flowers on Easter every year, but had to stop temporarily due to the pandemic.

The Easter reality of the Resurrection offers concrete, tangible hope and consolation, the Pope noted, but its message does not offer us a mirage or reveal a magic formula we might wish as an escape exit to the worlds difficult realities.

Among them, the spread of the pandemic, social and economic crisis hitting the poor especially, but also, he noted the scandalous fact that armed conflicts have not ended and military arsenals are being strengthened.



Hope that does not disappoint



The Easter message of hope tells us concisely that the crucified Jesus, none other, has risen from the dead, Pope Francis said, adding that God the Father raised Jesus, who accomplished His saving will by taking upon Himself our weakness, infirmities, the weight of our sins, even our death. Because of this, the Pope said, God the Father exalted Him and now Jesus Christ lives forever; He is the Lord.

The wounds Jesus bears in His hands, feet and side are the everlasting seal of His love for us, the Pope noted, and all who experience trials in body or spirit can find refuge in them and receive the grace of the hope that does not disappoint.

Hope and solidarity in pandemic times



Pope Francis went on to say that the Risen Christ gives hope and comfort for those suffering from the pandemic, the sick and those who have lost a loved one. He also prayed that the Lord might sustain the valiant efforts of doctors and nurses.

He stressed that everyone, especially the vulnerable, needs assistance and has a right to care, and vaccines are essential. He appealed to the international community to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries.

The Risen Lord is comfort for the unemployed and those suffering economic difficulties, the Pope said. He prayed that Christ might inspire public authorities to act so that everyone, especially families in greatest need can be provided with help in order to avoid sliding into poverty, a sad reality the pandemic has dramatically worsened.

The Pope referred also to the psychological weight of the pandemic on young people, who are often forced to stay at home without attending school or visiting friends in person. He expressed his closeness to young people throughout the world.

Listen to our report

Hope that brings peace to our world

Quoting Saint John Paul II when visiting Haiti, the poor of every kind must begin once more to hope, he said as his thoughts also turned to the beloved Haitian people, urging them to look to the future with confidence and hope", and not be overwhelmed by current difficulties. He underscored his closeness to them and that their problems may be definitively resolved.

Pope Francis prayed for the young people of Myanmar committed to supporting democracy and making their voices heard peacefully, so that hatred can be dispelled only by love.

He recalled migrants fleeing from war and extreme poverty and that the light of the risen Jesus be a source of rebirth for them, as we see in them the marred and suffering face of the Lord on the path to Calvary. This calls for concrete signs of solidarity and human fraternity on the part of all, he noted, and he thanked nations receiving those who seek refuge, citing Lebanon and Jordan which have taken in so many refugees fleeing violence in neighboring Syria.

May the people of Lebanon, he prayed, find support from the international community in these tough times and persevere in being a land of encounter, coexistence and pluralism.

And may Christ our peace halt the clash of arms in beloved and war-torn Syria, the Pope underscored, where millions are suffering.

He also pointed out the deafening and scandalous silence regarding the suffering in Yemen.

Looking to the nation of Libya, he noted the hopes there are finally for an end to the decade of bloodshed and unrest. In all these lands, he encouraged all parties involved to commit themselves to end these conflicts and allow war-weary peoples to live in peace and rebuild their lives and communities.

Living as brothers and sisters

The Resurrection takes us to Jerusalem, the Pope went on to say, where we ask the Lord to grant peace and security, so it can embrace its calling to be a place where all can see one another as brothers and sisters. He encouraged Israelis and Palestinians to rediscover the power of dialogue so a solution can be found to enable the two states to dwell side by side in peace and prosperity.

Pope Francis also recalled his visit last month to Iraq, and prayed that the nation continues on the path to peace and fulfil Gods dream for a human family hospitable and welcoming to all his children.

Overcome the mindset of war

The Popes thoughts then turned to Africa, especially places suffering from internal violence and international terrorism in areas of the Sahel, Nigeria, Tigray and the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique, and prayed the conflicts may be resolved peacefully through dialogue in a spirit of reconciliation and true solidarity.

Too many wars and too much violence plague our world, the Pope lamented. He prayed, May the Lord, who is our peace, help us to overcome the mindset of war.

May prisoners of conflicts be freed in eastern Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh, he added, and may the arms race be curbed. He recalled that Sunday, 4 April, marks the International Awareness Day against anti-personnel landmines, and said these insidious and horrible devices kill or maim many innocent people each year. He also stressed how much better our world would be without these instruments of death!

Healed by the wounds of Christ

In conclusion, Pope Francis recognized how in so many places Christians have celebrated Easter under severe restrictions, sometimes unable to attend liturgical celebrations. He prayed that these, and all restrictions on freedom of worship and religion worldwide, may be lifted so all are allowed to pray and praise God freely.

Amid these many hardships, the Pope said, we must always remember that we have been healed by the wounds of Christ and in light of the Risen Lord, our sufferings are now transfiguredwhere there was death, now there is life.

He concluded, saying: We pray that the benefits of that healing will spread throughout the world. Happy Easter to all of you!

After delivering his Urbi et Orbi Easter message, the Pope imparted his apostolic blessing.
This is the driving "menace" from Northern Ireland involved in a high-speed horror smash in the US which left six people injured including four teenage girls who required emergency surgery.

Dungiven man Shane Brolly (24) was arrested at the scene of the head-on crash in Pennsylvania and a local hero pulled the screaming girls from their burning Mazda.

Police found opened beer cans "strewn" across the interior of Brolly's GMC pick-up truck and say he admitted he had been drinking.

He and his passenger Eoin 'Spud' Quinn, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, were rushed to hospital along with four high school students.

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According to police, Mr Quinn suffered "serious internal injuries" which required surgery.

Tributes have been paid to the GAA man on Facebook following the incident with former team-mates and family friends wishing him a speedy recovery.

Shane Brolly was previously busted for dangerous driving in Northern Ireland following a 114mph chase with the PSNI in 2019 before he moved to the US and settled in Philadelphia.

According to prosecutors in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, he was driving his pick-up on the Bridgetown Pike in Northampton Township last Saturday night, March 27, when it crossed into oncoming traffic while attempting to overtake.

His truck smashed into a Mazda CX5 carrying four teenage girls, all of whom sustained serious injuries with one girl being airlifted to hospital for emergency treatment.

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According to police documents published on the Bucks County District Attorney's website, Brolly admitted to driving the truck, drinking earlier in the day and officers could smell alcohol on him.

A sworn affidavit by an officer published says: "Shane Brolly identified himself as the operator of the 2013 GMC and did admit to consuming alcoholic beverages throughout the day on March 27 prior to driving which resulted in this crash.

"During the on-scene investigation police observed two cases of alcoholic beverage and also numerous opened and unopened cans strewn about the interior."

Brolly was later charged at his hospital bed on five counts each of aggravated assault and aggravated assault by vehicle, all of which are felonies (serious crimes), and eight counts of recklessly endangering another person.

Bucks County district attorney Matt Weintraub slammed Brolly's driving and said he was in the United States on an expired work visa.

He said: "He was completely reckless the way he was driving that night, he has a UK driver's licence so he is not properly licensed in the state of Pennsylvania. He shouldn't have been driving at all."

Brolly was arraigned in his hospital bed "because of the sheer recklessness, the malice, he demonstrated passing on the left-hand side at a high rate of speed, endangering everyone around him", Weintraub added.

Magisterial District Judge Daniel Finello set his bail at $10 million with a 10 per cent payment of $1m required for his release.

This is the second drink-drive horror crash Brolly is alleged to have been responsible for in the last 18 months after he was convicted of leading police on a 114mph chase on country roads just outside Dungiven in 2019.

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In June 2019, a Toyota Avensis driven by Brolly was spotted "all over the road" going through Mosside towards Coleraine.

A short time later police spotted the vehicle and put on blue lights and sirens but the car failed to stop, Coleraine Magistrates Court was told.

Court reports from the time say at one stage police drove alongside Brolly telling him to pull over, and although he indicated he would do so, he then drove on.

Over a period of 16 miles towards Dungiven he drove at speeds up to 114mph on dark country roads and was only stopped when police deployed a stinger device.

He fled the vehicle into a field before a PSNI helicopter located him lying face down trying to hide. He refused to give a preliminary breath sample but an evidential breath sample taken later showed a reading of 50 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, with 35mcgs being the legal limit.

The vehicle belonged to Brolly's father who had not given him permission to take the car.

At court he pleaded guilty to charges including dangerous driving; failing to stop for police; aggravated taking and causing damage to a vehicle; absence of insurance; failing to provide a preliminary breath sample, and driving with excess alcohol in his breath.

In September 2019 District Judge Peter King imposed an interim driving ban as he adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report before telling Brolly: "You are clearly a menace to road-users."

Following the crash a GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Neshaminy High School students, dubbed the 'Neshaminy 4', with their medical expenses. It has so far raised over $126,000.
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A heart-wrenching incident has come to light from KC Road in the Ullal area of Mangaluru, where a 12-year-old boy, identified as Aaqif, was brutally murdered. According to the information received from agencies, the child was missing from Saturday, April 4, evening. The family tried to search for the boy but failed. Later, they filed a missing complaint at the nearby police station.

Police recover the dead body of a 12-year-old missing boy in Mangaluru

Mangaluru Police Commissioner Shashikumar informed that a 12-year-old's head was smashed with a boulder. It is also being said that the child had a keen interest in the PUBG game. However, the relation of Aaqif's death with online gaming has not been cleared by the Police. In his official statement, Police Commissioner said, "Body of a 12-year-old boy, who went missing yesterday evening, found at KC Road in Ullal area of Mangaluru today morning. His head was smashed with a boulder. It is said that he was addicted to PUBG game."

On September 2, 2020, in the midst of the India-China standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India banned PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile as well as 117 other Chinese apps. The Centre banned these apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, arguing that they were involved in activities that jeopardised the country's sovereignty, integrity, protection, and security. Apart from India, PUBG Mobile is prohibited in Nepal, Afghanistan, Korea, Pakistan, Jordan, Israel, and Iraq for different reasons.

A few days back, in a similar incident, a 12-year-old boy, identified as Monu, lost his life in Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. In a tragic incident, a class 6 student died after the mobile battery exploded on his face. He was immediately taken to the hospital where he was declared dead. Monu was reportedly charging his phone battery with a "jugaad" charger. He tried to test the power by pressing it an hour later, and the battery exploded instantly, ripping his face.

(with inputs from ANI)

(Picture Credit: Pixabay/Representational Image)
Fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards are being sold online, and authorities have warned individuals not to buy or make one  which is illegal.

Be aware of individuals selling fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards and encouraging others to print fake cards at home, the FBI said in a public service announcement last week. Fake vaccination record cards have been advertised on social media websites, as well as e-commerce platforms and blogs.

Vaccine providers issue individuals a vaccination card after they are immunized against the coronavirus. The cards, usually issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, contain an individuals personal information, like name, birth date and which vaccine a person received. (Heres the right way to laminate your card and what to do if you lose it.)

The National Association of Attorneys General on Thursday sent a letter to the CEOs of Twitter, eBay and Shopify to act immediately to prevent the selling of fake vaccination cards on their websites.

We are deeply concerned about this use of your platforms to spread false and misleading information regarding COVID vaccines, says letter, signed by more than 40 officials including acting California Attorney General Matthew Rodriquez. The false and deceptive marketing and sales of fake COVID vaccine cards threatens the health of our communities, slows progress in getting our residents protected from the virus, and are a violation of the laws of many states.

The association asked the companies to carefully monitor their platforms, remove ads or links that are selling fake cards and to take note of the ads and individuals who are selling them.

The FBI also urged the public to not post photos of their vaccine cards to their social media.

Your personal information could be stolen to commit fraud, the FBI said.

The FBIs alert comes a month after the Federal Trade Comission warned that photos of a vaccination card can lead to identity theft. If individuals want to share that theyve been vaccinated, the agency recommended sharing a photo of their adhesive bandage or I got my COVID-19 vaccine! sticker.

A spokesman for Shopify on Sunday said selling COVID-19 vaccination cards on its platform is a violation of company policies.

We have been proactively monitoring our platform for the sale of COVID vaccine cards since February, and all stores that we identified for violating our policies were actioned swiftly, Vivek Narayanadas, Shopifys vice president of legal and data protection officer, said in a statement.

Parmita Choudhury, a spokeswoman for eBay, said Sunday that the company has been blocking or removing items from its marketplace, including vaccination cards, that falsely claim a person has been vaccinated. Since December, it has removed or blocked 50 million listings that have violated company policies related to COVID-19, she said.

eBay is also working closely with the FDA to monitor for listings related to COVID vaccines, Choudhury said in a statement.

A Twitter spokesperson confirmed that the company received the letter and plans to respond.

We prioritize the removal of high-severity violations that could potentially cause real-world harm, a spokesperson said.

Twitter has removed more than 22,400 tweets and has challenged more than 11.7 million acounts that have violated the companys COVID-19 misleading information policy, according to the spokesperson. It has also labeled tweets that contain misleading information on the coronaviruss.

Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
Press Release

April 3, 2021 Step on gas on Covid testing, tracing, and treatment or face humanitarian crisis: Pangilinan SENATOR Francis Pangilinan is asking the government to step up efforts to test, trace, and treat as many cases as possible to cut the transmission chains and suppress the pandemic, or face a humanitarian crisis that will overwhelm the country and wipe out families. "Apakan na ang gas. Testing, tracing, isolation, at treatment ang apat na gulong ng ambulansya kontra Covid. Lahat ng gawain ng pamahalaan ay dapat nakatuon sa pagpapabilis ng ambulansya para maunahan ang impeksyon at masalba tayong lahat (Step on the gas. Testing, tracing, isolation, and treatment are the four wheels of the anti-Covid ambulance. Government efforts must be toward accelerating the ambulance to outpace the infection and save all of us)," he said. "Inuulit ko, dapat may libreng mass testing para matukoy agad kung sino ang may Covid. At dapat masiguro rin na may makakain ang mag-s-self-isolate at ang pamilya niya (I repeat, there should be free mass testing to identify who is infected with Covid. Those who go on self-isolation and their family must be assured of food)," he added. Pangilinan cited Vice President Leni Robredo's mobile free mass testing initiative called Swab Cab. In its initial run, the Vice President reported that "people are worried that if they test positive and are required to isolate, they will not be able to work and their families might go hungry. Delikado ito." The Vice President observed that many asymptomatic patients and those displaying very mild symptoms will not undergo any test if their family's survival is at stake; they will continue working and increasing the possibility of infecting other people. Pangilinan agreed with Robredo's suggestion to incentivize testing through cash assistance equivalent to at least the minimum wage for every day of self-isolation. He made the same recommendation at the beginning of the pandemic last year. Earlier, the Philippine Orthopedic Center temporarily closed after over 100 of its 180 hospital staff tested positive for Covid. As Covid cases spiked over the last two weeks, public and private hospitals are swamped with Covid patients, and are running at critical, if not over, capacity. "Kapag ang medical front-liners na natin ang nagkakasakit, malaki ang threat na mag-collapse ang ating health-care system. Kailangang maagapan ang pagkalat ng sakit (When our medical front-liners are getting sick, the threat of collapse our health-care system is big. We must control the spread of the disease)," Pangilinan said. He urged the national and local government units to smoothly lay down necessary preparations so they can act quickly and get the shots in people's arms once the vaccines arrive. Pangilinan said the government should also be relentless in its information campaign on how the people can get the vaccines, including the process of registration and actual inoculation. On Friday, April 2, the Philippines recorded 15,310 new confirmed Covid-19 cases -- the country's highest single-day tally so far as an upsurge of the disease has been noted over the last couple of weeks. On Saturday, April 3, new Covid infections in the country numbered 12,576.
Over the last several years, citizens of the West have learned that they can no longer take democracy for granted, and the result has been an explosion of studies re-examining democracys foundations. Linda Colleys new book, The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen, is a helpful contribution to this growing field. An eminent historian of Britain, she focuses on one critical component of democracy  constitutions.

Democracy, Ms Colley points out, requires defining and demarcating the rules and principles of governing authority. As Thomas Paine put it, A is not the act of a Government, but of a people constituting a government, and a without a is a power without right.



Throughout most of history, the idea that rulers power should be defined and demarcated did not exist. Yet by the 20th century, constitutions had come to be regarded, Ms Colley writes, as a trademark of a modern state and of the state of being modern. The question she sets out to answer is how and why this shift occurred.

One way to do this is by examining the constitution-makers themselves, and much of The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen is devoted to analysing the ideas, motivations and activities of the pioneering men (and few women) involved in designing and championing constitutions. The book discusses not only well-known figures from Western history like James Madison and Jeremy Bentham, but also constitutional champions from places as varied as Japan, Tunisia, Pitcairn Island, Tahiti, Russia and India.

Of course, individuals cannot make history as they please: They must work within the circumstances given to them. Therefore, understanding the emergence of constitutions requires investigating the forces that undermined existing authorities, creating opportunities for constitutional champions to define and demarcate new ones.

The first force Ms Colley points to is war (the gun). Modern constitutions, she says, began emerging in Europe in the 18th century  a time when wars were expanding in frequency, scale and geographical scope. Although Ms Colleys discussion of precisely how warfare precipitated constitutional development is somewhat unsystematic, she does lay out some important connections between warfare and constitutional development.

Wars sometimes led to the breakdown of political regimes, creating opportunities for innovators to reshape governance and authority. This effect was particularly pronounced when wars caused empires to collapse, triggering the formation of new countries and the need to design political institutions from scratch. But even when war didnt cause regime breakdown, it often generated deep societal divisions and intense debates about the political future, leading rulers to turn to constitutions as ways to re-establish unity and legitimacy. Finally, as the frequency and scale of warfare grew, it became more expensive, forcing rulers to tax their populations more heavily. As any American schoolchild knows, taxation is likely to bring demands for representation.

Another force Ms Colley identifies was the spread of new communication technologies (the pen). During the early modern period in Europe, literacy expanded while the cost of publication decreased, leading to an explosion of newspapers, pamphlets and These made it much easier for reformers to exchange ideas with one another and with mass audiences.

Interestingly, Ms Colley shows that early constitutions were not simply the result of demands from below. Rather, increasingly aware of and influenced by Enlightenment ideas, rulers like Catherine II of Russia, Frederick of Prussia and Gustaf III of Sweden wrote constitutions in order to signal their modern status to their people and to one another. And in another reflection of the influence of the new communication technologies, these rulers often custom-made their proclamations for print reproduction and had them translated into different languages so they could be easily disseminated at home and abroad.

Which brings us to the final, interlocking force identified by Ms Colley: Globalisation (the ship). Accompanying new communication technologies was the growing ease of travel. As is the case today, these forces combined to facilitate the spread of new ideas. And since, as Ms Colley notes, it is easier to borrow than invent, the ability of political elites and intellectuals in South America, Asia, Africa and West Asia to learn about constitutions in Europe, the United States and elsewhere as well as to travel to these places contributed to a contagion of constitution-making beginning in the mid-19th century. The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen stresses that constitution-makers in non-Western places did not merely copy existing constitutions but adapted them to their own regions particular needs.

Ms Colley reminds us of how revolutionary and inspirational constitutions were  and still are. Constitutions let people define and delineate power, to shape the way governance occurs and authority is exercised in their countries. At a time when many are questioning the future of democracy, it is worth remembering how important and precious these things are. At the end of The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen Ms Colley recounts some words of Thomas Jeffersons that are particularly apt today: Tho written constitutions may be violated in moments of passion or delusion, yet they furnish a text to which those who are watchful may again rally & recall the people.
At least seven people were shot and three were killed in a shooting at a house party early Saturday in North Carolina, a police chief said.
(Natural News) The progressive state of Vermont has established racial exclusions within its Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) injection schedule that allow for people of color (POC) to be jabbed before white people.

Light-skinned Vermonters are now allowed to get injected for the Chinese virus just so long as they are 50 years of age or older. Dark-skinned Vermonters, meanwhile, are eligible if they are 16 years of age or older.

This prioritization of younger black, indigenous, and people of color ahead of younger white people is Vermonts way of paying reparations to dark people. Vermont, by the way, is one of Americas whitest states.

If you or anyone in your household identifies as Black [sic], Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC), including anyone with Abenaki or other First Nations heritage, all household members who are 16 years or older can sign up to get a vaccine, the Vermont Department of Health website explains.

NOTE: If you are newly eligible to get a vaccine for a reason other than your age (for example, BIPOC Vermonters) you may need to answer a few new eligibility questions before making an appointment, it adds.

What these eligibility questions entail is unknown, but they presumably aim to weed out white people like Rachel Dolezal who pretend to be black by making their hair frizzy and getting a tan.

Vermont created special BIPOC clinics for blacks to make them feel more comfortable getting injected

Because some black people apparently feel uncomfortable getting injected for the Wuhan flu at regular distribution points like Walgreens and CVS, Vermont has set up special BIPOC clinics that cater specifically to them.

The Windham County NAACP, the Racial Justice Alliance, the Vermont Professionals of Color Network, and various other black supremacy groups are reportedly working across the state to deliver black vaccines to black people at their own black clinics.

Immigrants and refugees are also being told that they can go to the BIPOC clinics to receive special brown vaccines just for them. This is Vermonts way of showing that it cares about saving black and brown lives.

White Vermonters, meanwhile, must be elderly in order to qualify for an injection at this time. Younger whites who live in Vermont will eventually be able to get jabbed if they so choose, but for now blacks and browns have been put at the front of the line.

Why anyone would want to get injected with an experimental gene therapy cocktail at all, regardless of the color of their skin, remains an anomaly.

Based upon what we already know about these so-called vaccines, it would appear as though the government of Vermont is prioritizing black and brown people for injection as a means of exterminating them, not keeping them alive.

Chinese virus jabs are completely unnecessary. They accomplish nothing beneficial and only serve to reprogram recipients DNA to make them genetically engineered chimeras.

From this perspective, Vermont is apparently trying to destroy the lives of non-whites before eventually moving on to whites. This is eugenics in action, and yet American society is seemingly so dumbed down at this point that very few are able to see the truth.

Come April 19, all Vermonters 16 and older will be eligible for injection. Will the vaccines available at that time be the same as those now being administered to BIPOCs? Could it be that different groups are receiving different injections at different times as part of a larger and more devious eugenics script?

Since the answers to these questions are unknown, why even take the risk? Trust your own immune system, not the one that Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates want to forcibly install into your body.

More related news about Chinese virus vaccines can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

HealthVermont.org

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Guns are displayed for sale at Dragonman's, an arms seller east of Colorado Springs, Colo., on July 20, 2014. (Brennan Linsley/AP Photo)

22 States Join Lawsuit Urging Federal Court to Rule Against Californias Large-Capacity Gun Magazine Ban

A coalition of 22 states led by Republican attorneys general has called on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule against Californias attempt to ban gun magazines that hold more than 10 bullets.

California politicians are at it again, convinced that their agendas should override the Constitutional rights of the people, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican said in a statement, in announcing the filing of an amicus brief.

Attempts to undermine the Second Amendment or any of our civil rights and liberties should be met with deep skepticism and vigorous opposition.

Republican Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who is leading the legal challenge along with Brnovich, said in a statement that radical leftist lawmakers in California and beyond are trying to legislatively overrule our constitutional rights.

California in 2016 banned so-called high-capacity magazines holding 10 or more bullets. A federal judge later ruled that the move is unconstitutional, before a three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit upheld that judges ruling. In February, the 9th Circuits full 11-member panel agreed to rehear the case.

Large-capacity magazines have been used in many horrific mass shootings around the country, including right here in California, then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, stated in February after the court agreed to rehear the case. Thats why todays decision by the Ninth Circuit to rehear this case is critical; it is the next step in the defense of our states commonsense gun laws.

The attorney generals office then said that the higher-capacity magazines have been used in numerous horrific mass shootings throughout the country, including the tragic shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks in 2018 and the shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino in 2015. California banned the manufacture of such magazines in 2000.

But in the brief, the states argued that the right to bear arms protects people in high-crime or disadvantaged areas where law enforcement might be unable to respond in a timely manner.

California should not be allowed to invade its own citizens constitutional rights, and this Court should not imperil the rights of citizens in this Circuit and other states with its analysis, the brief stated. They ultimately argued that Californias law violates the Constitutions Second Amendment.

The move comes after President Joe Biden and top congressional Democrats have said that more action is needed on gun control, including a federal ban of magazines holding more than 10 rounds, after shootings in Atlanta and Colorado last month.

Biden also sought the banning of so-called assault weapons and told reporters at the White House that when he was a senator, he was able to get gun-control measures passed, including the 1994 federal assault weapons ban that expired 10 years later. The term assault weapons has been assailed by gun rights groups, who have said the term is purposefully nebulous while pointing out that states have individual definitions and requirements for what constitutes an assault weapon.

The case is Duncan v. Rodriquez, No. 19-55376.
If hope were a season, it would be spring. Every sign of its return feels like optimism embodied: Birdsong and bicycle bells, budding trees, the soul-stirring scent of rain.

This spring, that sense of promise feels especially potent  and necessary. Just as a crocus pushes up from underground after a hard, long winter, many of us are stepping into this new season after an isolated and challenging year. We have mixed emotions, no doubt, but Mother Nature continues to offer her good medicine: beauty, wonder, proof that life goes on. Fresh air and sunshine, too  as essential to our own thriving as they are to the ever-greening world.

To help you soak up this seasons inherent good vibes, we compiled a list of outdoor activities that really sparkle during a Michigan spring. From birdwatching to beach walking, these are great ways to connect with nature and with each other while still being safe and socially distanced as needed.

As life slowly opens back up, we invite you to joyfully rediscover this place we call home. Spring assures us there are brighter days ahead; tuck that in your pocket and join us outside.

Many rock hounds consider spring to be the best time for Petoskey stone hunting.

Go rock hunting: Spring is peak season for finding Petoskey stones and other beach treasures, when receding lake ice exposes a fresh crop of cobble along the shore. Try strolling beaches on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and along inland lakes in Northern Michigan, after a rainstorm, as the stones distinctive patterns are easier to identify when wet. (Note that state law prohibits taking more than 25 pounds of rocks, fossils or minerals per year from state parks, rec areas and Great Lakes bottomlands, and that at National Park Service sites, including Sleeping Bear Dunes and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshores, it is illegal under federal law to remove any rocks at all.)

RELATED: Meet the Charlevoix stone, a Petoskey lookalike thats become a Michigan rock-hunting treasure

Tannery Falls on the Tannery Creek flows down a 40-foot drop over a sandstone canyon near Munising. (Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com)

Chase waterfalls: Snowmelt and spring rains combine to make this time of year peak waterfall season  as good an excuse as any for a road trip through the Upper Peninsula, estimated to have anywhere from 150 to 300 waterfalls. A few spots worth a stop: Tahquamenon Falls State Park, whose falls rust-colored waters get their hue from cedar swamp tannins farther upstream; Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, where some falls require a hike or boat ride while others, like Munising Falls, are very easily accessed; Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, home to nearly 100 waterfalls; and the Keweenaw Peninsula, where falls range from roadside to wildly remote.

A great egret (foreground) and double-crested cormorant share a log along the Ferguson Bayou Trail at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge near Saginaw. (Jake May | MLive.com)Jake May | Mlive.com

Be spellbound by birds: As a critical stop along the Mississippi Flyway migratory bird route, Michigan is an exceptional spot for witnessing the spectacular phenomenon of spring migration, which runs roughly from March to its peak in mid-May. Find birding hotspots near you by using the app and website eBird.org, or hit the road to visit one of Michigans nine Audubon-designated birding trails. Many of our state parks also offer excellent birding opportunities: Check out Tawas Point State Park, a renowned spot for spring warblers and waterfowl, and Hartwick Pines State Park to find the rare Kirtlands warbler and evening grosbeak.

Ride a bike: Consider this your reminder to get that spring bike tune-up, because Michigans two-wheel season is here (though if you ask a winter fat-tire rider, it never stopped). Two of our favorite easy-breezy rides are the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, a nearly 22-mile path through the scenic Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and the TART Trail, which winds through Traverse City to connect shopping, dining and sugar-sand beaches. If mountain biking is more your speed, the Keweenaw Peninsulas Copper Harbor Trails, cant be beat; downstate, Glacial Hills Pathway in Bellaire and the DTE Energy Foundation Trail in Chelsea are both a great time.

Stargazing at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in 2015. The Saginaw News | MLive.comThe Saginaw News | MLive.com

Gaze at the night sky: Truly dark night skies are an important yet dwindling resource, essential to many species of wildlife as well as our own species sense of wonder. Fortunately, Michigan has some great places to be awed by the night sky, including two internationally designated dark sky parks  Headlands International Dark Sky Park in Emmet County and T.K. Lawless International Dark Sky Park in Cass County  plus dark sky preserves in six state parks and rec areas (Lake Hudson, Negwegon, Port Crescent, Rockport, Thompsons Harbor, and Wilderness). Spring astro tip: Time your trip to the Lyrids meteor shower (peak estimated April 21-22) or the Eta Aquarids (peak estimated around May 5).

Marsh marigold, a species native to Michigan, is one of the first wildflowers to pop up in the spring. It is found in low-lying, wet areas like marshes, swamps and even roadside ditches. This one was seen along the Keystone Rapids trail in Traverse City, Mich. Photo by Emily Bingham | MLive.com

Take a wildflower walk: The first seasonal wildflowers, collectively known as the spring ephemerals, will soon emerge in woodlands and wetlands around the state  trying to find them makes for a fun treasure hunt (just dont pick them, as many species are protected). Pack a field guide, head to a nearby nature preserve, and keep your eyes peeled for shy stunners like spring beauty, marsh marigold, wild geranium, and common trillium. Or, visit the Huron-Manistee National Forests Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary, which offers a self-guided walking tour trail through a variety of wildflower habitat.

RELATED: 13 of Michigans prettiest spring wildflowers

A ferry passing Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. (Garret Ellison | MLive.com)

Escape to an island: Spring is the sweet spot for many Michigan islands, when seasonal services resume but before the summer crowds come calling. A few destinations to consider: remote Isle Royale National Park, which reopens April 16 after its year-long pandemic hiatus; Beaver Island, home to fascinating history and unspoiled wild; Drummond Island, where off-roading, kayaking, fishing, and even fossil hunting are just a few of the adventures to be had; and, of course, Mackinac Island, where the ferries return to their summer schedules in late April  about the same time the fudge shops open, too (just sayin).

RELATED: Drummond Island is a Michigan escape for outdoor adventurers
Bipartisan Group of Senators Say Fixing Immigration Crisis Is Bidens Responsibility

A bipartisan group of lawmakers says that fixing the U.S.Mexico border crisis is the responsibility of the Biden administration and various federal agencies, adding that Congress has little power to act on immigration matters.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said hes not sure what Congress can do in the immediate future.

I dont know you need legislation. I think what we need is to make sure we get the people and the technology down there to stop it, he said in an interview with The Hill over the weekend. We also need to work with the other countries to make sure that theyre not sending folks up.

Thats how I would approach it.

Dealing with the crisis down there is the responsibility of the executive branch, said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), according to the news outlet. If they feel they need additional resources, obviously, were here to help.

Theres resources. Theres the question of standing up the places in Central America where people can apply [for asylum] directly, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said of things Congress can do.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) speak as they arrive to vote in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 23, 2021. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

It comes after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said after the border visit last week that its time for Congress to take action and address the crisis.

Nearly 20 Republican senators traveled to the border late last month, with many blaming the massive surge in illegal immigration on President Joe Bidens slew of executive orders that rescinded a number of Trump-era policies, including the Remain in Mexico protocol and construction of the border wall, and instead allowing unaccompanied children and some families to stay in the United States for processing, and signaling support for granting increased avenues to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States.

They need to go back to the policies that were working, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in an interview with The Hill.

Democratic Senate leaders, including Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), told reporters last month that its unlikely an immigration reform bill will be passed anytime soon, citing divisions in the House.

I think Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi has discovered that she doesnt have support for the comprehensive bill in the House, Durbin told reporters. And it indicates where it is in the Senate as well.

Underscoring the severity of the crisis, the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Inspector General (OIG) found numerous violations at an immigration detention facility in La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona.

One detainee, who is a cancer patient, ran out of leukemia medication after the medical staff did not order a refill on time, the OIG report (pdf) said. Since the detainee did not hold the medication, he was not aware of when the medication was running out or how long it would take medical staff to obtain a refill.
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(Photo : Best Business Advice Youve Ever Received)

Advice is a dime a dozen these days, but when it's coming from successful business leaders, you might want to listen up.

You may be on the path of business ownership yourself, or maybe you're just looking for inspiration. Great advice can set your career on a higher trajectory if it hits the mark for you.

We asked current business leaders about the best advice they've ever received, and now we're passing it along to you.

Passion First

If you woke up tomorrow and money was no longer an object, what would you do?

After lazing around for a while, you might pursue a hobby or maximize your skills in a particular area - that energy has to go somewhere! When you harness that passion, business becomes so much simpler.

"The best piece of business advice I have ever received is to mold your passion around your work," said Joshua Tatum, Co-Founder of Canvas Cultures. "Everyone says if you love what you do then you will never work a day in your life, but what they don't tell you is that you can take your passion and test the market. I absolutely love spreading art to others to gain an appreciation and for me to be successful in that field, I need to understand the market. I just can't dream about it - I need to be an expert in the field which I love. I know the innards of the art world and how to market an art company correctly."

Identify what you love and make that the central focus of your business, even if you start on the smallest possible scale.

Don't Forget Family

The cliche of the entrepreneur is the person who ignores friends, family, and even food to pursue their goals. There might be some truth to that, but real business leaders know that balance is vital to maintaining sanity and finding success.

You might just get a family-oriented business idea in the process.

"The business world always seems to be set on innovation, but very rarely do you hear people discuss the importance of family needs and desires," said Melissa South, SVP of SwingTie I was told once that to find success you need to start by finding ways to make family life easier. This can mean so many things. This can mean innovating kitchen equipment to make it easier for families to cook or expanding on outdoor tools to make it easier to take care of your yards. In my case it meant making a simple design to make outdoor time at home more fun for children. The small-scale goal creates large-scale success."

When family is in your corner, you can't fail.

Master a Niche

Think markets are saturated now? People have been saying that for hundreds of years, and it's almost always an excuse to sit back and do nothing. Great ideas will rise to the top and there are more opportunities than you think in the modern world.

Find a niche, focus, and go all-out.

"The best piece of business advice I have received is to gear your business operations around people who tend to be forgotten within your field," said Jeffery Brown, President of Big Fig Mattress. "You absolutely need to find your niche in whatever market you wish to enter. For example, if you want to start a car company, who are you going to target? Will your company really be much different than the thousands of others that have produced? Or will you find a way to target a specific niche of consumers who need products geared toward them. This mindset is exactly the reason why we started Big Fig Mattress."

Zoom in on a particular audience and offer a targeted solution - you'll see opportunity everywhere.

Self-Care is Key

How many times have you seen a passionate professional burn themselves out with bad habits? It's the cause of so much wasted potential in our world - don't let it happen to you.

"Develop good personal habits as early as you possibly can," said Vincent Bradley, CEO & Co-Founder of Proper Wild. "This advice helped me become aware of my potential, evolving into the most productive version of myself as I became more involved in my businesses. These lifestyle changes allow me to bring my A-game to work every day, and I wish I had started them sooner."

You probably know which habits you can eliminate or improve, so start small and make a long-term commitment to your better self.

Speed it Up

Efficiency can't be overlooked when starting a business. There simply isn't all the time in the world to wait. Execute on your goals quickly, even if they aren't perfect. That momentum will build and keep you pushing forward for months and years to come.

"This may sound counterintuitive, but the best advice I've received is to work faster and more efficiently by shortening my daily to-do list," said Ashwinn Krishnaswamy, Co-Founder of Oklahoma Smokes. "If I overfill my to-do list when trying to get more done in my day, there's no room for inevitable human error. When my fifteen-minute meeting takes twenty, there suddenly aren't enough minutes in the day to get everything done. Panic leads to procrastination, and I accomplish less than I would have if I scheduled a lighter load. By keeping my daily tasks manageable, I can set myself up for success."

We aren't saying to be sloppy or sacrifice quality - efficiency is a balancing act we all need to master.

Keep it Lean

Today's startup culture is very focused and requires fewer people than you might think. Many moving parts can be automated or outsourced, and much of the most powerful technology is available right from your laptop.

Ask yourself: how many staff members do you really need to get the job done?

"When first getting started, keep your operations as lean as possible and only bring more people on board when necessary," said John Berry, CEO of Berry Law. "It's tempting to keep building up your roster and inflating the payroll, but that is only going to distract you from the main mission. Hire when you need to, not when you feel like it."

Rather than getting bogged down in hiring sprees or building up massive infrastructures, focus on how you can maximize every single asset you currently have.

Network to Full Effect

There has never been a better time in history to expand your network and make connections throughout the world. This is simply a good habit to practice, so don't get rusty when it comes to making introductions and shaking hands, even virtually.

"Never stop networking, even when you think you've got your dream team in place," said Dan Potter, Co-Founder of Craftd. "You never know if someone might step into your world with new ideas or solutions to problems."

At the end of the day, networking is a universal aspect of business that can't be ignored. No company is an island, so make friends and allies everywhere you go.

Stay Inspired

Companies that succeed are always introducing new products and compelling customers to explore their latest offerings. They launch different versions of existing products to keep interest high. Keep that inspiration flowing and your business will never stagnate.

"If you aren't sure how to create new products or offers, do some market research and see what people are talking about online," said Katie Lyon, Co-Founder of Allegiance Flag Supply. "You can discover a lot about customer needs and desires from reading social media posts, reviews, and testimonials. Everything is research."

It's in our nature to be attracted to the latest and greatest stuff, even if it isn't groundbreaking. Leverage that natural instinct by keeping your products fresh and refined.

Stoke the Flames

Maybe you've started a few businesses in the past, but never quite had the need to succeed with all your heart and soul. That passion needs to burn bright in order to take things to the next level in business and life.

"You're going to be dedicating a huge amount of energy and time to your business, so make sure it's something you absolutely love and care about," said Jamie Bainbridge, VP of Product Development at Mylo Unleather. "Many people fold because that passion just isn't there in the first place."

If you need to trick yourself into caring or working hard, that's a sign to reconsider your plan.

Listen Closely

Have you noticed how open and vocal people are with their opinions online lately? That's the understatement of the century, but it's also a powerful piece of business advice.

"Become highly attuned to how people think about problems and address them in their daily lives," said Abraham Rahmanizadeh, COO of Leafwell Botanicals. "What obstacles do they face, and is there an easier, simpler face to overcome those obstacles? That will inspire so many products and services for your company."

When someone complains, don't just write them off. There might be a business idea embedded in their complaint.

Hold Up a Mirror

Business ownership requires strong self-belief and maybe even a hint of arrogance. That's healthy, but it can turn toxic if you fail to realize your own faults and notice problems with employees, clients, or partners.

"Your people are a direct reflection of your own performance as a leader and manager," said Matt Seaburn, Partner and President of Rent A Wheel. "If they're unsatisfied or disengaged from the company mission, that's on you. Examine your leadership style and reinvent your approach when needed, rather than ignoring issues."

Sometimes we all need to look in the mirror to get to the root of problems in business and beyond.

Just Make a Move

What do all great business leaders throughout history have in common? They weren't all geniuses, and they weren't all perfect - by any means. The common thread is that they took action no matter what, and it paid off for them in huge ways.

"The worst decision you can make is no decision at all," said Brittany Dolin, Co-Founder of PocketBook Agency. "There are risks and rewards to every decision, so embrace that reality and never sit on the fence. Action is everything."

If you're the indecisive type, focus on improving your decision-making skills first and foremost.

Get Amped Up

How many businesses were started on a beach or in a hammock? We might feel happy and relaxed when the pressure is off, but that's not how great companies are formed. Find a source of burning motivation and use it to get an edge.

"Be your own hype man and pump yourself up to accomplish amazing things," said Scott Rosenberg, CRO of MaryRuth Organics. "Energy is so important when starting a business, and you have no time to waste. Work harder and smarter, maximizing your every move with intention and focus."

In other words, be wary of comfort, because it can actually slow your momentum to a stop.

Don't Be a Know-it-All

What's more powerful than someone who thinks they have all the answers? The person who is always asking questions and ready to admit when they're wrong.

"We don't know everything," said Michael Scott Cohen, CEO of Harper and Scott. "Although there are times we might think we're doing a good job, we should always look for ways to continually improve, for both employees and clients."

It's more than humility - it's an eagerness to absorb new information and experiences at all times.

Endless Effort

Are you dreaming of being a business owner so you can one day just drop it all and escape? That's a vision that many people have, but it's not the reality. Business is always a work-in-progress, especially for peak performers.

"There's no endpoint when it comes to business ownership, no finish line," said Kelli Lane, Chief Marketing Officer of Genexa. "Be open to the idea of always improving and always looking for ways to expand your brand. Never be satisfied with the status quo, and success is inevitable."

Rather than sprinting to the end of the race, enjoy the journey and create a sustainable way of living. That seems to be the answer.

Live to Learn

Sometimes the best advice is simply to take more advice! There is no limit to human knowledge, and business is one of the all-time greatest teachers.

You'll learn lessons along the way that could never be taught in school, so be ready to take some notes.

"Seek learning opportunities in everything," said Louis Leidenfrost, CEO of Paint Your Numbers. "Never stop learning. The more you learn, the more you grow. Adapting a learning mindset allows you to seek opportunities from anywhere."

Feel like you haven't learned anything in your career lately? Maybe it's time to start your own venture.

Failure = Fuel

Nearly every piece of business advice makes some reference to failure, yet it still makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Redefining our relationships with failure seems to be a hidden key to success that great leaders understand well.

"Allow yourself to fail," said Artie Baxter, CEO of Paperclip. "Failure allows growth. If you don't try, how will you ever know what the outcome could have been? Failure also serves as a motivation. Sometimes lack of success is the boost of motivation needed. This creates a drive and a passion for success."

Stop thinking that failure is inherently bad, and embrace it as part of the process.

Customer Connection

Lots of business advice is focused on management, education, preparation, and mindset. That's all good stuff, but at the end of the day, your goal is to sell something to customers. This should never be forgotten.

"Learn who your customers are," said Sean O'Brien, CMO of Modloft. "It's best to know your customer inside and out, this way you are able to customize the product/service to specifically cater to them. Establishing a customer identity is key in business. Is there something your customers have been asking about or even demanding? Look into how you can bring that good or service to them."

This is the advice that some of us need to get back down to earth and focus on fundamentals.

Forks in the Road

We've all been at points in life where we know a change must be made to move forward. That principle applies to business as well, so learn to make decisive choices and follow through. This will serve you well when you reach those forks in the road.

"Pivoting is key for growth, said Roy Ferman, CEO of Seek Capital. "Pivoting will essentially give you the ability to make a sharp and assured decision when you are clearly at a turning point. If you want to consider yourself an overcomer, you must humble yourself enough to recognize when you need to turn around or go a different direction. This skill is very important for business leaders because this mode of thinking will always lead you to a path of success when you feel you have hit a dead end."

You can practice pivoting by making lifestyle changes or committing to new routines. Build that muscle and keep it strong.

No More Waiting

We all know that person who has so much potential and is always talking about their next great idea. For some reason, however, they never seem to get anything going.

This is often just a symptom of uncertainty, and business leaders know that action is always preferable to overthinking.

"The stars will never align, and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time," said Tim Ferriss, Author of The 4-Hour Work Week. "The universe doesn't conspire against you, but it doesn't go out of its way to line up the pins either. Conditions are never perfect. 'Someday' is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it's important to you and you want to do it 'eventually,' just do it and correct the course along the way."

Is there something in your life you've been putting off forever? Make it a priority and get some momentum going. It will take you far.

Team Effort

We tend to imaging business leaders as superheroes accomplishing everything on their own. That might be the TV-Movie version of events, but reality requires teamwork on a deep level.

That means smart delegation, collaboration, ongoing dialogue, and much more.

"The best advice I've received, that I choose to run my business on, is to learn along with your team," said Jim Beard, COO of BoxGenie. "There's no use in pretending to know everything- admitting your faults and asking for help from your team is incredibly useful. This has been applicable to the past year, as we have all had to collaborate as a team to work around the stay-at-home orders."

Your team will be with you every step of the way, so learn to live and work with them to the best of your ability, starting now.

Risky Business

Some of us are just natural risk-takers, while others need to build up their risk tolerance over time through trial, error, and exposure.

There's no getting around the fact that risk is a prerequisite for success, so figure out a way to manage it if your goal is to own a business.

"The best advice I've received is being told to not be afraid of risk-taking," said Jing Gao, CEO of Fly by Jing. "There is always some risk when setting out to create a product and kickstart a business venture. The risk, however, varies upon your industry. For me, I set out to create a delicious and diverse chili sauce to represent my Sichuanese background and bring recognition to my culture's delicacies. In this, there was a good amount of risk. I would encourage all women, especially minorities setting out to create something they love, to take the risk."

Make a Mission

You might have a perfect elevator pitch for your business, but that's only going to take you so far. Great business founders think in terms of mission, which goes beyond simply making money or getting recognition from the public.

"Build your efforts around your brand's mission statement," said Danielle Calabrese, COO of De La Calle. "Producing content that is both relevant and educational on the history of our product has been key to educating consumers on why they need our modernized and health forward drink."

If your business lacks a mission, find one now - and put it above everything else.

Avoid Advice Overload

Here's the paradox we've all been waiting for: too much advice can be a bad thing. The great success stories aren't about giving or getting advice. They're about action, effort, and achievement.

"Don't take too much advice," said Ben Silbermann, Founder of Pinterest. "Most people who have a lot of advice to give - with a few exceptions - generalize whatever they did. Don't over-analyze everything. I myself have been guilty of over-thinking problems. Just build things and find out if they work."

If you're overdoing it on advice, make action your main goal and worry about the details later.

Mutual Respect

A company built on a bad foundation might have some time in the sun, but it won't last long. The strongest foundations begin with respect, and that goes for every level of the organization, top to bottom.

"The best advice that I was ever given was to ensure that my entire team treated one another with respect at all times," said Timmy Yanchun, Co-Founder of LTHR Shaving. "That's why we are really proud of the team that we have assembled - all based on mutual respect and working collaboratively together."

If lack of respect is an issue in your ranks, address it now so it doesn't bubble under the surface.

Bounce Back

Think your business plan is perfect and that nothing can go wrong? Think again. That first plan might have potential, but it should only be the tip of the iceberg for your overarching strategy and your willingness to be resourceful.

"The best tip I've gotten for creating a successful startup is always having a backup plan," said Kaz Amor, Founder of VoCe Haircare. "If an element of your idea falls through, be prepared to be transformative. Also, if you decide to self-fund, be prepared to look at other avenues. It is always helpful to seek funding. Don't be set on your plans from the start. Industries change, times change, and trends change. Be flexible and you'll stay on top of it."

Feeling inspired yet? With all this great business advice at your fingertips, and you're ready to take on the world. Get to work now and don't look back!

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
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.
Australias charity regulator has been called on to investigate Scientology amid concerns it is abusing its not-for-profit status.

An investigation by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald found the Church of Scientology had shifted tens of millions of dollars into Australia from offshore and is making significant tax-free profits. Australia, the investigation found, has become an international haven for the religion despite a sharp fall in its number of local adherents.

Church of Scientology buildiing in Ascot Vale. Credit:Angela Wylie

Greens treasury spokesman Nick McKim called on the regulator to investigate.

There is a very clear case for the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) to review Scientologys charity status, Mr McKim said. They should investigate whether Australia is being used as a tax haven for the organisations international revenue.
New Delhi, April 4 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while addressing a kisan mahapanchayat organised by the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Haryana unit in Jind on Sunday said that the AAP-led Delhi government was punished for supporting farm protests against the three farm laws.

He was referring to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which was approved by President Ram Nath Kovind on March 29 after it was passed from both the Houses of the Parliament giving a major setback to Delhi's ruling AAP.

The bill makes it mandatory for the elected Delhi government to seek LG's opinion before any executive action. However, the AAP has been opposing the Bill claiming that it would stall Delhi's progress by giving undue powers to the LG.

"AAP has been paying the price for lending its support to the protesting farmers. The Centre has snatched all our powers, but we will continue our support to the farmers," Kejriwal said.

The CM accused the BJP-led Union government of conspiring against the protesting farmers for shifting them in nine stadiums from the three borders. "When you (farmers) had reached Delhi to protest against the farm bills, the Centre sent police and asked to oust you all from nine stadiums in Delhi. I rejected Delhi police's file because your fight is genuine. BJP wanted to convert those stadiums into jails to subdue the intensifying protest," Kejriwal said.

He also accused Haryana Chief Minister Manodhar Lal Khattar for blocking the roads and issuing the orders for lathicharge against the farmers of Punjab and Haryana when they were heading toward Delhi in November last year.
This year marked our biggest group ever, with 14 students on program. All of the students in this years group are seniors. They are (not featured in order) Nichole Albright, Megan Dreger, Hunter Haggenmiller, Katie Koegel, Austin Koep, Jake Martin, Grace Ruckheim, Katelyn Schlosser, Kate Simonson, Maddie Schroeder, Jon Schwartz, Emma Skalsky, Cody Springer, and Dillon Vogt. Group leaders this year were David OBrien and Jim Duberowski.
They put on a fashionable display wherever they go.

And on Saturday, twins Jess and Eve Gale, 21, looked nothing short of sensational when they left the BBC television studios after a day of filming.

Donning cut-out bodycon dresses that left little to the imagination, the Love Island stars put their ample assets on full display as they posed on their way home.

Stunning: On Saturday, twins Jess and Eve Gale, 21, looked nothing short of sensational when they left the BBC television studios after a day of filming

Eve sizzled in red, teaming her skin-tight frock with strappy heels and pulling her waist-length blonde hair up into a towering bun.

Meanwhile, Jess opted for a mocha-coloured dress with cut-out detailing that showed off some serious underboob.

With her tresses weaved into a chic plait that fell down her back, Jess added height to her frame with a pair of white heels as she walked hand-in-hand with her sibling.

Last month, Eve told fans that she was pining for sunnier climes as she shared a throwback swimsuit snap, before slipping into tiny hotpants.

The blonde beauty flaunted her ample cleavage and underboob in a skimpy orange swimsuit. She captioned the snap: 'Oh to be this tanned again #June2020.

Red hot: Eve sizzled in red, teaming her skin-tight frock with strappy heels and pulling her waist-length blonde hair up into a towering bun

Jaw-dropping: The form-fitting dress offered a glimpse of every inch of her peachy posterior

Jess and Eve recently returned to the UK following their 'work' trip to the United Arab Emirates.

The TV stars were just two of many celebrities who jetted to Dubai throughout the pandemic, joining many other Love Islanders including Joanna Chimonides, Hayley Hughes and Francesca Allen.

After Dubai joined UK's travel ban list, celebrities then began flocking to Mexico's bars and beaches as it established itself as the next COVID getaway destination.

Gorgeous: Meanwhile, Jess opted for a mocha-coloured dress with cut-out detailing that showed off some serious underboob

Sizzling: She certainly set pulses racing as she strutted home

The country appeared to be the new destination of choice for global jet-setters and could rocket in popularity at the time.

Travel abroad is now banned from the UK without a legally permitted reason, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced.

The politician criticised influencers for 'showing off in sunny parts of the world'.

Stylish: Donning cut-out bodycon dresses that left little to the imagination, the Love Island stars put their ample assets on full display as they posed for photographers

Sunnier climes: Jess and Eve recently returned to the UK following their 'work' trip to the United Arab Emirates (pictured after filming on Saturday)



Many stars insisted their trips are for 'work purposes', with several influencers forced to hit back at fans after they were criticised for jetting off on holiday during the global pandemic.

Jess and Eve rose to fame on the first ever series of winter Love Island back in 2020.

While Eve was booted off after less than a week, Jess made it to the final with Ched Uzor - with the pair going their separate ways shortly afterwards.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Mayor Bill de Blasio the other day said that he was horrified by video of a parolee attacking an Asian woman in Midtown Manhattan.

It was the latest in a serious of heinous attacks on Asian people in our city.

But the mayor should look in the mirror when it comes to crime. Its his policies that have encouraged criminals and have fostered a Wild West environment on city streets and subways.

Speaking to the press last week, de Blasio said he wished that some do-good citizen had intervened to help the woman in that Midtown attack. Or at least had called 911.

Is he kidding?

De Blasio and his bail reforming, jail closing fellow travelers have led the stand-down when it comes to enforcing the laws in New York City.

Theyve vilified the NYPD to the point where cops risk arrest and lawsuits for simply doing their jobs.

So now members of the public are supposed to do what de Blasio and the rest dont even want the NYPD to do anymore? We should put ourselves at risk, confronting a criminal who may be carrying a gun or a drug-deluded or mentally out-of-touch homeless person?

No thanks. Tackling crime is your job, Mr. Mayor. Put on a cape and hit the streets if youre so worried.

De Blasio shook his head sadly when it was revealed that the alleged perpetrator in the Midtown attack, Brandon Elliott, was on parole for murdering his own mother when the attack occurred.

De Blasio said the parole system in the state does not work, because it releases felons onto the street with no plan, no housing, no job and no mental health support.

Boo-hoo.

So much sympathy for a guy who had served time in prison for killing his own mother. If ever there was a crime that merits a lifetime sentence without parole, that one has to be pretty close.

And who among us really believes that some counseling and a place to lay his head at night would have kept a man like that in check? If someone is going to murder his own mom, theres simply no controlling them.

But thats de Blasios New York all over: Coddling criminals while vilifying cops. Is it any wonder that the criminals are now taking control of the streets?

Its de Blasio whos helped build a world where criminals dont have to post bail. Where jails are shuttered because holding people accountable for their actions is somehow too harsh. Where entire classes of crimes simply arent enforced.

Because in de Blasios New York, certain people are allowed to offend without punishment. The only people who are punished are crime victims, who wonder when theyll get some sympathy from City Hall.

But were left to fend for ourselves. Until some new Bernie Goetz or another fed-up vigilante takes matters into his or her own hands. Then youll hear an outcry from de Blasio and his ilk.

And when crime drives people and their tax dollars out of the city in sufficient numbers, well hear cries of white flight. The race card will be thrown simply because some people left town to find a little law and order, a better quality of life and some peace of mind.

The wave of anti-Asian attacks is only the latest proof that the city is circling the drain. Who feels safe going into the subways these days? Who feels safe walking on a city street at night?

De Blasio last year blamed the surge in gunplay and violence on the perfect storm of the pandemic.

Whats his excuse now that its a year later and COVID-19 isnt at the same levels it once was? The answer is in the mirror.
A Fine Gael TD has described the recent death threats levelled at his party leader as unnerving but praised the Tanaiste for getting on with it.

A fortnight ago, this newspaper revealed that several death threats have been levelled against the Tanaiste in recent weeks, leading to him now requiring round-the-clock armed garda protection.

Senior sources say the deaths threats are being taken extremely seriously and gardai are responding appropriately in terms of providing protection for Mr Varadkar.

In an interview this weekend in the Sunday Independent, Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond said he was aware of the threats made against the Tanaiste.

The threats are unnerving. You know, if you want to go for a run within your 5k and have to ask Special Branch to come with you, it has a huge impact on your life.

And Leo, in fairness, has had a slew of threats over the years. Hes had homophobic death threats; hes had racist death threats; hes had politically charged death threats; hes had loyalists putting up his home address on walls. And hes also getting a lot from the anti-lockdown far right.

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The TD for Dublin Rathdown added that he believed Mr Varadkar had full faith in An Garda Siochana.

Its not nice for him or his partner Matt, Mr Richmond said. But hes getting on with it and has great faith in the guards.

While is it not unusual for members of government to receive threats, each threat is evaluated separately to determine whether it is credible.

A full evaluation of every threat received is carried out. Some of the threats against the Tanaiste are coming from people who are already on Garda radar, because of their involvement

in extremism linked to some of the recent anti-lockdown protests, added a source.

It is the responsibility of the Special Detective Unit (SDU) to provide armed protection in the form of a full-time SDU driver to the Tanaiste of the day.

However, due to a slew of recent threats, including some of a homophobic nature, Mr Varadkar now warrants a full-time close protection detail from the SDU.

This entails a 24/7 armed garda detail, in addition to his garda driver.

It is understood the recent death threats were particularly nasty and came from a number of different individuals. Some people who made the threats have been identified as having the potential to attempt to cause the Tanaiste physical harm.

Some of those involved are believed to be far-right extremists who hold homophobic views, as well as being anti-lockdown and anti-facemask advocates.

Not all of the death threats are from the far right, a source added  and while many of the threats have been made online, this is not the only way the threats have been issued.

One security source explained: For obvious reasons, not much can be divulged  as this is a security issue of national importance. But it is fair to say gardai do not ramp up any member of governments armed security to this level unless there is good reason. This is being taken extremely seriously.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin also has a close protection detail from the SDU. But it is understood that the Tanaistes level of protection is currently higher than the Taoiseachs, because of the threat level against him.

Meanwhile the PSNI has made contact with the Garda about threats levelled by loyalist paramilitaries against senior politicians in the south including Mr Varadkar, Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.

Read More




I find it fascinating how quickly we all adapted to the virtual world this past year  were all Zoom masters now and dont think twice about enjoying a drink with a pal over a video call or watching a gig online. However, lots of peeps are struggling at home with DIY beauty. Did you know that our DIY beauty treatments have changed drastically since the first lockdown? The team at beauty comparison site Cosmetify has put together the most popular beauty-related Google searches in 2021. Here are the top five: How to cut mens hair  up 412pc. How to fade hair  up 275pc. How to trim your own hair  up 151.1pc. How to shave your head  up 146.2pc. How to cut a fringe  up 125pc. Surprised? Ive only attempted about two of these five but I know plenty of people, men especially, who have just had enough and shaved everything off while waiting for the barbers to reopen. Also, apparently, How to pierce your own ear has dropped out of the top 10 list this lockdown. All I can say to that is thank Gucci! Do not try that at home, folks! Many years ago, I scarred Aidan, my brother in Schull, while attempting to pierce his ear with a darning needle and a lump of ice  Im still very, very sorry!

The trick

I used to be the Kween of tanning disasters, but a hundred years in the beauty biz means Ive picked up a trick or a thousand! Did you know you can fix a tanning faux pas with bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice? Mix the two to form a paste and then rub on the offending area using a circular motion.

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The tools

I often say Ive hair like my six-year-old  very badly behaved and unruly!

If you have thick, hard-to-manage hair, chances are a regular ghd does little in the way of taming your mane. Say hello to ghd max styler ceramic hair straightener, above, 195, which is the newest member in the hair straightener family. Its plates are 70pc bigger so it saves you time, too. Its available on petermark.ie.

The treatment: Salon support

With salons closed for the best part of a year now, Ive been on a bit of a mission to show my support in more innovative ways. And, to be honest, it hasnt been that hard.

I like to follow my faves on Insta and recently signed up to the Nuala Woulfe Beauty Salons newsletter on

nualawoulfe.ie  its full of information, handy tricks and new things to try.

They often have giveaways and beauty tips, as well as updates to their online shop, which offers brands like SkinCeuticals, so you can glow like J-Lo, pictured above. Seeing as a good gossip while getting a treatment done is off the cards, it ensures well have plenty to chat about when Im back. I highly recommend signing up!

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The trend: Shine bright

Its the law on Instagram now that you have to have the fanciest candles burning brightly when doing a Live or Stories! Seriously, all I see are fancypants candles on all my fave peeps pages. As were all at home so much, no wonder sales of scented candles have seriously increased.

Im McLovin this Louise Kennedy Damask Rose Ceramic Candle, above, 50, available from the

Dublin-based designer.

Each handcrafted candle is poured into a pretty white container displaying a beautiful motif  perfect to use as a pen holder or for brush storage when the candle is spent. Fragrances include accents of damask rose, lys flower, narcissus and opium flower.

Tel: (01) 662-0056, or see louisekennedy.com
Pope Francis has used his traditional Easter Sunday address to denounce as scandalous how armed conflicts continue to rage on even as the coronavirus pandemic has triggered severe social and economic suffering.

Francis tempered his Urbi et Orbi wishes of joy on the Christian feast day along with accounts of pain from the globes many armed conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe.

Describing vaccines as an essential tool in the pandemic battle, Francis called for a spirit of global responsibility as he encouraged nations to overcome delays in the distribution of vaccines and ensure that the shots reach the poorest nations.

Everyone, especially the most vulnerable among us, requires assistance and has the right to have access to necessary care, the pontiff said.

He sounded a note of indignation at the start of his address, decrying that there has been no shortage of war and conflict during the worlds worst health crisis in a century.

The pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor. Nevertheless  and this is scandalous  armed conflicts have not ended, and military arsenals are being strengthened, Francis said, sounding angry. That is todays scandal.

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The pope prayed that public authorities would see to it that those needing assistance have a decent standard of living.

He said: Sadly, the pandemic has dramatically increased the number of the poor and the despair of thousands of people.

He lamented the plight of people afflicted by war and other conflicts, citing Haiti, one of the worlds poorest countries and which has been wracked by violent protests and political strife including an alleged coup. Francis urged Haitians not to be overwhelmed by difficulties, but to look to the future with confidence and hope.

Francis offered encouragement to young people in Myanmar who are committed to supporting democracy and making their voices heard peacefully. Demonstrators in Myanmar took to the streets holding painted eggs in a reference to Easter. Myanmars military has violently sought to quash those opposed to a February 1 coup that ousted a democratically elected government.

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Francis thanked Lebanon and Jordan for taking in refugees from war in Syria, praying that peace finally comes to millions are living in inhumane conditions. He also prayed for ends to conflicts in Yemen and Libya.

Citing suffering of people in Africa, he decried internal violence and international terrorism, especially in the Sahel and Nigeria. Other troubled areas he mentioned were Ethiopias Tigray province and Mozambiques Cabo Delgado province, which has been hit by days of fighting with rebels for control of a town.

Francis prayed for the safe return home of prisoners of long conflicts in Europe, in eastern Ukraine and in Nagorno-Karabkh.

Earlier in the day, Francis celebrated Easter Mass in St Peters Basilica, where the faithful in the pews barely numbered 200 in keeping with pandemic protocols, compared to the usual thousands.
A Congressional candidate from Texas gets bipartisan backlash over comments about Chinese immigrants. In a statement, she said that they are not welcome.

The Chinese have been accused of being agents of the Communist Regime and part of America's subversion. These comments got back bipartisan criticism after the published statements.

GOP Congressional Candidate got severe backlash over comments

Texas Republican Congressional candidate Sery Kim remarked in a forum that Chinese immigrants were unwelcome. She was quoted to say the following statement, "I don't want them here at all." After what she said, both Democrats and fellow Republicans gave their thumbs down, as reported by The Blaze.

Her statement made it clear, as quoted. "They steal our intellectual property, they give us coronavirus, they don't hold themselves accountable." Chinese activities were highlighted involving IT theft and even COVID-19, plus the Trump administration repeatedly criticized the Chinese Communist Party.

According to The Dallas Morning News, after Kim said that she does not want Chinese nationals immigrating to the United States, she explained her reasoning. Saying, "They steal our intellectual property, they give us coronavirus, they don't hold themselves accountable." Last, she added, "And quite frankly, I can say that because I'm Korean."

Not all Korean American Republicans think the same way. Two GOP California Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel took away their support due to the uncalled-for remarks of Congressional candidate Kim.

UK Warns G7 Countries: China to Dominate Global Trade

Reps. Kim and Steel are the first Korean American women to serve in Congress. Their mission, according to them, is to promote fellow Asian-American and Pacific Islanders who want to contribute to their communities

Both Korean American representatives felt that Seri Kim's words were inappropriate from someone running for office. They decided she was not fit as a candidate for not watching her words.

"However, she has shown no public remorse, and her words runs contrary to everything we stand for," they said. "We are still unable to accept her nomination in good faith. We will continue to speak out in support of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community."

"I am surprised that in an attempt to fight Asian-American hate, the liberal media is attacking me, an Asian and an immigrant, in an effort to paint me as anti-Asian and anti-immigrant for speaking out against the terrible Chinese Communist Party," Kim said in a statement following losing the endorsements.

Remarks were directed at the Communist Party of China

Kim commented to CNN on Thursday that her comments at the candidate forum "were aimed at the Communist Party of China, not at Asian Americans, especially Chinese immigrants escaping the oppressive regime."

Kim's campaign released a clip of her remarks, but the Dallas Morning News said they were aimed at immigrants. The Blaze requested more footage from the Kim campaign.

Meanwhile, Congressional candidate Sery Kim stands by her comments from the gathering, in which she still rejected arguments that Asian American violence is on the rise. Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 145 percent in major U.S. cities last year, according to a report published by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University.

Records Show Chinese Communist Party Has Infiltrated Several Embassies in Many Positions

Former Pompeo Adviser Says Free World Should Oppose, Draw Red Line Against Communist China

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Not even the IRA's master strategist Bobby Storey could have planned for his own death last year to potentially bury so many people's careers - including that of a unionist leader.

Rarely before even by Northern Ireland resignation-hungry standards has there been a week when so many calls have been made for so many figures in high places to fall on their swords in the wake of the decision by the Public Prosecution Service not to charge anyone for breaching Covid-19 regulations at the Storey funeral.

Depending on who was doing the demanding the director of the PPS should have gone; Michelle O'Neill should have resigned; Conor Murphy should have quit; the Chief Constable Simon Byrne should have bowed out and senior PSNI officer Alan Todd should have stepped down.

The clamour for the police departures came initially from the TUV and the DUP before the Ulster Unionists came late to the pillory party and ended up with their own leader Steve Aiken facing pressure on him to consider his position.

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The ex-submarine commander must have been bitterly regretting his decision to surface for the Stephen Nolan show on Friday because his performance in calling for the chief constable's head was undoubtedly one of the most cringeworthy and embarrassing interviews in the history of politics here. Crash and Byrne, you could call it.

Mr Aiken was tied in knots as he was incessantly urged to spell out the specifics of why he was pushing for the chief constable to go. But it was soon obvious that a flustered Mr Aiken didn't have the answers.

Nolan, who had Mr Aiken on the ropes, later hit him with another body blow, turning back to the politician's comments on Good Morning Ulster a short time earlier that the referral by Mr Byrne of his force's handling of the funeral to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary was akin to the police marking their own homework.

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Mr Aiken was given several opportunities to withdraw his remarks about the independent HMIC but he declined to do so.

Several Ulster Unionists I spoke to afterwards were in shock and it was obvious that they too had questions for their leader.

It's clear too that the aftershock of the PPS decision over the funeral will be felt for a long time. Many people, me included, have been scratching our heads and trying to fathom how the decision was reached.

And Mr Byrne has said he and his senior colleagues were professionally surprised by it.

Now, I know that republicans have long been a law onto themselves but surely this was more serious than just the same old Storey.

"For we all saw thousands of republicans flout the regulations at the funeral. Or did we?

The PPS statement blamed confusion over the restrictions as one reason for the absence of prosecutions. Another was that the PSNI had engaged in advance with Sinn Fein about their plans for the funeral.

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My first instinct as a journalist who has covered countless trials was to argue that the best place to test the strength of a case is in a court and we wait to see what the PPS review into the whole affair will come up with.

As for the PSNI, in my book it would have been totally remiss if they hadn't discussed the funeral plans in advance with the people who, whether we like it or not, still rule at least part of the roosts in republican areas of west Belfast.

And let's be honest, no matter what the outcome was of the 'negotiations' 'dialogues' or whatever they were, the police were never going to launch gung-ho into 2,000 people and beat them off the streets to force them to return home.

Besides it wasn't unknown in the past for the RUC to talk - albeit often through intermediaries - about IRA funerals during the Troubles.

But leaving the PPS and HMIC reviews aside, the upshot of the controversy has been to leave many families furious that they abided by the Covid restrictions on numbers attending their funerals and Sinn Fein didn't.
Relentless rain, gale-force winds, flash flooding and severe storms are on the cards for south-east Queensland on Monday, as an offshore trough arrives after drenching the central and Fraser coasts.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned that as much as 150 millimetres of rain could hit the Brisbane region on Monday and Tuesday, with 120 millimetres possible on Monday alone.

Flash flooding in the Logan region late last month. More of the same could be on its way around the south-east. Credit:Nine News - Twitter

On Sunday, the weather bureau warned that the same weather system thats bound for the south-east could dump 250 millimetres in six hours on the central and Fraser coasts overnight, before moving south.

Meteorologist Michael Gray said Sunday night  but more likely Monday  was the most dangerous time for Brisbane in terms of the wet and wild weather, in particular the citys northern suburbs.
Pope Francis presides over Mass on Easter Sunday morning in St. Peters Basilica at the Altar of the Chair, and thanks all those who worked hard to make the Triduum celebrations so beautiful.

By Devin Watkins

Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Easter Sunday morning at the Vatican Basilica with a small number of the faithful present.

Yet the Pope was joined by countless Catholics around the world via digital media across various social media platforms.

At one point, nearly 9 thousand people were simultaneously celebrating Jesus Resurrection with the Pope on Vatican News English-language Facebook page alone.

Over 170 broadcast networks and media outlets picked up the Easter broadcasts, which has seen much wider coverage in recent years due to live-streaming.

The Vatican this year also added a service in sign language, thanks to the No One Left Out project launched by the Dicastery for Communication.

Pope Francis kisses the Book of the Gospels

On this holiest of Christian feasts, Pope Francis chose not to multiply words but to reflect in silence on the mystery of Christs Resurrection from the dead.

In place of a homily, he led the faithful in silent prayer following the proclamation of the Gospel of John (20:1-9), which was chanted in both Latin and Greek.

Listen to our report

Pope Francis recites Eucharistic Prayer I

During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Pope recited the First Eucharistic Prayer, known as the Roman Canon.

It is the oldest Eucharistic Prayer used in the Latin-rite, and its current form dates from at least the 7th century under Pope St. Gregory the Great.

Catholics will recognize it by its extensive list of Saints, Apostles, and Martyrs.

Flowers were donated by Dutch florists

The Easter floral arrangements which adorned St. Peters Basilica for the Easter Mass were donated by florists from Holland.

This marks the 35th year in which they have done so, though the tradition paused last year due to the pandemic.

The Dutch florists compositions featured Avalanche roses for the Altar of the Chair in the Basilica.

The florists also expressed their closeness with those suffering from the pandemic by donating some of these roses to residences for the elderly in Rome.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, new Archpriest of St. Peter's

At the end of Mass, Pope Francis welcomed Cardinal Mauro Gambetti as the new Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter.

I wish you the best in your service at this church which is so important for all Christians, he said.

Cardinal Gambetti has the task of announcing the granting of the Popes plenary indulgence ahead of his traditional Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing.

Pope Francis also thanked Cardinal Angelo Comastri for his dedication and 16 years of service in that role. Thank you, Cardinal Comastri, he said. Thank you for your pastoral care, your spirituality, your preaching, and your mercy.

The Pope also expressed appreciation for those who had worked so hard to prepare the liturgical celebrations of the Pascal Triduum.

I want to thank all those who work here in St. Peters: the choir, ministers, lectors, deacons, he said. To all of you, thank you so much!

A view of the Basilica during the Pope's Mass
News

Arlington, Virginia - A New Jersey woman was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison for engaging in a bribery and procurement fraud scheme.

According to court documents, Diane D. Sturgis, 62, of Glassboro, served as a contracting officer for in the International Broadcast Bureau, Office of Contracts, of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (the BBG) until September 2017. In that capacity, Sturgis, among other things, supervised several contracts awarded to a Virginia information technology and data management firm, including a blanket purchase agreement.

In September 2014, the BBG and the U.S. Department of Defense used the firms blanket purchase agreement to issue a task order that subsequently served as a vehicle for procuring millions of dollars in services from the firm. In November 2014, Sturgis and the firms owner used the same task order to fill several contracting positions in Sturgis office in exchange for initial payments totaling at least $330,000. Sturgis and the firms owner agreed that the firm would nominally hire Sturgis relative to fill one of these positions in exchange for Sturgis giving the firm preferential treatment.

Between December 2014 and June 2015, the firm issued four payments to Sturgis relative totaling $30,000. The relative performed no consulting work in exchange for these payments; instead, Sturgis prepared the periodic consulting reports and accompanying invoices for the relative and instructed the relative to save the periodic reports and invoices on the relatives computer and then submit the invoices for payment. The firm sought approval for payments from the BBG, which Sturgis authorized and approved.

On July 28, 2020, Sturgis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and honest services wire fraud. As part of her sentencing today, Sturgis was ordered to pay $45,000 in restitution and a $10,000 fine.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh of the Eastern District of Virginia; Special Agent in Charge Elisabeth Heller of the U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General; and Assistant Director Steven M. DAntuono of the FBIs Washington Field Office made the announcement.

The Department of State, Office of Inspector General and the FBI investigated the case.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and Senior Litigation Counsel Edward P. Sullivan of the Criminal Divisions Public Integrity Section prosecuted the case.
The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has ordered its members across the country to commence an indefinite strike from April 6, 2021.

The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has ordered its members across the country to commence an indefinite strike from April 6, 2021.





This was contained in a statement by the Secretary-General of JUSUN, Comrade Isaiah Adetola.





He explained the decision to embark on industrial action was referred back to the communique issued at the end of the last National Executive Council Meeting (NEC) of the union dated March 13 in Abuja.





The union also noted the strike was billed to commence on April 5, 2021, but was postponed to April 6 due to a public holiday.





The statement reads: You are directed to shut down Courts/Departments in your states until further notice from the National Secretariat of JUSUN in Abuja.





JUSUN had issued the government 21- day ultimatum to commence implementation of financial autonomy of judiciary in line with the constitution and other extant laws.
Bishop Charles Agyinasare, Resident Pastor of Perez Chapel Headquarters, Accra, says the death and blood of Jesus have given value to the lives of believers.



He said through the blood of Jesus our lives have become valuable... his blood has given meaning and purpose to our lives.



Bishop Agyinasare said this at a Good Friday Service of the Church in Accra.



He said the blood of Jesus, through his death, had redeemed Christians from evil and wrongdoing.



We were Gods possession and the devil stole us; however, we have been redeemed with love through his blood, he added.



The Bishop said the death of Jesus had granted us fellowship with the Lord.



The blood of Jesus has brought many benefits to mankind, including healing, authority over the devil, and delivered us from the curse of the law.



If you are in a situation and feel defeated, the blood will change your situation, he added.



Bishop Agyinasare told the congregation that the death and blood of Jesus had provided everything they needed to be successful in life.





Source: GNA









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Pope Francis marked the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines on Saturday. In a video message, he spoke of his visit to the country in 2015, where he said a crowd of seven million faithful welcomed him. "I remember my visit to your country with great warmth," the pontiff said. "You are generous; you are abundant, you know how to celebrate faith. Do not lose that, even amid difficulties," he added.

(Image Credit: AP)

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Inne propozycje, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan:
We just found out that the New Philadelphia council is getting rid of our police force. Do all the taxpaying residents know about this? Shouldnt we residents have a say? Meetings take place on the computer. We older people dont have computers. Who changed the time of the meeting? We were never notified. It is all a big clique. This is wrong. We need police in this town but you can purchase a vehicle for the borough worker who doesnt have a clue how to run it. My wife and I and neighbors watched him. What does he or council do to better this town? Half of this council doesnt even live in town.

New Philadelphia



Why did the protesters pick Palm Sunday to condemn Halcovage? Isnt this the week for love and forgiveness through Jesus?

Frackville



Hey, Klingerstown, you want to talk about delusional, how about there is no crisis at the border? You know to talk about voting against our own best interest, how about putting a president who is incompetent, mentally and physically? Dont lecture Trump supporters about what is right and what is wrong. We know what is right and we know what is wrong. You know what is wrong? Socialism.

Frackville



To the person from Auburn who said I am not a patriot because I do not like what Joe Biden is doing to this country. He is taking us down a rabbit hole, a dark, deep rabbit hole, and we are never going to come back under his administration. He should be impeached. He is putting this country in peril. He is dividing us more and more and more.

Auburn



Stop listening to the Clinton News Network and MSDNC. The tax cuts by Trump did not go to the rich. All you have to do is research. Here are the bracket: the highest income went from 39% to 37.6%, next highest went from 29% to 26%, next highest went from 25% to 22%, next highest went from 22% to 18% and the lowest income went from 18% to 15%. As you can see, the highest did not get the biggest tax cut.

Pottsville



Just recently we had two tragic deaths reported in the Republican. What I am wondering about is the report from the coroner office. We had two virtual autopsies and two autopsies from Dauphin County. We started with Lehigh County, then Berks County, now Dauphin County doing autopsies. So much for the great facilities and equipment in New Philly. It would be interesting to see the numbers.

West Penn Township



What a disaster at the border. We must have law and order in America. Immigrants must come in the legal way, like others.

Pottsville
Unlike many conservative commentators, I've long been a supporter of public schools. I enjoyed many positive experiences with them growing up, and my four children received an excellent public education here in Gwinnett County, Georgia, for which I am grateful.

Plus I've always thought there's something uniquely egalitarian and therefore American about the idea of public education, providing opportunities for all children to better themselves. I know that some conservatives like to call them "government schools," and that is technically correct. But I've always preferred to think of them as community schools, passing on the values of the community. At least, that used to be the case, and I'm hopeful that, in many places, it still is.

However, if I were vehemently opposed to public schools, and what I really wanted was to destroy them, I know exactly how I'd go about it.

First, I'd help elect radical, neo-Marxist ideologues to the local school board. As a bonus, they wouldn't have much experience running a school system or kids of their own in the county schools.

Once my radical leftists held a majority on the board, they could begin enacting their extremist agenda  starting with keeping as many kids out of school as possible for as long as possible by pushing popular superstitions about COVID-19.

We know, based on multiple studies, that children are not at high risk, nor are they likely to give the virus to adults. But my radical school board wouldn't let that stand in the way of its fear-mongering.

The inevitable widening of the "achievement gap" caused by keeping kids out of school and relying on "digital learning" can then be held up as an example of "white supremacy" and blamed on the very people who opposed it.

To promote these efforts, I would enlist the help of teachers' unions and "associations," even in right-to-work states like Georgia. Since unionized teachers across the country have made it clear they have no intention of going back to work anytime soon  education be damned  they have become powerful allies in the campaign to keep children out of the classroom.

Another good tactic: Force those kids who do show up at school to wear masks all day, so that as many as possible will not want to attend  or will change their minds after a few weeks of restricted breathing. Two decades' worth of randomly controlled tests  the highest level of scientific evidence  show that masks are ineffective against airborne viruses. In fact, for children, they might do more harm than good.

No matter. If kids want to come to our schools, they must "mask up." And if they or their parents aren't willing, fine. That just hastens the system's demise.

Beyond COVID, my radicals would institute several other extreme policies, such as eliminating school resource officers. Then they would insist on race-based disciplinary procedures  so-called "restorative justice"  meaning that no matter who commits the offenses, school leaders would be required to make sure that all races were proportionally represented in the final statistics. If that resulted in some students getting away with severe misbehavior while others were unjustly punished, all the better. The abandonment of fairness and the resulting disintegration of order would be essential to my plans.

Similarly, placement into gifted and other advanced programs, to the extent they were not abolished altogether, would also be based on racial quotas. And once again, if that means admitting some students who aren't qualified based on academic merit, while denying admission to others who are qualified, then all the better.

Next, my board would require that students be indoctrinated in Critical Race Theory, a hateful, racist, neo-Marxist ideology. All would be branded as either victims or oppressors, good or bad, based not on the content of their character, but on the color of their skin. What better way to foment division and distrust?

Finally, as its coup de grace, my board would institute a policy allowing boys to enter girls' bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers at will. At the high schools, especially, this policy in conjunction with already raging hormones would quickly break down any remaining social order.

And if anyone stood in the way of my radical agenda, such as a superintendent who had run the system with spectacular success for many years, with stellar bond ratings and numerous national awards to prove it, that person would need to be removed forthwith.

The beauty of my plan is that, as the school system circled the drain, and families fled the county for saner climes, property values would plummet, providing even less money for the schools. The result? Equal misery for all, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, or socioeconomic circumstances  in other words, "equity."

So, yeah, if I wanted to destroy the public schools, that's how I'd do it. But here in Gwinnett County, it looks as though somebody already beat me to the punch.

Image: kolyaeg via Pixabay, Pixabay License.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Seven Texas officers fired following death of Black jail inmate

Seven officers involved in the in-custody death of a Black jail inmate in Texas whose family members say may have been suffering a mental health crisis have been fired, a sheriff said.

The detention officers violated sheriffs office policies and procedures leading up to the death of Marvin Scott III, Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner said in a news release Thursday. An eighth officer resigned.

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Scott, 26, was arrested March 14 at an outlet mall in Allen on a marijuana possession charge, authorities have said. Allen officers took Scott to a hospital because he was reportedly acting erratically. Scott was released and police took him to the county jail

While at the jail, Scott began to exhibit some strange behavior, Skinner said at a March 19 news conference. Detention officers placed Scott on a restraint bed, used pepper spray and covered his face with a spit mask. Scott became unresponsive at some point and later was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Collin County medical examiners office has not yet released a cause of death for Scott. The Texas Rangers were continuing to investigate Scotts death, according to Skinners statement.

Family members have said that Scott had schizophrenia and may have been suffering a mental health crisis. Scotts family has hired a forensic pathologist to conduct an independent autopsy.

Civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt, who is representing Scotts family, has said he thinks Scott was jailed for marijuana possession because he was Black and viewed as a criminal rather than as someone in crisis.

Names and races of the officers havent been released.

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A statement Thursday by Merritt noted that Scotts funeral was Wednesday.

Just one day after the funeral of Marvin Scott III, the Collin County Sheriff has fired seven detention officers in connection with his death, the statement said. We are pleased with this decision and consider this progress.

The statement also asks that the fired officers be arrested and brought to justice.
The government I am sure is doing its best, but its best falls short, I am sorry to say, of the optimum

If the BJP, now in power at the Centre, could run the vaccination programme as efficiently as it seeks to run elections, we could perhaps see light at the end of this dark tunnel. (Photo: AFP)

The writing is writ large on the wall: vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate. We know now that the Covid virus is likely to attack in several waves. This has been seen in many countries, and is in evidence in ours too. To contain successive surges, we should, of course, retain our vigil on all health and social distancing protocols, but the real solution is to universalise vaccination and ensure its delivery in the shortest possible time.

The government I am sure is doing its best, but its best falls short, I am sorry to say, of the optimum. The first in the line to get the shot were health workers, and rightly so. However, a great number of these still remain vulnerable. There are around three crore healthcare and frontline workers.

Of these, less than one-third have as yet received both the shots; and a little more than half have got the first shot. This is woefully short of target. Senior citizens and those with co-morbidities were next in line. Here too performance is far below targets. It is estimated that there are 27 crore senior citizens and those with co-morbidities. But only three crore of these have been vaccinated, including some 78 lakh with co-morbidities. This is really slow going.

It is true that there could have been some vaccine hesitancy in the initial phase. Yet, this is hardly likely to have been that high in vulnerable senior citizens eager to get some protection, and in health workers who know that it is essential in their own self-interest to get the jab. One can understand greater reticence in rural areas, but a great many have still not been covered even in urban centres.

We need to know the reasons for this tardy pace. India, we are continuously told is not short of vaccines. Government spokespersons loudly proclaim with justifiable pride that we are the vaccine capital, producing 60 per cent of vaccines in the world. Nor do we lack experience in public health campaigns for mass vaccination. Our Universal Immunisation Program, which began in 1985, is today one of the largest and most successful programs in the world.

We have the systems in place for such a campaign  Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN), National Cold Chain Management Inventory System (NCCMIC), and the National Cold Chain Training Centre (NCCTS). Thousands have by now been trained in managing stocks of vaccines at the right temperatures and monitoring their safe delivery across the country.

Why then are we lagging behind in this highly critical vaccination drive, on which not only the health but the economy of our country is dependent? In the absence of a ramped-up vaccine campaign, several of the worst effected state governments are threatening lockdowns. As many doctors and health specialists have emphasised, lockdowns are hardly a solution, quite apart from being impractical.

We have seen the disastrous consequences of the first nationwide lockdown announced at a notice of four hours, which left millions of migrant workers on the streets walking hundreds and thousands of miles to their villages and hometowns without food, water, transport, money or health support. That lockdown, and the manner in which it was implemented, far from containing the spread of the disease, ensured that it spread with impunity.

Today, when the economy is just showing signs of a revival, a lockdown would be a fatal dampener to these green shoots of resurgence. It would also further aggravate the huge unemployment problem, the highest in years. As one worker said on national television, I would rather die of the virus than out of hunger for lack of a job. Undoubtedly, containment zones cannot be ruled out as a temporary measure, but generically spread out lockdowns, misinterpreted as a decisive response by panicky state governments, is hardly a solution. Even if lockdowns are announced, their efficacious implementation in a country like ours where people live cheek by jowl and in porous habitations, is virtually impossible. All lockdowns do is to give disproportionate powers to state agencies like the police.

The answer, therefore, is to put an expedited and effective vaccination campaign in mission mode. For this, the government must get over its own vaccine hesitancy. The imperative is to universalise and go beyond this reticent step by step approach.

Secondly, distribution problems must be urgently sorted out, since some states have complained that they are not getting an adequate supply of vaccines, while six per cent of vaccines are being wasted for lack of use. Thirdly, we need to approve more vaccines at the speed of light. Those global vaccines that have Indian collaborations need to be given the licence without the mandatory bridging trials.

Regulatory hurdles need to be removed from vaccines such as Johnson & Johnson, Sputnik and Novavax. Fourthly, our vast previous experience of mass immunisation programmes should be aggressively harnessed to increase the pace and footprint of vaccination. There is a widespread network of anganwadi workers and health and education officials who should be roped in for this purpose. Fifthly, the private sector and civil society should be made partners in the ramped-up vaccination drive. Sixthly, state governments, under close central supervision, should gird up for the task ahead, since much of the ground implementation is in their hands. And, lastly, Covid appropriate behaviour should be consistently advertised, and containment zones carefully identified and their isolation strictly monitored.

If the BJP, now in power at the Centre, could run the vaccination programme as efficiently as it seeks to run elections, we could perhaps see light at the end of this dark tunnel.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 23:50:53|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and two others suffered life-threatening injuries in a triple shooting Saturday night in Virginia Beach, Virginia, police said on Sunday.

The Virginia Beach Police Department said in a press release that officers responded to a call for a gunshot wound about 10:08 p.m. local time Saturday in the 1600 block of Hiawatha Drive. When arriving at the scene, police found three victims suffering from gunshot wounds.

One of them was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other two sustained life-threatening injuries and were rushed to hospital, police said.

There was an active investigation going on and no suspect information was available as of yet, according to the police.

The fatal shooting came just over one week after what police described as "a very chaotic night" in Virginia Beach on March 26 during which multiple shootings left two people dead and eight others injured. One of the deceased was 25-year-old Donovon Lynch, who was shot and killed by a police officer who has yet to be identified. Enditem
When Microsoft first revealed the Xbox Series X back in 2019, the internet went wild with memes comparing it to a fridge. Microsoft gracefully embraced the memes and ended up making a 1:1 scale replica which it gave to some prominent figures in the industry.

While the original Xbox Series X fridge was limited to a few units, Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg promised that if Xbox won against Skittles in the final round of Twitters inaugural #BestOfTweets Brand Bracket, they would make actual Xbox Series X mini-fridges. Well, you know what? It won and Xbox is keeping good on its promise.

Greenberg said that we will move forward on our promise to make those Xbox Series X Mini Fridges. He tweeted this just minutes after the poll results came through. He even mentioned that the folks over at Skittles will get the first unit filled with games.

Thanks to everyone who voted, this was down to the wire and thrilling to follow. Now that @Xbox won, we will move forward on our promise to make those Xbox Series X Mini Fridges. First one off the line will be filled with games & headed to our friends @Skittles of course! https://t.co/xeeN8yLGV8  Aaron Greenberg U (@aarongreenberg) April 2, 2021

In case you are wondering, this isn't an April Fool's day prank. He had clearly mentioned that it's not Not an April Fools joke and Not clickbait. That being said, we don't know when we'll be able to buy one for ourselves. It will most probably end up getting listed on the Xbox Store alongside the other cool Xbox merch and accessories that you can buy.

It also remains to be seen exactly how units of this mini-fridge will Xbox end up making. So if you are indeed planning to get one, then you might have to keep your eyes peeled for more info. After all, it's your best chance to own an Xbox Series X fridge albeit a mini one.
A Christian actress sacked over a 2014 Facebook post on homosexuality is to appeal after an employment tribunal sided with her former employers and agency.

Seyi Omooba, 26, lost the lead role in a production of 'The Color Purple' at the Leicester Curve Theatre over the Facebook post in which she said she did not believe homosexuality to be right.

In February, the employment tribunal said the theatre had acted lawfully in firing her.

It was "the effect of the adverse publicity from [the 2014 post's] retweet, without modification or explanation, on the cohesion of the cast, the audience's reception, the reputation of the producers and 'the good standing and commercial success' of the production, that were the reasons why she was dismissed," the written judgment said.

In a further blow, the tribunal has awarded costs against Miss Omooba in excess of 350,000 to be paid to the theatre and agent.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which has been defending Miss Omooba, said the costs were "unheard of".

"An employment tribunal is meant to be a cost-free forum. For the other side to apply for and have granted a 350,000 costs order is unprecedented and deliberately punitive. It is designed to frighten and put off others from seeking justice," she said.

"The costs they are asking for are 15 times more than the usual costs of defending a tribunal case, which is rather difficult to square with their premise that her case was so hopeless that it was unreasonable for her to pursue it."

Miss Omooba will also be appealing both decisions.

Ms Williams added, "Despite how the theatre and agency lawyers have tried to spin this case, it is undeniable that Seyi's claim raises difficult and important issues about the intolerance of Christian beliefs on human sexuality in today's society.

"Lawyers for the theatre and agency falsely insinuate a vexatious campaign by Christian Concern when all we have sought to do is serve Seyi and the truth.

"The Tribunal has effectively joined the campaign of 'cancelling' Seyi for her Christian beliefs. She and we are not intimidated and we have now lodged an appeal."
Pope Francis highlights three mysteries of faith - Nazareth, the Cross and Pentecost - in a video message marking the 500th anniversary of the first preaching of the Gospel in the Philippines.

By Vatican News staff reporter

Pope Francis sent a video message on Sunday to the faithful of the Philippines, who are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the first preaching of the Gospel in the country.

Three mysteries of faith

In it, he shared with them three mysteries of faith, which are part of the deepest Christian roots of the Filipino people: Nazareth, the Cross and Pentecost.

He said that the tender love of the Holy Child, which is a symbol of the arrival of Christianity in your archipelago, reminds us of the hidden life of the Holy Family in Nazareth.

By opening the doors of your families to the Holy Child, he said, you too will be able to transmit to your children the faith that you received from your parents.

Dwelling on the Cross, the Pope recalled all the difficulties that the people of the Philippines have had to face, especially in the years of immediate preparation for this jubilee. He called to mind the earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Listen to our report

Keep moving forward

Yet despite all that pain and devastation, he said, you continued to carry the cross and to keep walking. You suffered greatly, but you also got up, time and time again.

Pope Francis urged them to keep working, rebuilding and helping one another like good Cyreneans. He also thanked them for their witness of strength and trust in God, who never abandons you.

A new beginning

Turning his attention to Pentecost, the Pope reminded the faithful of the Philippines that Pentecost is a point of arrival, but also a new beginning.

He recalled the Mother of Jesus who was always at his side at the most difficult moment of his life, standing at the foot of his Cross.

The Pope also pointed out that Mary never leaves our side and asked for her intercession for a new Pentecost of the Church in the Philippines.

Reach out to others

During this jubilee year, said Pope Francis, let the words of Jesus guide you: Without cost you received; without cost you are to give

These words, he continued are an invitation to thank God for all those who handed on the faith to you.

Renew your enthusiasm for evangelization. Reach out to others and bring them the hope and joy of the Gospel," the Pope urged.

Generosity and faith

Recalling his visit to the Philippines with great fondness, Pope Francis highlighted the final meeting, with almost seven million people present.

You are generous and you know how to celebrate the feast of faith. Never lose those qualities, even in the midst of difficulties, he said.

The Pope called on the faithful of the Philippines not to be afraid. You are not alone in this mission; two great saints of your land accompany you: Saint Pedro Calungsod and Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, he said.

Concluding his video message Pope Francis said, Keep moving forward; the Pope is always at your side.
For the first time in 25 years, Pastor Joe Santucci had to cancel his churchs traditional outdoor sunrise Easter service on the boardwalk in Manasquan last year.

At the time, the coronavirus pandemic was just beginning and all worship services in New Jersey had either been canceled or gone virtual. Gathering hundreds of people, even outside with an ocean breeze at the Jersey Shore, wasnt deemed safe.

This year, the sunrise service at the Jersey Shore is back, Santucci said.

Hope Community Church was scheduled to hold the 6:30 a.m. Easter service this Sunday where the boardwalk meets the Manasquan inlet, though the crowd was to be moved away from the boardwalk and onto to the sand so people could spread out.

The pastor was unsure if the usual crowd of 200 or more people would show up.

I keep hearing people around me say theyre coming, Santucci, the churchs pastor of 27 years, said Thursday. But I really dont know what to expect this year.

Across the state, New Jersey churches are using this Easter to welcome back worshipers who were either unable or unwilling to come to in-person services during the pandemic. Many churches are holding outdoor services in parking lots, cemeteries, church yards, gazebos, playgrounds or at the beach this Sunday to make people more comfortable with worshiping in groups again on the most holy day on the Christian calendar.

With more New Jerseyans being vaccinated and restrictions on gatherings loosening, many church officials are hoping this Easter will bring both the traditional message of rebirth and renewal and a reconnection with the in-person worship many have been missing.

Several faith leaders said they will use their Easter messages to draw parallels between Jesus resurrection and the worlds struggle to emerge from the physical and mental confines of the pandemic that has brought so much loss and turmoil.

It will be about trying to get us all out of the darkness into the light, said Pastor Fred Mueller, the longtime head of the historic Hillsborough Reformed Church at Millstone. Were going to emerge ... God wants us out in the light.

Mueller is scheduled to lead the 7:30 a.m. Sunrise Easter Service at Hillsborough Reformed Church at Millstone. It will be held in the cemetery where graves date back to the Revolutionary War.

The church yard is a graveyard and there is no better place to celebrate the resurrection, Mueller said. The daffodils are bloomed and the tulips are bloomed.

A few dozen people usually attend the early morning Easter service in Hillsborough. This year, the pastor was expecting a bigger crowd.

There is a lot of pent up desire for people to get together, Mueller said. People are experiencing a real ache. Its painful not to get together.

This years Easter comes at a complicated time for New Jersey as about 3 million residents, less than a third of the states residents, have gotten at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

COVID-19 cases continue to remain relatively high statewide and new deaths are reported daily. New Jersey surpassed 800,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases last week and 22,000 have died of COVID-19 in the state in the 13 months since the pandemic began.

In New Jersey, restrictions on worship services and outdoor events have been easing. Indoor gatherings for religious services and celebrations, including wedding, funerals and memorials, are capped at 50% of a rooms capacity, state officials said. There is no limit for outdoor religious services.

People are expected to wear masks and practice social distancing for indoor services. And many places of worship are still altering their usual services to limit singing and any contact between people. Some churches are also asking people to mask up for outdoor services and register in advance if they plan to attend.

The loosened capacity restrictions for places of worship also apply to synagogues marking Passover, which ends Sunday. Area mosques will also begin observing Ramadan, the month-long period of prayer and reflection, starting April 12. Orthodox Easter is May 2.

State officials have blamed recent upticks in COVID-19 cases on people becoming lax about masks and social distancing as multiple variants of the virus are spreading.

Gov. Phil Murphy has asked people to limit at home Easter and Passover celebrations to people within their immediate bubble. New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli asked religious leaders to notify their congregations about live streamed or televised services.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines for Easter celebrations last month that continue to recommend people worship virtually or outdoors six feet apart.

People who are fully vaccinated should only gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people two week or more after their second shot, according to the guidance.

If you plan to celebrate with others, outdoors is safer than indoors, the CDC guidelines say.

Most area Catholic churches say they will be offering virtual services and staying indoors for socially distant Easter Day Masses, but a few are having outdoor services and blessings.

In the Diocese of Metuchen, parishes in Hillsborough, Peapack, Edison, North Brunswick, Plainsboro and Port Reading will be among those holding Masses or distributing Communion outdoors on Easter Sunday, a spokeswoman said.

Several Catholic parishes also held traditional blessings of food and Stations of the Cross services outside during Holy Week.

People seem to need Easter this year more than ever, said Bishop James Checchio, head of the Diocese of Metuchen.

Given what we have gone through during this last year, in some ways, it seems like Lent continued from 2020 into 2021, creating a yearlong Lent, Checchio said in his message to the diocese this week, referring to the Lenten season of sacrifice and prayer that ends on Easter Sunday.

In New Jersey, there are outdoor Easter morning worships planned from the Shore to the mountains.

A gazebo in Allaire State Park in Monmouth County was slated to be used for a 6:30 a.m. sunrise Easter service outside the Allaire Chapel in the Historic Village at Allaire. The lawn outside Grace Church in Haddonfield in Camden County was scheduled to be the site of its 6:30 a.m. Easter service. That will be followed by a 10 a.m. Hallelujah Chorus virtual sing-along on Zoom.

The historic graveyard behind the Presbyterian Church in Morristown in Morris County was scheduled to host a 6:30 a.m. service Sunday. And a playground and green space down the hill from the Moorestown Friends Meeting, a Quaker community in Burlington County, was to be the site or its 10 a.m. Easter observance.

Some outdoor services will ask participants to play a role in the service. The Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township scheduled a 7 a.m. Radio Church Easter service in its parking lot where the community can drive in and listen to the service on their car radios on 92.5 FM.

For a special treat especially during COVID times when group singing is discouraged, participants will be invited to sing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handels Messiah from inside their own car, church officials said.

In Ocean City, a non-denominational Easter sunrise service was scheduled for 6:30 a.m. at the Ocean City Music Pier to kick off a day of events in the Cape May County shore town. They include an Easter Fashion Stroll on the boardwalk and a dueling pianos performance.

After a year of so many sacrifices, itll be good to get back to some family fun, said Jay Gillian, Ocean Citys mayor.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.
A man and woman have been charged following a wild police pursuit that lasted several hours and allegedly involved multiple gunpoint carjackings.

The 33-year-old man and his female partner, 31, were arrested in Parramatta, in Sydney's west, on Saturday evening, 200km from where cops started their chase.

The pursuit began shortly after 4pm on Saturday on the Federal Highway near Goulburn when police spotted an allegedly stolen ute, which pulled away when officers tried to stop it.

A 33-year-old man has been charged with 10 offences after he was arrested following a 200km police pursuit on Saturday

Police used road spikes at Marulan, puncturing the ute's front tyre.

The pair then got out and allegedly approached another car and threatened a couple and their baby with a shortened firearm.

Police allege they stole the family's SUV and continued along the Hume Highway before crashing at a service station at Sutton Forest.

The couple then allegedly threatened a woman and two teenage girls in a hatchback at the service station with a firearm and stole that car.

They were again pursued for a short time before police called it off for safety reasons.

The stolen hatchback was allegedly involved in a crash with three cars at Mount Annan in Sydney's southwest about 5.45pm before continuing.

The man's 31-year-old female partner was charged with offences including armed robbery, threatening injury and assault

It was tracked by police helicopter and finally stopped about an hour later at Parramatta, where the pair were arrested with the help of the dog squad.

The man was charged with 10 offences including armed robbery, threatening injury, firearm possession and several driving offences.

The woman was charged with offences including armed robbery, threatening injury and assault.

They were refused bail to appear before Parramatta Local Court on Sunday. They will next appear in court on May 17.
The Saradha group allegedly cheated thousands of depositors, promising abnormally high returns on investments in its illegal schemes

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets, worth several crores, belonging to Kunal Ghosh, former Rajya Sabha MP from Trinamul Congress (TMC), Lok Sabha MP Satabdi Roy and Debjani Mukherjee as part of its money-laundering probe into the Saradha chit fund case.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, the ED said, A provisional order for attachment of the movable and immovable properties has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Assets belong to Kunal Ghosh, former Rajya Sabha MP from TMC (CEO of Media Group Saradha), Satabdi Roy, Lok Sabha MP from TMC (brand ambassador in Saradha), and Debjani Mukherjee who is a director in Saradha Group of companies in Saradha chit fund case. Assets worth Rs 600 crore have been attached in this case till now. The ED is probing the money-laundering aspect of the alleged ponzi scam since April, 2013.

The Saradha group allegedly cheated thousands of depositors, promising abnormally high returns on investments in its illegal schemes. Mr Ghosh, who is out on bail in the case, was suspended from the TMC in 2013 for alleged anti-party activities. Ghosh had earlier spent 34 months in jail and was in the custody of West Bengal Police and CBI. He was granted bail on October 5, 2016. The former TMC MP headed a TV channel and a daily, which was funded by the now-defunct Saradha group.

Several other leaders of TMC are under the scanner of the central investigation agencies, including ED, in the Saradha chit fund scam. The CBI has already summoned and questioned several TMC leaders in connection with the case. The CBI is also preparing to record the statements of several TMC leaders again in connection with the case.
Millions who receive federal retirement and disability benefits will see COVID-19 stimulus checks by April 7, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Part of President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the direct payments follow weeks of frustration from lawmakers and low-income Americans who were left waiting as the Social Security Administration sorted out payment information with the IRS after the agency had already issued checks to millions of others.

The large set of payments started going out Friday, the IRS said in a news release. The recipients include federal beneficiaries who didnt file a 2020 or 2019 tax return and didnt use last years Non-Filers tool, totaling about 30 million who depend on Social Security retirement, survivor or disability (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or income from the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB).

These payments will begin to be issued this weekend, with the projection that the majority of these payments will be sent electronically and received on April 7, the IRS said Thursday.

The beneficiaries had to wait longer than millions of other Americans in part because the Social Security Administration did not forward all the necessary payment information to the IRS. The SSA said it was effectively barred from sending the IRS the payment files without a specific provision or agreement in Bidens legislation.

Lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, wrote to SSA to say the delay for some of the most vulnerable Americans was inexplicable.

Steve Richardson, SSA communications director for the New England region, noted that unlike last years Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the American Rescue Plan did not directly appropriate funds or establish a reimbursable agreement with IRS to fund us for our work to support their issuance of the payments.

Both before and after Bidens relief bill became law, SSA discussed with Treasury and IRS that the agency is unable by law to use our administrative appropriation to conduct work on any non-mission provision or program, he said.

We have been aggressively working with Treasury and IRS since passage and successfully signed the reimbursable agreement in less than one week after passage (on March 17th), he added. We sent test files to IRS a few days following the execution of this agreement.

As of last week, the IRS had disbursed more than 130 million payments across the country totaling about $335 billion.

The direct payments are meant to send $1,400 to adults earning less than $75,000 and couples less than $150,000, as well as $1,400 for dependents. The checks phase out for Americans making more than $75,000, with a hard cut-off at $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for married couples.

All three major stimulus packages since the pandemic hit the U.S. have made clear that those who do not earn enough to file taxes, including many of the beneficiaries the Democratic lawmakers pressed IRS and SSA about, are eligible for payments.

A recent batch of payments will also go to Americans who received partial payments based on 2019 tax returns but are eligible for more due to income or family changes according to their recently-processed 2020 tax returns, the IRS said.

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Growing up blind in a rural community like Grand Lake, Louisiana, can feel isolating for anyone. Even if you count the plentiful fish that draw anglers from across the state to Calcasieu Lake, Grand Lake doesnt have enough people to be formally incorporated.

For a young blind woman growing up in the area, it took her first trip to a summer camp in Baton Rouge at 8 years old to make her realize that she wasnt one of the only blind children in the world.

Then I didnt feel so alone because I was like, Wow, look at all these blind kids! she said (Gambit has agreed to preserve anonymity for the woman and several other survivors).

She didnt meet a blind adult until 2017, when she was 19 years old and a junior in high school. Despite being nervous about leaving home for two months, she nonetheless decided to attend a summer program for high school students at the Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB) in Ruston. The program, which used blind instructors, aimed to provide a space in which to learn critical independent living skills, ranging from Braille instruction to basic home management skills.

I was really afraid because I was kind of sheltered, she said. [But] I didnt really know much or how to take care of myself.

The LCB is largely funded through government grants, contracts and other programs. Between 2014 and 2019  the last year financial data is available for the LCB  the organization received more than $8.6 million from various governmental agencies and programs.

Her first few days at the center went well, she said, noting that the instructors and students seemed nice. But her sense of safety would quickly be shattered. During an exercise designed to teach her how to use a cane to cross city streets, her instructor Rex Schuttler  one of the first blind adults she had ever met  sexually assaulted her, she said. According to the young woman, the abuse continued throughout the eight weeks she stayed at the LCBs facility in Ruston.

On Dec. 14, 2020, she decided to come forward and report her assault. A growing online movement in the blind community dubbed #MarchingTogether had taken hold. Men and women from across the country began openly discussing repeated instances of sexual assault and rape at the LCB and other facilities and events associated with the National Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest nonprofit for people who are blind or have low vision.

Three months later, on March 15, she received a letter from Mark Riccobono, who heads the NFB, detailing the results of an independent investigation into Schuttler by Tonya Bana, an outside employment attorney in Baltimore, Maryland. According to a copy of the letter obtained by Gambit, Bana found Schuttler has a longstanding and persistent pattern of engaging in inappropriate nonconsensual physical and verbal conduct and communications of a sexual nature with women at Federation training centers.

The letter states that Schuttler acknowledged he inappropriately touched at least two students and adds that the undisputed evidence reflects that Mr. Schuttler engaged in overtly sexual physical and verbal conduct and communications. Despite those findings, the only disciplinary actions the NFB took against Schuttler were permanently expelling him from the organization and recommending he seek psychological evaluation, counseling and/or treatment for his compulsive behavior.

The NFB appears to have gone out of its way to include comments from Schuttler defending his actions and suggesting his abuse of the student constituted an isolated lapse in judgment by emphasizing that she is a pretty girl and asserting that at the time he was in a new relationship, stressed out, and begging for attention.

Additionally, the letter mentions that Schuttler said during questioning that the student did not object and just kinda let it happen, which, she told Gambit, made her question once again if the abuse was her fault, something with which many survivors of sexual abuse struggle.

I was thinking, could I really let this happen? she said. But then I thought, it's not my fault. I just  I don't know.

The former students story is not an anomaly. Interviews Gambit conducted with former students at LCB paint a grim picture of alleged chronic racism, sexual assault, homophobia and transphobia, as well as often harsh teaching tactics which experts say could result in long-term psychological damage.

Several former attendees of the LCB describe the training center in Ruston as having a longstanding toxic culture of various forms of verbal, physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Gambit talked with eight people who say they experienced or witnessed abuse at the Louisiana center, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Although neither the LCB nor the NFB would respond to specific questions about complaints, both have previously acknowledged longstanding allegations of assault and misconduct. Through NFB spokesman Chris Danielsen, both LCB and NFB said they are undertaking a series of steps to address these survivors concerns.

But survivors say so far, those steps have been insufficient.

When I started [the LCB summer] program is when Id seen confident blind adults and blind kids, so I really felt good. Thats why I felt so let down now with everything thats going on, said the former student who reported Schuttler. Youd think youd have a support system with this organization, and that nothing bad would happen  that theyre there to protect you.

The underlying philosophy at the Louisiana center, which has programs for middle school, high school and adult students, is that through skills building, learning alternative methods of completing daily activities and meeting other confident blind people, blind and low-vision students will gain the self-confidence they need to find employment and generally live more independently, according to the organizations website.

But several former students at the center said while they support the centers objectives, they question what they consider a one-size-fits-all approach and harsh methods used by instructors, some of whom are blind but have no formal education in teaching blind people.

According to those students, staff at the center have particular ideas about what makes a blind person independent and therefore they want all students to learn the same skills and complete them in the same way.

For instance, the center says on its website all students must use long, non-collapsible, white canes at all times  though it notes other centers only require you to use them for travel  and that guide dogs arent allowed during class hours. To ensure low-vision students at the center learn not to rely on their sight for daily activities, the center requires them to wear shades and learn the same skills, such as Braille and cane travel, as other students.

A former student who completed the centers Buddy Program for middle school students in 1992 and STEP Program for high school students in 1993 said that when she was at the center, instructors offered little guidance for students when they needed help.

I think the idea that they were trying to promote is that you're supposed to make people confident by making them uncomfortable, she said. The idea is, oh, a blind person is never going to be independent if you don't sort of make them do things themselves.

The former student said a particular exercise for cane travel training would involve sighted staff dropping a student off somewhere in town and having them find their way back to the center alone. Another student, who completed the task at least four times during his training, reported feeling a great sense of accomplishment afterward. But the student who attended the center in 1992 and 1993 and completed the exercise when she was 13 and 14 said she found it traumatizing, especially when she ended up in the middle of traffic.

I was in the middle of a street somewhere in the middle of traffic, and it really scared me, she said. If you would ask how to do something or if you needed assistance to do something, people would just tell you 'do it yourself.' It was really set up to make you feel like a failure basically if there was something that you couldn't accomplish or that you needed more support with.

The former student said she had a major depressive episode after her time at the center. I just felt like I couldn't measure up to the type of blind person that I was supposed to be, she said.

Stacy Cervenka, who attended LCBs adult program from 2001 to 2002 and held several leadership positions in the national organization before leaving in 2018, also described an experience she had during one of her classes as traumatic.

Cervenka, who was 21 when she attended the program, said she has had a fear of open flames ever since one of her friends in high school died in a house fire. At the center, staff told her to light birthday candles and then cook on a grill as part of her daily living skills building. When working at the grill, she began crying and begging not to continue, she said, but she felt pressured to complete the task.

The whole time I was bawling, and I was like, 'I don't want to do this, she said. As an adult, you shouldn't be forced to do something that is traumatizing to you.

Cervenka said the incident, which happened in front of her peers, was so upsetting that she has steered clear of open flames since. She said she believes the center could have handled the situation differently and without humiliating her in front of her classmates.

It's normal at a blindness center to have fears and to have to overcome them, she said. It's very different to be forced while you're bawling and saying you don't want to do something.

Reginald Parquet, a professor at the Tulane University School of Social Work, told Gambit he would have instead recommended having Cervenka take a series of mini steps such as holding a grill utensil in her hand and rewarding her for each step.

To me, that activity only served to retraumatize the student, he said. It only served to reinforce her fears and to make overcoming that situation that much more difficult.

Parquet said when a person enters a new environment, such as when students at the LCB begin their training, one of the most crucial parts in helping them adjust and engage in their environment is establishing trust with the people responsible for their wellbeing.

When that trust is broken, he said, it can have long-term effects on a persons relationships with both others and themselves.

As human beings, we are hardwired to be in relationships with others, Parquet said. If we can't trust, it's difficult to even form meaningful relationships with people throughout the rest of our lives.

Cervenka said these experiences are evidence of a mantra repeated at the Louisiana center: We tear you down to build you back up.

That tearing you down is really tough, Cervenka said.

Blind instructors working at the Louisiana center, who were tasked with teaching blind adults and children life skills, also face accusations of making racist, sexist and anti-LGBTQ comments to students.

One particular LCB instructor, James Mays, was well known among several students at the center for making what they said were aggressive and allegedly discriminatory comments to students.

One former student reported Mays telling students he would like to kick another students ass, while another who attended the center in 2017 said Mays would tell students who werent paying attention in class to Get your head out of your ass and focus.

As students, we would laugh at it, the latter student said. When we'd hang out together, we would think that was so funny, but we thought it was rude, too. We're like, 'A staff should not say that to a student.'

Two students, who attended the centers adult program in separate years around a decade apart, said Mays also made comments to female students about how they should be trying to marry a rich man.

One of those students described Mays and other staff members using racial slurs toward students in class. He said he remembered Mays saying, "I'm not a racist but Black people need to learn that if they want something, they need to work for it.

We would talk amongst ourselves and say, 'He talks to us like a slave master, the former student said, referring to conversations he had about Mays with other students of color at the center.

I think it was an effort to get under people's skin, he added. Like, 'I'm being angry, I'm trying to ... tear you down before I build you back up, and I'm going to do everything I can to be mean. If a racial slur is going to be a part of the formula, I'm going to throw everything at you that I got.'

The student said when he would complain to staff about these comments, another staff member would tell him he needed to understand that older staff members grew up in a time and place where these comments were acceptable.

The problem was my objection, not that they were doing it, the former student said.

Likewise, two former students said staff at the center would make anti-LGBT comments in class, and even incorporate homophobic rhetoric into classroom examples.

The students said they witnessed in two separate years staff at the center refuse to use a transgender classmates correct pronouns in class or to call them by their preferred name. One of the students, who attended the center in the last five years, said Mays would often make comments to other students about how being transgender was unnatural, silly and crazy in front of the transgender student.

When reached by phone, Mays did not deny the allegations, but said he might have made a mistake over the years and did not mean to hurt anybodys feelings.

I know that I havent done anything wrong, he said, adding that he taught students at the center toughness and how to live in this tough, old world. Mays, who is in his 80s, said hes dealt with minorities and other people in the country throughout his career.

Danielsen, the NFB spokesman, declined to comment on allegations against Mays but noted Mays no longer works at the Louisiana center.

One student said during lessons instructors would say LGBT people were in denial of their heterosexuality and compare that to people denying their blindness. When describing its methodology on its website, the center mentions how students are expected to accept themselves as blind people as part of their training.

Sometimes the staff would be leveraging their homophobia ... in order to say, 'Look, these people are confused, and they don't understand they're male, they're supposed to be in love with women and women only because that's the natural way of things, the student said. They're in denial about that, and that's what's holding them back, and that is what's going to happen with you if you deny your blindness.

According to this student, They would just openly use that, like it was a textbook example, to talk about being in denial about blindness. That just created a space where people were uncomfortable ... that led to this hostile culture.

The same student said on multiple occasions male staff members at the center would tell stories about women who were sexually assaulted, using it as an opportunity to make derogatory comments about these women and argue that abortion is wrong.

They would be telling this like they thought they were teaching a life lesson, when in fact, they're basically telling everyone there who's a survivor of sexual assault that they're at fault, the student said.

He said when he would complain about these comments, staff at the center would tell him to stop complaining and be a man.

Ultimately, if this center is supposed to be teaching me how to be a man, what kind of man are they teaching me to be  a misogynist and a racist? the former student said. That's not the kind of man I want to be.

The center would often take the stance: We're not here to make this a safe space, we're here to prepare you for the world, he added.

Parquet, the Tulane professor, said creating a safe space  where community members are heard and respected  can actually go a long way toward preparing a person for the world.

It's a space where they can be themselves, where they can articulate their deepest thoughts and feelings, and do it in a way that they won't be judged, Parquet said. What greater preparation for the real world can there be?

Several people with whom Gambit spoke said they experienced sexual abuse and misconduct by LCB staff and students while attending the center. In some cases, they reported the abuse to Pam Allen, the director of the Louisiana Center for the Blind and the vice president of the National Federation of the Blind, but they say they believe too often little was done to punish their abusers or prevent abuse from recurring.

One student said he witnessed what he described as a culture of victim blaming when women would report sexual misconduct to leadership. He said employees would ask women what they were wearing at the time and why they were present wherever the abuse took place.

The student said while he was at the center, students would often take matters into their own hands when a classmate would tell them another student had abused them.

That's something that staff should be comfortable doing, too, and showing role modeling that you take a stance against that kind of thing, he said, instead of asking the woman, 'Well, what were you wearing? Why were you there? You have to understand that he doesn't understand boundaries.

Even in instances in which the center investigated allegations, little was done, former students say. For instance, a student who attended the adult program in 2010 said she was touched inappropriately by a male student who was decades older than her when they were walking home one day. When she told Allen, the offender was given a warning but was still allowed to stay in the adult program and graduate, according to the student.

Likewise, another female student who attended the adult program in the last five years said she was touched inappropriately by an immersion student  a graduate student from Louisiana Tech University who sat in on adult program classes as part of his training to be an orientation and mobility instructor.

She said her girlfriend reported it to an instructor at the center, and the incident was eventually reported to Allen, but no one from the LCB ever called her in to ask her about what she experienced. Instead, she said, they questioned the student who abused her, and he denied everything. She said there were no consequences of which she was aware. In fact, she says, the immersion student continued abusing her for a month and a half. She was 18 and he was 28.

It was a situation that they were made aware of and took no precautions or definite action afterward, she said. All he had to do was say, 'No, I didn't do that.' And they were like, OK, cool.

The victims allege that Allen and Riccobono, the president of the NFB, were both aware of several instances of sexual abuse and misconduct within the organization for at least several years before issuing public apology letters last year.

Cervenka, who was a member of the NFB from 1999-2018 and held several leadership roles in the organization during that time, emailed both Allen and Riccobono on Sept. 28, 2018 about discussing how to better prevent sexual misconduct within the NFB.

I understand that you are both aware of many instances of sexual misconduct within our organization, Cervenka wrote in the email. I know that conversations and discussions have been taking place over the past few years and some action steps have been taken. But we still have people in positions of authority who we know have victimized young women. We still have a culture where these things are talked about by groups of friends in hotel rooms but not at National Board meetings.

Cervenka said she had a long call with Allen following the email, in which she told her of every incidence of sexual misconduct she had personally experienced or had heard about from friends, and Allen was aware of all of them.

What Pam [Allen] does is she will make you feel heard, she will empathize with you, she'll make you feel like you talked to your big sister, Cervenka said. But then that's sort of the thing like, 'OK, I've made you feel heard, you've gotten it off your chest, and then they don't do anything about it. They kind of pacify you that way.

She said after that call, she talked with several of her friends in the organization, and many of them said theyd had similar conversations with Allen and Riccobono.

They keep us so siloed. If they can keep us not having them together, then they can act shocked and surprised at each person, Cervenka said. So many people have called Mark [Riccobono], but when we don't know that each other is doing that, Mark can act surprised.

This response is why many people who said theyve experienced sexual abuse at the center have also said they felt alone in their experiences at the time, even though many people have similar stories spanning decades.

The former LCB student who told Gambit she was abused by an immersion student at the center said when people began sharing their stories on Facebook last year, she learned for the first time that some of her classmates had experienced abuse, too.

I had never heard about a single incident like this until everything came out because of how much it had been silenced, she said. And then when it all came out, I found out that there were people I knew, girls I knew, that had experienced this that had never felt safe to speak up about it.

Though survivors are finding strength in numbers, many are still scared to share their experiences of abuse at NFB-affiliated training centers and events because they fear loss of services and advocacy from the organization.

Among other things, the national organization provides scholarships and other opportunities to blind people. People wanting to work in the blindness training and education fields fear adverse professional consequences for speaking out against the organization.

The NFB is a large force in the relatively small blind and low-vision community, with an estimated membership of more than 50,000 and with state and local chapters across the country. Each chapter and division has leadership positions, and members can work their way up to higher positions in the organization.

The organization is the largest advocacy group for people who are blind or have low vision in the country. It advocates for policy changes and accessibility, hosts annual national conventions for its members and provides programming at its training centers, which people attend from all over the world.

In many places, they're the only game in town, Cervenka said. It's easy to get blackballed.

Back in December, people circulated an open letter from survivors from the NFB and the National Blindness Professional Certification Board, a national certifying body based in Ruston that certifies people to train and work with blind people. The letter outlined issues in the NFB, including its handling of sexual misconduct, racism, ableism, psychological and other forms of abuse, and recommended concrete actions for both organizations to take. More than 400 people signed in support.

Cervenka said since then, shes heard of at least a dozen cases where someone not employed by the NFB signed the letter and their employers were later contacted requesting their removal or other professional consequences. She said nobody was fired in these cases, but some employers have responded by telling their employees to lay low.

What it's proven to me is how, even when we say in our society that we are against sexual assault and that we support survivors ... when it comes down to it, it's surprising how many people don't and how many people shy away from it, Cervenka said.

At the Louisiana center, its an even smaller community, where word can travel quickly if someone reports an incident to staff. A former student who attended the centers adult program in the last five years said staff gossiped a lot. She felt if she reported her abuse to a center employee, everyone would know within hours what was said and who said it. She said though her case was reported, she feared ostracization from staff and peers at the center for going to leadership.

There's this type of everyone-knows-everyone vibe there, she said. So, if you say something to the wrong person, or try to report something to the wrong person, not only is it probably not going to get reported, but it's going to get [around] who said something.

Honestly, I don't really feel like there was a person [working] there ... where reporting something would have been kept secret, she added.

After the initial flood of stories online from people who said they experienced abuse at NFB affiliated training centers and events, Riccobono, who heads the national organization, published an open letter to survivors on Dec. 16, 2020.

In the letter, he wrote, Our hearts break for the survivors of abuse and sexual misconduct who have bravely shared incidents that have happened within our organization over the decades. He also apologized for the mistakes I personally made in dealing with inappropriate behavior in the past.

Likewise, Allen, who heads the Louisiana center, said in a December statement that the centers executive boards highest priority and sincerest commitment is to strengthen existing and establish center policies, practices, and procedures that ensure we protect participants physical and emotional well-being.

We will support survivors to cope with sustained trauma and help them restore a sense of security, Allen said. This vow of protection extends to our responsibility to shield others from individuals who prove themselves predators or exhibit inappropriate actions.

Danielsen, the NFB spokesman, declined to comment on specific allegations, including those against Schuttler and Mays  except to say that neither are currently employed at the Louisiana center. Schuttler did not respond to multiple requests for comment over several days by email.

However, Danielsen did acknowledge the "critically important issues" raised by survivors when speaking with Gambit and said the organization has zero tolerance for sexual misconduct or abuse of any kind. He pointed to a series of efforts the NFB and LCB have been taking over the last several months.

At the national level, Riccobono announced in a monthly address to members on Jan. 5 that the organization would immediately begin partnering with RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), an anti-sexual violence organization that operates a 24/7 hotline for victims of sexual abuse. The partnership includes trainings, developing a specific code of conduct regarding sexual misconduct and developing strategic response protocols, according to Danielsen.

RAINN held the first of 10 mandatory training sessions for its employees, board members, students and affiliates  including those working at and attending the Louisiana center  on March 23. LCB staff and students are also receiving training from The Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault, a nonprofit comprised of 13 sexual assault crisis centers and other agencies, as well as seminars on diversity, inclusion, microaggressions, unconscious bias and trauma-informed counseling.

In the January address, Riccobono also announced the creation of a temporary, six-member Survivors Task Force to help develop new policies within the organization aimed at preventing sexual abuse. Members host virtual weekly meetings in which they consult with the community to develop recommendations on training, changing the overall culture of the organization, involving the blindness community in those attempts to change, and improving the Code of Conduct and its oversight process.

Danielsen said that complaints of sexual abuse and misconduct are being thoroughly investigated by an independent investigator, and said while the organization usually requires Code of Conduct complaints to be filed within a year of the incident, the NFB is accepting all complaints until at least Aug. 1.

But some, like Cervenka, feel training and policies are not enough without enforcement and accountability for staff at the center who she believes mishandled complaints.

When a young woman comes up to you and says she was raped, does it take training to not discourage her from going to the police? she said.

Parquet said that accountability is key in enacting real change at the center, and that accountability should be applied to leadership at the Louisiana center and at the national level, including their board members.

I would tell you, that having worked in the juvenile correctional system for years and having run the state's correctional facilities for years, that the buck stops at the top, Parquet said. In the case of the Louisiana Center for the Blind, I will tell you that it even stops with the board.

He added, If there were any instances where the director of the Louisiana center or the national president knew of allegations and did not act to address them, then they should be held accountable.

Many survivors express frustration that, although some have shared stories of their abuse repeatedly, the initial attention in December to the longstanding abuse problem seems to be waning. They worry that outside of individual Code of Conduct complaints, there doesnt seem to be any large-scale investigation that will hold abusers as well as leadership accountable  particularly those who knew about the abuse and did little or nothing about it.

I think people in December had hope, Cervenka said. They hoped that this was going to make a difference. And now there is, I would describe it as almost despair, like we did the best we could, we went out kicking and screaming, and we got this apology that acknowledged nothing.

Months later, many survivors feel like theyre still waiting for justice, and its prolonging their pain.

The initial former student who reported experiencing sexual abuse at the Ruston center in 2017 said she feels as though the whole situation with everybody just vanished away.

I don't feel like there's any change happening, she said, and it's almost feeling like they don't care.
ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 05th Apr, 2021) His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, has expressed the UAEs full solidarity with Jordan and its support for all the measures the Kingdom is taking to protect its security and stability.

This came in a phone call His Highness Sheikh Mohamed had Sunday with King Abdullah II of Jordan, wherein he affirmed that maintaining the security and stability of Jordan is an essential pillar of Arab security.

"We reject all that is destabilising Jordan and endangering the safety of its people," Sheikh Mohamed affirmed.

Sheikh Mohamed also expressed sincere wishes for the Jordans Monarch to continue to ensure the safety, stability and prosperity of his country, praying to Allah Almighty to protect the people of the Kingdom against all evils.

For his part, King Abdullah expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation for the UAEs support for the Kingdom under all circumstances.

He valued the principled stance of the UAE and its constant support for the stability and security of Jordan in a way that translates the depth and strength of relations between the two fraternal nations.
Mathura: Eight people linked to Popular Front of India, including its students' wing leader K A Rauf Sherif and Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, were charge-sheeted on Saturday by Uttar Pradesh police's Special Task Force in a court here for sedition, criminal conspiracy, funding of terror activities and other offences.

Five of the accused -- Campus Front of India's (CFI) national general secretary Sherif, CFI national treasurer Atikur Rahman, Delhi CFI general secretary Masud Ahmed, Kappan and Mohammed Alam, who is a member of the CFI and the PFI, were present in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Anil Kumar Pandey.

Two other accused-- Anshad Badruddin and Firoz Khan -- attended the hearing through video conferencing.

"The STF has also filed a charge sheet against accused Danish," district government counsel Shiv Ram Singh said.

Defence counsel Madhuban Dutt said that the 5000-page charge-sheet has been filed against the eight accused and they will consider moving the high court after going through it.

The accused have been charge-sheeted under Indian Penal Code sections of 153 (A) (Promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language), 124(A) (sedition), 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings...) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), according to the defence counsel.

They have also been charged with sections 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) related to raising funds for terror acts and various sections of the IT Act.

The court has fixed the next hearing for May 1.

Kappan along with Rahman, Masud Ahmed and Alam was arrested in October last year while they were heading to Hathras where a 19-year old Dalit woman had allegedly been gang-raped and murdered.

The FIR against them claimed that they were going to Hathras with an intention "to breach the peace" as part of a "conspiracy".

The Enforcement Directorate had in February filed its first charge-sheet against the PFI members on money laundering charges, claiming they wanted to "incite communal riots and spread terror" in the aftermath of the Hathras gang rape case.

The district counsel said that Anshad Badruddin and Firoz Khan are lodged in Lucknow jail after being arrested for allegedly plotting to execute a series of blasts in Lucknow and elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh.

The defence counsel claimed that the accused have been falsely implicated in the case.

He alleged that the accused who were lodged in Mathura jail were denied food for 24 hours.

"They were not served any food after 5.00 PM on Friday till 4.30 PM of Saturday while they were in the court," he claimed, adding that Kappan has diabetes and Rahman is a heart patient.

As they were being taken out of the court, some of the accused shouted that the charges against them were false.

The Uttar Pradesh government has been demanding a ban on PFI, alleging that it is involved in fuelling extremism and violence.
Things are finally back to normal at the Suez Canal. The backlog of ships that had been stranded by the massive container ship that blocked the Suez Canal has finally been cleared, Egyptian officials said Saturday. A total of 422 ships have passed through the Suez Canal in the five days since the massive 1,312-foot Ever Given ship was dislodged from the canal after it blocked traffic in one of the worlds busiest waterways. The massive ship ran aground on March 23 and was freed six days later.

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The final 61 ships that had been stuck in the maritime traffic jam finally made it through the canal on Saturday, the Suez Canal Authority said. Overall, 85 ships were expected to pass the canal on Saturday, illustrating how things are slowly starting to get back to normal. All waiting ships crossed the shipping course today, said Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority.

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The Suez Canal Authority has launched an investigation to figure out exactly what caused the Panama-flagged container ship to run aground. The investigation is going well and will take two more days, then we will announce the results, Rabie said on Friday.

The Egyptian government has already said it will seek some $1 billion in compensation for the blockage. Some experts have warned that these types of incidents could become more common as ships are getting bigger. The average size of most vessels has increased exponentially over the last 15 years. The ability to salvage these bigger ships has not, said Peter Townsend, a marine insurance industry veteran.
Russia confirmed 8,817 new COVID-19 cases in the past day, bringing the total case tally to 4,580,894, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday, TASS reports.

In relative terms, the growth rate dropped to 0.19%.

The lowest growth rates in the past day were registered in the Chukotka Autonomous Region (0%), the Magadan Region and the Tuva Republic (0.01%) and the Sakhalin Region (0.05%).

Some 1,901 COVID-19 cases were registered in Moscow, 711 in St. Petersburg, 598 in the Moscow Region, 276 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 241 in the Rostov Region and 203 in the Voronezh Region.
BASL raises concern over recent spate of police brutality Welcomes the Bill presented by Justice Minister to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure Act View(s): View(s):

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has expressed serious concern about the recent reports of incidents involving the use of force by certain Police Officers and the violent and brutal nature of the force used.

Issuing a statement, the Association states that it is firmly of the view that the use of force should not be used under any circumstances except as provided for by law. In exceptional and extenuating circumstances the use of force should be minimal and should be proportionate to the circumstances. This position is firmly supported by legislation, the decisions of the Supreme Court and the Regulations of the Police. Incidents of the use of force by certain Police Officers which have been highlighted both in the media and on social media just in the current year alone appear to show a disturbing trend.

Although it is reported that the authorities concerned have taken action to initiate criminal and other proceedings against some such Police Officers, there is an urgent need to address the culture of impunity and permissibility and the systemic issues that enable such Police Officers to act in an unlawful manner in complete disregard of not only the law but also the rights of persons whom they are bound to safeguard and protect, the statement stressed.

It added that the BASL will continue to observe the action being taken to address this disturbing trend and stands ready to intervene where necessary, as a failure to hold such errant Police Officers to account would ultimately lead to an erosion in the Rule of Law and the confidence the public have in the Police Department.

The BASL also welcomed the Bill presented by the Minister of Justice to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure Act seeking to impose a duty on Magistrates to visit every Police Station situated within the Magistrates judicial division at least once a month to look into the well-being, welfare and conditions of suspects as required by the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Procedure Act, No. 15 of 1979.

However, monthly visits by judicial officers alone will not be sufficient to address the issue of police brutality and there must be a concerted effort by all authorities concerned including the National Police Commission and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to address the issue, the statement emphasised.
Flying LAH, a small-size fighter helicopter, is being demonstrated during a media day for national aircraft projects held at Korea Aerospace Industries' headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, March 1, 2021. Courtesy of Kookbang Ilbo



Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI), South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, said Sunday it aims to develop its own transport and multipurpose aircraft for the military.



KAI has reached a consensus with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration on the need to develop transport and multipurpose aircraft to meet domestic demand for the planes, the company's Executive Vice President Ryu Kwang-su told Yonhap News Agency on the sidelines of a press conference.



"Currently, there are 30 multipurpose and 70 transport planes operated by the Army, Navy and Air Force. We are targeting to replace the imported aircraft with domestically developed ones and advance to overseas markets with our own planes in the long term," Ryu said.



If developed, the transport aircraft would be used for multiple purposes, including as a reconnaissance plane and a maritime patrol aircraft, as it shares the same platform as a midsized aircraft, he said.



South Korea is among the world's seven major aircraft manufacturing countries along with the United States, Britain, China, Japan, Russia and the European Union.



KAI is also looking for business opportunities in the fields of urban air mobility, personal air vehicles for civil and military purposes and electrified aircraft, the executive said.



KAI will decide on the type of engine for an electrified aircraft, whether a hybrid or hydrogen fuel-cell electric engine, in the next five years and aims to develop a prototype electrified plane by 2029, he said.





A replica of KAI's T-50 jet for Republic of Korea Air Force is displayed at KAI's headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. Yonhap
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 21:07:03|Editor: huaxia

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PHNOM PENH, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Sunday recorded 44 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising its total tally to 2,689, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement.

The new infections included one imported case and 43 local cases, with 25 of them reported in capital Phnom Penh, 17 in Preah Sihanouk province and one in Svay Rieng province, the statement said.

The imported case was a 46-year-old Pakistani traveller arriving in the kingdom on March 21 from South Korea, the statement said, adding that she was confirmed to have the virus in her second test on the 13th day of quarantine.

Meanwhile, Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Khuong Sreng ordered a 14-day closure of Orussey Market, one of the largest markets in the capital, after several vendors and guards tested positive for COVID-19.

He said in a statement late on Saturday that the closure would be from April 4 to 17 in order to curb the spread of the virus.

Cambodia has officially reported a total of 2,689 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the coronavirus pandemic hit the Southeast Asian nation in January last year, with 20 deaths and 1,653 recoveries, according to the official data.

The death toll included one new death recorded after a 72-year-old Cambodian woman succumbed to the coronavirus on Saturday afternoon, a day after she was hospitalized at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh, according to the health ministry.

The country began a COVID-19 inoculation drive on Feb. 10. As of Saturday, some 530,000 people in the priority groups had been vaccinated against the virus, a government report said. Enditem
The scene of the crash in Belfast

A woman in her 50s arrested by police investigating the death of seven-year-old Kaitlin McCoubrey-Fullerton following a one-vehicle road traffic collision in west Belfast on Saturday has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

The tragic collision occurred along Springhill Avenue shortly after 6.10pm and Kaitlin passed away at the scene.

Superintendent Gillian Kearney said trained officers are providing support to those impacted by the incident.

A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland 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 on Saturday: 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 also 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, he stated.

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.
In this image taken from video, Lee Yi-hsiang, the driver of the truck that caused the train accident on Saturday, offers a public apology as he is led by police, in Hualien, Taiwan, on April 4, 2021. (EBC via AP)

Truck Owner Behind Deadly Taiwan Train Crash Apologizes, Transport Minister Offers to Resign

The manager of a construction site whose truck slid onto rail tracks causing a catastrophic train crash in Taiwan apologized in tears while being led away from his home by police on Sunday. The unmanned trucks emergency brake was not properly engaged, according to the governments disaster relief center.

The transport minister has offered to resign, but his offer was rejected for now.

In the islands worst rail accident in seven decades, 48 people have been confirmed dead after a packed express train carrying almost 500 passengers and crew slammed into a truck near the eastern city of Hualien on Friday, causing it to derail and the front part to crumple.

The death toll was revised down to 48 on Sunday, after rescuers initially said 51, then 50 people were killed. The changes came after some body parts were found to belong to one individual, a spokesperson for the Central Emergency Operation Center said. At least 198 people were injured.

A worker stands in front of the derailed train near Taroko Gorge in Hualien, Taiwan, on April 3, 2021. (Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

The truck that the train hit had slid down a sloping road onto the track just outside a tunnel. Officials are investigating the manager of the construction site, Lee Yi-hsiang, whose truck is suspected of not having its brakes properly applied.

Lee had been released on bail, though the high courts Hualien branch on Sunday rescinded that decision after the prosecutors appealed it, sending the case back to the lower court.

Lee read out a statement apologizing for what happened as police took him away from his residence, Taiwan media reported.

I deeply regret this and express my deepest apologies, he said. I will definitely cooperate with the prosecutors and police in the investigation, accept the responsibility that should be borne, and never shirk it. Finally, I once again express my sincerest apologies.

A Hualien court said on Sunday evening it had ordered that Lee be detained for two months, saying there was a risk he may destroy evidence. After questioning by the judge and evidence from prosecutors, he is suspected of causing death by negligence, it said.

His lawyer told reporters that Lee wanted to face up to what had happened and was apologetic and expressed regret.

Speaking earlier in the day at the crash site overlooking the ocean and backed by precipitous mountains, Transport Minister Lin Chia-lung said he too would not avoid responsibility.

I am also in charge of minimizing the damage caused by the entire accident. After the whole rescue work is completed, I believe I will take the responsibility, he said.

Premier Su Tseng-changs office said Lin had made a verbal offer to resign on Saturday, but Su had rejected it for the time being, saying efforts for now should focus on rescue and recovery.

Rescue workers remove a part of the derailed train near Taroko Gorge in Hualien, Taiwan, on April 3, 2021. (Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

Search Efforts

Workers are continuing to remove the train from inside the tunnel and look for other bodies.

The Transport Ministry and the rail administration that comes under it are facing a number of questions, including why there was no proper fencing at the site and whether too many standing-only tickets were sold for the train journey.

Deputy transport minister Wang Kwo-tsai said late on Saturday the railway administration needed to take a hard look at all these issues.

The railway administration is also without a permanent director after its former chief retired in January. The position is being filled in an acting capacity by another deputy transport minister, Chi Wen-chung.

Wang said Lin was working hard to find the right person to fill the job.

So Angry

The uncle of the youngest confirmed victim, a 5-year-old girl, tearfully told reporters he was still waiting for an apology for the accident. Im so angry, he said.

The government has promised compensation and said it will do everything it can to help survivors and their relatives, including coordinating public donations.

The damaged section of the track will not reopen until April 20 at the earliest, Wang said, though rail traffic continues on a parallel track that runs through another tunnel and was not affected by the accident.

The accident occurred at the start of a long weekend for the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, when people return home to tend to family graves.

Survivors have described terrible scenes inside the wreck.

Priest Sung Chih-chiang told Reuters what surviving passenger Chung Hui-mei had told him.

She could not find her daughter. When she yelled, she found her daughter was under the steel panels. She put her effort to move those pieces one by one, but her daughters voice became quieter and quieter, and then there was no response, he said.

By Ann Wang and Damon Lin

The Associated Press contributed to this report




Haiti - COVID : Safety net for vulnerable people





The "Safety Net for the Vulnerable People of the Haitian Population Affected by the Coronavirus" Project (HA-L1145) is progressing rapidly.



This project allows the Haitian Government to support the population facing the needs related to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and its implementation is ensured by the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES) which has recruited specialized operators such as the Bureau of Nutrition and Development (BND), the Program Alimentaire Mondial (WFP) and the Association of Volunteers for International Service (AVSI) for the implementation of field activities.



Component 1 of this project relating to support for the existing school feeding program has given satisfactory results to date. 98,578 students in 295 public and non-public schools in the departments of Artibonite, North, North-East, North-West and West were served.



The BND, which is responsible for carrying out school canteen activities, provided the targeted schools with nutritional assistance and technical and logistical support in the preparation of meals. Also, training sessions were held for the cook staff, members of the management committee, among others, during the months of October, November and December 2020.



Remember that nearly 2.4 million hot meals and snacks (made up of 51.41% of local products) were distributed in the 295 schools affected.



Under Component 2 of the project, 21,010 vulnerable families received financial assistance through cash transfers totaling more than 143 million gourdes and food aid of 404 metric tons of food for the period from December 2020. in February 2021. The beneficiaries are located in certain municipalities in the departments of Artibonite, North, North-East and North-West.



The first cycle of distribution of "vouchers" to people who are in a situation of extreme poverty has already taken place in the commune of Cite Soleil where 15,000 beneficiaries have been served. The same quantity is being distributed to the Martissant district in Port-au-Prince.



This Project which began in July 2020 will end in December 2021. It will allow the financing of the school canteen for the 2020/2021 academic year in six departments and food and financial assistance to nearly 139,000 needy families throughout the country.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















GRAND HAVEN, MI  More than $75,000 in renovations to Grand Havens iconic Lake Michigan lighthouse will bring it one step closer to opening as a public museum.

The entrance lighthouse will receive repairs to its lantern room as part of an ongoing preservation process that has taken at least 10 years.

Thats according to Dave Karpin, president of the Grand Haven Lighthouse Conservancy, which will match a $37,879 state grant for the repairs.

Once the lantern room repairs are completed, likely this fall, the lighthouse will undergo repairs to its cement base, Karpin said.

Once the base is repaired, work will begin to set up the lighthouse as a museum, complete with restoration of its living quarters, Karpin said.

The public museum is the grand plan for the lighthouse that is actually closer than we think to becoming reality, he said.

The red wooden lighthouse attached to square-shaped living quarters, was built in the 1870s. It is at the far end of the citys pier and recently refurbished catwalk. There also is a second cast iron inner lighthouse located in the middle of the pier.

The city took control of the lighthouse structure about 20 years ago from the federal government, Karpin said. However, the U.S. Coast Guard continues to maintain its blinking light, he said.

The lantern room repairs are needed to prevent water leakage, primarily where the room attaches to the lighthouse, Karpin said. Those leaks are damaging wood in the lighthouse, he said.

The conservancy is working with architecture and engineering group Abonmarche to get the repair plans approved by the State Historic Preservation Office, Karpin said. Its hoped work will get underway in May, with completion by September or October, he said.

The work recently approved by the Grand Haven City Council includes replacement of the lantern room floor, repairs to the exterior decking, replacement of exterior railing so that it is historically accurate, repairs to the exterior door, and sealing and repainting of the interior and exterior.

A historic color report on the structure has already been completed, so paint restoration can be historically accurate, he said.

Future repairs to the structures cement base will include the installation of railings so that the public can walk around the perimeter of the structure, Karpin said.

That will allow the structure interior to be opened to the public, he said.

Plans are to set the interior up as it looked when lighthouse keepers lived there, he said. The interior includes living quarters and machinery, he said.

The conservancy has been collecting and preserving artifacts to help tell the story of Grand Havens maritime history, he said.

The conservancy will be undertaking a major fundraising effort this year to pay for the work to the lighthouse base. Those who wish to contribute to the Lighthouse Rehabilitation Fund can visit the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation website at ghacf.org or call the foundation at 616-842-6378.

A separate organization funded a replication of the Grand Haven piers iconic lighted catwalk, which was reinstalled in 2019 after three years of repair work. The original catwalk was erected more than 100 years ago to help keepers maneuver the 114-foot-long pier to tend to the lighthouse.

In Muskegon, repairs to the 150-year-old inner lighthouse lantern room were completed in 2020. It also was experiencing leaks that caused wood decay and rust.

A fundraising effort is underway to repair the outer light, which is so deteriorated that it could topple into the lake, according to the president of the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, which has owned the lighthouse since 2010. To donate to that effort visit muskegonlights.org.

Also on MLive:

Lake Express ferry returning for full 2021 season from Muskegon to Milwaukee

Old Mission Peninsula estate comes with vineyard, equestrian barn with arena for $3.5M

April to thrill stargazers with Super Pink Moon, meteor shower, zodiacal light
New Delhi: E-commerce giant Amazon on Friday (April 2) accepted that its employees pee in plastic bottles after earlier denying the claims made by Representative Mark Pocan on his Twitter account.

Pocan who is Democratic party and represents Wisconsin had earlier tweeted, Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a "progressive workplace" when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles, after demands for unionization in the Alabama branch of the company gained medias attention.

Replying to Rep. Pocan remark, Amazon official Twitter handle snarkily responded, You dont really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one.

However, Amazons claim is false and many delivery employees with the company have previously acknowledged peeing in bottles.

Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a "progressive workplace" when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles. https://t.co/CnFTtTKA9q  Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) March 25, 2021

The company on Friday accepted that its claim was wrong and issued an apology statement.

First, the tweet was incorrect. It did not contemplate our large driver population and instead wrongly focused only on our fulfillment centers. A typical Amazon fulfillment center has dozens of restrooms, and employees are able to step away from their work station at any time. If any employee in a fulfillment center has a different experience, we encourage them to speak to their manager and we'll work to fix it, read the statement.

It however claimed that the peeing in bottles was a larger industry problem and not exclusive to Amazon.

Regardless of the fact that this is industry-wide, we would like to solve it. We dont yet know how, but will look for solutions, continued the statement.

Commenting on the apology by Amazon, Rep Pocan tweeted, Regardless of the fact that this is industry-wide, we would like to solve it. We dont yet know how, but will look for solutions.
New Delhi:

President Donald Trump has announced new restrictions on travel to the United States, expanding it to include North Korea, Venezuela and Chad. His past ban expired on Sunday, 90 days after it went into effect.



Muslim majority countries Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia, from the past list, will continue to face the ban. But the new proclamation removed restrictions that were placed on Sudan.



The White House said the restrictions follow a review of information sharing by foreign governments.

Read | Donald Trump warns North Korea, says they won't be around much longer



Donald Trump issued a presidential proclamation late on Sunday."Making America safe is my number one priority. We will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet," Trump said.



The restrictions on Venezuelans apply only to government officials and their family members, BBC said.

Read | Travel ban on Muslims raises concerns of physical safety among Indian students in US: Survey

Making America Safe is my number one priority. We will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet.https://t.co/KJ886okyfC  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
A Donegal emigrant who has just celebrated his 80th birthday is seeking help tracking down a photograph of his deceased mother.

Michael John Docherty, who now lives in Preston in Lancashire in England, was born in Inishowen in Carndonagh on March 24, 1941. The family's name was originally spelled 'Doherty', which changed to 'Docherty' many years later.

Michael has never seen a photograph of his mother who sadly passed away when he was very young. Michael's daughter, Tammy, said he was now desperate to see his mother's face just once in his life.

Tammy contacted Donegal Live, in what she described as a last resort. She was hoping a reader might remember Michael's family and might have a photograph of his mother, Ellen Doherty.

Tammy said: My dad was 80 last week and he has never, ever seen a photograph of his mother, who passed away when he was a young boy.

We have not been able to find out much information about her, so even to have a photograph would be wonderful.

My grandmother passed away when my dad was very young and he is desperate to see his mother's face just once in his life.

Ellen's parents were called Cassie (nee McGonagle) and Barney Doherty. Ellen lived in Drung and went to St Columba's school. She was born on October 21, 1911 and passed away around the age of 34 or 36. She was married to Michael John Doherty and they had four children: Irene, Michael, William and the late Bridget.

We have not been able to find a photograph of Ellen. Nobody knows anything about her. It is almost as if she never existed.

A few of my dad's family in Ireland remember her but they were kids, they are now old men, so they do not have much recollection.

Tammy's dad said Ellen was buried in Drung cemetery, Moville Upper. Unfortunately he does not know the exact plot.

Tammy added: All we are after is a picture of Ellen, even if it is a picture from when she was at school.

Dad says he cannot believe he will never see her face, it makes me so so sad. I would love to be able to find perhaps a tiny bit of information about her or just a picture and I would appreciate it, more than they would ever know, if any of your readers could help us.

We have tried for years. I just feel there has to be a picture somewhere maybe from Ellen's school days. Dad is but is so desperate to see her face just once in his life. I wonder if there would be a wedding photo anywhere?

My dad's dad remarried when Ellen died, which is probably why he has never seen any of his mum and dad's wedding photographs.

When Michael was three years old, he and his siblings were sent to live in Glasgow in Scotland. Ellen had passed away by then.

The Docherty family came back to Ireland about 20 years ago to do some research. However, all of the information had been burned due to church fires and due to the war.

All census information had been burnt or not done. The 1921 census did not go ahead and the 1931 and 1941 censuses were destroyed. Some say my dad parents met in service others say they met at a dance.

If anyone can help Tammy and Michael Docherty, please contact Donegal Live or Inish Times: catherine.mcginty@iconicnews.ie.
A dad has sparked a heated debate after ranking Easter egg varieties, placing the Oreo egg firmly in the 'God tier' and likening the ever-popular Humpty Dumpty egg to cat vomit.

Bruno Bouchet, from Sydney, shared his 'definitive' rankings over Instagram on Easter Saturday before declaring the list to be 100 percent accurate and 'not up for discussion'.

But his fans couldn't help but discuss the rankings which put the Caramilk, Old Gold, Kinder Surprise and M&M eggs in the 'pleb tier', the second lowest ranking on his scale.

Bruno Bouchet, from Sydney, shared his 'definitive' rankings over Instagram on Easter Saturday before declaring the list to be 100 percent accurate and 'not up for discussion'

'He is just trolling us now,' one man said on the post, to which the self-proclaimed 'list king' responded 'how dare you'.

'Wrong the Adam Sandler tier is the real God tier,' one man said.

While another woman was proud to represent the pleb tier.

Another fan told him the Creme Egg tasted like vomit, while others begged for caramel and Caramilk to be moved up on the chart.

And one mum freaked out - realising she had bought her neighbour's child the Humpty Dumpty, an egg on the bottom of the man's scale.

Poll What's your favourite Easter egg? Lindt Cadbury mini eggs Humpty Dumpty Creme Egg Caramello mini eggs Crunchie eggs Wizz Fizz egg Oreo egg Darrell Lea liquorice egg Old Gold egg Other M&M's eggs What's your favourite Easter egg? Lindt 31 votes

Cadbury mini eggs 11 votes

Humpty Dumpty 7 votes

Creme Egg 15 votes

Caramello mini eggs 11 votes

Crunchie eggs 5 votes

Wizz Fizz egg 0 votes

Oreo egg 5 votes

Darrell Lea liquorice egg 2 votes

Old Gold egg 4 votes

Other 17 votes

M&M's eggs 1 votes Now share your opinion





But some people did agree with the ranking.

'Yay, so accurate,' one woman said.

And another fan said the dad's ranking meant the two were destined to be friends.

Bruno's wife even weighed in on the argument.

'I dunno, not worth the hours you spent locked away in the spare bedroom yesterday and the weird moaning coming from the room but anyways Happy Easter,' she laughed.

Alongside the Oreo egg in the God tier the dad put the Cadbury Creme egg.

The funnyman's second rank was nicknamed the royalty tier and home to Darrell Lea's liquorice egg, the Lindt egg and the Cadbury mini eggs.

Coming in third place, also known as the Adam Sandler tier were hollow eggs, Caramello eggs and Crunchie eggs.

And alongside the Humpty Dumpty in the cat vomit tier was the Wizz Fizz egg.

This isn't the first time the dad's controversial rankings have sparked a fierce online debate.

He recently shared his rankings of 17 cuisines from all around the world, with France, Vietnam and Japan taking out the top spots, while popular dishes from India, Italy and Mexico languish at the bottom of the scale.

'The 100 per cent accurate international cuisine power rankings. Don't bother commenting, this isn't up for discussion,' the self-proclaimed 'list king' wrote on Instagram.

Classic escargots, which are French edible snails, was controversially awarded the coveted top spot in the 'God tier' category, along with Vietnamese pho [noodle soup] and Lebanese kibbeh [meatballs].

Bruno 'definitive' rankings of cusines from all around the world also caused controversy

American fried chicken and Japanese sushi were featured in the second-best 'royalty tier', alongside Turkish gozleme.

In the centre of his rankings, Bruno put Australia's iconic fairy bread, Greek chicken souvlaki, Spanish paella and Thai beef salad in the 'Adam Sandler tier', or what he describes as the middle ground of 'take it or leave it'.

'When it comes to Aussie food, I need to give a tip of the hat to chicken parmi, the Bunnings snag and lamingtons. I know that by default Aussies are down on themselves culturally... but I gotta call it as I see it,' Bruno explained.

However, one person quickly pointed out: 'Chicken parmigiana is Italian.'

The 'pleb', also known as the second-lowest tier, consisted of Italian pizza, Korean beef bulgogi bibimbap, Indian curry and British scotch eggs while Chinese san choy bow, Mexican tacos and German chicken Hanchen-schnitzel stood at the bottom of the barrel in the 'cat vomit' tier.

Not everyone agreed with Bruno's rankings, including his friend, a former NRL star, Beau Ryan who urged him to 'swap French with Chinese before I drive to your house...'

Many were furious with the 'ridiculous' list, especially the low placement of their favourite cusines such as Indian, Mexican and Italian.

Bonnie said: 'You've lost my respect mate. Why is American food rated so high? This is so wrong for so many reasons.'

Kath slammed Bruno, saying: 'Italian on the pleb tier? Are you having a laugh? Hands down the world agrees it's the best cuisine. You are well and truly cooked. Shame on you.'

An outspoken father has sparked a furious debate after ranking international cuisines from best to worst, describing Mexican food as 'cat vomit' and Italian for 'plebs'

And another added: 'Love Indian but it kind of all tastes the same. Did a Mexican hurt you in your past life? Because that's harsh, they deserve to be in the royalty tier.'

Others believed Bruno - who's from a French background - deliberately put popular cusines like Italian and Mexican at the bottom of the rankings just to rile people up.

'You're just trying to get into arguments with this one, aren't you,' one wrote.

Surprisingly, some said they agreed with his list.

'100 per cent with the Chinese, Aussie needs to be cat vomit because I feel we don't have any food tradition. Also I'm going to be controversial aren't Lebanese and Turkish kinda the same? All in all another great list,' one wrote.
As a keen student of military history, Boris Johnson is well aware of Lord Beaverbrook and his influence on changing the course of the Second World War.

For the Prime Minister, however, it is jabs in the arms rather than planes in the air that have changed the course of his battle with coronavirus.

Just as Beaverbrook obsessively pushed for aircraft production to take priority, so Mr Johnson has focused on vaccine production in Britain  in particular at Oxford Biomedica, a gene and cell therapy company producing the AstraZeneca drug.

No 10 insiders say that he repeatedly asks for reassurance that the company's 84,000 sq ft vaccine factory, known as 'Oxbox', is running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Oxford Biomedica, a gene and cell therapy company, has created capacity to provide an extra five million extra jabs a year

It has been, but the PM has pressed officials to squeeze every drop of vaccine that it can.

And The Mail on Sunday can reveal that this relentless scrutiny from the very top of Government has spectacularly paid off.

An efficiency drive  prompted by the Prime Minister's relentless focus  has resulted in the plant creating capacity to provide an astonishing five million extra jabs each year. Astonishingly, the improved performance has transformed Oxbox into the most efficient AstraZeneca factory in the world.

'They were pretty good before, at the top of league tables, but now they are the most efficient plant in the global supply chain from AstraZeneca,' one insider said.

In a further boost to Britain's programme, the MoS can reveal that more than two million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine are expected to be in the UK by the end of May providing 200,000 doses a week. The first shipment will arrive within days and has been earmarked for the 40-49 age group.

In an exclusive interview, Moderna's European boss Dan Staner said hundreds of thousands of doses will be delivered every week over the next two months, allowing the UK to vaccinate vast numbers.

'We are finalising our conversation with Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency as we speak,' Mr Staner said. 'It's a matter of days. Within days we will be able to ship.'

Moderna's jab is based on the same mRNA technology behind the Pfizer-BioNTech injection and will be administered in two doses at least 28 days apart. It can be stored in a fridge at the point of injection for up to a month.

Britain's vaccine rollout has been threatened by slowdowns in supply and claims from the EU it will block exports, but Mr Staner said he was 'confident' that Moderna would hit its UK supply agreements.

He said the US pharmaceutical company had invested in 'ramping up' production of the jab, and could produce nearly three billion doses next year. But he added: 'It's now people need vaccines, not next summer. To get rid of this virus we need to vaccinate and vaccinate fast.'

Government sources say the recent threats from the EU to block jab delivery from factories based within Europe  combined with the Prime Minister's keen interest in Oxbox  has also helped spur AstraZeneca into action. Mr Johnson asks if Oxbox is running 24/7 'all the time' in meetings with the vaccine taskforce and Health Ministers, an insider said last night.

Bosses reviewed every stage of the production process at the facility and worked out ways to make it more efficient as part of a so-called Process Improvement.

A source said: 'You go back on every process in the production line, and say  how can I improve it even more? So for every litre improvement of yield, you get much more end doses. That is what Oxford Biomedica has done so brilliantly.'

Opening the factory in January, Mr Johnson showered praise on its 250-strong team with a rousing address of which Beaverbrook would have been proud.

'I urge you all to keep up your vital work in ensuring the strong supply of vaccines to the frontline, and help deliver the biggest inoculation programme in British history,' he said.

Oxbox has not been the only beneficiary of a vaccine efficiency drive. The 'fill and finish' plant in Wrexham, North Wales, which decants jab doses into 0.5ml vials, is in the process of boosting the number of production lines, senior sources said.

The work will give Wrexham the capacity to fill more vials of the vaccine. As a result, Government sources say they are 'confident we'll hit our targets' despite the vaccine nationalism hitting global supply chains.

Combined with other vaccine plants  last week Mr Johnson announced a new 'fill and finish' facility for the Novavax jab in Barnard Castle, Co Durham  the UK will be able to produce 600 million jabs a year by 2022, internal Government figures have shown.
Handwashing has gotten substantial coverage this past year during the COVID-19 pandemic, and not just for hygiene. You may have encountered some of the many accusations in both the U.S. and Canada that a politician has washed his hands of pandemic responsibilities.

Sometimes the reference includes a nod to the historical figure associated with this phrase: Recently in the U.S., a conservative commentator faulted President Joe Biden, saying he is like Pontius Pilate: just washes his hands and stays quiet.

These handwashing images derive from iconic biblical scripture referring to events preceding Jesuss crucifixion.

In one of the earliest versions of these events, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea from at least 26 to 37 CE  the only man with the power to order a crucifixion  washes his hands before a crowd. In the Gospel of Matthew, he simultaneously assents to Jesuss execution and claims no personal responsibility.

Throughout the history of Christianity, representations of Pilates handwashing have often been used to shift blame for Jesuss death to Jews, and have been part of a toxic legacy of Christian and western antisemitism.

The historical Pilate

In the first century CE, the Roman empire ruled the sub-province of Judea through military governors like Pilate, who were tasked with quashing any rebellions against Roman rule. Pilate was the only person in Judea with the authority to execute someone by crucifixion, a brutal form of capital punishment reserved for slaves and non-citizens deemed subversive.

Helen Bond, professor of Christian origins explains that the execution of Jesus was in all probability a routine crucifixion of a messianic agitator by a Roman governor.

Jewish sources convey that Pilate was hostile toward Jews and their customs. Philo of Alexandria even lamented Pilates continual murders of people untried and uncondemned.

(Shipley Art Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation/Wikimedia Commons) , CC BY

Exonerating Pilate

Yet, the New Testament gospels offer ambivalent portraits of the man who ordered Christs execution. There are four different accounts of Jesuss sentencing and death, but all agree Pilate was reluctant to declare Jesus guilty.

Each gospel depicts Pilate finding Jesus blameless but acquiescing to execute him, whether due to personal weakness, to appease the crowds or to legitimate his own authority and the emperors. Instead of impugning Pilate, the gospels shift the blame for Jesuss death to Jewish authorities.

Each of these gospels was written during the decades following the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans (70 CE), the climax of the First Jewish Revolt. This was a period of rampant anti-Judaism: imperialist media such as coins and monuments indiscriminately linked Jews from across the empire to the rebels in Judea and cast Jews as barbaric traitors. The empire punished all Jews, for instance, with a tax.

This created a challenge for those early followers of Jesus  both Jews and gentiles  who proclaimed that their Saviour was a Jew whom Rome executed as a criminal. The gospel authors stressed that Jesus opposed the Jewish authorities and was not found guilty by the Roman governor.

Jewish and gentile Jesus followers

How to understand depictions of Jews in gospels written before the self-identification Christian became widespread in the early second century is thus immensely complicated. The Gospel of John, for instance, emerged from a gentile community. It never uses the term Christian yet distinguishes followers of Christ from Jews through hostile rhetoric demonizing the Jews as children of the devil, as the New Testament scholar Adele Reinhartz has shown.

Matthews gospel, however, was produced by a community of Christ-followers who more clearly fit within the spectrum of Jewish identities, yet were eager to distinguish themselves from Jewish leaders who had been involved in the revolt and post-war Jewish leaders (namely, the rabbis). In this case, rhetorical attacks against certain Jewish leaders reflect an inter-sectarian argument among Jews.

Transferring guilt

The pattern of exonerating Pilate by blaming Jewish leaders is unmistakable in Matthews gospel. It includes a blood curse that is the basis of a toxic formula that Christians have used to justify centuries of Christian anti-Judaism, often resulting in reprehensible acts of violence against Jews: So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing  he took some water and washed his hands  saying, I am innocent of this mans blood; see to it yourselves. Then the people as a whole answered, His blood be on us and on our children!

Matthew also writes the chief priests and the elders were manipulating the crowds. He often accuses Jewish leaders of such corruption as well as hypocrisy and misunderstanding the Jewish law.

Pilates handwashing alludes to an older account from Jewish scripture. Deuteronomy 21:1-9 prescribes a ritual through which Israel can be absolved of bloodguilt for a murder committed by an unknown person. Because the culprit cant be prosecuted, this ritual removes bloodguilt, or communal liability for innocent blood, that would otherwise remain in the midst of the people of Israel.

The rite entails the peoples elders washing their hands of bloodguilt while priests break a heifers neck. Matthew inverts Deuteronomys ritual, and casts the priests and elders as hypocrites who invited bloodguilt onto their kinfolk.

Pilates redemption and anti-Judaism

Through early Christian writers, Pilate became an even more positive figure by the time the Roman Empire adopted Christianity. Some considered Pilate a Christian, at least in his conscience, as the early theologian Tertullian wrote. The Coptic Church proclaimed him a saint in the sixth century. Pilate even appears in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed, a Christian statement of faith: Jesus was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate. Note the statement says under and not by Pilate.

Ancient Christian texts doubled down on the New Testament gospels shifting of blame from Pilate to Jews, as professor of the New Testament Warren Carter has shown.

Christian authors deployed ambivalent and positive images of Pilate to show that Christianity was not a threat to Roman law and order. In doing so, they fanned the flames of anti-Judaism. Art historian Colum Hourihane has explored how these anti-Jewish interpretations eventually led to negative characterizations of Pilate himself as a Jew during the medieval period in Europe. At this time, Christians blamed Jews for plagues.

Read more: How pandemic shattered the harmony of medieval Europe's diverse cities

Politics of handwashing

Some accusations of handwashing rightly seek to hold political leaders accountable, or point to the tightrope politicians walk to meet political objectives. Pope Francis declared that those who ignore suffering caused by COVID-19 are devotees of Pontius Pilate who simply wash their hands of it.

But the expression should also remind us of the dangers of vilification: As we saw under former president Donald Trumps pandemic leadership, when leaders or communities distinguish themselves through scapegoating, this facilitates a dangerous redistribution of guilt to other parties, often marginalized and racialized communities.

Like Trump, political influencers have vilified people of Asian descent, and both the U.S. and Canada have seen a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.

Read more: Anti-Asian racism during coronavirus: How the language of disease produces hate and violence

Some conspiracy theorists have falsely blamed Jews and Israel for the virus. Some politicians and commentators have divided communities directly or indirectly through blaming or singling out people living in poverty or Black, racialized and Indigenous communities.

The history of interpretations of Pilates handwashing is stained by malicious attempts to define Christian identity through the demonization of Jewish others. Whether seeking to explain problems, to hold people accountable or to assert our own identities, lets do so in ways that dont dehumanize anyone.

Tony Keddie, Assistant Professor of Early Christian History and Literature, University of British Columbia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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
In this page from a textbook for Japanese high schools that passed an evaluation by the country's related commission on March 30, 2021, is seen Dokdo Island (in a red circle) as part of the Japanese territory. Yonhap



North Korea on Sunday blasted Japan for approving history textbooks that distort history and glorify Tokyo's imperial past.



The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) noted that those school textbooks have left out details of Japanese atrocities during its colonial period while also renewing territorial claims to Dokdo, South Korea's easternmost islets.



"The textbooks define Japanese invasions as a step toward civilization and prosperity," the KCNA said. "Japan has established foreign invasions as the basis of its military strategy, and will do anything to accomplish its goals."



The KCNA added that Japan, by "shamelessly" distorting history, is trying to instill in young students spirits of militarism and lay the foundation for realizing its old dreams of building an economic and military bloc in East Asia with Japan in charge.






A decade after Derecktor Shipyards shut down its Bridgeport operations in bankruptcy, Hornblower Group has reserved the facility  known today as Bridgeport Boatworks  to perform maintenance on a fleet of cruise ships, sightseeing boats and ferries servicing New York City and other ports stretching from Boston to Norfolk, Va.

After an $8 million investment, the contract between Bridgeport Boatworks, Hornblower and RCI Group will return about 100 jobs to the Bridgeport yard  a number that is similar to what was reached at the peak of Derecktors operations. RCI is leading development of the nearby Steelpointe Harbor district.

Bridgeport Boatworks and Hornblower confirmed the deal after a query by Hearst Connecticut Media on Hornblowers plans to hire a Bridgeport-based naval architect, who would lead the work of fleet engineering and design teams.

Were really excited about it, said Bridgeport Boatworks co-owner Harry Boardsen. Its a ... big investment here in Bridgeport, and just a big part of reigniting the harbor.

Gov. Ned Lamont has scheduled a Monday visit to Bridgeport Boatworks to announce the deal formally.

I congratulate Bridgeport Boatworks and Steelpointe developers on attracting a nationally renowned company like Hornblower to Bridgeport harbor, Lamont said in a written statement. Its great to see new jobs and economic development coming to our largest city.

Bridgeport is on the move, said Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim. Its great to welcome another new employer to our city. Hornblower will create new good-paying jobs, bring new business to our harbor and help make Bridgeport an even better place to live, work and raise a family."

From the Statue of Liberty to Bridgeport

Boardsen opened Bridgeport Boatworks in July 2018, after seeing a city request for proposals on new uses for the Derecktor site. Officials suggested he pair up with RCI Group, which is leading the development of Steelpointe Harbor across the water, where a new marina and a Bass Pro Shops outfitter store are located.

RCI owns the property where Bridgeport Boatworks operates the shipyard, with Hornblower to hold a formal tenancy with a contingent of its employees on site.

Were not cutting any corners, said Robert Christoph Jr., president of RCI Group, speaking above a stiff breeze whistling through rigging and boat covers in the Bridgeport Boatworks yard. Were doing this best in class. Were going to be bigger than anybody else in this space.

Boardsen runs Noank Shipyard, at the mouth of the Mystic River, and Seaport Marine, in downtown Mystic, with about 400 customers between the two yards. He has floated the idea of redeveloping Seaport Marine into a waterside plaza with townhouses and a hotel that could be accessed both by boardwalk and boat, including a pavilion for kayakers along the Mystic River.

Now, Boardsen is taking on a very different challenge: keeping up with the upkeep of the Hornblower fleet, whose logo is a familiar one in New York City Harbor.

Hornblower runs ferry services, dining and sightseeing cruises, including tourist shuttles to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Boardsen said he put himself onto Hornblowers radar weeks in the early days of owning Bridgeport Boatworks as a maintenance option.

Being in the boatyard business, it always sort of frustrated me that this place was empty and not being utilized, Boardsen said. It turned out we had a mutual interest in reawakening the facility and ... putting this yard back into action.

Hornblower owns or operates more than 150 vessels in the Northeast alone, all of which require ongoing maintenance and refitting to pass biennial U.S. Coast Guard inspections.

Nick Monroe, Hornblowers vice president of real estate and asset management, who has an MBA from the Yale School of Management, said it will take up to a few hours for its New York City harbor vessels to traverse the East River and Long Island Sound to Bridgeport Harbor.

Monroe said he expects Bridgeport Boatworks will be working on between five and 10 Hornblower vessels at any point in time, ranging from inspection preparations spanning a few weeks to refits lasting months.

As our fleet and our company has grown so much, weve been looking to vertically integrate that aspect of our operations, Monroe said. When you have that many vessels with that many needs, you just want to control your own destiny more. We work with a fairly large number of shipyards and will continue to, but we wanted our own option.

Picking up business wherever we could

Terry MacRae created the predecessor company to Hornblower Group in 1980, purchasing a small Berkeley, Calif. company that operated a pair of yachts in San Francisco Bay including M/V Admiral Hornblower.

Kevin Rabbitt, who previously worked for a Pittsburgh, Pa.-based company that offers broadcast services, including for live events, replaced MacRae as Hornblower CEO last year.

Through purchase and acquisition, Hornblowers New York City Harbor fleet became large enough to prompt a 2019 demand by New Yorks attorney general for the company to sublease space at Manhattans Pier 40 to a competitor, determining the companys vessels threatened to clog so many New York City piers that it would be difficult for dinner cruise rivals to find suitable dock space.

Hornblower is also known for sightseeing tours it offers at Niagara Falls and Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. It runs extended cruises via two lines: American Queen Steamboat, which cruises the Mississippi, Ohio and Columbia rivers among others in old-time paddle steamers; and Victory Cruise Lines, which provides coastal tours in New England, the Bahamas, the Great Lakes, Alaska and Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula.

On some of those routes, Hornblowers itineraries overlap with those of American Cruise Lines based in Guilford, whose founder Charles A. Robertson died last year.

Hornblower knows Bridgeport already, after Derecktors work in 2011 on a passenger boat for shuttles to the Statue of Liberty, designed with hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity for propulsion.

Derecktor declared bankruptcy the following year, closing in Bridgeport but retaining its main facility in Mamaroneck, N.Y. It continues to build vessels there today, including the RV Spirit of the Sound hybrid catamaran launched in 2016 for Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, and another named for Harbor Harvest market in East Norwalk.

Opening in July 2018, Bridgeport Boatworks had just nine customers for its boatyard services in its first season, split between commercial vessels and leisure craft that Boardsen described as retail work.

We were picking up business wherever we could, Boardsen said. Weve migrated more toward the retail these last couple of years, but with the introduction of [Hornblower] we are going to have a nice split of heavy commercial work and our retail work.

With Steelpointe Harbor including a recreational marina, Bridgeport Boatworks will now add another major working boat operation in Bridgeport in addition to the Bridgeport Port Jefferson Ferry. Bridgeport Boatworks currently has a pair of mobile lifts, the larger of which can handle boats of up to 275 tons. The newest lift will be able to haul 700-ton vessels.

Boardsen said Bridgeport Boatworks will seek other commercial work, and did not rule out exploring a periphery role in his words for the site as a staging ground for Park City Wind, a wind farm planned for off the southern New England coast.

Developer Avangrid plans to assemble components for the project in Bridgeport to be shipped up Long Island Sound and out to sea for installation, with Eversource choosing New London as its own hub for the Revolution Wind farm it has in the works. The wind farms will generated electricity for Connecticut customers of Eversource and the United Illuminating subsidiary of Orange-based Avangrid.

As Bridgeport Boatworks ramps up its launch schedule this spring, work will proceed on the big lift for later in the year, at which point Hornblower vessels will begin to become a common sight in Bridgeport Harbor.

Having the marina here, having the fuel dock here: were really trying to put something new in place here ... and redefine Bridgeport in a way, Boardsen said.

Brian Lockhart and Luther Turmelle contributed to this report.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
According to information published by the U.S. Navy on April 3, 2021, the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKE CSG) is deployed in the Red Sea to provide naval aviation support to Operation Inherent Resolve.

According to information published by the U.S. Navy on April 3, 2021, the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKE CSG) is deployed in the Red Sea to provide naval aviation support to Operation Inherent Resolve.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

The IKE CSGs transit marks the first U.S. warships to pass through the Suez Canal since it reopened on March 29, 2021. (Picture source U.S. Navy)

Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military's operational name for the International military intervention against the terrorist group ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely related campaign in Libya.

The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), flagship of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKE CSG), along with guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) and guided-missile destroyers USS Mitscher (DDG 57) and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116), completed a southbound Suez Canal transit into the Red Sea, April 2, 2021.

A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least two destroyers or frigates, and a carrier air wing of 65 to 70 aircraft. A carrier strike group also, on occasion, includes submarines, attached logistics ships, and a supply ship.

Deploying ships and aircraft of the strike group, commanded by Rear Adm. Scott F. Robertson, include flagship USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69); the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61); Destroyer Squadron 22 ships include Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Mitscher (DDG 57), USS Laboon (DDG 58), USS Mahan (DDG 72) and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116).

Squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3, embarked on Eisenhower include the Fighting Swordsmen of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 32, Gunslingers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 105, Wildcats of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131, Rampagers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83; Dusty Dogs of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 7; Swamp Foxes of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 74; Screwtops of Airborne Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 123; Zappers of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 130 and a detachment from Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40, the Rawhides.
Jennifer Garner and Scarlett Johansson were among the stars who celebrated the crew members responsible for making them look their best on screen on Saturday.

The actresses happily - and virtually - presented awards during the 8th Annual Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards.

Ma Raineys Black Bottom and Birds of Prey were the big winners of the night with two trophies apiece at the hybrid virtual gala.

Presenters: Jennifer Garner and Scarlett Johansson were among the stars who celebrated the crew members responsible for making them look good. The actresses were two of the presenters at the 8th Annual Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards on Saturday night

Jennifer Garner presented the trophy for Best Contemporary Make-Up for a Feature-Length Motion Picture to Birds Of Prey via a remote appearance.

She wore a chic royal blue blazer for the event, paired with a casual white t-shirt and gold necklace.

The Yes Day star let her brunette locks down and swept her bangs out of her freshly made up face for the ceremony.

The comic book adaptation, starring Margot Robbie, also won Best Contemporary Hair Styling for a Feature-Length Motion Picture.

Stylish: Jennifer Garner presented the trophy for Best Contemporary Make-Up for a Feature-Length Motion Picture to Birds Of Prey via a remote appearance. She wore a chic royal blue blazer for the event, paired with a casual white t-shirt and gold necklace

Winners Of Prey: Ma Raineys Black Bottom and Birds of Prey (seen above) were the big winners of the night with two trophies apiece at the hybrid virtual gala

Meanwhile, Scarlett handed out the Lifetime Achievement Award for Hair Styling to Emmy-winner Terry Baliel.

She looked relaxed in her remote appearance in a casual grey sweatshirt and glasses.

The Black Widow performer tossed her blonde waves over her shoulder and put on a bright shade of lipstick for the event.

Baliel worked with the Oscar-nominated star on the 2019 award season stalwart Jojo Rabbit.

Glasses: Meanwhile, Scarlett handed out the Lifetime Achievement Award for Hair Styling to Emmy-winner Terry Baliel. She looked relaxed in her remote appearance in a casual grey sweatshirt and glasses

Ma Rainey's wins: Ma Raineys Black Bottom, starring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman, took home the honors for Best Period and/or Character Make-Up and Best Period Hair Styling and/or Character Hair Styling for a Feature-Length Motion Picture

Ma Raineys Black Bottom, starring Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman, took home the honors for Best Period and/or Character Make-Up and Best Period Hair Styling and/or Character Hair Styling for a Feature-Length Motion Picture.

Other celebrities who presented honors before an audience of more than 1,000 worldwide included Judith Light, Ming-NaWen, Maria Bakalova, and Cheryl Burke.

The Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild was chartered in November 1937. Today, their membership includes over 2,400 make-up artists and hair stylists who have created the looks for Hollywoods most memorable characters and stars of stage, screen, television and now the Internet.

Other attendees: Other celebrities who presented honors before an audience of more than 1,000 worldwide included Judith Light (above), Ming-NaWen, Maria Bakalova, and Cheryl Burke

Who wins: The Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild was chartered in November 1937. Today, their membership includes over 2,400 make-up artists and hair stylists who have created the looks for Hollywoods most memorable characters and stars of stage, screen and television

Eddie Murphy received the Distinguished Artisan Award celebrating his versatile four-decade acting, directing and producing career on screen and television.

The comedy legend was presented the honor by his Coming 2 America co-star Arsenio Hall.

The Nutty Professor veteran proudly displayed the new golden trophy in his virtual shot, sitting in a room full of candles while donning his signature glasses to make his speech.

Distinguished: Eddie Murphy received the Distinguished Artisan Award celebrating his versatile four-decade acting, directing and producing career on screen and television

Co-stars: The comedy legend was presented the honor by his Coming 2 America co-star Arsenio Hall

Glenn Close was also on hand to virtually honor Matthew Mungle with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Make-up.

Both Mungle and Close both received Academy Award nominations for their work on the Netflix drama Hillbilly Elegy.

The big winners on the television side include: Bridgerton for Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling in a TV Series, Limited or Miniseries or TV New Media Series and The Queens Gambit for Best Period and/or Character Make-Up in a TV Series, Limited or Miniseries or TV New Media Series.

Big honor: Glenn Close was also on hand to virtually honor Matthew Mungle with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Make-up. Both Mungle and Close both received Academy Award nominations for their work on the Netflix drama Hillbilly Elegy

TV honors: The big winners on the television side include Bridgerton for Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling in a TV Series, Limited or Miniseries or TV New Media Series

Schitt's Creek nabbed a trophy on the comedy side for Best Contemporary Hair Styling in a TV Series, Limited or Miniseries or TV New Media Series.

Funnyman Anthony Anderson hosted the event in person in Los Angeles.

At one point in the night, the Black-ish star jokingly got his makeup done on stage by the two people in hazmat suits.

Comedy winner: Schitt's Creek nabbed a trophy on the comedy side for Best Contemporary Hair Styling in a TV Series, Limited or Miniseries or TV New Media Series

Host: Funnyman Anthony Anderson hosted the event in person in Los Angeles. At one point in the night, the Black-ish star jokingly got his makeup done on stage by the two people in hazmat suits
Butte County Sheriff's Office/Handout

Almost three months after family members reported her missing, Tatiana Dugger was found dead by a hiker in rural Northern California.

Dugger, 19, was discovered last Sunday by a hiker in Siskiyou County in a remote area on federal land about 8 miles outside Weed, the sheriff's office said in a statement on Facebook. Law enforcement responding to the scene found the body "located in a remote area off the roadway, and she appeared to have been there for an extended period of time." A DNA test confirmed Friday the deceased was Dugger.
Priest calls cops on maskless pregnant mom holding baby at mass; police threaten arrest

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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.
Five animals escaped in just five months last year at a zoo belonging to the charity where Boris Johnsons fiancee Carrie Symonds works, the Mail can reveal.

Among them was a spectacled bear  a category 1 dangerous animal.

An inspection report of Port Lympne Safari Park also reveals that a rusty-spotted cat native to India remains on the loose nine months later.

The escapes were not made public by the zoo at Hythe in Kent, which is due to reopen next week, or the local council.

Five animals escaped in just five months last year at a zoo belonging to the charity where Boris Johnsons fiancee Carrie Symonds works, the Mail can reveal. She is pictured with with owner Damian Aspinall

The news raises safety fears just as the Charity Commission begins a statutory probe into the Aspinall Foundation and its sister organisation, Howletts Wild Animal Trust, which runs the park.

The five escapees were listed in the latest informal inspection report for Port Lympne, obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

Two female hog deer escaped on March 5 after a fence failed. One was hurt and had to be put down.

A South American jungle cat called a Margay climbed out of its enclosure on May 11.

A rusty-spotted cat escaped on July 11 through a hole in its enclosure made by a rat.

The creatures that got out Spectacled bear Named after light rings around their eyes, the only bear in South America is classed by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 as a category 1 threat. Up to 6ft, they can kill animals as large as a cow. One escaped from Port Lympne after a gate wasnt closed properly. The only bear in South America is classed by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 as a category 1 threat Margay Known in its native Brazil as the fury cat, it lives in trees where it catches rodents, lizards and birds. A margay climbed out of the zoos enclosure. A South American jungle cat called a Margay climbed out of its enclosure on May 11 Rusty-spotted cat These fierce hunters from the forests of India are smaller than a domestic cat. One is on the run after getting out through a hole in its pen made by a rat. A rusty-spotted cat escaped on July 11 through a hole in its enclosure made by a rat Hog deer Named after their habit of running through the bush in Myanmar and Thailand head down, like a boar. After two got through a fence, one was put down. Two female hog deer escaped on March 5 after a fence failed. One was hurt and had to be put down Advertisement

And a spectacled bear got out on August 9 after its keeper didnt close a gate properly. It was tempted back with food pellets and the keeper was disciplined.

Port Lympne said the rusty-spotted cat posed no threat to humans. Although it has not been recaptured, it has been seen on cameras around the park.

The zoo, which conducts escape drills four times a year, added that Folkestone and Hythe council was told each time an animal got out.

The Aspinall Foundation hired Miss Symonds this year as director of communications.

Last week, the Mail told how the Charity Commission was investigating allegations of financial mismanagement, including the use of charity funds to help owner Damian Aspinall live for just 2,500 a month in a 30-room mansion and funnel hundreds of thousands of pounds to his family.

Spread over 600 acres, Port Lympne has more than 900 animals from 75 species.

The last full inspection in 2019 praised its very high standards of animal care and excellent conservation work.

But keepers have been killed, including two who died when they were crushed by elephants in 1984 and 2000.

There have also been other escapes. In 2015, visitors were locked in cafes when a baboon got out. In 2017, a cheetah was on the loose for almost half an hour at Port Lympne as families hid.

In 2018 a cheetah escaped from Howletts, spooking a herd of deer which stampeded. One died and another had to be put down.

Last night the trust insisted it operated with the highest standards of husbandry, citing its record of breeding 300 tigers and twice as many African elephants than the rest of the UKs zoos.

Tony Kelly, managing director of Howletts, said he was hugely proud of its work, adding: As world-leading breeding sanctuaries, animal safety and welfare is paramount to us and the wellbeing of our animals always comes first.

But the conservation charity Born Free said injury or death were sadly inevitable among captive animals and called for transformative reforms of the way the zoo industry is regulated.
Polls were postponed after candidates had spent huge sums to get votes from locals in the elections.  DC file photo

VIJAYAWADA: Revolt within the Telugu Desam has been expanding to several parts of the state on Saturday after TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu announcement that TDP will boycott MPTC and ZPTC elections objecting to violation of norms by ruling YSR Congress.

Within 24 hours, several leaders have openly opposed the boycott decision. They asserted that they will take a decision on the issue according to wishes of local cadres and leaders.

Notification for MPTC and ZPTC election was first issued in 2020 but polling was postponed by then state election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar following the Coronavirus pandemic.

This was after candidates had spent huge sums to get votes from locals in the elections. Thus, Chandrababu Naidus decision to now boycott elections has come as a shocker for TDP candidates. Most of them have decided to ignore their party chiefs dictum.

In Mangalagiri segment, where Nara Lokesh lost the election in 2019, TD leaders have decided to remain in election fray for the 18 MPTC and one ZPTC seat in Duggirala.

TD leaders Pothineni Srinivas Rao, Guduru Venkata Rao and Unnam Jhansi Rani said chances of TD candidates winning are bright and local TD cadres are pressuring them to remain in fray. We have to honour their wishes, the TD leaders remarked.

YSRC MLA of Mangalagiri Alla Ramakrishna Reddy said TD cadres are unhappy with party chiefs decision to boycott the polls and hence want to remain in fray.

Senior TD leader Bandaru Satyanarayana is continuing his election campaign in Pendurthi in support of TD candidates. In Sabbavaram, TD cadres are asking leaders to continue fighting the elections for saving the party from further damage.

In Vizianagaram, former union minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju is trying to convince party high command to let TD people continue fighting the seats for which they have filed their nominations.

Senior MLA Gorantla Buchaiah Chowdary has stated that majority of cadres are opposing the boycott decision. Senior TD leader Jyothula Nehru has already submitted his resignation from the party opposing the poll boycott decision. Nehru maintains that the boycott decision will sink the TD ship in AP.

TD leaders of Ungutur Chintala Srinivas and Paturi Vijay Kumar said majority of cadres are opposing the boycott decision and wish to remain in fray. They pointed out that TD had won the recent local body election in Ungutur. Hence, boycotting the parishad election is needless. They asserted that TD candidates will remain in fray from Ungutur and win the MPTC and ZPTC seats.
Xinhua News Agency/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

The backlog of ships stranded by the grounding of the Ever Given has been cleared, with 422 vessels passing through the Suez Canal since the tanker was freed this week after blocking the waterway.

The final 85 ships passed through the canal Saturday, the Suez Canal Authority said on its Facebook page, calling the operation a "new achievement" in the authority's ability to manage emergencies.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) welcomes the marking of NATO Day in Romania and emphasizes that in the last 17 years since accession, "our country has made sustained efforts and demonstrated the will and ability to contribute concretely and relevantly to the consolidation of NATO, the most successful political-military alliance in history, the guarantor of Euro-Atlantic security."

According to a communique sent on Sunday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Romania participates in allied missions and operations, in measures to strengthen deterrence and defence on the Eastern Flank, including in the Black Sea region, and hosts on its territory allied multinational structures. Thus, through its action, Romania actively contributes to the defence of the territories and citizens of all NATO member states.

Also, Romania's significant and lasting contributions to the efforts to increase the resilience and to increase the defence capacities of the partners, especially those from the Eastern Neighborhood, are additional evidence that Romania fulfills its commitments consistently, without hesitation, the commitments of responsible ally, the press release reads.

"On the occasion of the celebration of NATO Day in Romania, I wish to reaffirm our country 's firm commitment to collective defence and allied solidarity, as well as to a strong transatlantic relationship, including for wide cooperation between NATO and the European Union in the field of security and defence. Romania has consistently supported the collective defence efforts of all Alliance members and is actively engaged in the process of strengthening NATO's capacity to respond effectively to current and future security challenges, including through its contribution to resilience efforts, through the initiative to set up and host a Euro-Atlantic Center for Resilience. Romania also actively supports the NATO 2030 strategic reflection process coordinated by the Secretary General of NATO, a process aimed at consolidating the political dimension of the Alliance, aimed at crystallizing a vision of NATO's future and at eventually leading to drawing up a new Strategic Concept", the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, declared on this occasion, according to the mentioned release.

At the same time, under the current conditions generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Romanian Foreign Ministry particularly welcomes the solidarity demonstrated at NATO level both between allies and in relation to partners, confirmed by concrete medical assistance actions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expresses its gratitude for the sustained efforts of the military staff, diplomats and all those who, through dedication and professionalism, contributed to the promotion and achievement of Romania's security interests, as well as to the consolidation of our country's role and prestige within NATO.

In Romania, NATO Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of April, according to the provisions of Law 390/2004.

On March 29, 2004, Romania submitted the instruments of ratification with the US State Department, the depositary of the North Atlantic Alliance Treaty, followed by the ceremony of hoisting the Romanian flag at NATO Headquarters, during the Allied ministerial meeting of April 2, 2004.
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.
Almost any time an executive from a large multinational with sizeable operations in Ireland is interviewed in the media, they are asked the same question  how important is 12.5pc corporate tax rate for locating and expanding in Ireland?

Without fail, they downplay the appeal of the tax rate and point to a host of other reasons why Ireland is the right fit for them. The responses may be comforting, but they have not to date been tested.

However, these claims are set to be put to the test sooner rather later. Indeed, we may also see just how solid Irelands relationships with multinationals really are.

Last week, employer group Ibec flagged the shifting mood in relation to the OECD corporate tax reform and a move towards an effective minimum tax rate for multinationals.

And within a couple of days, US President Joe Biden upped the ante considerably by outlining corporate tax plans that would levy a 21pc rate in all foreign earnings of American multinationals.

While Bidens presidency on the surface looked like great news for Ireland, given how proudly he wears his Irish roots, he had flagged this tax stance on the campaign trail and is likely to move ahead swiftly with election promises given that the Democrats have the Senate for now. In 2017, Donald Trump brought in arrangements whereby US headquarters had a claim to tax on profits made overseas. Biden appears eager to extend that claim.

As Ibec pointed out, the trend on corporate tax rates globally, which had been falling in recent years, is now very much reversing.

If anything, Covid-19 has underpinned this as countries all over the globe look at ways to raise more funds to meet huge bills for health costs, employment supports and other exceptional pandemic expenditure.

Ireland needs to be vigilant.

Read More

There is a school of thinking which is adamant that the mulitnationals locating here come for the tax rate. And there is no doubt that in years gone by Irelands attractive tax rate was one of the strongest cards we had to play.

But Ireland now is an extremely well-established centre for multinationals and for the right type of multinationals at that. Any tech company with global ambitions will feel that if it is good enough for Apple, Microsoft and Google, it is also good enough for them.

Ireland has the English language, an Anglo-Saxon legal system, less restrictive labour laws than France or Germany, and relative freedom from corruption compared with lower-cost locations which compete with us.

And despite how much we criticise lots of aspects of living in Ireland  from a lack of public transport to the drinking culture  international workers like coming to work here. The educational system has shown an ability to adapt to the changing needs of employers.

And we offer access to the EU, something which the UK can no longer do.

American Chamber CEO Mark Redmond pointed out last week that in a recent survey 94pc of its members reported that their US headquarters had a positive rating for Ireland as a location for investment.

It would be hard believe that a low tax rate is the driving force for much of the investments by the likes of Intel which recently announced it would employ another 1,600 people as it continues to plough billions into its operations in Kildare.

So, if the playing field is level, will Ireland lose out to other more attractive locations? We may learn soon enough.

Even before Bidens move, there were plenty of other changes coming down the tracks, with the OECDs proposed new rules on global taxation potentially resulting in a 2bn hit to Ireland.

What Bidens comments last week bring home is that the wider tax environment is undergoing a period of change and in the US this is happening quickly.

Ireland is peripheral to both the US thinking and the OECD priorities.

That means that whenever the many aspects to new regimes are agreed, there will be unexpected consequences for Ireland. The last OECD project delivered a surprise boon for Ireland. Our luck cant continue forever.
A British woman is set to fly to the US to marry a double killer known as 'Animal' after getting to know him through a prison pen pal scheme.

Naomi Wise, from Chelmsford, in Essex, was training as a counsellor before the pandemic hit and she was forced to find other means to hone her skills.

The 26-year-old joined the scheme which connects people with prison inmates that want pen pals where she met 30-year-old Victor Oquendo in June last year.

Oquendo, who is known as Animal, is currently serving a 24-year sentence after being convicted of shooting two people in a gangland hit and has also played a part in three armed robberies.

Despite his history, Naomi describes Victor as 'the kindest man [she] has ever met' and the pair became engaged after exchanging emails and phone calls.

Within a few months, Oquendo had proposed three times before Naomi finally accepted, after initially being hesitant because they had not met.

Naomi Wise, from Essex, (pictured) plans to marry double killer Victor Oquendo at a US prison in Michigan after meeting him through a prison pen pal scheme during the Covid pandemic

Naomi was training as a counsellor when the pandemic began so she joined the prison pen pal scheme as a way to hone her skills during lockdown but it wasn't long before Victor proposed

Now, Naomi intends to fly over to Michigan in the US to marry Oquendo in prison as soon as the coronavirus pandemic allows.

Speaking to the Mirror, Naomi said: 'Victor's not a monster, he's a human being.

'Never in my wildest dreams did I plan to fall in love with an inmate, but it happened and I wouldn't change it.

'Victor is the kindest man I have ever met. People might judge before knowing the full story, but I can't imagine my life without him.'

Victor Oquendo (pictured) was jailed in 2010 after he fatally shot two men during gangland hit

The 26-year-old plans to fly to the US to visit Victor this summer with the intention of marrying him at Macomb Correctional Facility as early as September.

She now spends an estimated 270 a month on ringing the prison and sending her fiance emails.

Naomi said her friends have been accepting of the relationship but that her family will take longer to come round to their romance.

Victor was jailed after fatally shooting two men in 2010 when he was 19 years old. He admitted two counts of second degree murder as well as a string of other crimes.

Naomi says she hopes to marry Victor in September. Pictured: A sketch Naomi's friend created

Describing the moment she found about his convictions, Naomi added: ' I was shocked. It was a lot to take in.

'I wanted to know how he felt about what he'd done. If he didn't care that would have been a red flag, but he's extremely remorseful.

'He struggles to live with himself and has night terrors. It said a lot to me about the person he really is.'

Victor is expected to be behind bars until 2034 but Naomi says the state of Michigan is voting on the Good Behaviour act next year which could mean he is released early if he behaves while incarcerated.
It is rather rare to see enthusiasm for completely new exploration projects in Europe. The overwhelming majority of OECD countries are either in terminal decline or are looking into ways how to ban exploration altogether. The less-appraised parts of Eastern Europe might still have some potential yet in the absence of oil majors such endeavors risk remaining a lifelong pipe dream. Still, the appearance of a new European frontier can rekindle upstream hopes (even if for a short period of time). Europes latest addition to the list of nations willing to tap into their prospective hydrocarbon resources is located in the southeast of the Old Continent, in Montenegro. The small ex-Yugoslav republic with just slightly more than 600 000 inhabitants has witnessed its first offshore well spudded on March 25, 2021. The 4118-5-1 wildcat was drilled in 100 meters of water to a total depth of 6525 meters, some 25km from the Montenegrin shore.

The first offshore Montenegrin well was spudded by the ENI-NOVATEK tandem, with the Italian major taking on the reins of operatorship. Given the geographic proximity, ENIs interest in offshore Montenegro is quite understandable and was to be expected. In case of any discovery, ENI has the convenient option of accommodating prospective production within its system, the Italian shore is only 500km from the wildcats location. The first well is targeting an oil reservoir at depths of 6.5km, implying that the Italian majors 120kbpd Taranto Refinery might be a safe backstop for any potential crude produced. Along with Total, ENI has been one of the most active drillers in the Mediterranean, marking such supergiant discoveries as the Egyptian Zohr or the Cypriot Calypso. Across the Adriatic from Montenegro, ENI has been developing the Aquila field offshore Brindisi, producing medium density crude of some 36 API.

The case for NOVATEKs participation in an offshore project is much more peculiar, considering that the Russian gas producer has no assets in the Adriatic. Moreover, NOVATEK is on the US Sectoral Sanctions Identifications (SSI) List, meaning that equity investments and financing matters are substantially encumbered. Luckily for the Russian firm, offshore Montenegro does not fall under any of the three sanctioned areas  Russian deepwater, Arctic offshore, and shale. Domestically, NOVATEK is heavily focused on gas production on the Gydan peninsula and in the surrounding area, compelling it to seek new niches it can fill, new frontiers that could serve as bases for future growth. In a sense, NOVATEK needs to overgrow its LNG specialization and gain market-relevant competence in other segments, too.

NOVATEKs first step into the foreign offshore segment took place in Lebanon where it landed two offshore blocks in a consortium with Total and ENI in 2018. In both cases NOVATEK did not lay claims to operatorship, focusing on building up key relationships with Europes leading drillers. It seems very likely that it is from the Lebanese joint experience that the Montenegrin drilling ambition branched out into a separate work track. Concurrently, although Montenegro is one of the hottest candidates for EU accession, Podgorica remains beyond the bounds of the European Union. For NOVATEK this is a great boon, as sanctions risk can be negotiated directly with the relevant national authorities, i.e. no involvement of Brussels is required.

Technically, the Montenegrin offshore area has already seen exploration drilling, though that was back in the SFRY (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) times, in 1980. Although Yugoslavia was a socialist country with all its peculiarities, it was the US major Chevron that was the operator of drilling operations. The Jadran Juzni (Southern Adria) prospect turned out to wield signs of oil and gas systems which, however, were deemed non-commercial, effectively closing Chevrons offshore endeavors in Yugoslavia. It needs to be pointed out that the current wildcat is farther off the Montenegrin coast  the Jadran Juzni well was only 3km from shore. To carry out the drilling, the ENI-NOVATEK tandem contracted the Topaz Driller, a Panama-flagged jack-up drilling rig. The contract was clinched in July 2020, for drilling operations starting in Q1 2021 and taking up to 180 days. Related: The Future Of U.S. LNG Hangs In The Balance

Up to now the work progress of ENI-NOVATEK seems fairly solid. In late 2018 their contractor has carried out a comprehensive 3D seismic survey on the 4118-5 Block, then the summer of 2019 witnessed a string of hydrophysical and geophysical surveys on the prospects. Having completed this, it was assumed that the spudding of the first well would take place in 2020, however, the coronavirus-triggered chaos upended all plans and effectively delayed the wildcat into 2021. Most probably the Italo-Russian joint venture will drill 2 wildcats. Even if the first well turns out to be completely dry or non-commercial, the second well (expected to be spudded in May-June 2021) is targeting gas plays at lower depths, i.e. the first wells fiasco does not automatically foreshadow the failure of the second well.

According to media reports, it will take ENI 4-5 months to finalize the drilling of the wildcat and assess the results. Nevertheless, Montenegros offshore zone might more activity coming up in the upcoming months. The Greek Energean holds 2 license blocks (4219-26 and 4218-30) and is expected to take a decision on whether it intends to proceed with drilling exploratory wells in its acreage. The data to assess the blocks resource bounty is already there, Energean carried out 3D seismic surveying on both blocks in 2019 already. The spark of interest towards its offshore zone might compel the Montenegrin authorities to expedite a 2nd offshore bidding round which would presumably cover the 7 remaining unallotted blocks. There is very little probability that Podgorica will be trying to auction off onshore blocks, especially considering their history of dry wells.

By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The family of DMX released a new statement on Sunday asking for the prayers of his fans as they prepare to hold a candlelight vigil outside White Plains Hospital in upstate New York, where the rapper remains in critical condition.

On Friday night, April 2nd, 2021, our brother, son, father, and colleague DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, was admitted to White Plains (NY) Hospital, facing serious health issues, read the statement. We ask that you please keep Earl/DMX and us in your thoughts, wishes, and prayers as well as respect our privacy as we face these challenges.

NOTE  The Ruff Ryders To The Rescue Foundation will have a prayer vigil outside of White Plains Hospital (41 East Post Road, White Plains NY) on Monday, April 5th, 2021 at 5 pm EST. The press is welcome. Please be respectful of the hospital and its staff, the familys statement continued.

Simmons, age 50, suffered a heart attack at around 11 PM local time this past Friday and was briefly placed on life support at the hospital. His longtime attorney, Murray Richman, told reporters that he was taken off of life support but is still in grave condition. Neither he nor any of Simmons family or reps have confirmed reports by TMZ that the heart attack was caused by a drug overdose.

Also Read: DMX Is Off Life Support, in 'Grave Condition,' Lawyer Says

We are concerned. It would be disingenuous for me to say I am not a worried man at this particular point, Richman said. Earl Simmons, DMX, in my opinion, is one of the great poets of our time. And what he had to say, if people bothered to listen and could overcome their hostility to rap, would learn a great deal.

DMX broke through as one of the top rappers of the turn of the century, first breaking onto the charts with the 6x platinum album And Then There Was X in 1999 along with its lead single Party Up (Up in Here). He followed up that albums success with the 2003 hit single X Gon Give It To Ya, off the soundtrack of the action film Cradle 2 the Grave, which DMX starred in alongside Jet Li.

His family will hold a candlelight vigil on Monday outside White Plains Hospital at 5 PM ET. The public and press are invited to attend.

Read original story DMXs Family to Hold Candlelight Vigil Outside Hospital on Monday At TheWrap
The family of a Stockton teenager who was allegedly beaten by four police officers has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, saying a violent assault left the 17-year-old with a broken nose and boot marks on his face.

Devin Carter was driving a Mercedes-Benz along Davis Road at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 30 when police pulled him over for allegedly speeding erratically at more than 100 mph, they said. Police accused the teen of initially failing to yield and said that he passed two motorists on the right, one of whom swerved and collided with a police cruiser.

After three minutes, Carter lost control of his car while maneuvering a turn, police said in their description of the incident, and officers used an intervention technique to stop him just north of Davis and Eight Mile roads.

The lawsuit filed by Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris describes the encounter differently, saying Carter stopped while a police car was still pursuing him in the distance. It crashed into the Mercedes.

An officer then opened Carters driver-side door, where the teen was waiting with his hands above the steering wheel as police yelled commands. The officer pulled Carter out of the car and slammed him to the ground, where he lay screaming in a fetal position while several officers punched, kicked and kneed him, the court complaint says.

Burris also published body-worn camera footage from the department, which shows a chaotic altercation in which the officers hurl profanity and repeatedly order Carter to stop resisting, even as he insists he is obeying directions.

The complaint names four officers as co-defendants, in addition to the city: Michael Stiles, Daniel Velarde, Vincent Magana and Omar Villapudua. The department placed all four on administrative leave after the incident, beginning an internal affairs investigation that wrapped up last week, according to Police Chief Eric Jones.

Jones announced the results on March 30: Two of the officers, Stiles and Villapudua, had been fired for using force outside the scope of both our policy and training. He declined to say whether the other two had returned to work.

The San Joaquin County District Attorneys Office is also reviewing the case, but has not filed criminal charges against the officers so far.

Our department has policies that state we should make attempts to avoid striking an arrestee around the head and neck area when possible, Jones said in a public statement. Given this set of circumstances, I cannot and will not condone any excessive force. Additionally, any use of profanity is considered unwarranted and not professional.

Jones added that several officers involved in the incident had received discipline  including the two terminations  which Burris, Carters family and many supporters deemed insufficient.

Now the truth is out, Carters father, George Carter, said during a news conference and rally on the steps of Stockton City Hall on Saturday. His son stood beside the podium, eyes cast downward, hands in his pockets, occasionally nodding.

Burris said the beating was the most outrageous he had seen since his former client Rodney King was assaulted by Los Angeles police officers 30 years ago  an incident documented by a bystander on a camcorder, presaging modern viral videos of police violence.

Carter told reporters that his body went numb when he watched the video, like it did when I was getting beaten.

He said that, in that moment, curled on the ground, he thought about George Floyd, who died after a former Minneapolis police officer pinned him down for more than nine minutes. Officer Derek Chauvins murder trial began last week.

Carter worried he would be another George Floyd.

I thought I was going to die, he said.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
I wonder what revolutionary socialist James Connolly would make of those who claim to follow in his footsteps commercialising the Easter Rising?

Sinn Fein may be the richest party on the island of Ireland, but that hasn't stopped it flogging 1916 merchandise. For 9 you can buy an "Easter lily face mask" from the party's online shop.

That seems a tad pricey to me, but the website says its soft-feel, three-layer fabric. It comes in green or black and has "bendable nose wire which prevents glasses from fogging".

In light of the breach of public health rules at Bobby Storey's funeral, you'd think the Shinners would steer clear of such stock just to avoid the comic send-ups. But, it seems, chutzpah is not in short supply.

Anyone seeking to continue the 1916 theme can buy a "heather grey polo with an embroidered Easter lily" for 20. Goods on sale at this time of year used to be more traditional. Simple Easter lily badges were designed by Cumann na mBan in 1925, and for decades were sold to raise money for republican prisoners' families.

It's hard to understand why Sinn Fein feels the need to cash in on 1916. Reclusive English millionaire William Hampton left the party 4m not so long ago, and there are no prisoners with relatives to look after anymore. No price was put on the united Ireland Easter eggs Gerry Adams launched last month, but it was a very bizarre episode.

"While we honour our patriot dead, and it's very, very important that we do so and we remember the sacrifices of all of those generations, and particularly the men and women of our own time and the men and women of 1916  Easter is also about Easter eggs," he said in a two-minute video on Twitter.

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Had such footage been posted by another, I strongly suspect it would have led to accusations of mocking the patriot dead. Lively encounters with those who earned their stripes in the non-Sinn Fein part of the republican movement would likely have followed.

I can only imagine the outrage and opprobrium heaped on the head of any SDLP person foolish enough to promote a product along those lines.

The special-edition egg was wrapped in a sheet of paper that says #Time4Unity, and came with a Proclamation and Easter lily.

I don't know how Adams' outlandish action went down in Cappagh or Crossmaglen, but it was a hit with Derry Sinn Fein.

Standing against a backdrop of the Proclamation and 1916 leaders, Sinn Fein councillor Conor Heaney held some of the Easter eggs, and announced a free raffle for five of them. The draw was done last Wednesday by MLA Martina Anderson, with a video of her announcing the winners posted on Facebook.

In Belfast, Collin Sinn Fein was less generous and sold ballots for 3 a go.

Councillor Seanna Walsh, who in 2005 was the face of P O'Neill as he read out the IRA's "final communique", posed for pics with the "chucky egg" in an Easter Rising bag personally signed by Gerry Adams.

To see the former Sinn Fein president finally transformed into the Easter bunny raised smiles among old enemies.

But some in the republican community don't see the joke, and ask 'For what died the sons of Roisin?' Selling Easter eggs was never part of the reckoning.
The St. Tammany Tourist Commission sings the praises of the parishs small-town charm mixed with bold Louisiana culture to draw visitors from across the country. Now, the organization is also bringing that tune to a more local audience.

As the commission works to return tourism to pre-pandemic levels and grow from there, St. Tammany Parish Tourist and Convention Commission President and CEO Donna ODaniels said it is critical for residents themselves to understand why those visitors are important.

Tourism affects every residents quality of life. The billions of dollars invested in local businesses and the tax money that is collected simply makes an impact on every household, she said. It is important, as we are all recovering from COVID, to get our tourism economy up and running.

ODaniels said tourists support small businesses in a way that goes beyond what locals can do alone. For example, she said 40% of restaurant business comes from visitors outside of St. Tammany.

She said that visitors who have come to know and love St. Tammany's culinary scene, vibrant festivals and cook-offs, quaint communities and outdoor attractions do more than just help the economy by spending money when they visit. They also drive new businesses and restaurants to the area, further boosting the economy.

When a business knows its going to get tourism business, that is a huge factor for a decision to invest here, she said.

ODaniels, 54, earned her bachelors degree from North Carolina State University and worked in that state's tourism industry for several years before moving to New Orleans in 1995. She started with the St. Tammany Tourist Commission in 1996 as communications director under then-executive director Hyatt Hood.

She took over the helm in 2005, shortly before Hurricane Katrina struck. In the following weeks, she began to spotlight the ways that St. Tammany delivered a boutique getaway filled with food and music against a backdrop of rivers, bayous and Lake Pontchartrain under stately oaks and tall pines.

Under O'Daniels' leadership, the tourist commission carved out St. Tammanys identity as a unique destination all its own  not just as an add-on side trip from New Orleans or Baton Rouge.

In 2018, the organization earned a seal of excellence and accreditation through Destinations International, the worlds largest resource for convention and visitors bureaus and tourism boards. The tourism commission began to be laser-focused on increasing the percentage of leisure travelers, the ones who intentionally came to St. Tammany, ODaniels said.

In 2019, about 2.6 million people visited St. Tammany, equivalent to the population of the city of Chicago. Those visitors brought $771 million into the parish and saved each local taxpayer $1,100 that year, according to tourist commission statistics. In fact, St. Tammany earned the spot as fourth largest tourism economy in the state, according to a 2019 study by the University of New Orleans Hospitality Research Center.

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Its as though every man, woman and child in Chicago came to St. Tammany and spent about $300 each, ODaniels said. If tourism went away, where would we find all those tax dollars generated by visitors? Simply put, tourism enhances quality of life for all of us who live here.

ODaniels said she wants tourism to continue to boost small businesses throughout the parish. She said getting locals involved in tourisms post-COVID recovery is key, and that involvement actually began in the midst of the statewide quarantine.

During the COVID-19 shut down, the tourist commission shifted its focus from marketing to those coming into the parish and started channeling its marketing efforts toward its own residents. The campaign aimed at showing residents what they had available for leisure activities right in their own backyards when so many venues remained closed to the public.

ODaniels said it was the first time there was a marketing budget devoted to St. Tammany residents themselves. The strategy worked, helping to keep businesses afloat that normally would have relied on tourist dollars, especially during the summer months, and showing residents how the tourist commission could be a valuable resource for them.

The tourist commission website, www.lanorthshore.com, became a mainstay for residents to check status updates on what restaurants were open, what events had been canceled or rescheduled or even to research and learn about outdoor attractions, ODaniels said.

We truly became THE website for locals to use for our calendar and resources. We had such a great response that business owners thanked us personally. It was gratifying to know we were able to provide that resource and help, she said.

As part of its more localized campaign, the tourist commission also expanded its Taste of Tammany program, which began during the intensive effort to increase leisure travelers by offering discounts on dining and hotel stays. With discounts added for attractions and shopping, it allowed businesses to ramp up after the lockdown lull and created a buzz among residents about St. Tammany restaurants and activities, ODaniels said.

ODaniels said a strategic plan meeting held March 18 and guided by the North Carolina consulting firm of Young Strategies is helping to shape monumental change for the industry.

Working with Young included collecting survey responses from local officials, residents and business owners. She said she and the tourist commission will use those responses and data to craft a tourism climate that strikes the perfect balance between feeding the economy and maintaining the quaint, peaceful atmosphere that the tourist commission passionately promotes.

ODaniels said that pulling out of the impact that COVID-19 has had on the tourism industry will be much like adapting to the attacks on the U.S. on 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill along the Gulf Coast in 2010.

Those past events resulted in changes to the industry that we had to adapt to. We are taking a hard look at where weve been and what needs to happen in the future, she said. Up next is to grow.
A convoy of vehicles transporting royal mummies is seen in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Egypt held a parade celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from Egyptian Museum to he newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. (AP Photo)

Egypt held a gala parade on Saturday celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from central Cairo to their new resting place in a massive new museum further south in the capital.

The ceremony, designed to showcase the country's rich heritage, snaked along the Nile corniche from the Egyptian Museum overlooking Tahrir Square to the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in the Fustat neighborhood, where Egypt's first Islamic capital was located.

The mummies were being transported in climate-controlled cases loaded onto trucks decorated with wings and pharaonic design for the hour-long journey from their previous home in the older Egyptian Museum. The vehicles were designed to appear like the ancient boats used to carry deceased pharaohs to their tombs.

Most of the mummies belong to the New Kingdom, which ruled Egypt between 1539 B.C. to 1075 B.C., according to the Ministry of Antiquities.

They include Ramses II, one of the most famous pharaohs, and Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt's only woman Pharaohwho wore a false beard to overcome tradition requiring women to play only secondary roles in the royal hierarchy.

The mummies18 pharaohs and four other royalswere originally buried around 3,000 years ago in secret tombs in the Valley of Kings and the nearby Deir el-Bahri site. Both areas are near the southern city of Luxor. The tombs were first excavated in the 19th century.

A convoy of vehicles transporting royal mummies is seen in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Egypt held a parade celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from Egyptian Museum to he newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. (AP Photo)

After excavation, the mummies were taken to Cairo by boats that sailed the Nile. Some were showcased in glass cases, while others were stored. The remains of Ramses II were taken to Paris in 1976 for intensive restoration work by French scientists.

The made-for-TV parade was part of Egypt's efforts to attract foreign tourists by publicizing its ancient artifacts. The tourism industry has been reeling from political turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, and more recently, the coronavirus pandemic.

"This parade is a unique global event that will not be repeated," declared Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany.

Security was tight in the capital, with authorities closing off major streets and intersections along the route for the slow-moving vehicles. Guards on horses and Egyptian celebrities and signers followed the motorcade.

A convoy of vehicles transporting royal mummies is seen in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Egypt held a parade celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from Egyptian Museum to he newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. (AP Photo)

A convoy of vehicles transporting royal mummies is seen in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Egypt held a parade celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from Egyptian Museum to he newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. (AP Photo)

People watch parade of royal mummies in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Egypt held a parade celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from Egyptian Museum to he newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. (AP Photo)

People watch parade of royal mummies in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Egypt held a parade celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from Egyptian Museum to he newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. (AP Photo)

A convoy of vehicles transporting royal mummies is seen in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Egypt held a parade celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from Egyptian Museum to he newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. (AP Photo/Samah Zidan)

A convoy of vehicles transporting royal mummies is seen in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Egypt held a parade celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from Egyptian Museum to he newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. (AP Photo)

"Again, Egypt dazzles the world with an unrivalled event," said movie star Hussein Fahmy in an official promotional video.

The event started in the late afternoon and was broadcast live on the country's state-run television and other satellite stations. The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry also live-streamed it on social media platforms.

The "Pharaohs' Golden Parade" circled Tahrir square, where authorities officially unveiled an obelisk and four sphinxes to decorate Cairo's most famous square.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who will welcome the mummies at the new museum, tweeted: "This majestic scene is a new evidence of the greatness of this people, the guarding of this unique civilization that extends into the depths of history."

Once at the new museum, 20 of the mummies will be displayed, while the remaining two will be stored, according to the ministry.

Explore further Egypt unveils ancient coffins, statues found in Saqqara

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
COLUMBIA  In the year since the COVID-19 outbreak began, Gov. Henry McMaster has issued 26 declarations of emergency, each lasting 15 days because of a quirk in state law.

The latest declaration ends days from now and McMaster will issue order No. 27.

Some South Carolinians might wonder why the state remains in a state of emergency when public life is beginning to return to normal.

State restrictions  including limits on dining, mass gatherings and nursing home visits  have ended, and COVID-19 cases have dropped amid the rise in vaccinations, now eligible to anyone 16 and older.

While many equate gubernatorial pandemic orders with government lockdowns, they serve a wider, behind-the-scenes purpose even after state constraints are gone, according to state officials.

The ongoing emergency declarations for the COVID-19 pandemic keep federal aid flowing to South Carolina, put National Guard troops on duty to help with the vaccine rollout and allow state agencies to coordinate mass purchases that cut virus-fighting costs.

What the latest state of emergency order, issued March 23, doesn't do is mandate social distancing anywhere or restrict anyone's movement  unless they want to visit an inmate. The lone restriction left bars visitation in South Carolina's prisons and jails.

All 50 states remain under an emergency declaration, as does the nation as a whole.

"It can be very serious, but it's also something that enables us to do our jobs most effectively," Derrec Becker, spokesman for the S.C. Emergency Management Division, said April 1 about the emergency orders, which keeps his agency activated to coordinate state and federal aid, both in dollars and manpower.

Mass purchases for state agencies and schools have included protective equipment and testing supplies.

"There are all these operational things going on people dont see but get the benefits," Becker said.

Those include nearly 600 National Guard troops still helping across the state with COVID-19 testing and vaccine efforts. The number on active duty has stayed fairly steady since McMaster first declared a pandemic emergency March 13, 2020, Becker said.

Other provisions kept in place by the order include waiving some trucking regulations to help speed the delivery of medical supplies, allowing pharmacists to make emergency prescription refills, and enabling emergency licenses for professionals, contractors and volunteers coming from another state to help out.

It also keeps the state's anti-price-gouging law in effect. And it enhances officers' authority to disperse crowds and keep order, specifying a $100 fine and up to 30 days in jail for anyone who refuses to comply, but that section has seen little to no use.

For the state prisons agency, McMaster's orders have kept visitors out in an effort to mitigate COVID-19's spread from the outside to the locked-up population. They've also enabled National Guard troops to assist as needed, from conducting medical checks to preparing meals when the regular cooks were in quarantine.

Guardsmen will also help vaccinate prisoners, Corrections spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said.

The ban on visits will remain through at least the end of April, when agency officials will re-evaluate the risk, she said.

Across the country, the actions Republican and Democratic governors have taken in their orders have varied widely.

Some South Carolinians complain McMaster went too far in his restrictions, while others complain he did far too little and lifted what he did mandate too quickly. The state lagged other states in issuing a stay-at-home order and was among the nation's first to lift restrictions.

Lifting emergency declarations altogether won't bring a return to pre-pandemic normalcy.

Local requirements remain in effect across the state, such as masks requirements in Columbia, Charleston and Greenville, as do policies set by businesses and churches, citing safety guidelines from state and federal health officials.

Making all of those go away will take getting millions more South Carolinians fully immunized.

Less than 20 percent of South Carolinians ages 16 and older  all of those eligible for a shot, as of March 30  have completed the vaccination process, according to the state's public health agency.

Meanwhile, McMaster is expected to continue issuing emergency declarations for the foreseeable future. Under state law written for natural disasters like hurricanes, not health pandemics, each automatically expires in 15 days.

"Unfortunately, a state of emergency has become synonymous with restrictions for some people because of the outrageous, draconian measures other states have taken," said McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes. "But we have no restrictions in place in South Carolina and remain under a state of emergency for many reasons.

"One of those reasons is that  just like during a hurricane response  it allows all of the state's agencies and resources to be coordinated in a way that bolsters the state's response to the pandemic."

The orders have given McMaster far more authority than South Carolina governors normally have in a state where the Legislature holds most of the power. And by continuing to issue them, he retains the power to clamp down again. But he's made it abundantly clear he will not do so, even amid criticism as cases spiked after the winter holidays.

In the early weeks of the pandemic, McMaster's rolling orders closed schools and beaches, shuttered many businesses and eventually  on April 6, 2020, when he became the last governor east of the Mississippi to do so  told people to stay home, unless going to work or a business deemed essential.

Changes to subsequent orders largely undid restrictions, with exceptions in July and August when he added an 11 p.m. curfew for alcohol sales, required mask-wearing in restaurants and state offices, and turned safety guidelines on indoor dining into mandates.

But those too have been undone. With the exception of inmate visitations, the last of his restrictions were lifted with his March 5 order, which ended his limited mask mandate and told state employees still working from home to "expeditiously return" to their offices.

Nearly 9,200 South Carolinians have died with COVID-19 over the last year. The numbers of daily deaths and newly diagnosed cases have steadily declined since January, when seniors became eligible for limited vaccine supplies, according to data from the state's public health agency.

South Carolina ranks 19th nationwide in the number of deaths per capita, slightly better than neighboring Georgia at 18th. States posting the highest death rates are New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, in that order. Florida, which Democrats nationwide have criticized as too open, ranks 27th, while California, among the most locked down, ranks 29th, as of April 2, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.
Don Wright was in Japan for the signing of the peace terms

A NEWBURY naval war hero has been honoured with a lifetime membership of the Royal Naval Association for his service during the Second World War.

Don Wright, 96, joined the Navy in 1944 and served in the radar crew on the destroyer HMS Teazer during the Pacific campaign against Japan.

He was then in Tokyo for the Japanese surrender and helped British prisoners of war on to the boats.

In a presentation on Tuesday, Mr Wright  who has been a long-time member of the Royal Naval Association (RNA)  was awarded life membership of the association as a mark of the esteem and respect in which you are held as a World War II veteran.

Receiving the honour, Mr Wright said: This is quite an honour gentlemen.

Im very thrilled and honoured because it came out of the blue.

I joined the Navy when I was 18 because I wanted the chance to see a few things, and it turned out very well actually.

It turned out a good choice.

The award was presented by secretary and vice president of the Newbury and District branch of the RNA Doug Bell and Newbury branch chairman Bob McGuinness.

Mr McGuinness said: We are more than honoured to be able to present it to you sir, as youve more than earnt the honour.

We, the organisation, have decided its fine time that we started awarding our Second World War veterans because were running out of them.

Donald Ernest Wright was born on November 17, 1925, and grew up in Sandhurst in Berkshire before joining the Royal Navy aged 18 on April 10, 1944.

He first travelled to HMS Royal Arthur at Skegness in Lincolnshire to get kitted out, before travelling to HMS Glendower at Pwllheli in North Wales, squeezing three years-worth of training into 13 weeks, including lessons on seamanship, gunnery and specialist sections which, for Mr Wright, was radar due to his engineering and electrical background.

After further training at HMS Valkyrie on the Isle of Man and St Budeaux in Devon, Mr Wrights foreign draft was confirmed  a trip to the Far East on HMS Teazer.

On February 28, 1945, Mr Wright and HMS Teazer left Greenock in Scotland with the convoy bound for Gibraltar, then on to Malta, through the Suez Canal to Aden  then a British colony  and on to Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

On April 29, HMS Teazer left Ceylon for Fremantle on the west coast of Australia, arriving eight days later  the day before Germanys unconditional surrender of its armed forces on May 8.

After a brief spell in Melbourne and Sydney, Mr Wright departed for Manus in the Admiralty Islands off Papua New Guinea, where HMS Teazer was part of a British fleet in an attack on Japanese positions on the Truk Atoll on June 14 and 15, codenamed Inmate.

At 6am on July 6, the British Pacific Fleet left Manus for Japan.

By July 17, HMS Teazer was based off the east coast of Honshu  the largest Japanese island  with planes from aircraft carriers bombing the Japanese mainland, including Tokyo, with HMS Teazer responsible for screening the aircraft carriers and acting as a decoy.

Bombing continued for the next few weeks, with radio silence maintained on August 6 and 9 after an unknown device  as Mr Wright was told at the time  was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It wasnt until August 30 that HMS Teazer  now part of the US 3rd Fleet  was able to anchor in Tokyo Bay ahead of the signing of the Japanese surrender and peace terms on September 2.

Six days later, after welcoming 400 British prisoners of war on to the carrier HMS Speaker, Mr Wright began his long journey home.

On March 13, 1946, Mr Wright finally arrived back in Plymouth.

Deciding he didnt want to stay on in the Royal Navy, Mr Wright was demobbed and transferred to the Naval Reserve.

He was subsequently awarded the Burma Star, the Pacific Star, the 1939-45 Star and the War Medal 1939-45, as well as a blue demob suit.

He returned to civilian life where he become a production engineer then a consultant.

He married Jennifer in 1966 and had three sons  Elliot, Christopher and Nicholas  as well as nine grandchildren, before moving to Newbury 10 years ago.
When Gmail was telling me it was "offline" earlier today, in an outage I experienced that didn't seem to affect very many, and which resolved itself after about 15 minutes, I found some very interesting tweets reminding us all of some major tech moments that happened this week in history.

It wasn't just Apple with a birthday on April 1, Gmail's birthday is April 1, too, although Apple arrived in 1976, making it 45, while Gmail arrived in 2004, making it 17.

Gmail offered 1000MB or 1GB of storage at a time when Microsoft's then-Hotmail service offered 10 or 100MB, from memory, and it was such a big jump in 2004 that people thought it was an April Fool's joke.

Gmail has grown in leaps and bounds since then, and very rarely does it go offline for long.

So, when Gmail went intermittently offline for me earlier today, and with Twitter one of the world's fastest information services on what's happening now, or at least in the Western world, I typed "Gmail" into Twitter's search box to see if anyone else was reporting an outage.

A site called Services Down had placed a tweet and asked anyone to retweet if they had experienced Gmail problems, asking the question if Gmail was down and giving a time and date earlier today for when they presumably received their first report.

#Gmail seems to be intermittently down for me... #gmaildown The inbox works but doing a search in your gmail is coming up as offline, and returning to the inbox isnt working. Now it says its offline... https://t.co/nNCe0nc4YU  Alex Zaharov-Reutt (@alexonline888) April 4, 2021

Of course, if you go to a service like Down Detector's record of Gmail issues or any major online service, you see little reports here and there all the time.

When there's a huge outage that lasts hours and affects just about everyone, you see huge spikes in the outage reports, but for the most part, outages happen here, there and everywhere.

They happen to different people across the planet, for a range of reasons that might have nothing to do with the online service itself - it could be a problem with your computer, your Wi-Fi, your Internet provider, a sub-sea cable break, malware, or other issues.

Given there was no mass reportage of widespread Gmail and Google outages, which has happened in the past from time to time as it has happened to many online services, it seemed logical that the problem would either resolve itself soon, which it did, or it would quickly escalate into something everyone was noticing.

It also makes you think that the AI in place still has a long way to go to predict and prevent these kinds of outages in the first place, proactively identifying and fixing problems rather than alerting a human of an issue either through an alert, or by the end-user experiencing said outage occurring.

Of course, having your email down for a few minutes or even a few hours is usually nowhere near as inconvenient as your water, electricity, gas, Internet or mobile service going down, but we all notice it when it happens, and given ever escalating cyber attacks from cyber criminals and even nation states, the fragility of digital civilisation has never been more apparent.

Indeed, if you aren't backed up six ways to Sunday, if you aren't using multi-factor authentication, if you don't use a VPN, or a password manager set to complex passwords, if you don't regularly update your computer and all of your connected devices, if you don't have a secondary computer or mobile phone connected to a different phone network in place as a backup, if you aren't using some kind of security software no matter your platform or device, then being attacked or disrupted in some way is inevitable.

Heck, it's inevitable even if you do all of those things, for no person is an island, and a disconnected device only has access to what is locally on the system or on physical storage devices, and nothing more - until you go online once more/

Some already ask if there is a precursor to cyberwar in progress in analysing the latest Solarwinds and MS Exchange hacks, among all manner of other security issues, as discussed at a recent CyAN event that was captured on video.

Anyway, in searching for Gmail on Twitter, I discovered this tweet from tech investor (and more) John Erlichman, to which I can add Clubhouse.

Things that didn't exist 20 years ago



iPhone

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

TikTok

Instagram

Android

iPad

Gmail

Tesla

WhatsApp

Bitcoin

Netflix streaming

DoorDash

Chrome

Messenger

Zoom

FaceTime

Google Maps

Amazon Prime

Airbnb

Uber

Snapchat

LinkedIn

Reddit

Robinhood

Skype

Spotify

SpaceX  Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) April 2, 2021

Searching through his recent tweets also reminded me that Gmail launched on April 1:

On this day in 2004: Gmail launches pic.twitter.com/0BVHzqIXz5  Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) April 1, 2021

He also noted the Osborne was "the first successful portable computer" launched "on this day" in 1981:

On this day in 1981: first successful portable computer was released.



It cost $5,200 in todays prices and weighed about 25 pounds. pic.twitter.com/kGWppfYeqx  Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) April 3, 2021

In addition, the first mobile call was made today in 1973:

On this day in 1973: the first mobile phone call was made. pic.twitter.com/sqeKZXyrU6  Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) April 3, 2021

Indeed, he tweets a lot of very interesting facts, like the number of Google employees since it started, 8 when it began and 135,301 in 2020, or the average time per day looking at smartphones, which has grown to 3 hours and 19 minutes in 2021, from 22 minutes in 2011.

He also posted this fascinating clip from a Ben Affleck interview, where Affleck was talking in 2003 about what would end up today as Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, Apple Music and other services because of file sharing, and listening to him, he was right!

Ben Affleck in 2003 on the future of music and tv streaming services:



(4 years before Netflix streaming and 5 years before Spotify launched)pic.twitter.com/iDq8MrJAqI  Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) April 2, 2021

Anyway, every day has a milestone of some kind attached to it, but it still interesting to rediscover these things because it's easy to forget.

Despite all of our technological advancement, we're still in the B&W era of technology when we compare ourselves to the imaginations of sci-fi writers.

Even so, we're living in a golden era, but it's still one that could come crashing down due to financial or environmental collapse, or war, or even the ongoing shock the pandemic has given us.

That said, COVID-19 has massively accelerated digital transformation, which is still ongoing today, so with any luck, the best is still yet to come, whatever issues we have to muddle through as a species and a civilisation on the way to a better, multi-planetary, galactic and multi-galactic future.

Let's just hope that our sci-fi future is one that's closer to a freedom-loving utopia than the dystopian nightmares so many sci-fi movies warn humanity to avoid - one that's closer to, say, Star Trek, than to the much more dystopian Dark Matter, Star Wars or Firefly.

That could well just be wishful thinking that disregards how the world really works, but until we get there, we're here, dealing with outages and pandemics.

May the force be with us all - we're going to need it!
A Bangladeshi national was arrested by Kolkata Police on Saturday for illegally entering Indian territory and staying without valid permission, an officer said. The man in his early 20s, identified as Rubel, a resident of Dhaka requested the policemen at the gates of Kolkata Police Headquarters at Lalbazar on Saturday morning for financial assistance to return to Bangladesh, the officer said.

"The man admitted of entering the Indian land illegally and reaching the city to get a job here almost a month back. But he could not manage a job and eventually spent all the money he had with him. This morning he came to Lalbazar and asked for financial help to return home, when we detained him and then arrested," he said.

Initial probe revealed that Rubel, along with a few other friends had crossed the border and entered India in the final weeks of February and reached the city, the officer said.

"He lost touch with his friends soon after entering India. He kept his search for a job but eventually spent all his money staying at hotels. He said that he had hidden his identity to be a Bangladeshi while applying for jobs. Today, he surrendered. We are probing into the matter," the officer said.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Things are getting worse in Northern Ireland, and most of my readers have been taught to blame the wrong side and let Sinn Fein off the hook.

Accordingly, I am asking my readers to summon their better angels and look at the situation through the eyes of middle-class unionists and working- class loyalists, rather than the shifty eyes of Sinn Fein and its bourgeois supporters north and south.

By bourgeois supporters I mean the new breed of university nationalists, north and south, who can be found on Twitter shamelessly and coarsely calling unionists "planters" who should "pack up and go". In night and fog?

Let me give you the most recent example of why lack of balanced reporting leads so many of us to wrongly demonise decent northern Protestants, including Arlene Foster.

Last Thursday, the PSNI confirmed that the IRA was still involved with Sinn Fein. Imagine you are a unionist listening to that, a day after hearing Sinn Fein would get away with its blatant breaches at the Storey funeral.

Actually you didn't get any chance to empathise with unionists - because, to my knowledge, the PSNI confirmation was not reported on Friday, never mind dug into, by RTE.

For months now, The Irish Times has been publicising the Ireland's Future lobby, and its supporters, who are pushing for a border poll and "conversations" about Irish unity.

They keep nagging although unionists repeatedly tell them they will not talk about a united Ireland, especially because, as Simon Coveney rightly reminded the Ireland's Future lobby, it was about "a preordained outcome".

Thanks to an Irish media which plays to posh Hibernians, there are three things we don't know about northern Protestants.

First, we don't know that most northern Protestants, including the DUP, are decent people. How could you know when RTE mostly shows you Sammy Wilson's angry red face?

Second, we don't realise how shocked northern Protestants were when their Catholic neighbours - even after the most foul sectarian atrocities by the IRA - still voted for Sinn Fein rather than the SDLP.

Finally, most of you may have forgotten that northern nationalists have had civil rights since 1974.

So what exactly are the civil rights beefs of northern nationalists - apart from the agitation for the largely forgotten Irish Language Act?

The answer, we are told, is that northern nationalists want a united Ireland and are pushing for a border poll to advance that agenda.

But when I ask northern nationalists working in the Republic if they think there will be a united Ireland, they say no.

Why? "Things are still too good for us up there."

As no poll can tell us how nationalists would vote if saying "yes" really meant a united Ireland within months, let me make two predictions.

First, I am fairly certain most nationalists of Northern Ireland will not vote themselves out of the United Kingdom, because they prefer the status quo to an uncertain future.

Second, I am absolutely certain southern nationalists will not vote for a united Ireland because it costs too much, would cause too many security headaches - and, above all, they prefer the Republic to remain as it is.

Accordingly, I believe the continual nagging in The Irish Times by the Ireland's Future lobby will get nowhere and is nothing more than what Seamus Heaney might call "craking".

Craking, a wonderful word from a book* giving examples of Heaney's "hearth" language, is defined as "talking incessantly; talking persistently; complaining or whining".

Last Thursday week, The Irish Times published the first of two craking polemics by supporters of border polls and talks about Irish unity. The title of Paul Larkin's piece, 'Defining the "sub-polity" that is Northern Ireland', told us plenty about his politics, as did his Twitter dig at Tommie Gorman, dismissing his "interview" with Arlene Foster as a "cosy chat".

Larkin, in nationalist nitpicking mode, claimed Northern Ireland is not a "real" province. This is pure ignorance, as the number and boundaries of Ireland's provinces fluctuated for hundreds of years. Ironically - an irony likely to be lost on Larkin - it was only after English administration in the 17th century that they assumed their current clear form.

More worryingly, Larkin's loaded language about unionists would cause raised eyebrows if directed at Irish Muslims.

He describes the political culture of unionism as the product of "febrile dank corruption" with a "dissolute heart" and "fake moral codes".

On one hand, he sees an "aristocracy of ruin" in the "inner circles" of "powerful unionists".

On the other hand, there are those moronic dupes who are ever ready to do their bidding: "loyalist death squads" and the "fetid and bone- chilling rooms" in which they dwell.

Language like this should have been left behind in the 1950s and has no place in decent democratic discourse.

Last Tuesday, Professor Colin Harvey of Ireland's Future followed up, with a piece titled 'We cannot put off doing our homework on a border poll any longer'.

He also tried to take out an insurance policy in case anyone like me quoted John Hume or Seamus Mallon to challenge his case.

"The now tokenistic use of selective quotations from John Hume or Seamus Mallon, often by those with little interest in, or direct knowledge of, the 'Northern experience' is everywhere present."

Let me put a question to Professor Harvey. Why would anyone need "direct knowledge" to quote John Hume or Seamus Mallon when these two men are supplying that knowledge themselves? That said, let me supply him with two "tokenistic" quotes.

A recent blog by Andy Pollak quoted an essay John Hume wrote in 1989 for the London Review of Books, just after the first round of the Hume- Adams talks, in which he spelt out his political philosophy.

Having called out unionist supremacy in the past, Hume went on to condemn the "undiluted fascism" of the IRA and Sinn Fein, for believing they were the "pure Irish master race".

He followed up: "They have also the other hallmark of fascism - the need for a scapegoat; as they see it, the Brits are to blame for everything - even their own atrocities!"

Professor Harvey should pay particular attention to Hume's view of civil rights in 1989. "If I were to lead a civil rights campaign in Northern Ireland today, the main target would be the IRA. It is they who carry out the greatest infringements of human and civil rights, with their murders and bombings, their executions without trial, their kneecappings and punishment shootings. The most fundamental human right is the right to life. Who in Northern Ireland takes the most human lives?"

Let me also direct Professor Harvey to a "tokenistic" quote from Seamus Mallon in the course of an interview in 2018 with veteran Irish Times reporter Peter Murtagh, during which Mallon corrosively scourged the Provisional IRA campaign: "Every action that they took was increasingly sectarian."

Clearly thinking of the slur of "planters", Mallon reminded us that "unionists, most of whom have lived here for about 400 years, are also Irish; that this also is their homeland".

* 'From Aftergrass to Yellow Boots: A Glossary of Seamus Heaney's Hearth Language' by Maura Johnston, published by Colmcille Press
The tax landscape in Kuwait is evolving fast and so is the transformation and digitization of the tax authority, according to experts professional services firm EY at recently concluded series of tax webcasts.



The virtual sessions, which were attended by more than 200 tax and accounting professionals from entities across Kuwait, discussed updated recent practices and digitalization of processes by the Kuwait Tax Authority, potential challenges that tax-payers in the country could face, and the future of finance and tax functions in the region.



Ahmed Eldessouky, Kuwait Tax Leader, EY, said: The COVID-19 pandemic forced regional governments to concentrate on stimulating business, supporting individuals, as well as using tax and expenditure to support companies. In 2020, the Kuwait Tax Authority was amongst the first in the region to postpone submission of tax returns and the payments deadlines to support the private sector and the wider economy.



Today, tax authorities have renewed focus on tax audits and transfer pricing. The landscape is also being completely transformed by digitization, and tax administration processes are already far more digital than initially expected.



A topic of focus was the recent tax updates in Kuwait and the digitization and transformation of the Kuwait Tax Authority. EY speakers commended the steps taken by the Kuwait Tax Authority, amongst the tax authorities in the region, in supporting capital markets and promoting the private sector throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.



Further discussions around VAT, base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), transfer pricing and economic substance developments looked into their collective impact on Kuwait and the MENA region.



With Kuwait having ratified the VAT Framework Agreement of the GCC and remaining committed to implement VAT soon, EY tax experts recommended that businesses in Kuwait should immediately start preparing for correct VAT setup and compliance, given that most companies typically need at least six to eight months to be ready.



EY speakers also discussed the future of tax and finance in Kuwait and the region and the role played by technology in the tax and finance functions as well as the increasing need of embracing technology.



Nitesh Jain, EY Kuwait Tax Partner, said: There is a growing need to synchronize tax within the wider finance function due to updates in the tax laws locally, regionally and globally. The increased focus on the transparency of data by tax authorities, requires enterprises (Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti) to develop a strong link and cohesion between tax and finance functions for daily operations and to be compliant with the fast-paced changes.



Guest speakers and other subject matter experts also discussed the growing need to digitize accounting, payroll and finance operations. Other key topics discussed during the webcasts were the future of legal services and key updates on automatic exchange of information (AEOI),Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).  TradeArabia News Service
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 20:36:23|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Two rockets on Sunday landed near an Iraqi military air base in Iraq's Salahudin province north of capital Baghdad, the Iraqi military said.

A statement by the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said that the rockets landed at 12:15 p.m. local time (0915 GMT) at the edge of Balad air base, some 90 km north of Baghdad, without causing casualties.

The rockets were fired from al-Dojama, an area located across the Tigris River in the neighboring Diyala province, the statement said, adding that the air base houses Iraqi jet fighters.

Balad is the largest military air base in Iraq and still houses some U.S. experts and advisers. The U.S. troops withdrew more than a year ago after the base came under a series of rocket attacks by unidentified militias.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops across Iraq, as well as the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone, have been frequently targeted by mortar and rocket attacks. Enditem
When 67-year-old pensioner Qalida Akytkhan decided to join a small protest outside the Chinese Consulate in Almaty, it was three years after three of her sons were detained at a so-called "reeducation camp" in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.

Akytkhan has since become a mainstay at the pickets that, despite police intimidation, have endured outside the consulate since early February. She has joined dozens of other protesters who say their relatives are missing, jailed, or trapped in China's ongoing crackdown.

United Nations human rights officials estimate that 1 million or more Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities are detained at camps in a vast Chinese internment system.

Sometimes Akytkhan travels by bus to make the 50-kilometer journey from her home to Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city. Other times she commutes in a shared taxi to the Chinese Consulate, where a loudspeaker at the compound warns protesters they could face prosecution for violating COVID-19 restrictions.

Despite the long journey, constant surveillance by consulate guards, and a steady police presence, Akytkhan says she has no plans to stop joining the group of mostly women protesters. They gather there to demand safe passage home for their relatives -- many of whom are Chinese-born ethnic Kazakhs who've become naturalized Kazakh citizens or permanent residents of the Central Asian country.

"I will keep going until I get even a tiny piece of information about my children," Akytkhan tells RFE/RL. "I told these guards, 'When it is warmer, I will come here with a blanket and will lie down.'"

The plight of ethnic Kazakhs and other groups interned in Xinjiang has been a source of uproar within Kazakhstan. The testimonies of former detainees, and family members like Akytkhan, fueled a guerrilla advocacy campaign that focused international attention on the issue -- turning Kazakhstan into an unlikely window to document rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Subscribe To Our New China Newsletter It has become impossible to tell the biggest stories shaping Eurasia without considering Chinas resurgent influence in local business, politics, security, and culture. China In Eurasia is the new biweekly newsletter by correspondent Reid Standish in which he builds on local reporting from RFE/RLs journalists across Eurasia to give you unique insights into Beijings ambitions. It's sent on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. To subscribe, click here.

Akytkhan's perseverance and the ongoing protests outside China's consulate showcase that activism continues in Kazakhstan over the Chinese camps. But the situation today is a far cry from the groundswell of activity around the issue in 2018 and 2019 that forced the Kazakh government to walk a tightrope between appeasing Beijing and quelling an exasperated segment of its own population.

Since then, the government has led a swift crackdown against activists working on Xinjiang issues in the country. It has shut down organizations, arrested activists, and intimidated high-profile figures into exile, leaving only a small but devoted segment for public protests.

"The Kazakh government has long been trying to balance between these two problems," says Temur Umarov, an expert on China in Central Asia at the Carnegie Moscow Center. "Xinjiang is an incredibly sensitive issue for Beijing, and [the Kazakh government] knows it needs to keep ties with such an important economic, and increasingly political, partner strong," Umarov tells RFE/RL.

Shining A Spotlight

Akytkhan, an ethnic Uyghur who married an ethnic Kazakh man, moved from Xinjiang to Kazakhstan and became a Kazakh citizen. One of her sons also moved across the border to Kazakhstan. But her other three sons, daughters-in-law, and 14 grandchildren stayed in China. All were eventually taken to the detention camps.

Now a widow, Akytkhan continues to campaign for her family. She received word from a local official in Xinjiang that her sons were transferred from the camps and sentenced to lengthy prison terms for crimes that she is not aware of.

Her daughters-in-law have since been released from the camps to take care of the children. But they remain under house arrest.

Complicated family connections across the border, like Akytkhan's, are part of what made Kazakhstan a home for swelling activism about Xinjiang. It has been Kazakhs with relatives among Xinjiang's ethnic Kazakh minority who have taken up the mantle.

Perhaps the loudest critic on the issue was Serikzhan Bilash. His Almaty-based Atajurt Eriktileri group was on the front lines of documenting and raising awareness about the mass detentions.

The group's volunteers, with relatives detained or missing in Xinjiang, proved to be unusually effective in spreading information about China's rights abuses. They worked with international media and rights groups by hosting regular press conferences and posting video testimony of recently released detainees.

"Only a small percentage of the Kazakhs who have been in camps have actually shared their stories publicly," Bilash told RFE/RL. "It's important to keep collecting more and more firsthand facts about what is happening in Xinjiang."

But it didn't take long for Kazakh authorities to become nervous about Bilash and Atajurt's activities. The group's attempts to be officially registered with the government were repeatedly denied. That was followed by a series of fines that ultimately culminated in the dramatic March 2019 arrest of Bilash on extremism charges, a common allegation in Kazakhstan for jailing government critics.

Bilash and Atajurt helped attract international attention to the case of Sairagul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh Chinese citizen who crossed illegally from Xinjiang to Kazakhstan in 2018 after working at a camp. She was fleeing detention herself.

Sauytbay's legal status in Kazakhstan was drawn out, as the government appeared to use her unresolved asylum request as a means to prevent her from speaking about her experiences as a camp worker in Xinjiang. She eventually left Kazakhstan in 2019 for Sweden, where she was granted asylum.

"The Kazakh government is more and more tied to Beijing, and now the Kazakh government has lost its independence," Bilash said. "They sold their independence to China."

Locked Up In China: The Plight Of Xinjiang's Muslims Radio Free Radio/Radio Liberty is partnering with its sister organization, Radio Free Asia, to highlight the plight of Muslims living in China's western province of Xinjiang.

Bilash eventually accepted a plea bargain that required him to end his activism and keep a distance from Atajurt.

Shortly after, a splinter group made up of some of Bliash's disaffected former associates was officially registered as Atajurt Eriktileri. But it has not continued the tactics of the previous group to raise awareness of Chinese rights abuses -- choosing instead a far less vocal approach.

Yerbol Dauletbek, head of the officially registered group, told RFE/RL the organization will continue to help those affected by the crackdown in Xinjiang. But he said many people affected are now too scared to come forward and share their ordeal.

Dauletbek said he believes ethnic Kazakhs in the camps and those calling for their release have been "quietly abandoned" by Kazakhstan's government. The episode highlights the government's evolving strategy to impede Xinjiang activism in the country.

"Now the government is succeeding in intimidating and scaring people from coming forward," Bilash says. "It is a signal and a warning to scare people from their activism and make them stay silent."

Bilash eventually left Kazakhstan for Turkey before moving on to the United States. He says he plans to continue his activism there and register a U.S.-based organization focused on Xinjiang.

The Global Stage

China's internment-camp system has received increased scrutiny and political pressure in recent years. The U.S. State Department recently accused China of committing "genocide and crimes against humanity" against Uyghurs. The Canadian and Dutch parliaments have both declared that the situation in Xinjiang is genocide.

The Chinese state has also been accused of an array of abuses in the region under the guise of the internment system, including forced labor, sterilization, torture, and rape.

But Beijing has also become more forceful in its pushback. Not only does China deny the genocide allegations, it says the camps are "reeducation" facilities for combating terrorism. And it has gone about intimidating and targeting those who speak out publicly about what they've witnessed in the camps.

Women who made allegations of rape and sexual abuse in February to the BBC were singled out by Beijing. In a series of press conference in March, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin and Xinjiang regional official Xu Guixiang held up photographs of women who gave firsthand testimony of sexual assault in camps. They insulted the women, calling them liars of "inferior character" and accusing them of adultery.

The Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan, Zhang Xiao, has been outspoken in pushing back against accusations that Beijing is mistreating Kazakhs. The embassy's Instagram page has taken to posting content meant to discredit Sauytbay, accusing her of fabricating the stories about her experiences in Xinjiang.

"[China] is trying its best to change this narrative about what is going on in Xinjiang," the Carnegie Center's Umarov says. "But it hasn't changed much in Central Asia. I don't think that Beijing has a well-thought-out strategy of how to cope with this problem."

Kazakhstan's Tightrope

The Kazakh government has avoided criticizing China and has publicly toed Beijing's line about the camps -- eager not to anger its main investor and strategic partner in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The authorities have elected a new approach to keep Xinjiang activism at bay. Following the high-profile case of Sauytbay, the government elected to avoid drawing international attention to another case. Instead, in October 2020, it granted temporary asylum to four ethnic Kazakhs who had illegally crossed the border from Xinjiang into Kazakhstan.

Two of those Xinjiang-born asylum seekers who received temporary asylum, Qaisha Aqan and Murager Alimuly, were attacked the same day in January. Aqan was returning home from grocery shopping near Almaty when she was attacked. Alimuly was stabbed in the capital, Nur-Sultan.

In both instances, nothing was stolen. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

Aqan says she believes the attacks were a politically motivated warning against becoming outspoken about Xinjiang, although she is not sure who was behind the attacks.

"It was not random. In one day, [Alimuly] was stabbed and I was attacked," she told RFE/RL. "The light [on the street] was switched off for two hours. All the [security] cameras stopped working [during my attack]. What a coincidence, right?"

Bekzat Maksutkhan, an associate of Bilash's, runs a successor group to their original organization called Naghyz Atajurt, or "Real" Atajurt. But it remains unregistered and currently does not have an office.

Maksutkhan has followed the attacks on Alimuly and Aqan, as well as the protests outside the consulate. But he says it's difficult to keep the organization going given financial pressure and growing intimidation from Kazakh authorities.

"We've never interfered with the government. We don't have any economic interests, nor do we have any political interests. We just deal with human rights issues," Maksutkhan told RFE/RL. "But we still face a lot of pressure and police often question us."

With few grassroots organizations left to advocate and increased scrutiny from the authorities, protesters like Akytkhan feel that demonstrating outside the Chinese Consulate in Almaty is their last resort. Despite her age and health concerns, which caused her to faint outside the consulate during one protest, Akytkhan says she won't stop until she gets answers about her sons.

"At night, I take a photo of my three sons and hold it to my chest," she says. "I can't sleep without it. I put it next to my head on my pillow. Sometimes I can't fall asleep until 5 a.m."
ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 04th Apr, 2021) Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has provided structured Islamic financing for Albilad Capitals acquisition of the PWC HQ in Belfast, comprising the largest office transaction in Northern Ireland and the first major property investment in the country by a middle East investor.

The property, known as Merchant Square, is situated at the heart of the Belfast business District. The building extends to 240,713 sqft, providing 6 ground floor retail units with 225,000 sqft of Grade A office accommodation spread over 9 upper floors. The property has recently been extensively renovated and extended with the works completing in mid-2020. The property is the first privately built commercial building of its kind in Northern Ireland to be awarded Excellent' status by BREEAM UK, which assesses new and refurbished buildings according to the environmental sustainability standards.

The offices have been leased to PWC on a new 20-year full repairing and insuring lease with 5 yearly upwards only rent reviews. PWC are currently fitting out the space to meet their specific requirements and are taking a pioneering approach in creating a "destination workplace" for its staff to work and socialise. They are creating staff restaurants as well as a "wellbeing suite" with its own GP and Psychologist with Pilates classes, yoga and physio sessions.

Merchant Square is PWCs largest office outside of London which will house up to 3,000 employees. Northern Ireland is PWCs fastest growing UK region and Belfast is PWCs recognised global centre for technology, digital advisory services, and research.

Paul Maisfield, Head of UK Real Estate at ADIB, said: "We are delighted to have supported Albilad Capital on this landmark transaction. The deal has strong fundamentals that meet our risk criteria including not only the long-term lease to PWC but their plans to deliver a quality, innovative, flexible and sustainable workspace with staff well-being at the heart of their design. In a sector which is witnessing an acceleration in work pattern change due to the pandemic these factors are set to become increasingly important for buildings to sustain marketability and value.

Zaid Al Mufarih, CEO of Albilad Capital, commented on behalf of the new owners, "The acquisition of this iconic asset, located in a prime location of Belfast, is an important step in the strategy of Albilad to increase its exposure to the UK real estate market. This transaction shows our confidence in the UK regional cities as long-term sources of growth and investment return".

Wasim Choudhury and Taufiq Jamil, Partners at buy-side advisors, SPS Investment, a leading Shariaa-compliant real estate advisory boutique, said "The completion of this deal further confirms the attraction of UK regional cities to Middle Eastern capital being deployed as part of wider portfolio diversification strategies. We are delighted to have completed this transaction along with Albilad Capital, working closely again with ADIB to secure Shariaa-compliant financing for our client"

We are looking forward to helping support Albilad Capital in the execution of their UK commercial real estate investment strategy targeting prime regional assets with good income visibility and strong tenant covenants with a focus on cash yield. This latest transaction demonstrates that ADIB is a trusted partner in providing tailored Shariaa-compliant financing solutions in the UK."

ADIB has strong track record in offering bespoke and competitive Sharia-compliant property financing solutions for its clients having built up a portfolio of financing assets in the UK of over AED 2 Billion (400M) over the last three years.

Albilad Capital, established in 2008, is a wholly owned investment arm of Bank AlBilad and is regulated by the Capital Market Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Bank Albilad is a listed bank on Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul, with a market cap of more than USD 4.5 billion.

Albilad Capital was advised by SPS Investment, King and Spalding International LLP, TLT LLP and BDO LLP and ADIB was advised by CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP and Arthur Cox.

ADIB was recognised as the "Best Islamic Bank in the Middle East" at the MEA Finance Awards 2020. It was previously named the "Worlds Best Islamic Bank" by FTs The Banker Magazine.
Bouncy like an athletic TED-talker, Greg Brockhouse is objectively handsome, with just the right amount of gray in his hair, often wearing jeans and his HOKA running shoes at campaign events along with T-shirts that yell, GREG FOR MAYOR.

Brockhouse also is one of San Antonios most divisive public figures. To challenge Mayor Ron Nirenberg in the May 1 election, he has rolled out a more reflective persona and some dense policy initiatives, but his campaign formula is still heavy on name-calling, conservative talking points and raw grievance.

To watch him campaign, one would think Brockhouse was sponsored by a caffeine-laced energy drink. City Councilman Manny Pelaez, who both praises and chastises him, calls him indefatigable. A Republican confidante, Bexar County Commissioner Trish DeBerry, says, Hes the best retail politician Ive ever come across.

Listen to journalist Bruce Selcraig talk about his reporting for the profile of Greg Brockhouse.

I get to sleep at about 1-1:30 a.m., and Im up by 6, when my kid is getting ready for school, Brockhouse said as he fast-walked, Harry Truman-style, down the 4200 block of Dauphine on the East Side on a warm March afternoon.

That lady is 85, Brockhouse said of the first homeowner he approached. We have her marked as negative toward me in the last race, but now she sounds like shes leaning for me. She wanted to know how the immigrant children are being treated down on the border. Interesting.

Brockhouse can carry on basic conversation in Spanish with barely a gringo accent because he grew up speaking the language with his Hispanic mother, Patsy.

Most of the people at home in this working-class area at 3:30 p.m. are seniors. The chatty neighbors tell him a woman across the street is 107.

I wont startle her with a doorbell, Brockhouse laughs, returning to his jacked-up, four-wheel-drive Toyota truck. I can see the headlines.

If there is a new Brockhouse, he looks and sounds familiar. He can talk endlessly and knows he must resist the temptation to dominate conversations.

That evening, at a Republican womens club forum, he joked with the largely white, older and unmasked crowd that it was asking too much to hold him to 30-second responses.

Faith, freedom, family  with lower property taxes, Brockhouse said in a rush, to amused applause.

This is Brockhouses second attempt at unseating Nirenberg. He served on the City Council from 2017 until he lost the mayoral race in 2019 in a bitter runoff by 2.2 percentage points, fewer than 2,700 votes.

Brockhouse, 48, insists he is a more mature and chastened politician.

That loss in 2019 profoundly changed me, he said in one of several recent interviews. Im 180 degrees different now. Im more free. Ive never been more confident in who I am.

The question now for San Antonio is whether Brockhouse can build on that narrow margin of defeat or whether voters have tired of the personal and political baggage that hampered him in 2019.

The baggage is serious.

Two of his wives, in complaints to police years apart, accused him of domestic violence. During the 2019 race, Brockhouse spent weeks obfuscating and evading questions about one of those incidents.

His current wife  Annalisa, now married 14 years  told officers in 2009 that he threw her to the floor after an argument and that he had been drinking a lot after losing his job.

The police report was later expunged. But after a copy was leaked to the San Antonio Express-News in 2019, the candidate for mayor said he had no memory of the incident, then insisted for the rest of the campaign that it never happened and suggested the document was fabricated.

After his defeat, Brockhouse admitted that his wife had called police that night. He appeared next to Annalisa as she told a TV interviewer she had accused him falsely because of postpartum depression.

Brockhouse and his second wife, Christine Rivera, had separated when she called 911 in 2006 and told police he had shoved her while retrieving belongings from the house he had moved out of. Brockhouse and Riveras new boyfriend fought, and Brockhouse also called 911, to allege assault.

On ExpressNews.com: Past domestic violence allegations emerge against mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouse

He denied shoving Rivera.

Brockhouse wasnt charged in either incident.

Some suggest the domestic violence narrative has run its course as political currency and that the candidate should be judged by his more recent history.

That cow has been milked, said Brockhouse supporter Mike Helle, former president of the San Antonio Police Officers Association.

Brockhouse had strong support from the police and firefighters unions in 2019. So far, neither organization has issued an endorsement in the current mayoral race.

William Luther /William Luther

Moving past Trump?

Brockhouse, an Air Force veteran who said he now sells home mortgages and runs a janitorial business, promises this run for mayor will be his last try for elected office if he fails.

This time hes hired a young Republican adviser, Matt Mackowiack, who helped Tony Gonzales pull off an upset victory over Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones in November to keep the 23rd Congressional District in GOP hands.

Camera-ready, Brockhouse effortlessly speaks in campaign videos for 10 to 20 minutes straight, no script, without awkward pauses and needless likes, laser-focused on neighborhood issues such as dumping of trash on roadsides, retention of military base missions and the work of Animal Care Services.

Ive always had a gift for speaking from the heart, he explains. I was in Toastmasters when I was 18 in Montana in the Air Force and you learn public speaking  hand gestures, eye contact, and you could literally just give me a piece of paper with a word on it and I could speak forever about it.

I also have this skill I like about myself. I can take something complex and really convey it to people. Its God-given.

Perhaps to blunt criticism that he is more bluster than substance, Brockhouse has released multipage plans for everything from comprehensive winter storm recovery and accountability to a public safety manifesto that calls for, among other things, a Vaccine rollout Shock and Awe Plan with mobile medical units sent to nursing homes and strict adherence to phased rollout qualifications.

But if the meaty policy side doesnt win over voters, there is still Brockhouse Classic, where he labels Nirenberg shameful, cowardly and undemocratic for dodging his demand for a debate.

The most attention-getting addition to his 2021 campaign has been a weekly BrockCast podcast on his Facebook page that started almost two years ago.

Its full-throated Brockhouse, in the right-wing style of radio hosts Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck  manic, glib and sometimes funny in his stream-of-consciousness, shotgun rant at woke liberals, clueless City Hall and a mayor he dismisses as boring and phony.

Theyre taking our city, he declared on one show, and turning it into something we are not!

Pelaez called Brockhouse a virtuoso at this kind of thing, with the podcast giving him a way to take peoples ordinary frustrations with government and powerfully laser-beam them at City Hall.

Riffing on everything from mask compliance to the vandalism of Confederate statues, Brockhouse said Nirenberg shouldnt have a San Antonio police security team if hes in favor of defunding the police. Actually, in the months since last summers racial justice protests, Nirenberg and the council approved a city budget that increased police funding.

Brockhouse also often misrepresents Proposition B on the May 1 ballot as an attempt to defund the police.

Pushed by a group called FixSAPD, the measure would repeal collective bargaining rights for San Antonio officers, which proponents say would make it easier to discipline or fire bad cops. Nirenberg has told the police union president he thinks police should be able to bargain collectively, but he has avoided taking a public position on Proposition B.

For Brockhouse, fact-checking seems a tiresome distraction from his self-appointed role as a native son trying to save his homeland from establishment and progressive types.

And yet, even though he routinely invokes hot-button Republican targets on his podcast (gun control, Nancy Pelosi) and prides himself on candor and introspection, his speaking truth to power routine screeches to a halt when asked if he voted for Donald Trump.

Im not going to answer questions of a partisan national nature, he said, citing the nonpartisan legal framework of Texas municipal government and suggesting that broaching that topic is an attempt to divide San Antonians.

He will concede that Trumps child separation policy on the U.S.-Mexico border, and Trump supporters assault on the U.S. Capitol to try to prevent certification of Joe Bidens victory, were both abhorrent. But mainly he wants to change the subject.

President Biden is my president, and we have to all pray for his success, Brockhouse said, growing impatient. I think were all ready to move past Donald Trump.

William Luther /William Luther

Working relationships

Shirley Gonzales is not particularly fond of Greg Brockhouse.

At times, the councilwoman has called her former colleague disingenuous and sexist. A full year before the domestic violence accusations surfaced, she tangled with him at a 2018 council session over how he questioned Amy Hardberger, a self-described liberal who had been nominated to the San Antonio Water System board.

Brockhouse felt aggrieved that Hardberger had reached out to Nirenberg and Councilwoman Ana Sandoval, but not him, prior to her appointment. His questioning was not belligerent, but it was noticeably more aggressive than his treatment of the male SAWS nominees.

Nirenberg noticed the difference and made a pointed reference to it.

And then Gonzales tore into Brockhouse, saying she would not sit silent and fail to call out sexism when she saw it.

Not everything is sexism and racism, Brockhouse shot back, saying he would expect any city board appointee to go through a similar examination, regardless of gender.

A lot of people saw that moment as a sexist thing, but I dont know him well enough to know if thats a consistent practice, Hardberger said when asked about it recently. It seems like it was more like grandstanding that didnt have anything to do with me, and was more about opposing Ron (Nirenberg) politically.

More than one council member interviewed for this story said grandstanding was a consistent, and time-wasting, Brockhouse trait. Yet despite the Hardberger incident, Gonzales is quick to point out that Brockhouse has some qualities she appreciates.

She recalled the 2017 debate over the councils first equity budget, which redirected funds from affluent areas, such as his District 6 on the Northwest Side, to the poorest, such as her District 5 on the West Side. Some of Brockhouses fans considered it pure socialism.

It took some persuading, many conversations, Gonzales said. But ultimately Greg supported the idea. More important, once he told me his decision, he stuck with it. Im not saying this because I have great respect for him. Hes a very flawed man.  But in the end, he stayed with me. He was consistent.

Told of the backhanded compliment, Brockhouse grinned and said, Im probably one of the most misunderstood politicians in the city. Whats sad for me is that it takes time to understand me, and most people wont take that step with me.

District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino recalls that early in Brockhouses term, he disparaged Trevino on a right-wing radio show.

But he later came by to apologize and say, I really broke some protocols, and it wont happen again. From then on, we had an agreement that he would never blindside me. A lot of people were very surprised that we had a good working relationship.

Trevino, who has had very public personal issues with Nirenberg, said he could not vote for Brockhouse.

Im always willing to move and change something about myself, Brockhouse offered. I enjoy being told off. Thats an opportunity. Thats a chance to make a relationship.

Pelaez said Brockhouse has a talent for charming both allies and adversaries and that although an angry Greg is an unpredictable Greg, he can channel his anger to serve his own ends.

Hes able to figure out his opponents weaknesses and triggers very quickly, and strategically push opponents to make silly mistakes, Pelaez said. Many of us were playing chess, and Greg was playing rugby. Hed sometimes cause chaos, and I found myself having to play rugby even though thats not how I wanted to spend my day.

Brockhouse doesnt recoil from the suggestion that he thrives on political friction.

These 11-0 votes on council are bad for business, he said. I think we need conflict sometimes. You need to poke at it. Find our blind spot. I abhor the unity of the council. I think you need unity in belief in our city, but not unity in our path.

Among his regrets from the last mayors race, however, is rhetorical overkill.

My bombastic, go-for-broke mentality was not as inclusive as it needed to be, particularly in April 2019, when he unnecessarily alienated the LGBTQ community by jumping on a hyper-political position like Chick Fil-A, he said.

The fast-food outlets corporate owner supports causes perceived as anti-LGBTQ, and Brockhouse saw a chance to go after Nirenberg on a culture war issue. He fought the councils efforts to cut the restaurant from a possible airport concession contract.

Told that one council member said a remarkable amount of work got done when Greg wasnt in the room, Brockhouse confessed that perhaps there were times when youve pontificated enough and should just shut up.

William Luther /William Luther

Faith up front

Though raised a Lutheran in the Valley Hi neighborhood on the Southwest Side, Brockhouse says he became a devout Catholic in 2007, while going through a contentious divorce.

It was an epiphany. I fell in love with the Catholic Church, he said. I love the structure, the principles of family. I met my wife (Annalisa). Shes a lifelong Catholic. She joined me in nine months of Catholic training.

A witness to some of Brockhouses spiritual development has been former Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood, a political figure whose career and personality bear a striking resemblance to Brockhouses.

Both are dashing, outwardly confident, 48-year-old men who found God after a lot of personal turmoil. LaHood, who plea-bargained to resolve a June 1994 arrest for attempting to sell 200 ecstasy pills to an undercover police officer at a strip club, was a Democrat. As a lame duck DA, he became a Trump-leaning Republican in September 2018, months after his 18-point Democratic primary loss to challenger Joe Gonzales.

That bruising defeat followed LaHoods widely publicized support for the debunked conspiracy theory that childhood vaccinations are linked to autism and his outburst of angry threats against defense lawyers  including Gonzales  in front of a respected Republican judge.

Vilified by opponents, exposed in the media, both men say they are now anchored in Scripture.

On several occasions, Brockhouse has attended a mens Bible study group that LaHood says he founded about 12 years ago. LaHood says he has appeared twice on the BrockCast.

Greg was presented to me as someone who was like-minded and wasnt afraid to rock the boat for the right reasons, LaHood said. We met. I thought he was pleasant and complimentary. I didnt know much about him. I dont pay much attention to City Hall.

The title of Christian doesnt mean much to me.  I ask, Are you a fake-ass Christian, or are you real? Greg seemed sincere. I dont like people to use the Christian faith as a tool if its insincere.

During his term, Brockhouse had been privately criticized by some council members who thought his gesture on the dais during the councils opening prayers  he would stand with his hands opened upward or folded across his chest  was just self-promotional piety.

LaHood said he was fine with it, and he wondered if Muslims are given the same scrutiny.

Brockhouse was not raised a preachers kid, though his father, David Brockhouse, is now pastor of the Mount Olive Lutheran Church, on the far West Side off Loop 1604.

After years of working for H-E-B, from stocker to store director, the elder Brockhouse  talkative and full of stories, like his son  said that at age 57 he was called by God to be a preacher.

Now 74, he says he is continually amazed by his son. When he gets up to speak, whether on a podcast or on the campaign, he just commands attention. Hes articulate and clear.

Pastor Brockhouse said that if there was a defining moment in his sons life, it was likely when he served in Air Force honor guards in the late 1990s for funerals of veterans.

Picking up the narrative, Greg Brockhouse recalled walking down an aisle at an H-E-B some years ago when a woman stopped him and said, You dont know me, but I remember you.

A decade earlier, as Brockhouse tells it, he had handed her a folded American flag at her husbands funeral at Fort Sam Houston.

There we were, crying in the aisles of H-E-B, Brockhouse said. I wish I had not ever gotten out of the service. Its one of my biggest regrets.

His mother served in the Army in the Gulf War, delivering tanks in the war zone on flatbed trailers. His son David, 18, recently joined the Navy.

Brockhouse has had five children with four women, three of them his wives at the time, including a stepson, now 23. His oldest is a daughter, Emma, 28. He and Annalisa are raising their son, Luke, 12, his youngest.

Friends and enemies

In 1999, after serving as a maintenance technician for the Minuteman missile system, Brockhouse was a divorced noncommissioned officer in the Air Force contemplating finishing his college degree and perhaps becoming a chief master sergeant.

But Gods plan intervened, he said, and he returned to San Antonio and Lackland AFB before leaving the service that December to pursue a business career.

Some 22 years later, Gregory Vern Brockhouse may indeed be the most misunderstood politician in the city. But one could just as easily choose perplexing, volatile or charismatic.

He has friends and enemies all across the political spectrum, and most agree that if you can see through the bravado, what you might find is certainly more than just a populist megaphone. Perhaps its complexity.

Mohammad Rasool is a digital political strategist and has worked on many liberal campaigns in San Antonio, most recently for FixSAPD, the police reform group behind Proposition B. He and his wife have seen Brockhouse and his wife socially, and he and Brockhouse have had many spirited political discussions.

We have major disagreements, Rasool said. Ive told him directly that, I cannot vote for you for mayor. (Nor will he vote for Nirenberg, he said.)

I cannot vote for someone who supported Donald Trump in 2020, Rasool continued. But sometimes after those conversations where we both get red in the face, he will later send me a text and say he has read something I sent him and now hes taken a step back from his stance. He is willing to listen.

Rasool said hes a frequent follower of the BrockCast so that he can understand that half of the country that doesnt agree with me and by doing so get a better grasp of the brand of populism Brockhouse is trying to sell to San Antonio.

He admires Brockhouse as a father  his kids are polite and say, Yes, sir,  and appreciates his command of facts and awareness of the history of the city.

But he has a lingering concern about how Brockhouse spins those facts for his most rabid base of supporters and how persuasive he can be to those unburdened by the need for evidence.

There is, said Rasool, some danger in having that much charm.

News Researcher Misty Harris contributed to this report.

bselcraig@express-news.net
The Customs and Border Protection agency confirmed to Congress today that four people arrested at the southern border since Oct. 1 match names on the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database, a congressional aide briefed on the correspondence told Axios.

Why it matters: Three of the people arrested were from Yemen and one was from Serbia. The four arrests are more than the number of similar people taken into custody during recent full fiscal years, according to the source. In fiscal 2018, six people from Yemen and Bangladesh were arrested.

Most migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border come from Mexico or Central America and are seeking asylum, family reunification or better jobs in the U.S.

Republican House members who visited the border on Monday said an unspecified number of migrants crossing the border had names matching those on the terror watchlist.

Former President Trump and other conservatives have frequently warned  sometimes inaccurately  about foreign terrorists entering the United States via the southern border.

The big picture: The watchlist is long, and it includes people who are "known to be or reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activities," according to the FBI.

The Department of Homeland Security stopped more than 3,700 people on the watchlist from coming into the country during fiscal year 2017, ending Sept. 30, 2017.

Most were stopped at airports.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with further details about the watchlist.
(CNN)  At least 550 people have been killed by Myanmar's military in the aftermath of a coup which overthrew the elected government on February 1, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy group based in neighboring Thailand.

Security officials have responded to dissent with a brutal crackdown and detained thousands, including five people arrested in Myanmar's biggest city Yangon Friday, minutes after being interviewed by CNN journalists, according to eyewitnesses.

The CNN team visited the "Ten Miles" bazaar in Yangon's Insein township, where they interviewed some local residents. Among the interviewees were two women who raised the three-finger protest salute.

The pair were arrested by a group of security officials within three to five minutes of the CNN team leaving the area, according to eyewitnesses.

The women work at a shop in the market. They were taken to Shwe Pyi Thar Interrogation Center, a source close to them said.

In a separate incident Friday the team interviewed residents at Yangon's Mingaladon market. A man and a woman were arrested following the interview and another person managed to get away, according to an eyewitness.

A relative of the two Mingaladon detainees approached the CNN team and told them what had happened. She herself was arrested once the journalists moved away from the area.

CNN contacted the Myanmar military for comment and was told the individuals had been released.

However, sources close to the detainees told CNN on Saturday that at least four women and a man are still being held in Shwe Pyi Thar interrogation Center.

The military junta in Myanmar has cut all wireless internet services until further notice, in what appears to be a concerted effort to control communications and messaging in the Southeast Asian country.

Pro-democracy demonstrators have repeatedly filled streets across the nation for two months after the government was overthrown by the military.

Ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was charged on Thursday with violating the country's Official Secrets Act, , while the security services have sought to clamp down on protests.

Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Friday that the junta had "forcibly disappeared hundreds of people" -- including politicians, election officials, journalists, activists and protesters -- since the coup.

According to AAPP, at least 2,751 people, among them journalists, protesters, activists, government officials, trade unionists, writers, students, civilians and even children, have been detained as of April 2, often in nighttime raids.

CNN is in Myanmar with the permission of the military and is being escorted by the military.

'We are aware of reports of detentions following our team's visit to Yangon, Myanmar yesterday," a CNN spokesperson said Saturday.

"We are pressing the authorities for information on this, and for the safe release of any detainees."

This story was first published on CNN.com 'At least 550 people killed by Myanmar's military since February coup, says advocacy group'
More Student Loan Relief

Anyone with federal student loans hasnt had to make payments on them for about a year. But those with private student loans havent gotten a break  until now. The Education Department will temporarily stop collecting payments on roughly six million loans that were made through the Federal Family Education Loan program and are now privately held. Theres a catch: Only borrowers who have defaulted will get a reprieve. The move will also temporarily prevent those in default from having their wages garnished or tax refunds seized by collectors, and will return any seized refunds or wages that had been taken since March 2020.

Image Credit... Giacomo Bagnara

Whats Next? (April 4-10)

Blue Skies Ahead

The airline industry showed some promising signs of life last week. After a year of near-dormancy, domestic vacation bookings are bouncing back. United Airlines is hiring pilots again, starting with those who had conditional job offers before the pandemic or whose start dates were pushed off once travel restrictions set in. Delta Air Lines, the last major holdout in blocking middle seats to ensure space between passengers, will resume middle-seat bookings in May. And finally, the budget carrier Frontier Airlines went public, a sign that its anticipating a rebound.

Out of the Mud

After six days of digging and tugging, plus a boost from a full moon, the huge container ship that was lodged in the Suez Canal has been freed, and the waterway is open for business again. But the ripple effect of its blockage will be felt for weeks. The stuck boat prevented as much as $10 billion of cargo a day from moving through the canal, and cost the Egyptian government up to $90 million in lost toll revenue. Who will pay for the damage? A fleet of insurers, government authorities and lawyers are all sorting out whos financially responsible (probably the stuck ships Japanese owner) and how much theyre on the hook for.

Supply, Meet Demand

As the global economy shudders back into gear, demand for fuel is rising. And there was some question of whether oil producers would increase their supply to meet it. If they chose not to, gas could be up to $4 a gallon by this summer  not exactly welcome news for anyone trying to drive to work. But OPEC and its allies put those fears to rest last week when they agreed to gradually increase production over the next three months, which should keep prices steady.
New Delhi, April 4 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday reviewed the gun battle in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur that claimed lives of 22 security personnel, asserting that the "fight against Maoists will continue and we will take it to the end".

Shah took the stock of the situation of the ground in a high-level meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Intelligence Bureau and Central Armed Police Forces soon after he reached Delhi from Assam.

He cut short his campaigning in Assam and returned to Delhi in wake of the Saturday's Maoist attack.

"Our fight against Naxalites will continue with strength, perseverance and intensity and we will take it to the end," Shah said during the meeting.

He also paid tributes to the slain soldiers in the encounter with Maoists that took place in Chhattisgarh on April 3. Shah said that I want to assure the martyrs' families and the country that the sacrifices that the soldiers have made for the country will not go in vain.

The Union Home Minister said that as far as the data is concerned, I do not want to say anything yet because the search operation is going on.

In a major Maoist attack this year, a total of 22 security personnel were killed and 31 injured in a fierce gun battle with a platoon of over 300 People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.

Central Reserve Police Force's (CRPFs) Rakeshwar Singh Manhas from the 3.25 lakh strong paramilitary force's elite CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) unit is still missing, and search operation is still on to trace him.

There are reports of heavy damage to the Maoists too. The security forces also recovered the body of a woman Maoist commander-- identified as Madavi Vanoja-- along with an Insas rifle, said the CRPF and the state police officials.

Besides, citing intelligence inputs, the CRPF said more than 12 Maoists were killed in the operation and over 16 faced grievous injuries in the gun battle. "All the injured Maoist cadres were learnt to be taken into two-three tractor towards Jabbamarka and Gomguda region in the area." The gun battle took place on Saturday noon near Tekulgudem village under Tarrem police station in which eight personnel of Chhattisgarh's District Reserve Guard (DRG) and six of Special Task Force (STF), seven from CRPF's CoBRA and one from its Bastaria Battalion lost their lives.

A shootout began soon after a joint team of CRPF and Chhattisgarh police's DRG and STF men reached the spot following the tip off regarding presence of wanted Maoist Hidma -- the commander of PLGA's Battalion No. 1 -- and his associates. The PLGA's Battalion No. 1 is one of the guerrilla forces that are very rampant in Chhattisgarh.

A total of 31 security personnel also injured in the shootout, including 10 from DRG, five from STF, and 16 from CoBRA-210 Battalion. Of the 31 injured, 13 suffered critical injuries and are being treated at a hospital in Raipur while 18 faced minor injuries and getting treatment in Bijapur.
An overflow Border Patrol immigration holding facility in Donna, Texas, in an undated photograph. (Courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellar's office)

Sen. Barrasso Says He Was Told to Delete Photos of Border Facilities

A Republican senator said he was told to delete photos that he took of migrant facilities during a recent visit to the U.S.Mexico border.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, told Fox News on April 4 that officials told GOP senators to delete photos captured at various Border Patrol facilities.

This is both a humanitarian crisis and a national security crisis, Barrasso said. You may have seen the numbers today are the highest in history of unaccompanied minors currently in captivity. They are crammed in like sardines. And this is what the Biden administration is trying to hide from the American public.

We were told to delete the pictures. No one did. Youve seen the video coming out of all of these kids crammed together under the foil blankets, huddling together. The senator didnt say who told him to delete the photos. The White House didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and White House have faced criticism from members of the media, including an award-winning Getty Images photographer, about a lack of access to border facilities.

Last week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) posted a video from within a Border Patrol facility in Donna, Texas, saying that a Biden administration staffer told him not to film unaccompanied children who were being held in cramped conditions inside makeshift tent-like structures.

Please give dignity to the people. Please give dignity to the people.  Please respect the people, the rules, the person told Cruz while blocking the camera with her face, according to footage.

Cruz ultimately said in response to the woman: I understand that you were instructed.

I respect them, and I want to fix this situation, and the administration that you work for is responsible for these conditions.

As a result of the lack of media access and claims from Cruz and Barrasso, some lawmakers have opted to leak photos from inside the facilities. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) sent photos of children being housed in cramped quarters, sleeping under foil emergency blankets.

Barrasso also said that testing for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, is done after the children leave Border Patrol facilities. He argued that such a procedure doesnt prevent the virus from spreading.

They do the instant test. And then those that have been tested positive are just kind of moved to one side of the courtyard, those negative to the other of this courtyard, Barrasso told Fox.

Theyve all been exposed, and then theyre sent all across the country. You know, that is the real tragedy of this. And were not sure what variant of the coronavirus theyre carrying. They are carrying it, though, all around America.
Kelly Sills, 47, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was arrested on February 13 by Orange County Sheriff's deputies in Florida

A Louisiana man who booked a $15,000 vacation to Disney World was arrested by law enforcement officials when he refused a mandatory temperature check at the entrance to the Orlando theme park.

The Orange County Sheriffs Office released body cam footage last week of the February 13 incident involving Kelly Sills, 47, of Baton Rouge.

Sills pleaded not guilty to the charge of trespassing, the Orlando Sentinel reported. He is scheduled to appear in a Central Florida court on Monday.

According to the arrest report, Sills was confronted outside the Boathouse Restaurant at Disney Springs by Disney security and Orange County Sheriffs deputies.

According to the deputies, Sills skipped the temperature screening tent and then refused to go back. He then ignored orders from security guards and sheriffs deputies to leave the area, according to authorities.

In the body cam footage, a security officer is heard in the video saying: Hes going to have to go for the day.

The officer and sheriffs deputies are seen approaching Sills outside the restaurant.

We are going to escort you now, sir, a deputy says. You are being asked to leave the premises by the security manager at Disney Springs.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office released body cam footage of Sills' arrest last week

Deputies detained Sills outside Boathouse Restaurant at Disney Springs after he allegedly refused to go through a temperature screening

You are officially being trespassed.

For what reason? Sills said as he stood and looked at his phone while surrounded by at least three deputies and security personnel.

Sir, its private property, a deputy said.

Sills is then seen arguing with the deputies and the security personnel.

According to the arrest report, Sills refused to leave. He then pleaded with the deputies to allow him to stay.

I spent $15,000, he said.

In the video, someone can be heard saying: All you had to do was get temperature checked. Thats it!

I paid $15,000. You cant trespass me for paying $15,000, said Sills.

He then offered to go back to the screening tent to get his temperature check, but by that point it was too late.

Will you take my temperature before you kick me out, please? he asked as he was led away in handcuffs.

Theyll do that in jail, sir, a deputy was heard saying in the video.

Well, thats good, Sills said.

Visitors to Disney Springs are seen on Thanksgiving Day at Walt Disney World. Guests to the facility must submit to a temperature check before entering, according to Disney

Sills had booked a room at Disneys Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa.

He then offered to cooperate with the deputies.

If I take $15,000 from you, I cant kick you out, he said.

Bring me to jail for $15,000 grand, Im fine... In front of my kids, too, at Disney World.

Since Disney World reopened last summer, guests have been required to wear masks, observe social distancing, and submit to temperature screenings.

Millions of guests visit our theme parks each year, and in rare instances when things of this nature occur, we hold them accountable, Disney spokesperson Andrea Finger said in a statement.

This is the second time in recent weeks that a guest at Walt Disney World has been forcibly removed from the theme park and arrested by authorities over their refusal to observe COVID-19 guidelines.

Kelly McKin, 51, of North Palm Beach, Florida, was charged with battery on a uniformed security officer last month after allegedly spitting on a security officer at Walt Disney World after she asked him to put on a mask.

The security officer was not directly hit, but some saliva got on her forehead, the arrest report said.

Last month, Kelly McKin, 51, of North Palm Beach, Florida, was charged with battery on a security officer. McKin denied spitting on a security guard at Disney's Contemporary Resort in February

During questioning by a sheriff's deputy, McKin denied spitting on the security guard at the theme park.

McKin was told not to return to Disney World.

In August, an Orlando man was arrested for allegedly striking an Epcot security guard who reminded the visitor to follow the theme parks mask rules.

Enrico Toro, 35, was arrested for allegedly hitting the guard in the head and threatening to kill him, an arrest affidavit said. He was charged with misdemeanor battery.

In February, another Disney guest, 32-year-old Stephen Johnson, was arrested after he was confronted by a Disneys Reedy Creek Fire Department official who asked him to wear a mask.

A sheriff's report said the man screamed, 'I do not have a mask, buddy!'

Johnson pleaded not guilty to charges of battery on a law enforcement officer, assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence and disorderly intoxication after he began yelling at the firefighter.

The firefighters were assisting Johnson's wife, who appeared to be drunk and had injured her ankle in the lobby of the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel.

He was apparently upset that his wife was being taken away and threatened to kill a sheriff's deputy and struggled with the officer before grabbing a gun from the belt of an Orange County Sheriff deputy, the arrest report said.

The Disney World website provides an explanation of the various aspects of its COVID-19 policy.

'Face coverings are required for all Guests (ages 2 and up) and Cast Members, including those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine. Please bring your own face coverings and wear them at all times, except when dining or swimming,' the website said.

As for temperature screenings, guests are required to have their temperature measured by 'no-touch' thermometers 'before entry to some locations at Walt Disney World Resort, including the Walt Disney World theme parks, the Disney Springs area and table-service restaurants at Disney Resort hotels.'

Anyone displaying a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or above 'will be directed to an additional location for rescreening and assistance.'

'Those with temperatures 100.4 F or above will not be allowed entry; those in their party will not be allowed entry either,' according to the site.
Cops double foot stomp lands him flat out on mat Laws soon to have magisterial eye on police stations A traffic cop who executed wrestlings double foot stomp on a fallen lorry driver nabbed for negligent driving on Monday was arrested and remanded till tomorrow. Television viewers saw the shocking scenes where the unresisting lorry driver was first brought to the ground with a classic wrestling tackle, followed by the cop leaping to the air to jump on the hapless victim and land on his abdomen with the full force of his body weight. Evidently, the wrestling buff hadnt quite mastered the difficult move for he lost his balance the moment his boots made contact and tripped unceremoniously to the ground. As public protests soared at this blatant battery on an unarmed, unresisting citizen on a busy public highway in broad daylight in Pannipitiya, it took Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana to sooth the disquiet. In a televised message, he declared: The incident is one where a lorry driver driving negligently had hit the OIC of the Maharagama Police Traffic Division, injuring him. The policeman in question, who is also attached to the same division, had then proceeded to assault the lorry driver in a most condemnable manner. These things normally happen in villages where the vehicle is burnt and the driver is beaten by the crowd in the heat of the moment. But a police officer has no right whatsoever to behave in this manner. We do not condone in any manner this action. If the person was resisting arrest the police officer could have used reasonable force to apprehend him under the law. We categorically state that the Sri Lankan Police condemn this despicable act. Since then, the police officer has been arrested; he has been interdicted and his work stopped and he will be produced in court. In another interview DIG Ajith Rohana said, if a person had resisted arrest or was trying to abscond, the policeman could have used reasonable force but to jump on the person, stand on his stomach and beat him. This was totally unacceptable to the professional code of the Sri Lanka Police. Ajith Rohana further told the interviewer that if an unarmed person, who is not resisting a legal order of even a uniformed police officer and shows no sign of posing a threat to the policeman, is subjected to illegal assault then that person can avail himself of the right to self-defence to escape injury. Thats welcome news  to know that the Lankan police top brass accepts the notion that a right to self-defence to a charge of obstructing a policeman in the course of his duties exists in the statute books but, of course, common sense dictates that, in a realistic world, the right should be exercised only as a last resort and at ones own peril. A series of police brutality incidents at police stations have been reported recently to taint the honour of the Sam Browne belt; and the human rights issue this entails, has, perhaps, forced the Government to act. On March 24, the day following the Geneva sessions at which the resolution, warning the Lankan Government to arrest the tide of the deteriorating state of human rights in Lanka, had been successfully adopted, Justice Minister Ali Sabry presented to Parliament amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure to further strengthen and protect the rights of those held in custody. The welcome bill when enacted will impose a duty on each and every magistrate to visit every police station situated within the judicial division in respect of which he is appointed, at least once in every month to ensure the welfare of those held in custody. The magistrates duty will be to personally see the suspects and inquire into his wellbeing, welfare and the conditions under which they are held at the police stations. He must record any complaints they make, and note his own observations, too. If he is of the opinion that a suspect has been subjected to any form of cruelty or torture  as defined in the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Act  he may direct the suspect to a Judicial Medical Officer for a medical examination. On the report received, the magistrate may then order treatment and for change of custody. The amendments are indeed welcome. It will contribute to the governments efforts to clear up its shoddy act on human rights and cleanse Lankas image in international eyes. Hopefully, the amended Act will also specify that magisterial visits to police stations shall be unannounced and random and not by prior appointment on a fixed date. Hopefully, it will also ease the fears that suspects in police custody will, away from public sight, not be subjected to the treatment witnessed in broad daylight in Pannipitiya this week: Fears that the innocent until proven guilty citizens will not be used as punching bags in interrogation chambers for sadistic coppers to hone their wrestling or angampora prowess.
KENT COUNTY, MI  Police identified a Walker man as the victim of a fatal shooting.

Damone Hammock, 43, was shot and killed Friday, April 2.

Walker police found Hammock suffering from a gunshot wound in the 900 block of Cedar Run Court NW shortly after being called to the scene at 4:49 p.m. on Friday. Police have said a fight preceded the shooting, but did not disclose additional details.

Related: One dead after shooting in Walker

After the shooting occurred, police converged on the area and surrounded the residence involved. They detained several people and were looking for someone who reportedly fled the area.

Police waited to secure a search warrant, then entered the residence to make sure no one else was inside the house.

Officers arrested a 16-year-old male suspect on charges of open murder and felony firearm. Staff at the Kent County Prosecutors Office have reviewed the case and will be charging the suspect as an adult.

The suspects name is being withheld pending arraignment in Kent County District Court, which is expected to take place early next week, according to a press release from the Walker Police Department.

Read more:

Missing Grand Rapids area boy found safe late Friday

Annas House and 2 former workers settle lawsuit claiming workplace discrimination

Local Eats: New Tex-Mex restaurant coming to Grand Rapids
Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute in Denver and hosts The Devils Advocate with Jon Caldara on Colorado Public Television Channel 12. His column appears Sundays in Colorado Politics.
The story behind finding the stolen car, which Dillinger and his cellmate, Herbert Youngblood, left running on Ardmore Avenue in Chicago after hed busted out of Lake Countys impenetrable jail using a wooden handgun, was almost as fantastic as the escape itself, said Roger Pace, who with Love coordinated the homecoming parade that started from the Lake County Government Complex and ended at the Old Sheriffs House. For years, Love followed up on every lead he got about the car could be; most thought it had been sold for scrap decades prior, he said.
The Government has set up a new task force to examine the treatment and propose changes to how people with addiction and mental health problems are dealt with by the criminal justice system with a particular focus on prisons.

The Department of Justice said new High Level Taskforce will consider the mental health and addiction challenges of people interacting with the criminal justice system, following approval by Cabinet last wee week.

A statement said the establishment of the Taskforce is further to the Governments commitment to ensure the critical mental health needs for people in prison are met, addiction treatments are provided and primary care support is available on release, in order to ensure improved outcomes for individuals and for society.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee spoke about the importance of providing appropriate healthcare and responding to the needs of vulnerable, sometimes seriously ill, people who interact with the criminal justice system.

The Taskforce will look at what is needed to better support and help those with addiction and mental health needs who have been imprisoned and will also look at what supports are needed to continue their recovery upon release.

However, it is widely acknowledged that a certain cohort of people are too ill to be in prison, as they require urgent treatment.

As a society that values human dignity, respect and equality, I am clear that we need to do better for people who are in these circumstances. We need to put in place properly resourced, appropriately located systems of care for these most vulnerable people and the establishment of this Taskforce is an important step to progressing this, she said.

A statement said the Taskforce membership will include representatives from a wide cross-section of health agencies and the Justice sector as well as from relevant stakeholders, including the HSE, Central Mental Hospital, the Irish Prison Service, the Probation Service, An Garda Siochana, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

The Taskforce will also consult with other relevant stakeholders, as required, such as the Mental Health Commission, Inspector of Prisons, Prison Visiting Committees, Irish Penal Reform Trust and academia.

Minister McEntee said she wants a High Level Implementation Plan to be delivered by the end of 2021.

I know that this is an ambitious timeframe but we are committed to developing a system that provides comprehensive and coordinated mental health support for those who need it. The Taskforce will build on the previous work of the Interdepartmental group which examined issues relating to people with mental health issues who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Significant progress can and will be made.

The Minister for Justice launched the project with the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, Minister of State with Responsibility for Mental Health and Older people Mary Butler and Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing and National Drugs Strategy, Frank Feighan.

"We aim to enhance care provision overall and to better focus on the wider societal supports and needs of prisoners and ex-prisoners," said Minister Donnelly.

"While the judicial and health systems have historically worked closely together, and there have been improvements over recent years, such as the expansion of forensic mental health care within prisons, this is an opportune time to review, take stock and agree on further improvements which can be delivered in the short term. In this context, the opening soon of the new HSE National Forensic Mental Health facility at Portrane, to address acknowledged capacity pressures by replacing the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum is particularly welcome".

Minister Feighan concluded by saying: "We know that people in prison are more likely to have used drugs than the general population and that Irish prisons treated 848 cases for problem drug use in 2019. They also are at greater risk of related mental and physical health issues. Upon release from prison, these health issues dont go away and people can be vulnerable to relapse and overdose. The task force will address in a holistic way the health and social needs of people in prison who use drugs, during and after their release, in line with the national and the European drugs strategies.

Terms of Reference

The following terms of reference have been agreed:

(i) To assess how best to take forward the recommendations from the first and second reports of the Inter Departmental Group to examine issues relating to people with mental health issues coming into contact with the criminal justice system (Summary of recommendations attached).

(ii) To consult with stakeholders and consider relevant reports, proposals, recommendations and strategic actions including, but not limited to, the recommendations of the Council of Europe Commission on the Prevention of Torture reports and the ongoing work of the Steering Group on the Health Needs Assessment underway in the Irish Prison Service, with a view to identifying any additional actions relating to people with mental health challenges or a dual diagnosis of mental health and drug or alcohol addiction challenges who come into contact with the criminal justice system that may be necessary.

(iii) To prepare a High Level Implementation Plan by end of 2021 outlining lead responsibilities and timelines for any actions identified in (i) and (ii) with operational subgroups being set up as necessary.

(iv) Report on implementation periodically to relevant Ministers and Ministers of State.
News of a Saturday night shooting ends the MSM news cycle as the local homicide count continues to spike over last year's record breaking pace.



Deets . . .

This evening just after 8:30pm, Officers were dispatched to the area of 60th and Blue Hills on a reported shooting. Upon arrival, some witnesses advised they heard gunshots and directed officers to the area of the shots. Officers began canvassing the area and located the victim, an adult black male, in the 6000 block of Highland. The victim was suffering from apparent gunshot wounds and was transported to an area hospital. The victim was pronounced deceased at the hospital.



Detectives and Crime Scene Personnel have responded to the scene. They will be processing the scene for evidence and canvassing for additional witnesses.



Detectives are asking if you have any information, please call the Homicide Unit at 816-234-5043. Or if you would like to remain anonymous you can do so by calling the Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Again, this is the 43rd homicide so far this year compared to 39 at this time last year. Unofficially, this represents a little more than a 10% spike year to date.

Check the links . . .

KCTV5: One killed in shooting at 60th, Highland in Kansas City

Fox4: Kansas City police investigating homicide near 60th and Highland

KSHB: KCPD investigate homicide at 60th Street, Highland Avenue

Developing . . .
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

The number of people suffering from insomnia has surged during the pandemic: Twenty-eight percent of Americans, in fact, said theyve had a harder time falling asleep since its onset, according to a November 2020 Consumer Reports nationally representative survey (PDF).

That sleeplessness has also triggered a wave of people seeking relief. Google searches for insomnia jumped 58 percent in the months following the pandemics onset, according to a February 2021 study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. Prescriptions for insomnia drugs also increased, according to GoodRx, a prescription drug research firm.

Some of those prescription meds, such as Ambien, Belsomra, and Lunesta, are quite familiar. But prescriptions also spiked for another drug often used to help people fall asleep: trazadone, a decades-old antidepressant that can cause drowsiness as a side effect.

Trazodone, in fact, has long been among the most commonly prescribed medications to treat sleeplessness. A 2018 CR survey found that a third of people prescribed medication to fight off insomnia took trazodone.

Heres why so many people with sleep problems turn to it, and what to do if your doctor suggests you try it.

What Is Trazodone, Anyway?

Trazodone was first approved as an antidepressant by the Food and Drug Administration in 1981. Although doctors can legally prescribe trazodone (and all drugs, for that matter) for any reason, even if its not FDA-approved for that use, the drug has never been approved to treat insomnia.

A handful of studies have shown that trazodone may improve sleep during the first two weeks of treatment. But the drug hasnt been well-studied for longer than six weeks for people whose primary problem is insomnia. As a result, little is known about how well it works or how safe it is past that point for the treatment of chronic insomnia. Also, an effective dose range has never been established for the drug when its being used to treat insomnia, although lower doses are typically given.

Story continues

Updated treatment guidelines from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine published in 2021 recommend that doctors turn first to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) before drugs for most people suffering from insomnia. The AASM 2017 guidelines for doctors using medication to treat chronic insomnia do not recommend trazodone because theres so little data to support its use. The American College of Physicians also does not recommend trazodone in its 2021 insomnia treatment guidelines. And a May 2018 Cochrane review found that theres no good evidence to support the use of any antidepressant to treat insomnia, including trazodone.

Still, prescribing data suggests that some doctors remain convinced that trazodone is an appropriate sleep medication for many people, even those without depression. And it might be helpful for some people: A small open label study (participants are aware they are taking a specific drug) published in December 2020 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine involving people whose insomnia causes them to sleep less than 6 hours (as measured by a sleep test) once they do fall asleep, found that trazodone was helpful in keeping this small group of people asleep longer compared with people who received CBT.

Why Trazodone Is Prescribed So Often

Though trazodone is rarely used to treat depression alone anymore, its widely prescribed off-label at lower doses for treating insomnia.



One reason could be because that unlike other insomnia drugs, including Ambien, trazodone isnt classified by the FDA as a controlled substance (PDF) because theres little risk of it causing dependency and abuse. As a result, doctors can prescribe trazodone without a limit on how many pills a patient can receive.

And perhaps because trazodone is unlikely to cause dependence, the high levels of prescribing suggests that many physicians may believe trazodone is safer than other frequently prescribed sleep medications. But there are no studies that confirm this.



Another reason trazodone may be prescribed frequently is that its inexpensive. Its available only as a generic, and we found it for as little as $4 for a months supply at Walmart.

Other drugs approved to treat insomnia can impair your ability to recall new experiences and may evenalthough rarelycause you to walk, eat, have sex, or drive a car while essentially unconscious. Theres no evidence that trazodone can cause those serious side effects. Moreover, many doctors believe that trazodone is less likely to cause renewed insomnia once patients stop taking it, although theres little evidence to support that.

Trazodone Risks You Should Know About

Trazodone isnt without risks, however. It appears to be more likely than other sleep drugs to leave you feeling drowsy the next day, which increases the chance of having an accident, particularly while driving or using heavy machinery.

It can also cause abnormally low blood pressure and, in turn, trigger dizziness or even fainting, particularly in seniors, which can increase the risk of falling. A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that seniors with dementia who were given trazodone as a sleep aid were as likely to fall as seniors given antipsychotics, other drugs that can cause sedation.



Trazodone can also cause heart rhythm disorders. And some evidence suggests that it can cause priapism, or persistent erection, a medical emergency that may require surgery and can lead to impotence if not treated promptly.

And a black box warning in the package insert (PDF) notes that trazodone, like other antidepressants, can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in children and adolescents, even when taken at approved doses for depression.



The Bottom Line on Trazodone

For the average person who has occasional bouts of insomnia, making certain lifestyle changes may help the most, including avoiding big meals, alcohol, smoking, and exercising late at night, and working or watching TV in bed.

If these actions dont help, you could consider, with your doctors input, trying an inexpensive over-the-counter drug containing an antihistamine, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl Allergy, Nytol, Sominex, and generic) or doxylamine (Unisom Nighttime Sleep-Aid and generic) for just a few nights.

But its important to know that though those drugs are FDA-approved to treat insomnia, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) doesnt recommend them. In addition, drugs such as diphenhydramine can cause dependence when taken for longer than directed (usually two weeks), and they have other risks, such as constipation, confusion, dizziness, and next-day drowsiness.

If your insomnia lasts longer than a few nights, see your doctor to determine whether other factors, such as pain, heartburn, hot flashes, and drug side effects, could be disturbing your sleep. If these are ruled outor if your insomnia persists despite treatment of the underlying problemsyou can try nondrug sleep treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, which appear to yield better and more lasting results than any sleep medications. The AASM recommends CBT before resorting to medication.

If your doctor recommends sleeping pills for more than a temporary bout of insomnia without mentioning nondrug therapy, ask about these options yourself. For more on such treatment, see our latest tips on how to treat insomnia.

Tips for Safe Use

Of course, medication is sometimes needed for persistent insomnia when nondrug treatment is unavailable or ineffective, or when the sleep disturbance is affecting your ability to carry out your daily activities. Here are the main considerations for using trazodone to treat insomnia.

Insomnia without depression: Because theres so little supporting evidence, treatment guidelines by the AASM dont recommend trazodone for the treatment of chronic insomnia. Still, trazodone may improve insomnia symptoms initially, as found in one small study, but this effect could fade after a few weeks.

Insomnia with depression: Some conditions, such as depression, have a complex and intertwined connection with insomnia, and the best treatment for these two problems together hasnt been determined. If you have both, discuss the options with your doctor, making sure to mention the severity of the depression, the nature of your sleep problem, your medical history and susceptibility to side effects, any possible drug interactions, and, of course, your personal preferences.



Usually, the most important consideration is managing the depression, which should be treated separately with a more effective antidepressant medication, counseling, or both. A separate drug can then be prescribed for insomnia, either a newer sleep medication or low-dose trazodone. Studies have suggested that trazodone plus another antidepressant can improve sleep in these cases. Alternatively, trazodone might be taken alone at a higher, antidepressant dose to treat both problems.

Precautions If You Take Trazodone

Because trazodone might not work well to treat insomnia after a few weeks, check in with your doctor periodically to discuss how its going or whether its still working.

If you have trouble getting to sleep, take it several hours before you go to bed. If you have trouble staying asleep, take it within 30 minutes of bedtime.

Avoid trazodone if youre recovering from a heart attack. Inform your doctor if you have abnormal heart rhythms, weakened immunity, an active infection, or liver or kidney disease. Use it cautiously if you have heart disease.

Watch for adverse effects. Thats especially important for people older than 55 or so because theyre more susceptible to abnormal heart rhythms and falls caused by dizziness or drowsiness. Close monitoring is also crucial if youre taking trazodone with another antidepressant.

As with any sleep medication, never mix trazodone with alcohol, and use it cautiously if youre taking other sedating medications or anti-hypertensive drugs. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about other possible drug interactions.

If you develop an erection thats unusually prolonged or occurs without stimulation, discontinue the drug and contact your physician. Also call your doctor if you develop a fever or sore throat, or other signs of infection while taking trazodone.

Additional reporting by Chris Hendel and Ronald Buchheim

How to Get a Good Night's Sleep

Not getting enough zzzs? Consumer 101 TV show host Jack Rico gets expert CR tips on how to fall asleep faster and wake up more rested.
The weekends Easter celebrations felt a little sweeter than usual for local Christians, whose in-person services were cancelled last year due to pandemic restrictions.

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St. Augustine of Canterbury Church member Carol MacKenzie hands out programs during Friday's Stations of the Cross service. (Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun)

The weekends Easter celebrations felt a little sweeter than usual for local Christians, whose in-person services were cancelled last year due to pandemic restrictions.

On Friday, St. Augustine of Canterbury Church hosted a Stations of the Cross service to a near-capacity crowd.

That is, the 25 per cent capacity (100 maximum) allowed under current health orders, which at St. Augustine translates to 100 people in the sanctuary.

It was one of many special services held in Brandon during the weekend to mark the most sacred time in the Christian calendar.

"You can see how people are coming back with joy because of what they have gone through for the past year, trying to overcome the pain of not being able to worship in their church," pastor John Okosun said while sitting on a pew after the brief service wrapped up.

"The church is a body of Christ  so its very important to have that community dimension in our relationship with God, because that is where were filled with the love of God and the support and care of one another."

St. Augustine of Canterbury Church members look at a painting representing one of 14 stations of the cross that encircle the sanctuary during a special service Friday night. (Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun)

Restrictions loosened to allow restricted in-church services only a few weeks prior to Easter, which church volunteer Jeremy said proved fortuitous timing.

"This is the saddest point and its going to come to the happiest point," he said Friday, pointing to the time between the death and resurrection of Jesus and the optimism it signals.

Jeremy, who requested his last name be withheld, read the 14 Stations of the Cross alongside fellow volunteer Faith Kasprick.

During the service, the two volunteers walked churchgoers through the 14 stations of Jesuss crucifixion. Each station was represented by one of the paintings encircling the sanctuary, which participants shifted their gaze toward.

Church member Carol MacKenzie, who handed out programs during the service, said she felt "kind of emotional" coming back to the church after being away for several weeks before restrictions loosened last month.

"We watched mass on TV," she said. "Thats not the same thing  you cant receive the body of Christ, you cant receive the holy Eucharist."

While Okosun said it has been refreshing to see some people in person again, brighter days are ahead.

St. Augustine of Canterbury Church volunteer Jeremy, who requested his last name be withheld, reads from the 14 stations of the cross during a Friday evening service. (Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun)

"Just hoping that eventually well be able to host a normal capacity for the church  that people will be able to come back to the church and be able to commune in the church and pray with us.  Many people are missing that."

Despite their eagerness to return for in-person services, theres a consensus among the local religious organizations contacted for this story that it should only be done with safety in mind.

At St. Augustine on Friday, faces were seen covered in masks, aside from the well-distanced volunteers speaking at the altar, every other pew was taped off and singing was disallowed.

In allowing things like church services to take place, McDiarmid Drive Alliance Church lead pastor Darryl McAuley said it appears the government has factoring in the importance of mental health alongside physical health.

"Peoples mental health is not doing well right now, and we need  especially at Easter  a message of hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ," he said.

During times like these in which much has been taken away, he said both the positives and negatives in life can be accentuated. Those with strong family support networks before the pandemic are in some cases doing much better, while those without face greater strain.

As much one-on-one time with those hit hardest is important, he said, adding the goal is "trying to use our faith to build on some fo the challenges that theyre facing."

St. Augustine of Canterbury Church volunteer Faith Kasprick reads from the 14 stations of the cross during a Friday evening service. (Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun)

"Its not a single silver bullet," he said. "We try to look at this holistically."

Being physically separated "is not how we were created to thrive," he said, adding some people more than others need to experience in-person connection.

That is, when its safe to do so.

McDiarmid Drive Alliance Church hosted multiple services to accommodate as much of their church community as possible during Easter weekend, which joined an online availability for those still not comfortable showing up.

As for those churches gaining headlines for breaking health regulations, McAuley said he joins what he believes is the rest of the local church community in cringing at the actions of these outliers.

"It doesnt feel like a very loving response in the midst of a pandemic," he said.

Even at limited capacity, St. Georges Anglican Church rector Jonathan Hoskin said some churchgoers are still cautious about attending in-person services, which is understandable.

"Its been important for our community that people have been cautious and theyre looking out not only for themselves but theyre looking out for others," he said, adding the online Zoom platform has enabled a form of connectivity when being together in person isnt possible.

Although people havent exactly been excited about the health guidelines, he said his congregation is made up of law-abiding people who look out for one another.

"We have a number of elder folks as well, so thats been part of our consideration," he said. "We dont want to put anyone at higher risk in jeopardy."

Given the community-building nature of what the church strives to accomplish, he said breaking the rules and potentially exposing others to COVID-19 wouldnt align with their mandate.

"Its been great to be able to see in a new situation that peoples real concern for one another continues," he said.

An example of this arose with the current 25 per cent capacity rule, he said, during which those tuning into the service on Zoom have opted to continue doing so to allow those who havent back into the fold through in-person service.

"They made that initial concession for the sake of the other folks, which I thought was great, and theyve continued with that attitude  enabling and making room for one another."

These are just a few of the many local churches busy during the weekend with Easter services, some of which still available online on their respective websites.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
Jose Martinez Lopez and his son arrived in Nuevo Laredo on Oct. 4, 2019 from northern Honduras seeking asylum in the United States. Last week, along with 83 other asylum seekers who have been waiting in Mexico, Martinez and his son were finally allowed to come into Laredo.

On Wednesday, Martinez and his son shared a green folding cot in a florescent-lit room at the Holding Institute. He sat quietly in an Atlanta Braves hat and blue surgical mask as the room filled with the voices of other children singing and yelling, playing on their parents cellphones and with toys that had been provided to them. When a train came by, a small girl ran outside in the rain, hands over her ears as the horn blared, and watched it go. A half-full gallon of milk sat on the linoleum tile.

Martinez worked as an educator and social worker for a childrens institution back home. These institutions were never apolitical, he said. But the politics pushed him out, and on top of Honduras cartel violence, poverty and unemployment, Martinez could not bear to go back. His wife and daughter remain back home, and he hopes they can be together soon.

The situation is chaotic in Honduras, he said. We have a government that does not support us. ... We were abandoned by our country and are looking to other horizons.

But by the time Martinez and his son made it to the states, the Trump administration was enforcing Migrant Protection Protocols, a policy where asylum seekers were forced to live in Mexican border cities while they waited for their immigration case to make its way through the courts. They would only be allowed to cross into the U.S. on days when they had court hearings.

Martinez had his first hearing in Laredo on Feb. 24, 2020 and was scheduled for a second conference in April. But the arrival of the pandemic essentially shut down Migrant Protection Protocols. The thousands of asylum seekers waiting in Nuevo Laredo could not cross into the U.S. and could not see a judge. If, like Martinez, they didnt have access to an attorney, their entire life was put on pause as they waited for the pandemic to end.

Last week, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the Department of Homeland Security began to process the migrants waiting in Nuevo Laredo into the U.S. for the first time. After waiting in Mexico for a year and a half, Martinez and his son crossed into Laredo together on Tuesday.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Laredo has transported each of these asylum seekers from the bridge to local shelters and bus stations. Rebecca Solloa, executive director of the organization, said they have worked with 85 migrants over three days last week. After taking a few days off for Holy Week, starting Monday theyll be transporting 50 a day, then possibly up to 75.

Every time they turn the bus to head north on Santa Maria, the migrants cheer, Solloa said.

Theres a spectrum of feelings. Some are just ready to get on with their lives, she said. ... You hear them cheering, you hear them praying, you hear them laughing. Theres a sense of relief for them.

Many experienced a harsh year while they were waiting in Mexico, Solloa noted, and are ready to be reunited with family.

The UN Refugee Agency pre-registered 550 migrants in Nuevo Laredo, Solloa said. Most of them have been anticipating the day of their release for well over a year and already have travel arrangements made by the time they make it to Laredo. Their destinations are all over the country, from North Carolina to Utah to California, wherever they have family.

By Thursday, Martinez and his son had left for Nebraska, where his cousins live.

The Holding Institute on Tuesday received 12 asylum seekers under Migrant Protection Protocols and 10 more on Wednesday, all families, said Director Mike Smith. They have a couple of large tents set up to shelter the migrants and accommodate social distancing. The United Nations Refugee Agency tests each migrant for COVID-19 before they cross, and theyre tested again at the Holding Institute.

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com
An Indonesian macaque appeared to be a natural with the camera when he copied a photographer by peering through the viewfinder like a human.

A clip,taken by photographer Mogens Trolle, 50, showed the black macaque moving the camera around and holding it in both hands, as if he was taking a picture.

He moves the camera around and watches as the view through the viewfinder alters, looking as if he is trying to get the best angle for his shot.

The photographer had just stepped away from the camera to stretch his legs and when he returned he found the monkey mimicking him before making a swift exit shortly after.

A clever macaque put his camera skills to the test when he mimicked a photographer at the Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Indonesia

The comical video, said to have been recorded in Indonesia's Tangkoko Nature Reserve, has captured the attention of social media users.

Sharing the clip, for which a date of recording is not known, Yashar Ali said: 'This is amazing. @MogensTrolle was taking photos in Indonesia's Tangkoko Nature Reserve when he got up to stretch his legs.

'When he came back, he found this wild black crested macaque using his camera like a human being.

'Our primate cousins learn almost everything by mimicking.'

One person replied: 'Nature man, it's incredible.'

Another said: 'Wonderful - reinforces why we need to protect the habitat of our primate cousins.'

Mogens Trolle is a Danish prize-winning wildlife photographer, zoologist, mammal researcher and author.

He moves the camera around and watches as the view through the viewfinder alters, looking as if he is trying to get the best angle for his shot

The photographer has pictured wildlife for more than 25 years across the world.

Some people on social media were also left questioning whether or not the monkey had taken any good pictures.

One wrote: 'Is it bad I see this and think... hey did the macaque manage to get any photos?'

'He probably takes better pictures than I do,' said another.

This is not the first time a monkey has shown an interest in a camera, with one incident even resulting in a copyright court case.

In 2015 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal (PETA) filed a novel copyright lawsuit against photographer, David Slater, whose camera was used by a crested macaque to take the photos in 2011.

PETA's suit sought financial control of the photographs  including a now-famous selfie of the monkey grinning  for the benefit of the animal named Naruto.

The monkey's smiling selfie was shot during a trip Slater took to Indonesia.

In 2018, a U.S. appeals court decided that humans trump animals when it comes to who  or what  owns the copyright on original artwork created by animals.
GARNER, Iowa  A Hancock County thief is sentenced to more prison time.

Todd Levern Hambly, 40 of Goodell, pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree burglary. Law enforcement says Hambly stole tools from Forest City Auto on January 13, 2020, and broke into the Klemme Town Mart on February 16, 2020, and pried open the ATM machine before barricading himself inside the store. Authorities say Hambly climbed into the Town Mart ceiling and wound up falling nine feet onto a tile floor, breaking a bone in his arm.

Hambly has been given up to 15 years behind bars and must serve a minimum of three years before becoming eligible for parole. That will be served at the same time as a three year prison sentence for second-degree theft in Polk County.
A man's body has been recovered from the River Erne (Niall Carson/PA)

A mans body has been recovered from the River Erne in County Fermanagh following an incident involving a jet ski on Saturday.

First Minister Arlene Foster said it was "tragic news".

"My condolences to the family at this devastating time," she said.

The mans remains were recovered close to the Cloonatrig Road at Bellanaleck.

Officers together with other emergency services were called to the scene following the report at around 3.40pm.

A post mortem examination will take place in due course.

Police are not treating the death as suspicious.
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin



Rawat has arrived at the Southern Naval Command here for a two-day visit during which he will review the progress of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier being constructed at the Cochin Shipyard, a Defence spokesman said on Sunday.

This is his first visit to this southern port city after taking over as Chief of Defence Staff, he said.

General Rawat, who arrived on Saturday evening, would visit various professional training schools and witness the Damage Control Training Facility at the naval base before returning on Monday evening, he said.

"He is scheduled to review the training infrastructure at Southern Naval Command, which is the Training Command of the The General is scheduled to visit the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, under construction at Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi and review its progress," the spokesman said in a release.

He would also be apprised of the environmental initiatives undertaken by the Command, it said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Sri Lanka is planning to host the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit in mid August, with dates still to be finalized.

This will be the 5th such summit of the grouping. The last summit took place in Kathmandu in 2018, with PM Modi attending the meet.

BIMSTEC has 7 members- India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The grouping is more than 20 years old and was formed in 1997.

The summit could happen physically, but depends on the covid situation. Sri Lanka as the chair of the grouping this year, is eyeing for a physical summit.

Last week it held the foreign minister's virtual summit. The agenda for the leaders' meeting was taken up during this summit.

The agenda will consist of the approval of BIMSTEC Charter,BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity & BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. Grouping is also working on finalization of BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement and the Motor Vehicles Agreement.

India is very keen on the grouping, with SAARC being unable to function well due to Pakistan's politicization of many proposals from India.

At the foreign minister virtual meet, External Affairs minister S Jaishankar said, "BIMSTEC over the years has emerged as a promising sub-regional grouping with growing strategic and economic interests of the Member States, as well as of the international community in the Bay of Bengal region."

In 2019, India had invited BIMSTEC heads of government & states for PM Modi's oath taking ceremony for 2nd term. After Sri Lanka, Thailand will be the host of the grouping.
In their tireless effort to keep the music playing, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra has announced its Virtual Spring Chamber Concert Series for On Demand Streaming.

The three-concert series will begin on Saturday, April 10, with successive concerts on April 24 and May 8, all at 5 p.m. The programs will remain streaming through May 21. Each of the three 45 to 50-minute concerts consists of music for strings and percussion, featuring SSO violinists Masako Yanagita, Marsha Harbison, and Beth Welty, violists Delores Thayer and Noralee Walker, cellists Boris Kogan and Joel Wolfe, and percussionists Martin Kluger, Nathan Lasell, and Robert McEwan.

SSO Assistant Concertmaster Marsha Harbison put together the string quartet for the Chamber Series.

Since last year was a big Beethoven year, Harbison said (the 250th anniversary of his birth), I thought the string quartet could do a variety of early, middle, and late Beethoven to illustrate that progression.

Harbison, with Yanagita, Thayer, and Kogan, all long-time members of the SSO, will play the opening movement of Beethovens Op. 18, no. 4, the third movement of Op. 59 No. 2, and the fourth movement of Op. 135.

They will also play the third movement of Alexander Borodins String Quartet No. 2.

Since we have a Russian cellist (Boris Kogan), Harbison said, I wanted to feature some Russian themes (hence the Borodin and the Beethoven Op. 59 Rasumovsky Quartet). She also included Gershwins Promenade (Walking the Dog) to represent both American composers and nod to the Russian theme, since Gershwins parents were both Russian immigrants.

According to Harbison, who represents the musicians on the Board, and who, along with Welty and Kluger, is a member of the Players Committee, the musicians were eager to present live streaming chamber concerts .to help provide some work for the musicians and to keep our audience interested in the SSO. Executive Director Susan Beaudry and Marketing Director Lynn Nichols put forward a proposal which was approved by the Board, and the musicians gathered at the studio of Focus Springfield to record.

Harbison said that the process was incredibly complicated by COVID restrictions (no woodwinds or brass) and other factors, but it was wonderful to play together again, and were all looking forward to having the full orchestra playing together again soon!

Violinist Beth Welty put together the string trio for the Chamber Series with violist Noralee Walker and cellist Joel Wolfe. Were doing the first three movements of the Beethoven Op. 3 Trio in E-flat Major, she said. They are marked Allegro con brio, Andante, and Allegretto (a minuet movement). The piece is modeled after Mozarts Divertimento for String Trio, K. 563  same key, same number of movements (6), she added. The Beethoven trio is split between the April 10 and May 8 concerts. Kodalys Intermezzo for String Trio will be heard on April 10.

On April 24, Welty and violist Noralee Walker will also play two movements from Mozarts String Duo No. 1 in G Major for Violin and Viola, K. 423. Two movements of Dohnanyis delightful Serenade Op. 10 for string trio appear on the May 8 concert.

The experience of doing the recordings was just amazing, Welty said. It was so much fun, as well as high pressure and challenging, and I have to say, the people at Focus Springfield were absolutely fantastic  the nicest people and extremely professional!

Weltys performing, like that of every other professional musician, has been basically put on hold by the pandemic. (Its been) pretty bad, as you can imagine, she said. The last full symphonic concert I played was in Springfield, I believe March 7 or 8 of 2020. Right now I survive on teaching violin and viola lessons on Zoom and the occasional live stream.

During the warmer weather last year, she invited friends over to play on her front porch. The neighbors loved it, she said. My string quartet (the Aryaloka Quartet, of which Noralee is a member) played three outdoor concerts in Westwood, the audience got bigger each time, just by word of mouth  we plan to do that again this summer.

Martin Kluger, the SSOs Principal Timpanist, organized the percussion portions of the Series, which he will perform with colleagues Nathan Lasell and Robert McEwan.

About a year ago (seems more like a century!) we talked about the repertoire for a live audience SSO percussion concert that was cancelled. Two works from that original program, my arrangement of the slow movement from Beethovens Piano Sonata No. 4, and my composition Sudoku 75, are scheduled for the upcoming virtual concert series, Kluger said.

Sudoku 75 will receive its first public performance on the first Chamber Concert, April 10. According to Kluger, it is scored for three percussionists, each playing nine instruments, three made of skin, three of metal, and three of wood. The 27 instruments used are: 1 bass drum (or very large tom-tom), 5 tom-toms graduated in pitch, 3 bongos, wood blocks, 3 temple blocks, 4 cowbells, 2 triangles, and 3 suspended cymbals. The piece lasts three minutes.

In my Sudoku music, Kluger explained, silence gradually becomes filled with sound, just as Sudoku puzzle squares are gradually filled with the numbers one through nine. Hence, the Sudoku pattern is expressed musically as percussion rhythms within a 9/8 time signature (that has 9 possible eighth-note positions per measure). My composition also has a more human element, representing the flashes of insight and frequent obstacles encountered by the Sudoku puzzle devotee exerting mental effort, becoming alternatively frustrated and successful at making progress toward the puzzles solution.

While Beethoven did not incorporate a lot of percussion into his music, the piano is essentially a percussion instrument, as its sound is produced by hammers striking strings, so Klugers arrangement of the slow movement from Beethovens Piano Sonata No. 4 for two marimbas, bass drum, tom-tom, snare drum, temple blocks, wood block, triangle, antique cymbal, suspended cymbal, and bells, is a natural translation.

Of course the non-pitched percussion part is entirely new, Kluger admitted. I imagine these sounds as living in the space between the upper and lower staves of Beethovens piano part, he said, implied but not explicitly present, and like a spice of an already delicious culinary dish, adding flavor.

Bon appetit!

The Beethoven arrangement is included on the April 10 concert. Other percussion works include three snare drum solos: Brush Up by Rick Dior, and Cider Jug, and The Conquering Legions of Rome, by John S. Pratt a member of the West Point Field Music Unit, aka The Hellcats (all on the May 8 program).

Piazzollas Libertango, and a percussion arrangement of Debussys finger-flexing Dr. Gradus ad Parnassum will spice up the April 24th program, and movements of Nebojsa Zivkovics Trio per Uno are distributed between the April 24 and May 8 concerts.

Maestro Kevin Rhodes will introduce each of the programs. Tickets for the virtual series are $25 per concert or $60 for the series of three and are on sale on the Springfield Symphony Orchestra website www.springfieldsymphony.org More information, including program notes and full player bios, are also available on the website. Through the Card to Culture program, individuals who are EBT, WIC, or ConnectorCare card holders may get free tickets to these concerts. Those interested can contact Education Director Kirsten Lipkens at klipkens@springfieldsymphony.org

Sponsorship for the Spring 2021 Chamber Concert Series comes from Baystate Health, St. Germain Investment Management, Health New England, Bank of America Private Bank, Big Y, E Ink, the Gladys W. Cole Charitable Trust, United Personnel, Teed Capital Management of Raymond James and Disability Management Services. The Premiere Season Supporter is MassMutual Foundation, with additional season support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.
Kate Middleton is being 'very careful' to ensure she doesn't outstrip Prince William after Princess Diana taking the limelight from Prince Charles 'caused huge problems', a royal expert has claimed.

Penny Junor said the Duchess of Cambridge, 39, may have learned an important lesson from her late mother-in-law, whose popularity is believed to have made her ex-husband jealous.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Junor added that Kate is 'not on an ego trip' and her head 'has not been turned by celebrity' since she joined the Royal Family.

She added that the mother-of-three is 'coming into her prime', and is coming out of the pandemic 'really well'.

Kate Middleton is being 'very careful' to ensure she doesn't outstrip Prince William after Princess Diana taking the limelight from Prince Charles 'caused huge problems', a royal expert has claimed

'[Kate's] not over the top, not "me, me, me" at all. I think she's absolutely coming into her prime now  shes confident, shes competent, and you dont get the impression that shes waiting for cameras to be there and its all a publicity stunt,' Junor told the publication.

She claimed lockdown has opened the public's eyes to the working members of the Royal Family, which are now reaching a far wider audience than before.

Royal correspondent Jennie Bond said Kate and William's regular Zoom calls have shown them in a 'very good light' and have made them appear more accessible while offering an insight into their true personalities and their home life.

'They seem much more natural and Kate is coming across as very knowledgeable and compassionate,' she said.

Royal correspondent Jennie Bond said Kate and William's regular Zoom calls have shown them in a 'very good light' and have made them appear more accessible while offering an insight into their true personalities and their home life

Bond added that Kate has 'played a blinder' in the past few years, supporting worthy causes that are close to her heart, and is demonstrating she is 'very much in touch with the mood of the country' while coming across as 'genuine'.

Last month Kate made a personal, low-key visit to Clapham Common to pay her respects to Sarah Everard, 33, who was abducted and murdered while walking home in south London.

Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick claimed she knew in advance that Kate was privately heading to lay flowers at the bandstand on March 13, days after Ms Everard's body was found - but admitted the officer in charge of policing the event did not.

Kate has since sent a message to Ms Everard's family and, although the contents of the letter have been kept private, the duchess is believed to have offered her condolences and told the family that they are in her thoughts.

The Duchess of Cambridge was seen placing daffodils at the vigil for Sarah Everard on Clapham Common last month, days after the 33-year-old's body was found in Kent

A source close to Ms Everard's family said they were 'extremely touched' to have received the letter.

Junor described it as a 'wonderful gesture' from the Duchess, which came days after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.

She said the fact Kate quietly turned up at the vigil with absolutely no fanfare 'spoke volumes'.

'Kate was making a very subtle point. You dont need to make a song and dance about things,' said Junor.

'When Harry and Meghan talked to Oprah, they were more concerned about their own welfare; it was all about them and that's been their narrative all along.

'But there's a difference between service and self-service. I feel real service is doing things selflessly for others. I think thats what Kate understands.'
A new IRA chief took to the streets yesterday in an act of defiance against recent police raids targeting the gang's leadership.

The gang's Derry boss Thomas Mellon - who is on a 10-year MI5 terror watchlist - was among a group of high-profile dissidents who gathered near the Bogside for a protest in support of its prisoners. Others included convicted bomber Christy O'Kane.

The demonstration, and a wreath- laying at the city cemetery, came after the New IRA's political wing Saoradh said it will go ahead with a similar event planned for tomorrow afternoon. It had faced calls to cancel because of coronavirus concerns.

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Mellon is understood to have pushed for the Easter Monday wreath-laying ceremony taking place, demanding a show of unity ahead of the second anniversary of the New IRA murder of journalist Lyra McKee.

He had previously accused the gang's leaders outside of Derry of turning him into a scapegoat for the killing, and offering no support.

The recent charging of Mellon's second-in-command Kieran McCool (52) with bombmaking has also led to his insistence that the wreath-laying take place.

"Tommy sees this as a way of putting on a show of unity after a number of serious setbacks," explained a republican source.

These "setbacks" include McCool's arrest, the charging of 10 republicans linked to meetings of the New IRA's leadership which were bugged by MI5, and the discovery of the gun used to kill Lyra McKee.

Two Derry dissidents, Paul McIntyre (53) and Christopher Gillen (40), are facing charges connected to the journalist's death.

But the list of suspects involved stretches to 17 according to Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy, who tells today's Sunday Independent: "There was a chain of events involving a significant number of individuals, including members of the New IRA, to make that weapon available.

"The killer is not safe in any shape or form and nor are any of the other individuals who were involved in the attack that night. I hope they think that they've got away with the murder of Lyra McKee. But the truth is very far from that.

"If I get an opportunity to bring a gunman or members of the New IRA to justice for Lyra McKee's murder, I absolutely intend to do so."

Within a year of Lyra's murder her heartbroken mother Joan Lawrie-McKee, who she cared for, passed away. The journalist's sister Nicola Corner McKee is in no doubt that her mother died of a broken heart.

"She (Joan) used to say to me, 'How am I going to do this - how am I going to live without Lyra?' In the end, she couldn't," Nicola told the Sunday Independent.

"Mummy's heart was the strongest organ she had, and it was her heart that stopped because it was broken. I know they are now together."

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The identity of Lyra McKee's killer, who remains active in dissident republicanism, is well known. He was only 18-years-old when he shot his victim in the head during a night of rioting in the Creggan estate.

Within days of the murder he was moved by the New IRA to a safe house in Donegal, but returned to Derry when his girlfriend discovered she was pregnant. Their baby son was born some months later.

Meanwhile, co-ordinated PSNI raids in the past week at properties in Lurgan, Omagh, Castlederg and Irvinestown were aimed at disrupting Continuity IRA Easter wreath-laying ceremonies this weekend. Previous events in Lurgan have seen shots fired by the gang and republicans clashing with police.

At Milltown Cemetery in Belfast Saoradh also held a wreath-laying ceremony yesterday. Less than two dozen supporters were in attendance.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 20:12:31|Editor: huaxia

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WINDHOEK, April 4 (Xinhua) -- An increasing number of young Namibians working in the beauty industry such as massage therapists, nail technicians and barbers, among others, have been making a living with imported Chinese beauty and fashion products that are in high demand despite COVID-19.

While the industry might not be as lucrative in terms of income compared to the jobs they lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, the earnings are sufficient enough to put food on the table and keep their lights on at home.

Elia Amoomo, one of the Namibians who has ventured full time into the industry to find an income stream for himself, said although business is slow, he has been able to stabilize his situation under the difficult conditions.

"I am a full-time barber, but I also import different hair products and clothes from China for sale. On a good month I can make up to 10,000 Namibian dollars (685 U.S. dollars), from both my barbershop as well as the business selling my imported hair products," he said.

"During the pandemic, I had to be creative to find ways of sustaining my business. I started home visits for my regular clients who needed haircuts. I also saw that there is a high demand for imported beauty and hair products and I have added this venture to my business. It is pretty lucrative as long one is prudent with money," he said.

Clemencia Shiwedha, through importation of both fashionable wares, beauty and hair products from China, has since established her own boutique in Windhoek. She said business is surprisingly booming despite the difficult economic situation felt by many.

She told Xinhua that she is now considering quitting her day job of primary school teaching to run her boutique and create employment for other young Namibians.

"The idea behind my boutique is to make sure that most of my clients have their own kind of clothes that are not worn by many people. The boutique specializes in providing a rare kind of fashion from clothing to hair products imported from both China and Dubai," she said.

"It used to be difficult importing because the import duty is really high but now, we are a group of people who import, so sometimes we put resources together and we import at once so we manage the shipping cost better. I also firmly believe in giving other people a chance...my dream is also to have a fully-fledged production house producing local brands that will sell to the Namibian market," she said.

Beauty therapist Mekondjo Shilongo, meanwhile, specializes as a nail technician and gets her nail products imported for bulk from China.

"I run my business from home in Katutura in an area called Wanaheda. I normally partner with a few friends when importing so we share the duty cost. I get a bulk supply of nail polishes and all the other necessities that I need...I also visit my clients in the comfort of their homes as long as they will be able to pay for my services and cater for the transportation," she said.

"While it is tough these days, I can safely pay my rentals and remain with savings. I can't really reveal my total earnings but business is reasonable," she said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 20:18:29|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN on Sunday called for joint efforts to eradicate threats posed by the increasing use of explosive hazards in Somalia.

Qurat-ul-Ain Sadozai, UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) program director in Somalia said the major impact of explosive hazards is on civilians and particularly on children.

"Together, we must press on to reinforce the development of national mine-action capacities and continue to support Somalia, ensuring protection of civilians as well as social and economic development," Sadozai said in a joint statement issued in Mogadishu to mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

According to statistics from the UNMAS program in Somalia, there were 1,140 civilian casualties due to improvised explosive devices (IED) in 2019.

The number dropped to 454 in 2020. Also, in 2019, there were 59 civilian casualties due to explosive remnants of war (ERW) and that number dropped to 53 in 2020.

While there has been a welcome decline in the number of casualties, they are still a major concern that requires dedicated attention, according to the UNMAS in Somalia.

Sadozai said the UNMAS is working with the Somali government and the Federal Member States, along with partners to support the Somalia Transition Plan.

"This includes clearing explosive hazards, delivering explosive ordnance risk education, raising awareness at the community level, enhancing national mine action capabilities, and supporting government efforts to serve survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war and persons with disabilities," UNMAS said.

James Swan, UN secretary-general's special representative for Somalia highlighted this year's theme of "Perseverance, Partnership, Progress" in working to eliminate the threat of explosive hazards to Somalis.

"While the country is improving in preventing explosive hazards, we must continue to work together to rid Somalia of this scourge which not only kills and injures so many innocent civilians each year, but also puts a brake on the country's development," Swan said. Enditem
Charlottesville Can Remove Confederate Statues

Virginias highest court ruled Thursday that the city of Charlottesville can take down two statues of Confederate generals, including one of Robert E. Lee that became the focus of a violent white nationalist rally in 2017.

The state Supreme Court overturned a Circuit Court decision in favor of a group of residents who sued to block the city from taking down the Lee statue and a nearby monument to fellow Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson. Charlottesvilles city council voted to remove both.

White supremacist and neo-Nazi organizers of the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville said they went to the city to defend the statue of Lee. They clashed with counterprotesters before a man plowed his car into a crowd of people, killing a woman.

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The Jackson statue was erected in Jackson Park in 1921 and the Lee statue was erected in Lee Park in 1924. In 1918, the city had accepted a residents offer to donate land for parks for both statutes.

City officials praised the ruling in a statement Thursday and said they plan to redesign the park spaces where the statues are located in a way that promotes healing and that tells a more complete history of Charlottesville.

Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker thanked the community for their steadfastness and perseverance over the past five years. For all of us, who were on the right side of history, Bravo!

In Thursdays decision, State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Goodwyn said both statues were erected long before a 1997 state law that barred local governments from removing them.

He wrote that the law should not be applied retroactively; those seeking to keep the statues in place had argued the legislatures obvious intent was to do just that.

The 1997 law did not provide the authority for the City to erect the Statues, and it does not prohibit the City from disturbing or interfering with them, Goodwyn wrote.

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The state Supreme Court also ruled that the circuit court erred in ordering the city to pay $365,000 in plaintiffs attorneys fees and costs.

Braxton Puryear, one of the attorneys for the residents who sued, said he hadnt read the ruling yet and couldnt immediately comment on it. Frederick W. Payne, a Charlottesville lawyer who was listed as the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, also declined comment Thursday.

The Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc., and The Monument Fund, Inc., also were plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed against the city in March 2017.

University of Virginia law Richard Schragger, who specializes in the intersection of constitutional law and local government law, said he took the position early in the litigation that the law didnt apply to the Charlottesville statues. He expects Thursdays decision to be the final word in the long-running case since he doesnt see any grounds for a challenge under federal law.

It has just taken a very long time for this to be resolved, Schragger said. I think the circuit court took probably too long to make make its rulings.

The 1997 law that barred local governments from removing Confederate statues was repealed in 2020, after Democrats gained control of the General Assembly in the 2019 elections. Since then, local governments across the state have removed statues that stood for a century or more.

In Richmond, city officials removed numerous statues on the citys famed Monument Avenue after they became a focal point of racial justice protests last summer. But a statue of Lee has not yet been removed; a lawsuit is now in front of the state Supreme Court to determine whether the statue, which sits on state property and is subject to an 1890 deed that purports to restrict its removal, can be taken down.

The 2020 law does impose some requirements on local governments seeking to remove a statue, like holding a public hearing and offering the statue to a museum or historical society for possible relocation. In Thursdays ruling, the judges indicate in a footnote that they are making their ruling based on the old law.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said he determined nearly four years ago that the law purporting to block removal of Confederate statues did not apply retroactively and was not the blanket prohibition that its proponents had made it out to be. Thursdays ruling confirmed that we were right, Herring added in a statement.

I have worked hard to help remove poisonous Confederate propaganda from our publicly-owned spaces, because I believe it glorifies a false history and sends a dangerous and divisive message about who and what we value, he said.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that Willie Walsh has officially taken on the role of Director General of the organisation. He succeeds Alexandre de Juniac.

I am passionate about our industry and about the critical work that IATA does on behalf of its members, never more so than during the Covid-19 crisis. IATA has been at the forefront of efforts to restart global connectivity, including developing the IATA Travel Pass. Less visible but of equal importance, airlines continue to rely on IATAs financial settlement systems, Timatic and other vital services to support their day-to-day operations. I am grateful to Alexandre for leaving behind a strong organisation and a motivated team. Together, the IATA team is absolutely focused on restoring the freedom of movement that airlines provide to billions of people around the world. That means your freedom to visit friends and family, to meet critical business partners, to secure and retain vital contracts, and to explore our wonderful planet, said Walsh.

In normal times, over four billion travellers depend on aviation each year and the distribution of vaccines has put the value of efficient air cargo in the spotlight. Airlines are committed to delivering safe, efficient, and sustainable services. My goal is to ensure that IATA is a forceful voice supporting the success of global air transport. We will work with supporters and critics alike to deliver on our commitments to an environmentally sustainable airline industry. Its my job to make sure that governments, which rely on the economic and social benefits our industry generates, also understand the policies we need to deliver those benefits, said Walsh.

Walsh was confirmed as IATAs 8th Director General by the 76th IATA Annual General Meeting on November 24, 2020. He joins IATA after a 40-year career in the airline industry. Walsh retired from the International Airlines Group (IAG) in September 2020 after serving as its CEO since its inception in 2011. Prior to that he was CEO of British Airways (2005-2011) and CEO of Aer Lingus (2001-2005). He began his career in aviation at Aer Lingus in 1979 as a cadet pilot.

Walsh is deeply familiar with IATA, having served on the IATA Board of Governors for almost 13 years between 2005 to 2018, including serving as Chair (2016-2017). He will work from the Associations Executive Office in Geneva, Switzerland. - TradeArabia News Service
The San Antonio Police Department reported two homicides on the South side Friday night.

The first occurred at 9:50 p.m. along the 800 block of W. Baetz Boulevard. A man walked into a home and shot the victim, an unidentified man in his 30s or 40s, officials said.

The killer then fled east along Baetz Boulevard on foot, officials said.

An officer spotted a man with a gun several blocks away; there was evidence he was involved in the shooting, police said.

Raymond Hernandez, 28, was taken into custody and charged with first degree murder, felon in possession of a firearm and indecent exposure. As of Saturday evening, Hernandez in Bexar County Jail under $401,500 bail.

Hernandezs record includes convictions for stealing a vehicle and burglary.

The victims name has not yet been released, pending notification of his next of kin.

The second homicide took place a little after midnight when officers were dispatched to a McDonalds on the 3000 block of Nogalitos Street for a shooting.

The victim, identified as Michael Anthony Corales, 53, by the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office on Saturday, was walking through the drive-thru lane when he collapsed, officials said.

Witnesses said Corales was bleeding and EMS determined he was suffering from a gunshot wound. Corales was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead, officials said.

Officials found blood about half a block away from where Corales collapsed. Witnesses reported hearing a single gunshot; no other details were provided.

Anyone with information regarding either homicide can send an anonymous tip by testing SATIP to 847411. Tipsters can also contact Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP (7867).

liz.hardaway@hearst.com | Twitter: @liz_hardaway
Bengaluru, April 4 : In all, 30 candidates, including three each from the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress and one from Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) are in the fray for one Lok Sabha and two legislative assembly by-elections in Karnataka on April 17, an official said on Sunday.

"After the last date of withdrawal of nominations on Saturday, 10 candidates are in the fray for the Belgaum Lok Sabha seat, 12 for Basavakalyan and eight for Maski (reserved) assembly seats in Bidar and Raichur districts of the state," a poll official told IANS here.

Of the 30 candidates for the three by-elections, 26 are men and four are women, while 14 of them are independents.

BJP has fielded Mangala, widow of former Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi, whose sudden death due to Covid on September 23, 2020 caused the vacancy in the Belgaum parliamentary constituency.

Angadi had won the high-profile seat in the state's northwest region for the fourth consecutive term since 2004.

Congress has fielded its state unit working president Satish Jarkiholi against Mangala.

Satish, 58, is a Congress legislator from the Yemakanmardi assembly seat in the border district of the state.

Satish is also the younger brother of the ruling BJP's tainted former state minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who is embroiled in the sleaze CD that has rocked the state recently.

Though the JD-S is not contesting in Belgaum and Maski, it has fielded Syed Yasrab Ali Quadri for Basavakalyan against Mallamma of Congress and Saharanu Salaga of BJP and others.

Mallamma is the widow of B. Narayan Rao, whose death due to Covid on September 24, 2020 caused the vacancy in the seat.

Former BJP legislator Mallikarjun Khuba is also contesting in Basavakalyan as an Independent after the ruling party denied ticket to him.

In Maski, BJP's contestant is Pratapgouda Patil, who resigned from the seat in July 2019 and defected from Congress. Patil's disqualification under the anti-defection law caused the vacancy in the reserved seat.

Congress fielded Basavanagoud Turvihal who lost to Patil in the May 2018 assembly elections as a BJP candidate and joined the Opposition party recently.

In the May 2019 general elections, BJP won 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats from the southern state, Congress (2) and one Independent.

In the 225-member state Assembly, BJP has 118, Congress 67, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) 32, Independents (2), BSP (1), speaker (1), nominated (1) and vacant (3).

In the 15 assembly by-elections held on December 5, 2019, BJP won 12, Congress (2) and an independent (1).

In the twin by-polls held in Bengaluru's RR Nagar and Sira in Tumakur district on November 2020 amid the Covid pandemic, the BJP wrested both seats from the Congress and JD-S respectively.

By-election to the Sindgi assembly seat in Vijayapura district is yet to be announced though it fell vacant due to the death of its sitting JD-S member M C Managuli due to Covid on January 28 at a private hospital in Bengaluru.

Managuli, 85, was a cabinet minister in the 14-month-old JD-S Congress coalition government, which fell on July 23, 2019 after its Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy lost the trust vote in the state legislative assembly following the resignation of 17 legislators of both parties in the same month (July 2019).

Managuli's son Ashok, who joined Congress recently, will be its candidate in the by-election when held.
Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Ade Coker has said there a lot of speculations regarding what led to the resignation of North Tongu Member of Parliament from the Appointments Committee of Parliament.



This is as result of the failure of Mr Alabkwa to give reasons for his resignation, he said.



To that end, Mr Ade Coker said there is the need to know the voting line of Mr Ablakwa when he was on the Committee during the vetting of President Akufo-Addos ministerial nominees.



Mr Ablakwa resigned from the Committee on Wednesday March 31, 2021.



He said in a letter addressed to the Speaker, Alban Kingsford Bagbin that the decision was taken after days of careful reflection and thoughtful considerations.



I shall like to state that the reasons for this difficult decision are both personal and on principle.



Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday April 3, Mr Ade Coker told host Abena Tabi that In future your voting record in parliament can be pulled out. If you go to the US, there is nothing like consensus.



We will have to find out during the vetting process what his [Ablakwas] voting line was. That will determine and help us to make a judgment on what he is saying about principles.



If you had consistently voted against the nominees then it look like well, then you can say is of no use for me to still be on the committee.



I want to know how the voting pattern went. if the voting pattern went in such a way that you lost, then you are obliged to accept the results of what has taken place but here we are they only come and tell us it is consensus.



He added the resignation gives room for conjecture, it gives room for a lot of rumours against the NDC.





Source: 3news









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Biden Cant Take Credit for Meeting School Reopening Goal, Data Show

While President Joe Biden has met his school reopening goal almost a month ahead of schedule, data indicate his policies did nothing to accelerate a reopening trend that was already underway when he took office.

An effort to reopen the majority of schools within his first 100 days was among Bidens core promises prior to taking office. When he finally put forward the specifics in mid-February, he said it meant having close to the majority of K8 grades opened for in-person instruction five days a week by the end of April.

That goal has already been met, according to data from Burbio, a community tracking firm that crunches publicly available data collected from 1,200 school districts, representing 35,000 schools, in all 50 states, according to its website.

By March 8, more than 51 percent of grades K8 were open for traditional in-person instruction, although looking at middle-school grades only, less than 41 percent were open.

In the week starting April 5, more than 55 percent of students will attend schools that offer traditional in-person instruction, including nearly 64 percent in elementary grades, over 50 percent in middle school grades, and nearly 47 percent in high schools.

The reopening trend started in early September 2020, when school lockdowns reached their zenith. Only 19 percent of students went to schools that offered traditional instruction, Burbio reported on Sept. 2.

Reopening proceeded at a pace of about 2 percent per week until November, when it reversed because of another wave of lockdowns. Closures peaked in early January, when less than 31 percent of schools offered traditional instruction. Since then, the reopening resumed at a pace of about 2 percent per week.

The data show no clear indication that Biden policies sped up the reopening.

On Feb. 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released school reopening guidelines that divided districts into blue, yellow, orange, and red zones based on local data regarding the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

In orange and red zones, only partial in-person instruction should have been allowed, according to the guidelines. But when Burbio crunched the data, virtually all American children lived in red and orange zones. They still do, in fact. School reopening proceeds despite the guidelines, it appears.

On March 19, the CDC allowed schools to reduce social distancing between students and staff from six feet to three feet. Some districts mentioned the guidelines in their decisions to allow more in-person instruction, according to Burbio. But the reopening data show no acceleration of the reopening trend.

Biden asked for and received from Congress nearly $130 billion for K12 schools in his $1.9 trillion CCP virus relief bill. But Congress has already provided over $110 billion of relief to schools and most of those funds remain to be spent, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated in February. The CBO projected that only about $6 billion of the new money would be spent this fiscal year, another $32 billion in 2022, and the rest in subsequent years (pdf).

Public school officials have been under pressure from parents and some politicians to reopen, particularly after health authorities said children are unlikely to spread the virus.

The virtual instruction that schools largely implemented proved significantly less effective than traditional classrooms.

Many parents have struggled to cope with the added responsibility of providing an education for their children. Tax dollars that were supposed to pay for that service often bought them mere access to virtual lessons that did little to ensure the children paid any attention to it.

While some parents responded by organizing pod schools, where several children get together in a home to receive instruction from a hired tutor, even that was largely prohibited under the more draconian lockdowns in some states.

Experts worry about the long-term impact on academic performance, mental health risks, and even long-term psychological damage to children experiencing protracted lockdowns. Meanwhile, hotline calls regarding children and domestic violence went up more than 50 percent during lockdown months, and reports of predators enticing minors online almost doubled last year.

Update: The article has been updated with information about the CCP virus relief bill.
Conservative MPs have criticised new guidance issued by a group of unions and charities that suggests nursery teachers should be taught about white privilege.

An 18-strong steering group, including representatives from the National Education Union, has drawn up an alternative guide to the current Government guidance, saying it is needed so that toddlers can 'develop anti-racist views'.

Last night, Tory politicians said it was the 'wrong way to go about' combating racism, with Robert Halfon, the chairman of the House of Commons Education select committee, telling The Sunday Telegraph: 'This is just unacceptable.

Tory MP Robert Halfon said: 'The whole purpose of children learning is to learn  not for some kind of political Soviet indoctrination session'

'This dogma and doctrine is totally out of place.

'We have all got to combat racism but this is the absolute wrong way to go about it, and insults white working-class people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

'The whole purpose of children learning is to learn  not for some kind of political Soviet indoctrination session.'

The new 128-page guidance, entitled Birth to 5 Matters, says it is time to challenge the notion 'that children do not see race'.

The Early Years Coalition said children are at risk of having 'racial prejudice maintained or reinforced' unless early years teachers had specialist training to help them understand 'system racism and how racism affects children and families in early years settings'.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: 'Birth to 5 Matters is not Government guidance.

'It has been produced by an independent organisation and it has not been endorsed by the Department.'
Running a business is no bed of roses, but coming across many thorns on the way, a successful entrepreneurs words By Raj Moorthy View(s): View(s):

The business world today has become a place full of challenges, competitiveness, risks and fear. As entrepreneurs, one must identify, value and seize any opportunity. Running a business in these challenging times is no bed of roses, but facing many thorns along the way.

National gold award winner in the extra-large category at the Sri Lanka Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 and Chairman of Lanka Spice (Pvt) Ltd, Nalin Pathikirikorale spoke to the Business Times this week on his journey of success in winning the award.

Encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs Mr. Pathikirikorale said, An entrepreneur should be aware that to get there, one has to challenge oneself. Challenges never seem to end and when one accepts a challenge, you are motivated to reach your goals. Always do work that you care about. Running a business is no bed of roses, you will come across many thorns on the way, but if you work in what you truly believe in, you will no doubt succeed. Be prepared to take risks, as we can never be too sure on what we will encounter on the way. Always believe in yourself. Whichever way you look at things, remember that you are always right (even if you are not). Always have a vision of what you want to achieve. Visions are serious blue prints of your future. Always overcome your fears. Being afraid and carrying out something will never work. Hence, meet fear head on and learn to have a strong attitude about things you believe in. These are the basics, but very true facts that can assist aspiring entrepreneurs to create a niche order to reach their goals, he emphasised.

He also mentioned, in todays trend, sons and daughters of millionaires in business get everything on a golden platter. They are not aware of how their parents strived to acquire such businesses and bring them to what they are at present. If you want your son or daughter to succeed you in your business, train them from scratch, right from the bottom, stressed Mr. Pathikirikorale adding, what is lacking among the generation that is coming forth to take businesses ahead, is zero experience, lack of zest to succeed and the fear to take new challenges that come before them. They tend to rest on the laurels of their parents. It is a known fact that more than often a business fails after the third generation.

Mr. Pathikirikorale stated that many established and successful companies have worked hard, dedicated and committed and if they didnt they would not have reached this far. It depends a lot on the leadership. Entrepreneurs should naturally think big. They need to listen to consumers keeping abreast of the latest developments in their field. In this industrial age, an entrepreneur needs to move with the technological advancement in their field.

Speaking of his journey, Mr. Pathikirikorale said, I take up all challenges thrown at me. I started life as a Medical Rep, but after a while I found it repetitive and boring. I wanted to get into an area which would take me forward in life. Exports were one of them in the days when the country was short of foreign exchange. Not only was it exciting, it was also rewarding. I joined Consolidated Exports, then the most prestigious state owned export house. With that experience I was ready to go international, not that there were vacancies. I applied to all corners of the world, seeking employment. I was lucky to get into one of the leading commodity houses in London. Never looked back since then. From the UK, I moved to Singapore from where I migrated to Australia as a Business Migrant. I lived there for 10 years before moving back to Sri Lanka. While abroad I set up Lanka Spice (Pvt) Ltd in 1984. The brand Mc Currie was one of my finds just by chance. I was looking for a name that was universal and acceptable to all, both in the East and West and Mc Currie was coined up.
Former president Donald Trump issued an Easter message on Sunday  this one addressed to his enemies.

Happy Easter to ALL, including the Radical Left CRAZIES who rigged our Presidential Election, and want to destroy our country! Mr Trump wrote in a statement from his Save America PAC.

Donald Trump celebrates Easter at the White House in 2019 (Getty Images)

This was the second Happy Easter statement Mr Trump released this weekend, following a longer one he put out on Friday.

Why is it that every time the 2020 ELECTION FRAUD is discussed, the Fake News Media consistently states that such charges are baseless, unfounded, and unwarranted, etc.? Mr Trump wrote in that message. With each passing day, and unfortunately for the Radical Left CRAZIES, more and more facts are coming out.

Read more:

The ex-president then added, Other than that, Happy Easter!

Mr Trumps election fraud conspiracy theory is in fact baseless and unfounded. President Biden won both the popular vote and the Electoral College, and Mr Trumps legal team failed in dozens of cases to prove any significant voter fraud.

Members of the news media hailed Mr Trumps latest holiday message on Twitter.

Jesus couldnt have said it any better himself, Kenneth Vogel of the New York Times tweeted.

Someones bitter today, wrote Olivia Troye, a former aide to Mike Pence. The #Easter Bunny must have skipped his house. Thats what happens when you steal from your own supporters.

Ms Troye appeared to be referring to a New York Times report that the Trump 2020 campaign charged donors repeatedly without their knowledge.
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Flowers are springing up, birds are singing, and all around us, we sense that were finally crawling out of the gloom of the deadly global pandemic. We have lost loved ones, income, businesses, and education. What seems certain is that we will never truly recover.

But is it actually certain? Or is that just todays headline, and theres more to the story?

The power of Easter is the power of resurrection. Resurrection means the triumph of life over death. Because of the miracle of Easter, we have a promise, and the power, of resurrection life.

No headline was gloomier 2000 years ago than news of Jesus death. Crying in agony, Jesus' followers were inconsolable. With their own eyes they saw their leader splayed naked on a cross, beaten and bloody, gasping for air as his body died.

On a Friday, Jesus body was laid in a tomb and a stone rolled across the mouth of it. News spread. Certain, undeniable death. Hell celebrated. Jesus followers mourned.

On Friday, bad news blanketed the city. No one could see that Sunday was coming.

As a nation, weve lived through the horror of Friday. Weve lived through the long, gloom of Saturday. But Sunday is coming. On Easter, we celebrate the power of that miraculous resurrection, and what it means for the world today.

The story of Easter from the Book of Luke chapter 24 tells us that three days after Jesus death, a mighty angel rolled the stone away from the tomb and Christ stepped out, roaring with resurrection power.

Today, the message is clear. Jesus is alive. He humiliated Hell, he overpowered the grave, and he caused evil to bow its knee. He took your transgressions and pronounced you forgiven.

When all of Hell was laughing, and all of Heaven was weeping, the news changed. Jesus was not dead. He was alive. The tomb is the wrong message and an incomplete headline.

No matter how you read the news, or what future you imagine, understand one thing: Sunday is coming. And that same resurrection power is available for you and me today.

You and your family have lived through Fridays news. But Sunday is coming.

At Easter, we don't just celebrate one resurrection from 2000 years ago. We celebrate a resurrection that happens today for all who put their trust in God. We celebrate a resurrection of your relationships, your childrens future, your business, and your hope for a better tomorrow. The resurrection of Jesus is a message that hope is never out of reach for you and your family. God can take any tragedy and turn it into victory, as he did for his Son.

In 1851, France invaded England. The Duke of Wellington led English troops to stop Napoleon at Waterloo. Signalers relayed messages across mountain tops from the battlefield to London. Thousands gathered awaiting the results. The signal receiver in London began to paint the message on a wall: Wellington defeated. Just then, the fog rolled in, concealing the message. Peoples hearts sank. Their nation was overrun. But as the fog lifted, two more words became clear: Wellington defeated the enemy.

The crowd had read Friday headlines. But Sunday was coming.

At Christmas we dont simply say, thats nice about the baby. Theres more to the story.

Seeing a cross, we dont simply say, thats nice that Jesus died for our sins. Theres more to the story.

Gods story isnt over; and that means your story isnt over either.

Easter is a reminder that theres more to your story than todays headlines. It might feel like a stormy Friday, but that isnt the end of the story. Sunday is coming.
There are fresh calls for targeted assistance to prop up hard-hit industries as the NSW economy adjusts to the withdrawal of JobKeeper and other pandemic support measures.

The Morrison governments $93 billion JobKeeper wages subsidy scheme ended on March 28 and sectors still affected by pandemic disruptions  including tourism, hospitality, and arts and entertainment  are bracing for a spate of job losses and small business closures after Easter.

Steven Fadda, owner of White Rabbit Sydney cafe, wont be able keep all his staff as JobKeeper and rental subsidies end. Credit:Rhett Wyman

Steven Fadda, who owns White Rabbit Sydney cafe in the CBD, said he would need to lose four or five of his 15 staff after his 12 months of rent relief comes to an end on Thursday and his own JobKeeper payments come to an end.

Most of this whole pandemic we have been trading at a 60 per cent loss, he said. That doesnt cover the essential bills.
THE boss of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) said he had never been so depressed and would need to put the crash helmet on to deal with the fallout from a photo of star trainer Gordon Elliott sitting on a dead horse.

Brian Kavanagh also asked what could he [Elliott] have been thinking in text messages exchanged with associates, which were released under FOI.

He wrote to one acquaintance: As you say, what an idiot. Time to put the crash helmet on (again).

Records also reveal how Mr Kavanagh personally wrote to all staff and members of the board about the controversy saying he was appalled and bewildered.

Read More

In response, one board member  vet Meta Osborne  said her stomach had been churning after she first became aware of the photo.

Mr Kavanagh responded personally saying: Although I didnt grow up with horses, they are what attracted me to the industry. I love them and was never as depressed coming into work as I was on Monday.

The records also reveal how Horse Racing Ireland considered contacting all of the owners of horses trained by Gordon Elliott to say they would be available to offer assistance.

One email said: Would it be a good idea for me to draft an email to Gordons owners after a decision is announced [following a disciplinary hearing].

The email wouldnt be suggesting any action or anything like that  it would simply be HRI letting them know we are here to assist if they have any queries.

However, internal records reveal how this would need to be handled cautiously. The chief executive Brian Kavanagh wrote: A delicate balance to be struck, but as you  say, there will be practicalities.

In a message sent to all staff, Mr Kavanagh said that respect for the horse was at the heart of everything that the industry did.

He wrote: Many of you will have grown up with horses and will know that this is in no way a proper reflection of what goes on in the stud farms and stables of the country.

Mr Kavanagh said it was clear that the photograph had done untold damage and that the industry had to make clear this was not representative.

He also urged staff to send on any suggestions they had for how HRI could make clear to the public that horse welfare was paramount for everybody in the industry.

A separate note was sent to the board of the HRI setting out the steps the public body had taken to deal with the fallout from the controversy.

In that email, Mr Kavanagh said that Gordon Elliott had personally phoned to apologise for the difficulties which he had caused.

The email said: I advised him to be upfront and honest in dealing with the situation and with the IHRB [Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board] investigation in particular.

Mr Kavanagh told the board joint sessions had taken place with their PR firm Teneo and that staff had been updated on what was happening.

He said they were in daily contact with the Department of Agriculture and were also developing a communications strategy.

The note said: [We] are briefing our advertising agency regarding the prospect of a campaign along similar lines to that which we ran at the time of resumption of racing.

HRI had also provided assistance to industry speakers and commentators ahead of media appearances where they were being asked about the controversy.

One board member responded directly with vet Meta Osborne saying poor behaviour towards horses was very rare but that it still happens.

Ms Osborne wrote: My overriding emotion has been one of deep sadness and I have found it hard not to let my emotions get the better of me when the subject has been mentioned.

In another internal email sent by an official, questions were raised over a decision by horse racing authorities in Britain to ban Gordon Elliotts horses from Cheltenham even before the investigation was complete.

The message said: If it was an English trainer  would IHRB or ourselves be saying he cant run horses at Punchestown without waiting for the result of the enquiry into the matter?

Asked to comment on the records, HRI said they had nothing further to add.

Read More
Boys at private schools embroiled in the sex abuse scandal are having to change out of uniform to avoid street attacks and verbal abuse, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Current male pupils also fear including their school name on CVs in case they are turned away by potential employers because of the negative associations.

Others  aged as young as 13  have faced abuse from members of the public and have been branded rapists in the street, prompting some to change out of uniform for journeys to and from school.

Pupils staged a protest against rape culture at Highgate School in London on March 25. The school, has been named in allegations among others including Eton and Dulwich College

It comes after thousands of accusations of sexual harassment and rape were posted on a campaign website, Everyone's Invited, with some allegations naming famous establishments such as Eton, Highgate School and Dulwich College.

But parents of innocent children fear a backlash. One said: 'My son is being unfairly treated because of this. He's now associated with these allegations and is scared for his future.' Another woman tweeted: 'Boys are being attacked and beaten up based on allegations. Trial by social media is dangerous and potentially very damaging.'

One boy at a London independent school told The Mail on Sunday: 'A lot of us are worried our association with the school is going to damage our job prospects. People will just look at us and see a rapist.'

More than 11,000 testimonies have now been uploaded to the Everyone's Invited website

A 46-year-old mother of boys aged 12 and 17 told The Daily Telegraph: 'This is scaring me. What if it's a case of two different perspectives of an event? What if the accusations are false, or exaggerated? How does a young man get his reputation back?

'I know of boys being 'cancelled' by friends they've had since primary school because nobody wants to associate with them in the wake of allegations. They are being branded as rapists without any opportunity to share their perspective  it's frankly terrifying.'

'It's really worrying,' another mother added. 'Very little is said about false allegations and protecting the alleged perpetrator.'

A teenager who on arrival at sixth-form college allegedly had girls screaming at him after a story had circulated has not returned since. None of his friends have been in contact with him, fearing they will be 'cancelled' if they break ranks.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the alleged assaults as 'shocking' and suggested any schools implicated could face government measures

One boy was obliged to share intimate text messages with his parents to prove that an encounter had been consensual after a girl he had been in a relationship with told a very different version of the story.

As of last night, nearly 14,000 allegations of sexual abuse and rape had been made on Everyone's Invited.

Norfolk Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead on child protection, has blamed the 'volume of pornographic material being consumed', adding: 'There's an erosion of an understanding of what normal sexual relationships look like.'
Sir Keir Starmer today warned Labour to prepare for an election in as little as two years - as he said he was looking forward to 'taking the mask off' after his first year in charge under Covid.

Sir Keir, who marks the first anniversary of his election as party leader today, said the party'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.

But speaking to the Observer, Sir Keir said: 'I'm now looking forward to taking the mask off and opening the throttle. I've instructed the party to be election ready for 2023.

'The next election, whenever it comes, will be a once in a lifetime chance to get Britain working for everyone.'

Sir Keir believes that Boris Johnson will repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act, which limits the ability of prime ministers to call elections outside a five-year cycle. Doing so would allow him to go to the country in May 2023, the labour leader said, a year ahead of schedule.

Sir Keir is attempting to modernise his party after its disastrous showing in the 2019 election, which saw it suffer its worst defeat in more than 80 years under Jeremy Corbyn.

But the former arch Brexiteer faces a potential headache over Europe, with a new poll today showing almost 60 per cent of Labour Party members think he should campaign to rejoin the European Union.

Sir Keir, who marks the first anniversary of his election as party leader today, said the party's ambition 'must match the moment' with a plan to build an 'economy that works for everyone'.

Sir Keir believes that Boris Johnson will repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act, which limits the ability of prime ministers to call elections outside a five-year cycle.

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.

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.
The Vertical Flight Society's $100,000 in annual VFF Scholarships go to the world's top aerospace engineering students interested in vertical flight aircraft. (2018 winners) Through the incredible generosity of our members, we have been able to greatly expand the program in recent years. Over the past decade, we have now awarded 238 scholarships worth more than $750,000.

The Vertical Flight Society is pleased to announce its 2021 Vertical Flight Foundation (VFF) scholarship recipients. Scholarships totaling $100,000 are being awarded this year to 27 of the worlds most talented engineering students interested in vertical flight.

Since 1977, our Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarships have helped inspire generations of students to pursue careers in vertical flight, with many now holding leadership positions in industry, academia and government, with more 600 scholarships awarded to date, said VFS Executive Director Mike Hirschberg. Through the incredible generosity of our members, we have been able to greatly expand the program in recent years. Over the past decade, we have now awarded 238 scholarships worth more than $750,000.

The following are this years awardees, who will be recognized at the VFS Grand Awards Ceremony which will debut on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The award ceremony video will be one of the highlights of the Vertical Flight Societys 77th Annual Forum & Technology Display, taking place virtually from May 10-14, 2021 (see http://www.vtol.org/forum).

Bachelor Degree Recipients



Leilani Friday, Pennsylvania State University: Frank N. Piasecki Scholarship, honoring the inventor of the tandem rotor helicopter

Shubhank Gyawali, Ohio State University: Friedrich Straub Scholarship, honoring the former senior manager of dynamics technology and technical fellow of The Boeing Company

Joseph Kiley Heimerl, Texas A&M University: Michael J. Rutkowski Scholarship, honoring the NASA/US Army aeromechanics engineer and leader

Christopher Johnson, Ohio State University: Joseph P. Cribbins Scholarship, honoring the individual who had perhaps the most influence and long-term impact on US Army Aviation logistics in the 20th century

Melanie A. Peavy, Texas A&M University: Tom Wood Honorary Scholarship, which recognizes more than 50 years of technical contributions to Bell by Mr. Wood

Master Degree Recipients

Matthew Shane Asper, University of Texas at Austin: Bob Lynn Scholarship, which honors the memory of the former Bell executive and VFS leader par excellence

Matthew Bahr, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Robert Head Scholarship, honoring the engineering pioneer from McDonnell/Hughes/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing

Hunter Denton, Texas A&M University: Barry J. Baskett Scholarship, honoring the memory of a career US Army engineer who led Aviation Engineering, and later managed the Aviation Technology Base Program

Nicholas Rehm (2-time recipient), University of Maryland: John J. Jack Fetsko Scholarship, honoring the helicopter operations pioneer and leader

Peter Ryseck (2-time recipient), University of Maryland: Alfred and Elaine Gessow Scholarship, honoring a pioneer in the helicopter field at NACA/NASA and founder of the University of Maryland rotorcraft center

Brendan Smith, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: James Howlett Scholarship, named for the Sikorsky handling qualities and flight dynamics simulation leader and visionary

James Sutherland, University of Maryland: Hal Andrews Scholarship, which remembers a preeminent Navy aviation engineer, advisor and historian

Lennart Werner, Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wuezburg (JMUW): Santino "Tino" Pancotti Scholarship, honoring the former technical lead for Agusta and AgustaWestland (now Leonardo Helicopters)

Damaris Rene Zachos, Pennsylvania State University*: Bell Scholarship, provided by a generous VFF endowment from the company and awarded to the top overall scoring VFF recipient.

Doctorate Degree Recipients

Jared Carnes, University of Tennessee, Knoxville: John J. Schneider Scholarship, honoring the memory of a preeminent VTOL aircraft designer and historian

Ruthvik Chandrasekaran, Georgia Institute of Technology: Charles C. Crawford Scholarship, named in memory of the former Army Aviation development leader, GTRI researcher and past VFS Board Chair

Cheng Chi, University of Maryland: Raymond W. Prouty Scholarship, which honors the memory of a pioneering helicopter engineer with a lifelong commitment to educating the rotorcraft community

Airin Dutta, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Anita Abrego Scholarship, which honors the memory of the NASA rotorcraft aeromechanics engineer

Sicheng (Kevin) Li, University of California, Davis: Evan Sampatacos Scholarship, remembering the former McDonnell Douglas/Boeing engineer

Felix Loessle, Leibniz University Hannover: Howard C. "Pat" Curtiss, Jr. Scholarship, honoring the pioneering Princeton University rotorcraft aeromechanics researcher and educator

Ravi Lumba (2-time recipient), University of Maryland: M.A. Tony McVeigh Scholarship, honoring the memory of the Boeing advanced rotorcraft designer and mentor

Joseph Robinson, Georgia Institute of Technology: Dr. Wel Chong (Ben) Sim Scholarship, honoring the US Army acoustics research scientist

Farid Saemi, Texas A&M University: Dr. John Zuk Scholarship, honoring the NASA engineer who was a champion of civil tiltrotor technology and applications

Jared Sagaga, University of California, Davis: Dr. Richard M. Carlson Scholarship, former Hiller and Lockheed engineer who became the chief of the Army's Advanced Systems Research and Analysis Office at Ames Research Center

Frederick Tsai (2-time recipient), University of Maryland: John W. Sobczak Scholarship, honoring the memory of the US Army applied aviation technology engineer

Raja Akif Raja Zahirudin, Pennsylvania State University: Prof. Barnes McCormick Scholarship, honoring Penn States venerable Boeing Professor Emeritus

Paola Zanella, Georgia Institute of Technology*: Dr. Jing Yen VFF Scholarship for Cost Awareness, given to the most qualified applicant who shows interest in improving the affordability of rotorcraft.

Each of the Bachelor scholarships includes a cash award of $3500; the Masters students receive $3500 each and Doctorate scholarship winners each receive $3,625. In addition, the top candidates (marked above with an asterisk) have received special recognition. Damaris Rene Zachos, Pennsylvania State University, will receive a total of $5,000 for the Bell Scholarship, provided by a generous VFF endowment from the company and awarded to the top overall scoring VFF recipient. Paola Zanella, Georgia Institute of Technology, is receiving $6,000 as the winner of the Dr. Jing Yen VFF Scholarship for Cost Awareness, given to the most qualified applicant who shows interest in improving the affordability of rotorcraft.

The Vertical Flight Foundation was established in 1967 as the philanthropic arm of the Vertical Flight Society. Since 1977, the merit-based scholarship program has been a great success story. For more information on the Vertical Flight Foundation or to donate to this important cause, please visit our VFF microsite at http://www.vtol.org/vff. A list of all past VFF scholarship winners and success stories are also available.

VFF and VFS are both recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)(3) charities. VFS covers all overhead costs of administration and accounting, so 100% of every tax-deductible contribution to VFF goes directly to student scholarships.

Founded as the American Helicopter Society in 1943, the Vertical Flight Society is the global non-profit society for engineers, scientists and others working on vertical flight technology. For over 75 years, the Society has led technical, safety, advocacy and other important initiatives, and has been the primary forum for interchange of information on vertical flight technology.

The Vertical Flight Society

2700 Prosperity Avenue, Suite 275

Fairfax, VA 22031 USA

+1-703-684-6777

http://www.vtol.org
By Basil Keilani





Recently, foreigners in regions all over South Korea had been asked to submit to coronavirus testing. Many foreigners were up in arms over this as it appeared to stigmatize foreigners as virus carriers in the eyes of many Koreans who read about this in the press. Some foreigners even got looks or comments after this.



I was surprised by this action. I have lived in South Korea for many years and have seen that the country was making strides in making immigrants and foreigners feel welcome here. This action seemed to take things a step back.



Not only did it break from that spirit of inclusiveness, it was unscientific and contradicted the more effective approach of how South Korea has been dealing with the virus. South Korea was lauded with how it dealt with the virus. However, it made no sense to test foreigners far from any cluster, even in southern cities like Gwangju and Daejeon and parts of Gyeonggi Province far from the clusters such as in Dongducheon, yet not test the Koreans who were near the infected foreigners.



A virus doesn't know the difference between nationalities. To paraphrase an Asian American lawmaker, no group or nationality is a virus. Why would a foreigner from India working for Samsung and staying mostly at home be more at risk than a national? Why would a foreign instructor teaching online and far from any clusters be more at risk over a Korean who, for example, lives near a cluster? This would make as much sense as testing all Koreans even if they had stayed far from anyone who was infected. I understand that some officials saw it as harmless to test all foreigners, but it wasn't an efficient use of resources or scientific, and it gave some people the wrong idea that foreigners are more at risk. It should have been taken in consideration that we are embedded in Korean society and surrounded by our Korean neighbors, students, bosses, husbands, wives, co-workers, etc



This action certainly upset many Koreans and made them uncomfortable. This includes our friends, people who work with us, people in intimate relationships with us. This action affected not only foreigners, but also Koreans. We live together, and we are neighbors. Many of us were heartened by the letters and articles written by various Korean politicians, scientists, human rights activists, academics, journalists, artists and very importantly  ordinary, but special, citizens advocated on our behalf.



We, in general, bear the same risks living in this wonderful country. We need to be in solidarity with each other to fight this virus. We also need to be in solidary with people of Asian ancestry living in North America who, in different degrees, face prejudice over the virus. We should all avoid actions and statements that could stigmatize any community in this world. I am glad to know that I am COVID-1- free, just as a Korean would be relieved to know so, but the circumstances under which one is tested is very important. As someone who has lived in Korea for about 10 years and first came here in 2007, I want to feel I am part of this society, part of the people. I appreciated David A. Tizzard's piece entitled "What is a foreigner?" because for me I don't see myself as apart from Korean society and culture. Being treated as such is paramount.





Basil Keilani is an English instructor at Chosun University in Gwangju, South Korea.


Raipur, April 4 : In a major Maoist attack this year, at least 22 security personnel were killed and 20 more injured in a fierce gun battle with a platoon of over 300 People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, officials said.

The gun battle took place on Saturday.

As the identity of the security personnel is yet to be confirmed, both the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) confirmed that 22 bodies were recovered in a massive search operation.

Of the 22 personnel, nine belong to the CRPF, while the remaining are from state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF).

Five of the 22 bodies of the security personnel were recovered on Saturday and the 17 more bodies were found out on Sunday after a massive search operation was launched by a joint team of the CRPF, DRG and the STF from early Sunday. The Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) was still on.

These 17 security personnel, including seven from the CRPF, were missing since the operation concluded after around nine hour-long gunfight between the Maoists and a joint team of CRPF's elite CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) unit and Chhattisgarh police's DRG and STF.

The 20 injured personnel were stated to be out of danger and recuperating in hospital.

The officials confirmed that at least two bodies of the Maoists were also visible on the spot near the Tekulgudem village under Tarrem police station where the shootout began at noon on Saturday in a deep forested interior area. There are reports of heavy damage to the Maoists too.

Sharing fresh inputs received from the spot, CRPF Inspector General (Operations) C.G. Arora told IANS that a total of 22 bodies of the security personnel have been recovered so far from the spot.

"Besides, those five bodies recovered on Saturday, the identity of other 17 bodies is yet to be ascertained. Search operation is still on," Arora told IANS.

Asked about the loss of such level, the official said it was a dense forested area where the incident took place and a core Maoist region.

"This is an interior place inside the jungle where access is very limited." Union Minister Amit Shah has cut short his poll campaign in Assam and is returning to Delhi in the backdrop of the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh -- an ambush similar to the one executed by the Maoists in Tadmetla in 2010 and Minpa in 2020 in which 76 CRPF and 17 security personnel were killed respectively.

Shah earlier in the day spoke to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over the phone and had a detailed discussion on the gunfight with the Maoists.

During the conversation, the Chief Minister apprised the Home Minister of the ground reality of the encounter .

The Home Minister said the state and the Centre will jointly win the battle against the Maoists and assured the Chief Minister of all necessary help. He informed the Chief Minister that he had issued instructions to the Director General of CRPF to visit the site of the incident.

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.
Ethiopian Airlines, Africas leading airline, is set to trial IATA Travel Pass, a digital travel mobile app to enhance efficiency in testing or vaccine verifications and restart travel.



As travel restarts, travellers need accurate Covid-19-related information like testing and vaccine requirements which vary among countries. The IATA Travel Pass initiative helps verify the authenticity of test information presented by travellers which is essential for ensuring the safety of passengers while complying with entry requirements of countries.



In future it will also manage vaccine certificates for travel. Ethiopian has gone digital in all of its operations to avoid physical contact and combat the spread of the pandemic and now we embark on this initiative which will allow our passengers to relish unparalleled flight experience.



Tewolde Gebre Mariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines said: Digital technology is vital to solve many of the problems that arise from the pandemic. We are glad that we are offering new digital opportunities to our passengers so as to fully and safely restart air travel. Our customers will enjoy efficient, contactless and safer travel experience with their travel pass digital passport. As a safety first airline, we are going to be among the first to implement IATAs travel pass initiative to facilitate travel. The new initiative will increase travellers confidence in travel, encourages governments to reopen their borders and expedites industry restart.



The Travel Pass will help create a digital passport, receive test and vaccination certificates and verify that they are sufficient for their route, and share testing or vaccination certificates with airlines and authorities to facilitate travel. The digital travel app will also avoid fraudulent documentation and make air travel more convenient.



Alexandre de Juniac, IATA Director General and CEO said: Ethiopian Airlines is helping to lay the foundation for a re-connected world in which health credentialsCovid-19 test results to vaccination certificateswill play a role. IATA Travel Pass securely enables travellers to control verified health credential data while sharing it with airlines and authorities as may be required in the travel process. Thats going to be vitally important when governments are able to re-open borders for travel. As an IATA Travel Pass trial partner, Ethiopian Airline customers will be among the first to experience its benefits.  TradeArabia News Service
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One of Nigerias civil society leaders, Innocent Chukwuma, died Saturday evening in Lagos, according to close friends who indicated that he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, an aggressive cancer of the blood.

He was 55.

With profound shock & sadness, I regret to inform you that Innocent Chukwuma passed away a few hours ago, in the evening of April 3. May his soul rest in peace, announced Edetaen Ojo, a frontline freedom of expression advocate and executive director of the Media Rights Agenda, who was a friend of Mr Chukwuma.

Mr Chukwuma came to public attention first as a student union activist at the University of Nigeria, where he read religious studies in the early eighties when Nigerian students led relentless campaigns against military autocracy.

Upon graduation, he joined a cluster of young activists who came to bloom at the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Nigerias first human rights organisation led for most of the nineties by Olisa Agbakoba, now a member of the velvet rank of the legal profession called Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

At CLO, Mr Chukwuma, a father of three daughters, one who graduated in law and was called to the bar last year, met people like Chidi Odinkalu, a lawyer, academic and former chairman of the Nigeria Human Rights Commission.

Mr Odinkalu remembered the departed civil society leader, Sunday morning, in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, as a treasured companion and faithful friend. I knew him for nearly 35 [and] I am grateful for the privilege, Mr Odinkalu said, recalling that In all things, as my late mum always said, we must learn to give thanks  he was a man of decency.

He said Mr Chukwumas diagnosis only came through Friday night, and though he was booked to begin chemotherapy sessions Saturday night, Mr. Odinkalu remarked that his friend passed before the needle could be inserted.

Both of Mr Chukwumas parents died young. Friends say he was fastidious with matters of his health, going to great lengths to take care of a cardio-vascular degeneration and High Blood Pressure situation he managed with courage and seriousness. Both his parents were killed by cardio-vascular degeneration.

Mr Chukwuma, who holds a masters degree in criminal justice from the University of Leicester in the UK, served from January 2013 until recently, as the Ford Foundations representative for West Africa.

He also served as member of the boards of many global nonprofits and initiatives against crime and violence including the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC), African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF), Open Society Global Criminal Justice Fund and the Africa Advisory Council of Human Rights Watch.

Before joining Ford Foundation in 2013, Mr Chukwuma founded and led the CLEEN Foundation to promote public safety, security, and accessible justice in West Africa.

CLEEN was the first African nongovernmental organisation to receive the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
New Delhi, April 4 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday reiterated his support to the Haryana's Jind farmers protesting against the Centre's new Union farm laws and said his party will back the agitation until these laws are repealed.

"AAP has been paying the price for lending its support to the protesting farmers. The Centre has snatched all our powers, but we will continue our support to the farmers," Kejriwal said while addressing the 'kisan mahapanchayat' rally in Jind on Sunday.

"When you (farmers) had reached Delhi to protest against the farm bills, the Centre sent police and asked to oust you all from nine stadiums in Delhi. I rejected Delhi police's file because your fight is genuine. BJP wanted to convert those stadiums into jails to subdue the intensifying protest," he added.
A NUMBER of Limerick childcare workers have expressed concern at the manner in which they were vaccinated.

The Irish Mail on Sunday reports that staff at Northside Family Resource Centre in Ballynanty were told to "misrepresent themselves as frontline healthcare workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19".

Up to 70 employees including cleaners, kitchen and administration staff who are working from home were vaccinated, the newspaper reports.

In a letter to staff obtained by the Irish Mail on Sunday, CEO Ciara Kane instructed them to represent themselves as Category 2(e) frontline healthcare workers on the HSEs vaccination portal. Ms Kane also warned employees not to speak of their inoculation.

Several childcare workers from the centre spoke to the newspaper to express their concern at the way they had been vaccinated.

One said: "Were horrified. I know people who are seriously ill who should have been vaccinated before us. I have relatives with cancer who are not vaccinated."

Northside Family Resource Centre CEO Ciara Kane defended her decision on vaccinating the staff to the Irish Mail on Sunday.

"Ultimately, I stand over the decision that I had to make in about half an hour. Because thats all the time you get in situations like this.

"I get that its a story. I get it. And I understand the upset because I feel it myself in relation to the vaccination programme but I can stand over those decisions," said Ms Kane.

Responding to the story after being contacted by the Limerick Leader this Easter Sunday, Cllr Conor Sheehan said Northside Family Resource Centre is a charity that has been on the frontline throughout the pandemic.

The Labour councillor said staff have been dealing with vulnerable families in challenging situations along with other family resource centres throughout the Covid crisis.

"It is not a private hospital or a private school, they do work that often requires their staff to enter peoples homes.

"I think all this finger pointing about who got what vaccines and when is turning into a distraction from the real issue which is the shambolic and incompetent rollout of our vaccination programme," said Cllr Sheehan.

He described it as "a systems failure by the HSE as their online vaccination portal did not properly and robustly check the applicants identity".

"The portal didnt even need a password and was accessible to anyone who had the link and candidates werent even asked for proof of identification when they presented for vaccination. That is the real issue. If the systems are not properly designed with robust checks and balances then you will have issues like this.

"Like many people I am frustrated by the pace of the vaccine rollout and the revelations about vaccine queue skipping. However, if people are angry or frustrated, they should direct their anger at the HSE and the government for the way they have handled this," said Cllr Sheehan.
Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey has charged the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to get to work and failure to do so will attract his wrath.



The Minister, who has embarked on a mission "Let's Make Accra Work'' to ensure right things are done to improve the Capital City as well as caution people against lawlessness, says the MMDCEs' duties are vital to the success of his mission.



He stated that they are the representatives of the President in their various districts and therefore expects them to effectively execute their duties.



The Regional Minister, who doubles as Member of Parliament for Ayawaso Central, cautioned the MMDCEs saying "the holidays are over. As far as I'm concerned, I've told the President, you will not be an MCE thinking that you're gonna have four years ride. It's not gonna happen. First 3 months, if you don't work, you're gone because you're the President's representative at the Assembly''.



He spoke in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo''.



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Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Drone shows are quickly becoming the tool of choice for people and companies that want to grab your attention, and Genesis knows that all too well. The Hyundai-owned car brand marked its entrance into China by breaking the Guinness World Record for the most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the air at the same time, using 3,281 drones to display its logo and otherwise advertise over Shanghai on March 29th.

It's a significant improvement over the previous record holder, Shenzhen Damoda Intelligent Control Technology. The company flew 'just' 3,051 drones in September 2020. That, in turn, smashed a record set by a 2,200-drone performance in Russia just days earlier. Intel, which has a reputation for drone light shows, last claimed the record with 2,066 drones flying over Folsom, California in July 2018.

Feats like this typically rely on choreography software that tells drones to form certain shapes while coordinating the swarm to avoid collisions.

This is a publicity stunt, of course, and it won't be surprising if another company finds a way to one-up Genesis before long. It shows how much drone shows have advanced in just a few years, though, and could easily fuel competition among companies determined to put on robotic extravaganzas.
Amman: The half-brother of Jordans King Abdullah II said he has been placed under house arrest and accused the countrys ruling system of incompetence and corruption, exposing a rare rift within the ruling monarchy of a close Western ally.

Prince Hamzahs videotaped statement came out on Saturday (Jordan time) after the countrys official news agency reported that two former senior officials and other suspects had been arrested for security reasons, even as authorities denied that Hamzah had been detained or placed under house arrest.

Jordans Crown Prince Hamzeh bin al-Hussein. Credit:Getty Images

In a video leaked to the BBC, Hamzah  a former crown prince stripped of his title in 2004  said he was visited early on Saturday by the countrys military chief and told he was not allowed to go out, communicate with people or 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 and expected that service to be cut as well. The BBC said it received the statement from Hamzahs lawyer.
Arinma Holdings introduces two sustainable water solutions to Sri Lanka View(s):

Arinma Holdings, as a pioneering sustainable infrastructure development conglomerate with a vision to become the leader in water stewardship and environmental engineering, has introduced innovative water technologies to Sri Lanka, meeting the need for clean drinking water in the country.

As an initial phase towards this goal, the company has introduced two products to the market targeted at industrial sector businesses and establishments in drought areas and areas with impoverished water quality, in Sri Lanka.

In a media release, the company said that the Hans Premium Water filter is one of the worlds best technologies available for water purification. Designed under the WHO guidelines for portable water, it removes up to 99.9 per cent of contaminants in water by incorporating a 4-stage filtering system. Its mineralisation process ensures pH balanced water with the right mineral water content with better taste. Furthermore, it provides an output of 11,300 litres per day within an average of a 10-12hr operation. Hans Premium Water contains a self-cleaning technology and is a compact, plug and play water purification system with a low cost per litre. Moreover, a user can conveniently monitor the quality and status of the water through its bespoke Hans Premium Water mobile app. The Hans Premium Water filter is an ideal investment for industrial use in the hospitality and health sectors where there is a demand for large quantities of clean drinking water.

SOURCE Hydropanels is the worlds first renewable drinking water system and is a sustainable water technology that harnesses solar power to extract endless volumes of clean and safe drinking water from the air, developed entirely off-grid without an external source of water or power. The pure water generated is mineralized with magnesium and calcium to achieve the ideal taste profile and correct pH value for drinking. SOURCE Hydropanels optimizes and monitors the quality of the water through sensor technology and can generate an output of 2-5L per day, making it cost-effective in comparison to packaged mineral water, the release said.

As a sustainable infrastructure development company, we envision developing a climate-resilient, future-ready Sri Lanka. In achieving this purpose, harnessing the power of Digital Technologies and Artificial Intelligence, we partner with global innovators and companies that bring the best technology to Sri Lanka, to meet the demands and needs to fulfil the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, with a focus on the water, energy and medical sectors, said Nuwan Gamage, Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications, Arinma Holdings.
Defending the Constitution: Why State Equality in the Senate Makes Sense

Commentary

Political progressives have intensified their attack on the U.S. Constitution. This is the fourth in a series of essays showing why their principal charges are false.

The first essay answered the charge that the Constitution discriminated against women. As that essay shows, the Constitution is gender-neutral. The second essay rebutted the claim that the three-fifths compromise was motivated by racism. Actually, the compromise arose out of a negative economic assessment of slavery. The third essay responded to the assertion that the Constitution was designed to protect slavery.

This column addresses progressive attacks on the institution of the U.S. Senate.

The more extreme critics, such as the author of a 2018 GQ article, argue that we should abolish the Senate entirely and reduce Congress to a single chamber. But the dangers of unicameralism are too widely understood for this idea to have much traction. What James Madison wrote in 1788 remains true today: [H]istory informs us of no long-lived republic which had not a senate. That is, without a senior legislative body to moderate volatility and prevent hasty mistakes, a fully sovereign republic doesnt last long.

Theres another problem with abolishing the Senate. The Constitution assigns that chamber specific tasks, such as approving presidential appointments, trying impeachments, and ratifying treaties. If the Senate were abolished, all those functions would have to be re-assigned. The political wrangling over reassignment could go on for decades.

More superficially persuasive is the view that we should allocate senators by population (or by a similar formula) rather than assign two of them to each state. A flippant version of this view appeared in a 2011 Time Magazine editorial: [T]he idea that  South Dakota should have the same number of Senators as California  is kind of crazy.

But is it?

Lets start with some background:

Underlying the Constitutions text are political principles that guided the drafting of the document. One of these principles, borrowed from the law of fiduciary trusts (pdf), is impartiality. In the Constitution this includes (1) impartiality toward persons and (2) impartiality toward states. When impartiality toward persons and states conflicted, the framers chose one or the other (depending on the issue) or they balanced the two.

A goal behind impartiality toward states is fair treatment of all regions, which in turn helps keep the country together. That we are still united 230 years later is testimony to the framers success. Tellingly, the most important incident of disunionthe Civil Wararose because one region did not think it was being treated fairly.

The allocation of members of Congress is the product of the framers balancing impartiality toward persons and impartiality toward states. The House of Representatives is allocated (primarily) by population and the Senate by states.

Suppose we abandoned impartiality toward states and instead allocated senators by population. What would be the results?

For one thing, regional coalitions more readily could oppress other parts of the country. For example, a coalition of legislators from populous northeastern and Pacific coast states could inflict almost anything on the rest of us.

Moreover, the dominant coalition would be motivated to upset the statefederal balance by concentrating power in the Congress they controlled.

Another result of allocating both the House and Senate by population would be to impair the quality of congressional decision making even below its currently low level.

The framers had experience with bicameral systems in which upper and lower chambers differed from each other in many waysmode of selection, terms of office, qualifications to serve, districts represented, and so forth. They had learned that when a proposal is examined from diverse viewpoints you get better results. As Alexander Hamilton wrote in the context of the presidential veto (Federalist No. 73):

The oftener the measure is brought under examination, the greater the diversity in the situations of those who are to examine it, the less must be the danger of those errors which flow from want of due deliberation, or of those missteps which proceed from the contagion of some common passion or interest.

Its remarkable that the modern social justice warriors so fixated on diversity profess not to understand this.

Social justice warriors also may be offended by my outlining another way the Senate improves decision making. Here it is:

Although big cities are sources of creativity, culture, and technical progress, they do some other things less well. One thing they dont do very well is popular government.

The young and talented flock to (or remain in) big cities. But so also do hucksters, the dependent, the irresponsible, and the criminal. They rely on the anonymity, atomism, pockets of wealth, and density of urban life to enable them to carry out their plans. So its not surprising that big cities can be notoriously corrupt and difficult to govern, and that their levels of crime and other social dysfunction are generally higher than elsewhere.

In less populated places, people are more likely to know each other, or of each other. They are more likely to own their own homes and commit to their locality for a lifetime, often near life-long friends and family. They may not be (in Clark Kents words) Metropolis sophisticates. But outside of some university towns, they usually have more stake in the community, a wider sense of civic responsibility, and are more sober about public affairs. They also are far more likely to know, and be able to assess, their politicians personally.

Skeptical? Just compare the reckless governance of places like New York City and Detroit with the relatively sober management of small towns and counties throughout America.

Large cities poor political decision making has an outsize influence on those of us who live elsewhere. The national and regional media are based in big cities. The national capital is in a big city, and so are many state capitals. Most big cities have wealthy elites eager to buy political influence. Urban population density makes political organizing easier, as does the presence of a large, relatively idle, and often aggrieved underclass. A person living in, say, Boston or Phoenix, has far more opportunities for political influence than most inhabitants of Lewistown, Montana, or Rifle, Colorado.

Equal representation in the Senate helps keep the union together by maximizing fair treatment of all regions and by improving the quality of national decision making. It also promotes fairness by offsetting, in some degree, dysfunctional urban control over the rest of us.

Robert G. Natelson is a former professor of constitutional law, a constitutional historian, and senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver. He is the author of The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant (3rd ed., 2014).

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
MINNEAPOLIS  Prosecutors trying the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in George Floyds death appeared to distance themselves last week from the medical findings on his cause of death, issued by the only doctor who performed an autopsy.

Special Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told jurors last Monday that while Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker ruled Floyds cause of death cardiac arrest, prosecutors would prove he died of asphyxia, or, lack of oxygen, while Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.

This was  not a fatal heart event, Blackwell said in his opening statement. He died one breath at a time over an extended period of time.

Some veteran attorneys and legal scholars said the prosecution appeared to draw a line between themselves and the medical examiner. Others said perhaps they were shoring up Bakers work, which concluded that Floyds death was a homicide.

In a PowerPoint presentation during his opening statement, Blackwell displayed the names of six outside medical experts hired to help their case, including a forensic pathologist  Bakers job  whom Blackwell spoke about at length while mentioning Baker as an aside.

Usually you hear about alternative experts  outside experts  from the defense, said former Ramsey County attorney Susan Gaertner. Typically expert pathologists are hired by the defense to dispute or undermine the medical examiners report.

What is unusual is that, to some extent, the battle of the experts is within the states case instead of between the state and the defense.

Chauvins attorney, Eric Nelson, seized on the issue. To raise reasonable doubt, he told jurors in his opening statement, The state was not satisfied with Dr. Bakers work so they have contracted with numerous physicians to contradict Dr. Bakers findings, and this will ultimately be another significant battle in this trial: What was Mr. Floyds actual cause of death?

He noted that Baker was the only person to perform an autopsy on Floyd.

Dr. Baker found none of what are referred to as the telltale signs of asphyxiation, said Nelson. There was no evidence that Mr. Floyds airflow was restricted and he did not determine [it] to be a positional or mechanical asphyxia death.

Nelson argued that Floyd died of a cardiac arrest resulting from drug use and preexisting health issues, including heart disease and high blood pressure.

Chauvin is on trial for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Bystander Darnella Fraziers graphic video showing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd last May 25 while he repeatedly said he couldnt breathe has been played in court several times, but a medical ruling on cause of death is still crucial to the case, some attorneys said.

Prosecutors have yet to call Baker or their medical experts to the witness stand. Blackwell told jurors they would hear from a number of experts and pathologist Dr. Lindsey Thomas.

This is going to be the most fascinating part of the trial, said defense attorney Tom Heffelfinger, a former assistant Hennepin County attorney and U.S. attorney for the district of Minnesota. Every one of those people they put on just creates a little more doubt. It makes it easier to argue about the cause of death, and youve got to have a cause of death.

Medical examiners in Minnesota work independently of law enforcement and prosecutors. They determine the cause and manner of death, but make no determination about legal culpability.

However, as the authority legally mandated to perform autopsies and issue reports about sudden, suspicious or unexpected deaths, their findings historically form the bedrock of criminal cases and are largely undisputed by prosecutors.

It seemed to me that essentially the prosecution is going to take the position that Dr. Bakers autopsy report is incorrect or can be explained more clearly, said Mitchell Hamline School of Law emeritus professor Prof. Joe Daly. Its extremely unusual  to cast doubt on your own medical examiner.

Bakers findings that Floyds cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression sparked public outrage when they were released last June 1. Many, including attorneys for Floyds family, believed Floyd died of asphyxiation and criticized Bakers ruling. An emergency fence and concrete barricades were erected around Bakers downtown Minneapolis office two days after he issued his results; they remain standing.

Baker listed hardening and thickening of the artery walls, heart disease and drug use as other significant conditions. Fentanyl and methamphetamine were also found in Floyds system.

Baker ruled the manner of death a homicide, a death that occurs at the hands of another person.

Baker reviewed his findings in a meeting last December with the Minnesota Attorney Generals Office, which is prosecuting the case.

[I]t appeared to Dr. Baker that the pressure to the neck was coming from the back or posterior lateral portions of the back, and none of these strictures would impact breathing or cause loss of consciousness, said a document summarizing the meeting. "  Dr. Baker found it important that Floyd had narrowing of coronary arteries: 75-80% narrowed. This would put him at risk for a sudden cardiac arrest.

In the meeting Baker, reportedly cited a study that found that placing 200 pounds of weight or more on a healthy person did not have an observable impact on breathing.

He reportedly referenced a recent study that said positional restraint did not lead to ventilatory or cardiac failure.

Dr. Baker offered that one possibility for the pathway of Floyds death is that Floyds heart was starting to fail because of the stress, drugs, enlarged heart, and [heart] disease, said a summary of the meeting. He said that once the heart starts to fail  one of the symptoms is the perception that you cannot breathe.

Nelson told jurors they would hear about several interviews between Baker and investigators, and some of this evidence is extremely important to the final determination of Mr. Floyds cause of death.

Blackwell directed jurors to Fraziers video in building his case for cause of death.

I would tell you that you can believe your own eyes that its a homicide, its murder, Blackwell said. You can believe your own eyes.

Prosecutors dont have to prove that Chauvins actions alone caused Floyds death, according to Minnesota guidelines for jury instructions. According to the state and the defenses proposed jury instructions, To cause means to be a substantial causal factor in causing the death.  The fact that other causes contribute to the death does not relieve the defendant of criminal liability.

Being restrained and pressed upon while lying flat on your stomach can restrict the intake of oxygen and output of carbon dioxide, and reduce blood flow through the heart, leading to a fatal cardiac arrest, said cardiologist Dr. Alon Steinberg, chief of cardiology and medicine at Community Memorial Hospital, based in California.

Steinberg, who recently published a paper reviewing scientific literature on prone restraint, described Floyds death as a prone restraint cardiac arrest.

When people are in prone restraint and they die, its more accurate that its a cardiopulmonary arrest as [Baker] says, said Steinberg. Its not asphyxia.

Prone restraint prevents the rib cage and diaphragm from expanding, thereby reducing breathing ability and causing a dangerous build up of carbon dioxide in the body that is a much bigger issue than the lack of oxygen, he said. An accumulation of the waste gas causes metabolic acidosis, or, an overproduction of acid, he added.

Steinberg said Chauvin kneeling on Floyds neck could have also reduced blood flow from the head into the heart, and former officer J. Alexander Kueng kneeling on Floyds back could have reduced blood flow from the lower body into the heart.

Kueng and two other officers at the scene  Thomas Lane and Tou Thao  are each charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter in the case and are scheduled to be tried Aug. 23. All four defendants, who were fired, are out on bond.

Asphyxiation is commonly used to describe such deaths, Steinberg said, adding that they often dont leave behind evidence of physical damage in the heart or in the bodys tissues.

It [is] more complex than [asphyxiation], and death is due to multiple factors including acidosis, decreased cardiac output and decrease in ventilation, he said.

Blackwell told jurors Thomas will testify about the limitations of pathology and address how, in over half of deaths from a lack of oxygen, no evidence is left behind in the bodys tissues.

It could pose a risk to the prosecutions case to distance themselves from the in-house medical expert, said defense attorney Mike Padden.

It absolutely can be a problem because hes the doctor who did the autopsy, Padden said. Theyre making a strategy decision that theyre moving completely away from him.

An abundance of complex medical testimony could also overwhelm jurors. The defense has 15 medical experts listed as potential witnesses; its unknown how many will be called to testify.

I think theres going to be far too much reliance  put on the medical testimony, said defense attorney A.L. Brown. Jurors try very hard to understand things, and theyre put in an impossible position to try to understand very complicated things.
The new UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) launched last week with the unique mission to protect the nation's health, both from existing hazards  such as hepatitis or radiation risks  but also from external and emerging threats.

As its first priority, it will continue the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Regular, rapid testing means we are finding cases of the virus that we wouldn't otherwise detect, which prevents transmission to families, friends and communities  and which could ultimately save lives.

Around one in three people experiences no symptoms when they contract the virus and by getting tested regularly people will rapidly break chains of transmission that could begin unwittingly.

An LFD check is the testing equivalent of a Formula 1 pit stop, writes Dr Jenny Harries (above)

Twice-weekly testing using lateral flow devices, commonly known as LFDs, has already protected millions of people who need to leave home for work, including frontline NHS workers, care home staff and residents, and schoolchildren and their families.

Regular testing in the months ahead can help us all get back to normal, and from this Friday we will make twice-weekly LFD testing available to every person in England.

An LFD is the testing equivalent of a Formula 1 pit stop. With a rapid turnaround time of 30 minutes for a result, these swab tests can be done from the comfort of a living room and are capable of quickly giving a snap verdict on whether someone is or isn't likely to be infectious.

Just like an experienced mechanic, people get quicker at doing the test, and get better results, the more frequently they carry them out.

If we are going to reclaim our lost freedoms, we must ensure we can withstand attacks from Covid variants, writes Dr Jenny Harries

Vaccines are tipping the scales in our favour but as cases, deaths and hospitalisation charts continue to fall, the importance of our testing and tracing capabilities grows.

An effective testing and tracing system is our radar for spotting new outbreaks and suppressing them and for watching out for new variants. The new variant in Kent, which rapidly increased cases across the country, is a stark reminder that viruses are shapeshifters and they mutate all the time.

If we are going to reclaim our lost freedoms for the long term, we must ensure we can withstand expected but unpredictable attacks in the form of variants of the virus.

That will require us to use the massive testing capacity to discover where variants of concern are and respond to them swiftly. Our diagnostics system is ready for testing on a level that matches the vaccination rollout, both in scope and ambition. The UK is now a testing juggernaut.

At the most recent count we have been testing over a million people a day, genome sequencing 32,000 tests in a week, and we have traced and contacted 3.2million who have tested positive in the past year, and a further six million of their contacts.

Regular testing is a way we can all help to bring about the return of much that has been missing in all of our lives and I have every confidence people will continue to give their selfless support in this next stage, just as they have throughout this pandemic.
In the contemporary United States (and the Western world generally), misconceptions concerning manliness abound. These misconceptions derive from a variety of sources that I identified in a previous article. There the focus was specifically upon the confusion that prevails over the nature of a violent engagement of the type that occurs in a true self-defense situation. Yet this is not unrelated to the broader topic of manliness.

Over the last few years, an industry of YouTube podcasts hosted by former mobsters and former criminals of every conceivable sort has emerged to advance the campaign to glorify scumbags that Hollywood launched decades ago.

Thats right: Glorify. Those who continue to depict the thugs life as anything other than the Godless, demonic, cowardly, and unmanly mode of existence that it is romanticize it.

Whether incorrigibly hypocritical Hollywood filmmakers who throw their support behind Democrat politicians who are eager to deprive law-abiding American citizens of their Second Amendment rights while glamorizing violent, gun-toting thugs on the big screen or podcasters who were one-time members of La Costra Nostra or tatted up ex-convicts who purport to have gone straightthese characters are all peddlers of crime porn who regal their audiences with thrilling tales of the Outlaws exploits in exchange for money.

In the case of the criminals, or ex-criminals, it also gives them tireless opportunities to depict themselves as not just tough guys, but guys who are tougher than the vast majority of other human beings, and particularly those ever-growing numbers of average Joes who subscribe to their channels.

Of course, every merchant selling their wares in this genre swear that they do not mean to glorify anything, that, in fact, they are supplying a public service announcement insofar as they are trying to deter younger people from following in the footsteps of those who have lived the Thug Life. Maybe theres some truth to this, for some. Yet there can also be no denying that the other considerations noted also figure prominently as motives.

At any rate, and as I said, if these guys really want to deter younger guys from pursuing a life of crime, then their messaging must be unambiguous. Thus far, from what Ive been able to gather (and, admittedly, not being in the least enamored with anything that these guys have to say, I am not a consumer of their product), their messaging is mixed, at best.

When they acknowledge that neither they nor anyone with whom they ever associated during their lives as criminals were men, i.e. males who were good, strong, true; when they concede that, as male members of the human species, they never mentally and emotionally advanced beyond being juvenile delinquents, that they pursued their own self-interests by way of the path of least resistance and at the cost of breaking the hearts of their wives, children, and parentsthen their messaging will be clear.

So be it. A virtue, though, of this genre of true crime is that it supplies those who are interested with constant reminders that dangerous two-legged creatures live among us. And it is this knowledge, and this knowledge alone, that motivates some men and women to train in self-protection.

Yet it isnt just their victims, but the dangerous criminals, and alleged former criminals, who style themselves tough guys because of their penchant for cruelty and their history of preying upon the weak, the outnumbered, and the intimidated who are also imperiled. Theyve drank their own bathwater, swallowed their own shit, and forgotten, if they ever knew, a life-or-death lesson. As USMC Lieutenant-Colonel Al Ridenhour, a combat veteran of four tours of duty and 100 combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the founder of Warrior Flow Combatives, puts it: Theres a place to which you cant go with either God or a certain kind of man, namely, the kind of person who is a student of his system.

Those who prey upon innocents are wicked. And while the compromised, lukewarm Church of present times would have us forget it, the truth is that God despises the wicked. This is established throughout the Bible. Take Psalm 5:4-6, for example:

[God is] not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell in you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

Then theres Psalm 11:5:

The wicked, those who love violence, he [God] hates with a passion.

We could go on. The point: God detests the evil and promises, from the book of Genesis through to that of Revelation, that He will insure that the evil receive their just dessertsdeath.

The bad guysas well as far too many others who arent bad guys, including those who train in martial artsforget, in other words, that the bad guys are mere mortals. Because they are mortal, they can be injured. They can be crippled, tortured, raped, and terrorized.

They can be killed.

In short, all of the unimaginably brutal things that they can and, in some instances, have done to others can be done to themand not, necessarily, just by other career criminal vermin.

This last idea needs to be underscored, for most people, especially bad guys, apparently forget that one neednt be a criminalone can be thoroughly contemptuous toward criminalsto kill a person with only slightly more effort than is required to extend ones hand and touch that person.

If a person can bleed from a paper cut, then he can bleed to death courtesy of another mortal.

As a human being, the most dangerous, violent low-life predator on the planet is, essentially (even if relatively speaking), as anatomically and physiologically restricted as is the most frail and timid of elderly women. This brute fact means that the elderly woman could drop his miserable ass under the correct circumstancesparticularly if she trains, as the predator, like all criminal predators, has trained all of his life, to become a killer when she needs to become one.

The criminals are mortals, like you and I. They are bound by the same laws of physics and human physiology that bind the rest of us. What fundamentally distinguishes the criminal predator from otherwise decent people is that the latter have scruples that the former lacks. Predators have a ruthlessness that gives them an edge over those upon whom they would prey.

The good news, however, is that this ruthlessness is, overwhelmingly, learned. It wasnt learned through any kind of formal training, true, but, by virtue of a lifetimes worth of cultivating vicious habits, it was learned all of the same. What this in turn means is that if criminals can learn how to be ruthless, so too can decent folks. Only in the case of the decent who seek out competent instructors to teach them how to be ruthless, their ruthlessness will not be a vice but, rather, a virtuea martial virtue.

It will be a character excellence, the excellence of a warrior, for unlike scumbags who are merciless toward unsuspecting, innocent people who they regard as nothing more or less than a resource, the decent who train to become ruthless train to become merciless only toward the wicked, toward those who imminently threaten them, their loved ones, or other innocents in their presence.

Warrior Flow Combatives is unique among combat systems inasmuch as it seeks to make good people by making them into dangerous peopledangerous for criminals who may have otherwise preyed upon them. It aspires to do this by instilling in students Ruthless Intention, a mindset necessary to, as Mushashi, a 17th century Japanese Samurai warrior memorably stated, attack with a feeling of constantly crushing the enemy, from first to last.

God has supplied all of us with everything we need to protect ourselves against the designs of the evil. Musashi made this point as well:

There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.

The training modality of Warrior Flow is predicated upon this truth. Jordan Peterson shared a brilliant insight during an exchange with former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink when he said that a good man must be a dangerous man (emphases added).

To be good, a person must become dangerous, for the world is full of those who are dangerous but evil.

Learn to become good and dangerous by training in Warrior Flow Combatives.
Nearly two dozen ancient Egyptian royal mummies were paraded through Cairo on Saturday evening in a dazzling display to mark their transferral to a new museum.

Major roads along the Nile were shut down as the 22 royal mummies were carried across Egypts capital from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairos Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egypt Civilisation in Fustat, a roughly 7km journey.

In video captured by Reuters, drummers could be seen lining the streets, hailing the passage of the 18 kings and four queens, most from the New Kingdom.

The royal mummies were transported in special capsules filled with nitrogen to ensure their protection.

As they arrived at their new home, cannons were fired in a 21-gun salute.

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Egypts president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, was present at the event and could be seen standing by as the mummies were driven up to the museum on vehicles decorated with golden pharaonic motifs.

The heads of the United Nations cultural agency Unesco and the World Tourism Organisation were also present at the ceremony.

The grand parade was largely held in a bid to attract worldwide attention to Egypts rich ancient artifacts, with the country being among many to suffer a major blow to its tourism industry due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A tank carrying one of the royal mummies drives along the Nile corniche during the parade on Saturday 3, April, 2021 in Cairo, Egypt. (Getty Images)

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said the ancient royal mummies would be displayed in a civilised manner rather than for amusement in their new home.

We chose the Civilisation Museum because we want, for the first time, to display the mummies in a civilised manner, an educated manner, and not for amusement as they were in the Egyptian Museum, Mr Hawass said.

The mummies had been discovered in the mortuary temples of Deir Al Bahari in Luxor and at the Valley of Kings as far back as 1871.

A marching band marches at the start of the parade of 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies departing from the Egyptian Museum in Cairos Tahrir Square on Saturday, 3 April, 2021, on their way to their new resting place at the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation about seven kilometres south in historic Fustat. (AFP via Getty Images)

Seqenenre Tao, who served as the last king of the 17th Dynasty, is among the royals whose mummified remains will be put on display, along with those of Ramses II, Ahmose-Nefertari and Seti I.

Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist at the American University in Cairo, said that by holding the grand parade with great pomp and circumstance, the ancient royals were getting their due.

These are the kings of Egypt, these are the pharaohs. And so, it is a way of showing respect, the expert said.

Additional reporting by Reuters
Lucknow, April 4 : The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP STF) has filed a charge sheet against eight members of Popular Front of India (PFI), including a journalist before a Mathura court.

The 5,000-page charge sheet filed on Saturday, said that the accused received funds from abroad to incite caste riots in Hathras, following the alleged gang rape of 19-year-old girl which led to her death in September 2020.

The charge sheet has been accepted and the court has fixed May 1 as the next date of hearing.

In the 5,000-page charge sheet, the PFI members, identified as Atiq-ur-Rahman, journalist Siddique Kappan, Masud Ahmad, Alam, Anshad Badruddin, Firoz Khan, Danish and Rauf Sharif, have been accused of receiving funds to the tune of Rs 80 lakh from financial institutions in Muscat and Doha for the purpose.

Atiq-ur-Rahman, Siddique Kappan, Masud Ahmad and Alam were arrested by the STF from Mathura on October 5, 2020, while Rauf Sherif, general secretary of the Campus Front of India, the student wing of PFI, was arrested in December from the Trivandrum airport.

Anshad Badruddin and Firoz Khan were arrested by the STF from Lucknow on February 15 while Danish is under arrest in Delhi for his alleged role in the 2020 riots.

"All the above named PFI members have been booked under the charges of sedition, wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any group, Information Technology Act, along with charges of punishment for raising funds for terrorist acts and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)," said an STF official.

The charge sheet says material collected from cell phones and laptops of the accused, corroborate that they were trying to spread disharmony in the state by raking up crime incidents that took place in Hathras.

Documents were collected during searches at the office of PFI in Delhi and evidence was found.

ADG (law and order) Prashant Kumar confirmed that a charge sheet was submitted but a probe in the case was still underway.

The STF sources said that a sum of Rs 30 lakh from the Bank of Muscat and Rs 50 lakh from the Bank of Doha were transferred into the accounts of the accused Rauf Sherif and was to be utilised for spreading disharmony in the wake of the Hathras incident.

Masud is the general secretary of the Delhi state PFI and was in regular touch with Sherif. He also received money in his bank accounts, the charge sheet says.

Similarly, Siddique Kappan also transferred funds to the bank account of Atiq-ur-Rehman. Mohammed Alam, was driving the car bought in the name of Masud. He took an active part in a conspiracy hatched by Sherif.

Public prosecutor Shiv Ram Singh said that Alam's brother-in-law Danish has also been named in the conspiracy case. Danish is in the custody of the Delhi Police for his alleged role in riots in north-east Delhi in January 2020.

The STF also said that incriminating evidence was recovered from laptops and mobile phones of the accused.

Besides, the cash trail has also been established during and before the period of Hathras case and statements made by the accused also corroborate with the findings.

In February, the ED had also filed a charge sheet against the four PFI members for getting finances from abroad to help their alleged bid to disturb communal harmony in Hathras.
Mayfield Woman Jailed on Meth, Fleeing Charges

By West Kentucky Star Staff

GRAVES COUNTY - A Mayfield woman was arrested early Sunday morning on fleeing and methamphetamine charges.The Graves County Sheriff's Office said a deputy observed a vehicle being driven by 20-year-old Vanessa Vasquez who had a suspended operators license. The deputy lost visual of the vehicle but later found it parked behind a house on South 8Street.Several neighbors told the deputy that three occupants of the vehicle fled on foot. The deputy pursued Vasquez on foot toward College Street but another vehicle pulled up and Vasquez entered that vehicle and fled.The deputy attempted to pursue the vehicle but lost visual of it. During a search of the vehicle that Vasquez was driving, deputies reportedly found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

At around 1:30 am Sunday, Kentucky State Police stopped a vehicle that Vasquez was suspected of being in. Vasquez was in the vehicle and was taken into custody without further incident. Vasquez was lodged in the Graves County Jail on charges of operating on a suspended or revoked operator's license, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, fleeing or evading police and on a warrant for bail jumping.
Montana Republican Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill on Wednesday banning sanctuary cities in the state, despite the fact that Montana does not currently have any sanctuary cities. It becomes the 13th state to ban sanctuary cities.

'We are a nation of laws, and immigration laws will be enforced in Montana,' Gianforte said in a statement after signing the bill into law.

The bill will require state and local law enforcement to comply with federal immigration law and empower the state's attorney general to pursue civil action against jurisdictions that do not comply - including fines and withholding state grant funds.

Supporters of the measure have said that sanctuary cities in other parts of the country have led to increased criminal activity, and that the Montana ban is necessary to preempt such problems.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte (pictured above in the State Capitol in Helena in February) signed into law a bill requiring local law enforcement agencies in the state to hand over any undocumented immigrants to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Opponents have said the measure will foster distrust of law enforcement at a time of greater tension between police and communities of color.

The move by Gianforte appears to be largely symbolic, however, as local authorities in Montana already have a high level of cooperation with ICE, according to immigration observers and experts.

Gianforte's decision to sign the bill comes after former Democratic Governor Steve Bullock vetoed a similar measure in 2019.

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida have all passed laws banning sanctuary cities.

According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, most of the nations estimated 11 million illegal immigrants live in 168 counties that span more than two dozen states.

Of those counties, 69 of them have so-called sanctuary laws in place requiring local law enforcement to decline federal requests to hold arrestees in jail because of their immigration status.

The image above shows a Border Patrol agent calling out the names of asylum seekers that were dropped off at a bus station in Brownsville, Texas on March 15

Once an undocumented person is arrested, their information is placed into a federal database that can be accessed by ICE, which then moves to place a detainer on the suspect. ICE asks the local law enforcement agency to hold the person until agents can come and retrieve him for processing and eventual deportation from the country

The other 99 counties do accept federal requests to hold arrestees in jail so they could be processed for deportation.

When an undocumented migrant comes into contact with police, cooperation between local law enforcement and the federal agency in charge of enforcing immigration law - Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - depends on whether the jurisdiction is a so-called sanctuary city.

Supporters of sanctuary cities claim that most encounters between illegal immigrants and local police are for low-level offenses like speeding, driving with a broken taillight, having a broken license plate, or driving without a license.

HOW SANCTUARY CITIES WORK According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center , most of the nations estimated 11 million illegal immigrants live in 168 counties that span more than two dozen states. Of those counties, 69 of them have so-called sanctuary laws in place requiring local law enforcement to decline federal requests to hold arrestees in jail because of their immigration status. The other 99 counties do accept federal requests to hold arrestees in jail so they could be processed for deportation. When an undocumented migrant comes into contact with police, cooperation between local law enforcement and the federal agency in charge of enforcing immigration law - Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - depends on whether the jurisdiction is a so-called sanctuary city. Supporters of sanctuary cities claim that most encounters between illegal immigrants and local police are for low-level offenses like speeding, driving with a broken taillight, having a broken license plate, or driving without a license. Once an undocumented person is arrested, their information is placed into a federal database that can be accessed by ICE, which then moves to place a detainer on the suspect. ICE asks the local law enforcement agency to hold the person until agents can come and retrieve him for processing and eventual deportation from the country. Immigrant advocates have long claimed that forcing local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities is unconstitutional since it violates the principle of separation of powers between state and federal governments. In sanctuary cities, police will release an arrested undocumented migrant from custody after they have been cleared of charges, posted bail, or completed jail time for whatever crime they were arrested for. In a non-sanctuary city, local law enforcement will hold that individual until ICE can come and pick them up for deportation. Advertisement

Once an undocumented person is arrested, their information is placed into a federal database that can be accessed by ICE, which then moves to place a detainer on the suspect.

ICE asks the local law enforcement agency to hold the person until agents can come and retrieve him for processing and eventual deportation from the country.

Immigrant advocates have long claimed that forcing local law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities is unconstitutional since it violates the principle of separation of powers between state and federal governments.

In sanctuary cities, police will release an arrested undocumented migrant from custody after they have been cleared of charges, posted bail, or completed jail time for whatever crime they were arrested for.

In a non-sanctuary city, local law enforcement will hold that individual until ICE can come and pick them up for deportation.

Former President Donald Trump, an ally of Gianforte, entered office vowing to crack down on illegal immigration while doing away with sanctuary cities.

On his fifth day in office in 2017, Trump signed an executive order that sought to deny federal funding to local counties whose law enforcement agencies did not comply with requests by ICE to detain undocumented arrestees.

But the order was blocked by a federal judge. The federal courts have frequently ruled that law enforcement agencies cannot be compelled to cooperate with ICE.

Immigration has been front and center in the news during the first two months of the Joe Biden administration.

Since entering office on January 20, Biden has had to confront a surge of thousands of Central American migrants, many of whom are children, who have crossed the southern border from Mexico.

Border authorities encountered more than 9,000 children without a parent in February, the highest single month since May 2019, when more than 11,000 unaccompanied minors came to the border.

After being processed by the Border Patrol, they are transferred to Health and Human Services. Eventually they will be released to a sponsor, usually a parent or close relative.

Unlike adults in many situations, all unaccompanied minors are allowed to stay in the United States.

That dynamic has prompted many parents to either send kids on the journey to America alone, or get to the border and let them go the rest of the way. Most end up at least temporarily in shelters that are currently way beyond capacity.

Biden came into office vowing to undo Trump's immigration policies, though critics charge that it has only emboldened larger numbers of migrants to enter the country illegally.

Last month, the Biden administration effectively killed a Trump-era immigration rule that denied green cards to immigrants who use public benefits like food stamps.

The Supreme Court won't weigh in on the legality of the so-called public charge rule because of an agreement by the Biden administration and the parties and states challenging it.

According to immigration observers and analysts, there are some 69 local jurisdictions spread out across more than two dozen states in the United States that have so-called 'sanctuary' laws on the books that limit cooperation between law enforcement and ICE

The Justice Department also dropped objections to a ruling before the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals, upholding a federal judges November order striking down the rule nationwide.

Under the Trump administration policy, applicants for green cards had to show they wouldnt be burdens to the country or 'public charges.'

Federal law already required those seeking permanent residency or legal status to prove they wouldnt be a 'public charge.'

But the Trump administration rule included a wider range of programs that could disqualify them.
An Indigenous inmate at Perth's maximum security Casuarina Prison has died in hospital, adding to a recent spate of Aboriginal deaths in police custody, the fifth across Australia in a month.

The latest death involves a 45-year-old male inmate at Perth's Casuarina Prison, Western Australia's main maximum-security prison.

He was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital on Friday and died on Saturday after undergoing a medical procedure and being placed in intensive care.

The 45-year-old prisoner was being held at Casuarina prison, Western Australia's maximum security prison before he was taken to hospital where he died

'His next of kin have been notified,' the WA Department of Justice said on Sunday.

WA Police will prepare a report for a coronial inquiry, in accordance with all deaths in custody.

There's been a spate of other Indigenous deaths in custody across the country over the past month.

Barkindji man Anzac Sullivan died during a police pursuit in Broken Hill on March 18

Barkindji man Anzac Sullivan, 37, died during a police pursuit in Broken Hill, NSW on March 18.

Another man died in Victoria's Ravenhall Correctional Centre on March 7 and a woman in her 50s died in custody in NSW on the same day.

A man in his 30s died in NSW on March 2.

The recent wave of fatalities prompted Indigenous senator Pat Dodson to warn another royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody could be needed unless there are major efforts to address the national scourge.

More than 450 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since the release of the 1991 landmark royal commission report.

With the 30-year anniversary of the 339 recommendations next month, Indigenous leaders are demanding more action to fix the shameful statistics.

Senator Dodson pursued bureaucrats at a parliamentary inquiry on March 26 over what action was being taken to address deaths in custody.

'Use your influence, because this is a scandal. An absolute scandal,' he told Assistant Attorney-General Amanda Stoker.

Senator Stoker said 91 per cent of the royal commission's recommendations had been fully implemented before noting many drivers of incarceration rates needed state and territory action.
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The tragedy of an eight-carriage train ramming into a construction vehicle in Taiwan left nearly 50 people dead with many others injured. They were traveling from Taipei to Taitung and most of them were looking forward to a long-weekend annual holiday. The BBC reports the train was crowded with more than 500 passengers going to attend a festival. Many of them did not get a seat. They were standing and the sudden impact threw them off balance as the train derailed. It seems the construction vehicle had slipped onto the tracks and blocked the entrance to the tunnel.

Sad day for Taiwan

Rescue teams arrived at the scene to extricate survivors from the mangled carriages. Some of them broke open the windows to escape from the chaotic condition around them. In such situations, there is utter confusion all around. Those who witness death and scenes of bloodshed from close quarters suffer from trauma and take time to recover. The dead and injured could be people they know or could be complete strangers but memories of this nature keep haunting them for the rest of their lives.

The BBC says the train is a high-speed one and can reach speeds of up to 80mph. It is one of the fastest deployed on a network considered safe. This crash is the worst train disaster in Taiwan in decades.

The accident happened in the morning at around 9am local time and claimed 50 lives. It left another 66 injured and they are hospitalized. President Tsai Ing-wen has sent her condolences to the families of the victims and ordered an investigation.

The train accident in Taiwan

The front portion of the train suffered the most.

Rescue teams had a tough time to take the survivors to safety and shift the injured to hospitals. Many of the dead and the injured were in the first four carriages that were crumpled. The driver of the train was among the dead. Those who were in the rear portion of the train were unscathed and walked to safety. The BBC mentions about witnesses who narrated the aftermath of the accident.

One of them said they broke a window and climbed to the roof to escape. Another talked about injuries she suffered when she fell to the floor. Yet another woman described seeing people trapped under their seats. Obviously, the scenes were certainly not pleasant. In October 2020, Taiwan reported no case of coronavirus infection for 200 consecutive days.

Taiwan trying to establish reasons for the collision

Some construction work was under way near one end of the tunnel. Images reveal a truck lying beside the railway track. Investigation can pinpoint the factors responsible for an accident of such magnitude. Other images are of some of the passengers walking along the track with their belongings while the injured were on stretchers.

Incidentally, many passengers were on their way to a festival devoted to the dead. Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang visited the crash site to get firsthand knowledge on the tragedy. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab offered his condolences via Twitter.

I offer my sincere condolences to all those affected by this mornings rail accident in Taiwan. My thoughts are with the victims, their families and those injured.  Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) April 2, 2021

The train hit the tunnel wall north of Hualien in Taiwan

According to Sky News, the train derailed north of Hualien in eastern Taiwan and hit the wall of the tunnel. It collided with a truck that might have slid on to the track. The area is in a mountainous terrain and the parking of the vehicle might not have been proper.

Firefighters confirm evacuation of many passengers from the first four carriages. There was deformation of carriages five to eight and was difficult to access. This is the worst rail disaster Taiwan in at least four decades. Its last major rail crash was in 2018. It happened when an express train derailed and killed 18. Earlier, in 1991, a collision in western Taiwan killed 30 people and injured 112.
Adapting to the themes that make them connected to global events, the anti-coup demonstrators in Myanmar took to the streets on April 4 holding painted eggs in a nod to Easter Sunday. As per the Associated Press report, in the biggest city of Yangon, one group matched through the Insein district chatting and singing protest songs while cradling eggs bearing slogans such as Spring Revolution. Other eggs also bore a drawing of the three-fingered salute which is a symbol of resistance to the February 1 coup when the military took over the power and placed civilian government leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.

Apart from Yangon, in the countrys second-largest city of Mandalay, protesters also gathered on Sunday on motorbikes and reportedly shouted their defiance to the junta control for overthrowing the democratically elected government. For the last two months, the Myanmar military has violently cracked down the demonstrations as well as others in opposition. As per the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the latest civilian death toll since the coup is at 557 and over 2,750 have been detained or sentenced.

The Easter Egg Strike on Sunday came after Flower Strike in which protesters laid flowers in public places to commemorate those killed by security forces during demonstrations. There was also a Silent Strike in which people left the streets deserted. Meanwhile, the security forces continued to spread fear among the ordinary citizens. On Saturday, police had even opened fire and killed several protesters in Monywa in central Myanmar.

Our people's creativities, braveries and courages are the future of Myanmar. Easter is all about the future, the people of Myanmar has great future in federal democracy, May this Easter bring the new hope and strength to United States of Myanmar.

(Photo: CJs)/Easter Egg Strike pic.twitter.com/PwKLhIQT2W  Dr. Sasa (@DrSasa22222) April 4, 2021

On this Easter Sunday, People of Myanmar are on #EasterEggStrike - celebrating on behalf of Christian ethnics minorities who are now political refugees at Kachin, Karen & Chin, and praying for Myanmar to resurrect. @freya_cole @KentEngland77 #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #Apr4Coup pic.twitter.com/clQE97VF8l  Chit han nwe (@Chithannwe1) April 4, 2021

Easter Egg Strike 

As God has risen, we hope deeply that Myanmar will rise again too after losing many citizens' life in process of fighting for democracy. Justice shall prevail. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #Apr4Coup #EasterEggStrike pic.twitter.com/SHbs6SGHiT  Mie Mie Sann (@SannMieMie) April 4, 2021

One of my friends participate in Easter Egg Strike for Burma Spring Revolution. Save Myanmar#Apr4Coup#EasterEggStrike#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/EDfcb5klOD  Min Thurein Htet (@bitekalayy) April 4, 2021

4.3.2021 #EasterEggStrike in Myanmar for Democracy



Reply here with your Easter egg strike photos. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar#Apr4Coup pic.twitter.com/sqnjL35FMk  Civil Disobedience Movement (@cvdom2021) April 4, 2021

Myanmar still mired in violence

Two months since the military coup, Myanmar is still mired in violence. While the demonstrations across the nation continue, the security forces have escalated violence and routinely shot protesters. Junta has still remained unsuccessful in crushing the massive public resistance to the February 1 coup. Further, the international criticism and sanctions by the Western nations including the United States have failed to restore peace in the Southeast Asian country.

Shortly after sunrise on April 1, a group of young people gathered in Myanmars biggest city, Yangon. As per reports, the demonstrators then marched through the streets and chanted slogans calling for the fall of the junta and release of deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. protests were also held in Mandalay and other cities as Thursday marked two month anniversary of the grim day.

Image credits: @DrSasa22222/Twitter/AP
Phoebe Burgess has paid tribute to Carla Zampatti after her death at age 78 on Saturday.

The influencer, 31, posted two photos to Instagram showing off her favourite pieces by the designer - a red top with puffed sleeves and white pants.

She wrote: 'We all have a "Carla" moment. I remember watching my own mother get dressed up for balls or functions - her favourite pieces were always a 'Carla'.

Tribute: Phoebe Burgess (pictured) has paid tribute to Carla Zampatti after her death at age 78 on Saturday. The influencer, 31, posted two photos to Instagram showing off her favourite piece by the designer - a red top with puffed sleeves

'My mum would call the pieces; 'my Carla shirt', 'the Carla wrap' 'my white Carlas' (for her favourite pant). And then when I began my own little career, I invested in 'Carla' pieces for my growing wardrobe for the real world, beyond university.

'A Carla Zampatti piece has always been synonymous with timeless dressing, confidence and presence, bold moments paired with the classics (see red top).

'Her beautiful lines famously transcended seasons and trends, and so too will her legacy as her label lives on in our wardrobes.'

Loves it: The influencer, 31, posted two photos to Instagram showing off her favourite pieces by the designer - a red top with puffed sleeves and white pants. Phoebe added that she will hold onto the outfits for when her daughter, Poppy, four, grows up

Phoebe added that she will hold onto the outfits for when her daughter, Poppy, four, grows up.

'I'll hold on to my 'Carla's' for my Poppy and hope they bring her as much confidence, power and joy as they did her mum.

'Thank you Carla, for the class and confidence your creations gave my mum, me and generations of Australian women. Forever a fan, we will miss you dearly.'

Carla tragically died a week after falling down stairs while attending the opening night of the La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour.

Tragic: 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 gut-wrenching 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.'
I was particularly struck by Friday's comments from Mark Lindsay, chairman of the Police Federation NI, when he said: "I think it is one of the most disappointing things, 23 years on today from the Good Friday Agreement, that policing has never been more politicised - it has never been more toxic in our society."

And responding to a question about the calls for Chief Constable Simon Byrne's resignation, he noted: "They are very worrying. I think whenever we see unionism almost united over this, I think it presents problems for everybody."

It reminded me of another time when the relationship between the police and a section of unionism was maybe just as toxic.

It was in June 1986, when unionists were still organising protests against the Anglo-Irish Agreement and the RUC was policing a particular event at which Ian Paisley was present. As the crowd were pushed back the future First Minister roared to a senior officer: "Don't come crying to me if your homes are attacked. You will reap what you sow."

During those continuing protests against the AIA, the homes of over 500 RUC personnel were attacked, picketed or threatened by militant elements of unionism/loyalism and over 150 police families had to move for safety reasons.

It was a particularly tough time for the force: their job was to uphold the law and obey orders, yet there had always been a sense of being safer living within the wider pro-Union community. It was never quite the same afterwards.

I'm not suggesting we have reached that point of distrust right now, but it is worrying that elements of loyalism in particular accuse the PSNI of a two-tier attitude to policing gatherings and of serving a Sinn Fein agenda.

Add to that the fact that the Loyalist Communities Council has already said that on-the-ground community spokesmen will not be liaising with the PSNI at future events in loyalist areas; while the Grand Orange Lodge of Belfast is presently reviewing 'engagement' with the PSNI during the coming marching season.

Here is the dilemma for mainstream unionism: accusing the PSNI of facilitating IRA funerals and letting Sinn Fein get away with everything is picked up and spread across social media.

Worse, it is spread without filter or context and posted over and over again. Which means it will, at some point, be picked up and acted upon and probably end in confrontation, arrests and injury - often serious - to police officers.

So yes, words do count. Tweets and Facebook messages count even more.

That is why the leadership of unionism needs to find a way of nuancing their anger and saying absolutely nothing which can be construed as incitement.

Because if they don't, then any post-riot condemnation and 'don't get involved in stuff like this' advice will, inevitably, fall on deaf ears.

It is also worth remembering that many of the 'old hands' of loyalism were originally recruited into paramilitarism after they had experienced their first couple of riots.

And it is probably also worth noting that many of the younger rioters we have seen over the past few days - some barely teenagers - probably have as much contempt for mainstream unionist leaders as they do for the PSNI and media.

It might help if there was an unambiguous joint statement from the DUP, UUP, TUV, PUP, LCC and Orange Order condemning the riots and rioters: and which doesn't include lines like, 'we can understand why they've been driven to it.'

It would also help if the statement was used to narrow rather than widen the present levels of distrust between the PSNI and some elements of unionism: acknowledging, for instance, that frontline officers are in a very difficult position.

There is no possible, plausible 'understanding' for why anyone would attack the PSNI.

There is no justification for the riots. They are wrong. Plain and simple.

And the leadership of political unionism, loyalism and the loyal orders need to make that very clear.

Because, if they don't, it will only get worse.
Kenya on Saturday announced mandatory quarantine for passengers from Britain, in response to being placed on the country's so-called red list, which Nairobi rejected as " discriminatory".

The UK government on Friday banned visitors from Kenya due to concerns over the circulation of a variant of the coronavirus which originated in South Africa.



In a lengthy statement, Nairobi said the decision would have "deep and far-reaching consequences" on trade, travel and security co-operation between the two close allies.



"The decision seems to be motivated by a discriminatory policy against certain countries and peoples," Kenya's foreign ministry said in the statement.



In return, Kenya announced that all passengers arriving, or transiting through the UK, will face 14-days mandatory quarantine at a government facility, at their own expense.



They will also have to pay to take two Covid-19 tests. Kenyan nationals are exempt from the new rules.



Kenya highlighted that London could have offered to share vaccines which it "has in bigger quantities than it currently has use for", condemning vaccine nationalism and hoarding by nations around the globe.



"This vaccine apartheid, coupled with reckless calls for vaccine passports while not making the vaccines available to all nations, widens existing inequalities and makes it near impossible for the world to win the war against the pandemic," said the statement.



The UK, which has red-listed 39 countries, said new data showed increased risks of importing coronavirus "variants of concern".



Kenya currently has both variants from South Africa and the UK -- which are more contagious -- circulating.



Among potential other sources, the UK variant was brought to the country by British soldiers who have a base in Kenya, local media cited the health ministry as saying last month.



Kenya is suffering a deadly third wave of the pandemic which has overwhelmed hospitals, with local media and social media carrying stories of families unable to find beds for their ailing loved ones.



Nairobi and nearby counties were last month placed under partial lockdown and schools, restaurants and bars shut, while an evening curfew -- which has been in place for a year -- was brought forward to 8pm, lasting until 4am.



The country has recorded over 136,000 cases and 2,100 deaths, however testing remains low and the positive results are at around 20 percent.



Kenya received just over one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in March.



After a month, however, it has only given out around 200,000 jabs in an often chaotic drive which has seen many who do not currently qualify showing up and getting the shot.



A private importer was selling the Russian vaccine Sputnik V for around $70 (59 euros) a shot to wealthy Kenyans, but the government on Friday banned them from doing so.
Pat Brock remembers hearing the standard joke around the late 1950s about the Republican Party in Chattanooga and Hamilton County  if you wanted to have a party meeting, you could probably hold it in a telephone booth.

He also vividly recalls an early local organizing meeting for the party, when only eight or nine people showed up.

There were no Republicans in the county, from the courthouse to the state legislature, he said.

But despite that, he and his older brother, Bill Brock, pushed on for a stronger second political party locally.

And they did help create one that swept Bill into the unlikely position of being the first Republican in 42 years to be elected to Congress from the 3rdDistrict of Tennessee in 1962.

As both Pat and their much-younger brother, Frank, reminisced over the phone recently in separate interviews following Bills death on March 25 at age 90, they both recall a man who tried to serve his country with honor and dignity.

Bill Brock would go on to get elected to the U.S. Senate in 1970, and later head the Republican Party nationally before becoming a Cabinet member under President Ronald Reagan.

We were very close and Im very proud of the work he did, said Pat.

Bills interest in politics all began around the mid-to-late 1950s, after both he and Pat returned to Chattanooga from military service. Bill had graduated from McCallie School in 1949 and Pat in 1950, and both ended up attending Washington and Lee, the alma mater of their father, Bill Brock Jr.

After Bill served in the Navy for three years and Pat in the Army for two years following college, they returned at the same time.

They became active in community service in Chattanooga and also became interested in Republican politics. In 1960, they were asked to serve as poll watchers, and gladly obliged.

We were always concerned about fair elections, Pat said. And we both felt it was important to have two parties.

That set the stage for the 1962 congressional election. Although Frank was just a college student at the University of North Carolina in 1962 after graduating from McCallie in 1960 and had not even reached the voting age of 21, he helped in the campaign, while Pat was Bills top campaign manager.

Both Pat and Frank recall that their older brother had never been interested in politics until returning to Chattanooga, but once he did, he went into it with full force.

Frank said that Bill was not naturally outgoing and had not studied law  two attributes that politicians at least for major offices often possess.

He was really active in the Jaycees and kept trying to get someone to run for Congress, and people said, If it means so much to you, why dont you run?  recalled Frank, who served as president of Covenant College from 1986-2002.

Pat, who went on to help run the familys Brock candy company and held such political volunteer posts as serving on the Tennessee executive committee of the Republican Party, said part of the reason Bill wanted to get involved in politics came from their volunteer work.

He said that when Bill decided to run in 1962, Joe Bagwell from Monroe County was also planning to run in the Republican primary. At that time the Northern end of the 3rd District was strongly Republican, but the more populated part around Chattanooga was more Democratic.

However, Mr. Bagwell dropped out, giving Bill Brock no opposition in the Republican primary and allowing him an opportunity to build up more name recognition.

Frank Brock remembers helping during the summer of 1962 while at UNC after he was asked to register people who had never voted before.

Everybody said first voters are not likely to vote, but we went around the district canvassing and asking who was likely to vote and registering them to vote, he said. This had never been done and people were surprised, and people were interested. We were well received, and this created momentum.

It was a real grass roots campaign. I enjoyed it a lot.

Pat said that his brother was also aided by the fact that the Democrats in the 3rd District had been somewhat split in the primary. The conservative Democratic candidate, J.B. Frazier Jr., the son of Tennessees only governor from Chattanooga to date and the incumbent, had lost to Wilkes Thrasher Jr., who was considered the more liberal or progressive Democrat.

Because of the split, the Brocks saw the more conservative Democratic voters as potential supporters. And those voters ended up helping Mr. Brock become the first Republican to be elected from the district since one-term Congressman Joseph Edgar Brown in 1920.

Because of the conservative/liberal split, a lot of conservative Democrats came over and voted Republican, said Pat Brock.

While Bill Brock was busily getting elected to Congress and serving his country in 1962, his father was more inconspicuously serving his city in an entirely different, but equally noble manner. And it was an effort that tried to transcend both political parties, too.

The head of Brock Candy Co., he was part of a committee of business and community leaders that was tasked with trying to make the desegregation of the local schools go well when it began  also in 1962. Primarily, they wanted to make sure what had taken place in other cities in terms of violently protesting integration would not happen in Chattanooga.

It was obvious to him that desegregation was a reality, said Frank in describing his fathers motivations. He worked hard to make sure Chattanooga did it peacefully.

The idea of public service, all of us shared. We got it from Mom and Dad.

Frank did admit that his father caught some grief, even among his friends, for his stance in pushing for peaceful desegregation. A lot of people thought he was selling out, he said.

When I wrote a previous story following Bill Brock IIIs death looking back at the two times I had interviewed the former senator, I made reference to his fathers work. John Popham, the son of the late former Chattanooga Times managing editor by the same name, sent me a copy of a column his father had written after Mr. Brocks death in 1979 praising the work of the senators father with the committee.

Bill Brock should be memorialized in the hearts of Chattanoogans for generations to come, Mr. Popham wrote.

He went on to explain that Mr. Brock had called a meeting of about 20 civic leaders to encourage everyone to try and hold any violence in check and to focus on one goal. And that goal was, as Mr. Popham wrote, that the face of a loving God is reflected in the faces of our children and they above all must be unmolested and unscarred psychologically as they go about their required duties of school attendance.

Mr. Popham went on to say that the elder Mr. Brock had taken this upon himself at a time when he was suffering from heart health issues.

So, while his son was ascending the political ladder, the elder Bill Brock was standing atop a moral one. He later received a national humanitarian award from a Christian and Jewish organization for his work and was honored along with noted actor Ray Bolger.

The elder Mr. Brock was able to also follow with pride his sons ascendency to the U.S. Senate in 1970 with a defeat of incumbent Democrat Albert Gore Sr.

After Sen. Brock lost to Jim Sasser in 1976 when Republican candidates were hurt by the Watergate scandal, he eventually was able to become chairman of the National Republican Committee and worked hard to get President Ronald Reagan elected.

Frank Brock recalled that his brother had to beat out more than a half dozen other candidates for that post. He also said former Sen. Brock had some polling done and realized the labor union members and Southern Democrats might be willing to vote for Ronald Reagan.

He brought that to the attention of Mr. Reagans campaign staff and that and other factors ended up helping Mr. Reagan defeat incumbent Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential race.

Frank Brock said his brother had not really known Mr. Reagan until becoming involved as chairman of the committee, but he ended up becoming U.S. trade representative and later held the Cabinet position of U.S. Labor secretary.

Frank said he was invited by his brother to the White House for an event at that time, and he still relishes the memory.

That was something really special. Ill never forget it, he said.

Frank added that his brother continued to stay involved in public service even after leaving the Reagan White House, and they would talk with each other about the increasing polarization in politics, which they hated to see.

We would talk with concern about the way things were going in the country and the civil discourse, he said. We would talk about what had changed and why, and it was hard to put a finger on one thing.

But what is clear is that Bill Brock III, like his father, had fought for the betterment and wellbeing of all people through public service, his brothers agree.

I wish we had more people who considered themselves public servants and served the way he did, said Frank Brock.

Added Pat Brock, I have great respect for what he was able to accomplish.

* * * * *

To see a previous story written after Sen. Brocks death looking back at two interviews he did later in his life, read here.

https://www.chattanoogan.com/ 2021/3/26/425626/John-Shearer- Recollections-Of.aspx

* * * * *

Jcshearer2@comcast.net
Persistent questions on whether rare but serious blood clots among those getting the AstraZeneca jab against Covid-19 are more frequent than in the general population, and what causes them if they are, have continued to undermine confidence in the beleaguered vaccine.

The European Medicines Agency -- which has said that benefits outweigh risks such that the vaccine should remain in use -- will provide an updated assessment next week.

- What has been observed?

The blood clots seen in a handful of people vaccinated with AstraZeneca are described by the French Medicines Agency (ANSM) as "highly untypical".

"This thrombosis of large veins is unusually located in the brain, and even more rarely in the digestive tract," the agency commented.

It is also associated with a condition characterised by abnormally low levels of platelets, which are small cell fragments in our blood that form clots to stop or prevent bleeding.

In mid-March Germany's medicines regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), was the first national health authority to flag what they described as an aberrantly high number of cases involving these rare cerebral blood clots, mostly in younger and middle-aged women.

According to some specialists, this set of symptoms pointed to so-called disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), in which blood clots form throughout the body.

Also seen in extreme cases of sepsis, this condition involves "both thrombosis and haemorrhaging", Odile Launay, a member of the scientific body advising the French government on Covid-19 vaccines, told AFP.

- Link with the vaccine?

"A causal link with the vaccine is not proven but is possible, and further analysis is continuing," the EMA said last week.

The agency is scheduled to meet on the question from April 6-9.

Other specialists were more categorical.

"We have to stop speculating on whether there is a link or not -- all the cases showed these symptoms three to 10 days after inoculation with the AstraZeneca vaccine," Pal Andre Holme, who heads a team at Oslo National Hospital working on these cases, told Norwegian television.

Story continues

"We have not found any other triggering factor."

Norway's national medicines agency backed this assessment, with one of their executives, Steinar Madsen, saying "there is probably a link with the vaccine".

For its part, France's ANSM -- pointing to "the very unusual type of thrombosis, a similar clinical profile, and similar timing of onset" -- said there was a "small" risk.

- How big is the risk?

As of March 31, the EMA identified 62 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) in the world -- 44 of them in Europe -- among 9.2 million doses of AstraZeneca administered.

Of those, 14 have resulted in death, though it is not possible to definitively attribute fatalities to this rare form of thrombosis, the head of the EMA, Emer Cooke, said last week in a videoconference.

The statistics, she added, are comprehensive, or close to it.

In Germany, there have been 31 suspected cases of CVST -- 19 accompanied by a drop in blood platelets -- with nine deaths, according to the Paul-Ehrlich Institute.

These cases were spread across 2.8 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses injected, or just over one case per 100,000 doses.

The comparable figures for France are 12 cases and four deaths out of 1.9 million doses, and for Norway, five cases and three deaths out of 120,000 doses.

Britain -- where AstraZeneca has been administered more than in any other country -- registered 30 cases as of Saturday, including seven fatalities, across a total of 18.1 million doses.

But as is true of all medications, risks must always be weighed against benefits.

"We would all prefer to have drugs that are 100 percent safe but they don't exist," Adam Finn, a professor of paediatrics at University of Bristol, told the London-based Science Media Centre last week, commenting on renewed bans of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Germany and elsewhere.

"Right now the biggest risk to our lives and livelihoods throughout the world is Covid-19," Finn added. "We need to stay focussed on the need to prevent it taking millions more human lives before it is brought under control and the only effective way to do that is through vaccination."

The EMA has consistently echoed this view.

"The benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19, with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death, outweigh the risks of side effects," it said in statement on March 31.

- Risk factors?

Most cases of cerebral thrombosis have occurred in those under 65, but it is impossible to draw any conclusions about age because the vaccine has been administered to date mostly among younger populations.

The fact that a majority of cases have been among women may simply reflect the fact the health sector -- predominately women -- was given priority for vaccination.

"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," the EMA said.

Notwithstanding, after some countries temporarily paused the AstraZeneca jab in mid-March, several countries have now suspended the vaccine again.

Germany decided last week to ban its use for anyone under 60, while in Canada -- as in France -- the age threshold is 55. In Sweden the age cutoff is 65.

"We do not have just one vaccine, we have several," Sandra Ciesek, a professor of medical virology at the Goethe University Frankfurt, wrote in Science magazine.

"So, restricting the AstraZeneca vaccine to older people makes sense to me."

Norway and Sweden have taken the more radical step of suspending the AstraZeneca vaccine altogether.

- Possible explanations?

For the moment, there are only hypotheses, though the EMA is expected to suggest next week which are the more likely.

In a study released on March 28 that has not yet been peer-reviewed, German and Austrian researchers pointed to a known biological mechanism as a possible explanation for the apparent surge in atypical thrombosis.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, they wrote, is associated with a thrombosis disorder "that clinically resembles heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT)".

HIT is a rare and serious reaction of the immune system to the anti-coagulant medication heparin.

The authors, led by Andreas Greinacher from the University of Greifswald, proposed a name for what they described as a new syndrome: "vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT)."

Researchers at Oslo National Hospital had earlier suggested that cases might have been triggered by a "powerful immune response" to the vaccine.

An association of French scientists and doctors called "On the Side of Science" have said such an immune response could come from the accidental insertion of the needle into a vein in the upper arm, rather than muscle.

pr-phy/mh/har
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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has commiserated with the family of the late Afenifere spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin.

Mr Odumakin died on Saturday at the intensive care unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital where he was being managed for respiratory issues due to complications from COVID-19.

Many Nigerians including President Muhammadu Buhari had described Mr Odumakin as a man of conviction and a strong defender of human rights and dignity.

Mr Osinbajo in a post on Twitter by his spokesperson, Laolu Akande, said he was shocked by the news of Mr Odumakins passing.

VP Osinbajo is shocked at the sad news of the death of Mr Yinka Odumakin and commiserates with his wife, family and associates. He prays that the Lord will comfort the family, and bless his memory always, the post read.

The national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, in a statement described Mr Odumakin as a sincere Nigerian.

The ex-Lagos governor, who disagreed with Mr Odumakin on several issues while the latter was alive, said the incident was premature departure of a bright star.

Odumakin never held public office. But he has been a constant feature and part of our public consciousness over the last two decades of this unbroken democratic dispensation. He epitomized the true definition of the citizen; a patriot who was ever conscious of the fact that his life could not be complete or his humanity meaningful if he did not take an active interest in and join likeminded fellow citizens in seeking always to promote the common good of his community and country.

In the course of the last two and a half decades, Odumakin and I had cause to collaborate in various organizations and in pursuit of different political causes at different times and I can testify to his capacity for hard work, his brilliance, his tenacity in his loyalty to his cherished principles. Even if we differed politically, I had no cause to doubt his sincerity in charting his chosen path. He will forever remain a model of what a citizen who places the good of his country above his personal interest could be. For, given his talents and abilities, Odumakin could easily have opted to focus on his personal welfare and that of his family rather than embroil himself in the several struggles he dedicated his life to.

It is certainly not fortuitous that his wife, the indefatigable Amazon, Dr Joe Odumakin, was Yinkas comrade in struggle and active collaborator in fighting for justice, liberty and the dignity of the underprivileged. They were iconic soul mates in the ceaseless battle for a better and greater Nigeria.

Mr Tinubu also commiserated with the leadership of Afenifere and members of the group.

Odumakin is gone. But he lives on in the memory of millions of his compatriots. May his soul rest in peace, Mr Tinubu said.

The bishop of the archdiocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, said Mr Odumakin chose a good day to depart the world.

I knew Yinka well. A passionate patriot of deep convictions about what an egalitarian society should look like through the prism of Democracy. He worked passionately and sacrificed for a great country, he said.

He chose a good day to depart the world: He chose a good day to die. May He rise with the Lord. My consolation to Joe and the children who must be very proud of him.
A man was captured on video smoking a joint in front of two New York City police officers just days after Gov Andrew Cuomo signed a bill legalizing marijuana in the state.

'Happy quarantine!' the man is heard telling the officers as he puffs on his pot.

The man appeared to be with a group of people when he went up to the officers.

It's unclear where exactly the incident occurred because while marijuana is legal in New York City, there are several restrictions.

New Yorkers can't smoke or vape marijuana in locations where smoking is prohibited by state law, including workplaces, indoor bars and restaurants and within 100 feet of a school.

And stricter local smoking rules apply: New York City bans smoking in parks and on beaches, for instance.

A man was captured on video smoking a joint in front of two New York City police officers (one pictured in the background) just days after Gov Andrew Cuomo signed a bill legalizing marijuana in the state

The man appeared to be with a group of people when he went up to the officers (one officer pictured left). It's unclear where exactly the incident occurred because while marijuana is legal in New York City, there are several restrictions

Cuomo signed a legalization bill on Wednesday, which allows New York adults over the age of 21 to possess and use marijuana even in public. Passed after several years of stalled efforts, the measure makes New York the 16th state to legalize adult use of the drug.

New York is also the second-most populous state, after California, to legalize recreational marijuana. Legalization backers hope the Empire State will add momentum and set an example with its efforts to redress the inequities of a system that has locked up people of color for marijuana offenses at disproportionate rates.

'By placing community reinvestment, social equity, and justice front and center, this law is the new gold standard for reform efforts nationwide,' said Melissa Moore, New York state director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

The legislation provides protections for cannabis users in the workplace, housing, family court, schools, colleges and universities, and sets a target of providing half of marijuana licenses to individuals from underrepresented communities. And police could no longer use the odor of cannabis as a reason for searching someones car for contraband.

New York will start automatically expunging some past marijuana-related convictions, and people wont be arrested or prosecuted for possession of pot up to 3 ounces. A 2019 law already expunged many past convictions and reduced the penalty for possessing small amounts.

In a unique provision, New Yorkers 21 and over can now smoke cannabis in public, including on sidewalks. No other state allows that, said Paul Armentano, deputy director of pro-legalization group NORML.

Local governments can pass stricter rules on marijuana use, prohibit retail dispensaries or cannabis lounges, and impose small civil penalties - as long as they don't 'completely or essentially prohibit a person' from lawful marijuana use.

Mackenzie Stevenson, a portrait photographer and dental assistant in central New York, was thrilled at the news. She has a relative with epilepsy who's been greatly helped by medical marijuana.

Cuomo signed a legalization bill on Wednesday, which allows New York adults over the age of 21 to possess and use marijuana even in public. Passed after several years of stalled efforts, the measure makes New York the 16th state to legalize adult use of the drug

'I've seen the benefits it's had for her, so I'm excited for more people to be able to benefit from it,' the 20-year-old said.

'Once I'm 21, I'm going to be very excited to go out and be able to use it myself,' added Stevenson, who said she has tried it occasionally.

Law enforcement organizations, parents' groups and many Republican lawmakers opposed the new law.

They suggested legalization will encourage kids to use marijuana and will increase impaired-driving crashes, among other concerns.

'For 27 years in the military, I fought drugs, every single year... What will we do to our children here?' Republican state Rep John Lemondes Jr, a retired Army colonel, asked as lawmakers debated Tuesday night.

Legalization supporters say that it's already easy for young adults to get pot and that theres no clear link between marijuana legalization and traffic accidents.

Officials plan to study the driving issue, and the law also lets state police get money to train more officers as 'drug recognition experts,' though University at Buffalo professor R. Lorraine Collins said there's no evidence those experts can tell whether someone's high.

The trade publication Marijuana Business Daily estimates New York could become the East Coast's largest recreational marijuana market - generating a potential $2.3billion in annual sales by its fourth year.

Cuomo, a Democrat, said annual tax revenues could eventually total $300million, though Republicans are skeptical.

California was forced to cut $223million from state budget projections in 2019 due to slower-than-expected pot sales.

After covering the state's costs of regulation and enforcement, tax revenues would go to schools, drug treatment and prevention programs and a fund for investing in job skills, adult education, mental health and other services in communities that bore the brunt of the national and state drug war.

The taxes are considerable: a 9 per cent statewide sales tax, an additional 4 per cent county and local tax and another tax based on the level of THC, marijuana's active ingredient.

Sen Liz Krueger, a Democrat and the legislation's senate sponsor, estimates the total tax rate will come out to about 20 per cent.

The state will provide loans, grants and incubator programs to encourage cannabis entrepreneurs from minority communities, as well as small farmers, women and disabled veterans. Krueger said the state can't mandate giving 50 per cent of licenses to such applicants because it could be unconstitutional.

Instead, the law sets 50 per cent as 'a goal'.

'Fifty per cent is a very high bar to try to reach, but if it happens, it would be amazing,' said Hillary Peckham, chief operator of Etain Health, a women-owned New York medical cannabis company that is considering applying for a recreational marijuana license.

'The next step is to see how the regulations and the program are stood up to actually provide those opportunities,' added Peckham, whose company has four dispensaries around the state.

Social equity emerged as a key theme in marijuana legalization in recent years, with newly legal states trying to build it in and others seeking to make up for a lack of diversity in the businesses they approved earlier. But plans havent always played out as intended.

Illinois, for instance, was touted for the equity provisions in its 2019 law. But that has drawn criticism and legal action from some Black-owned businesses that were passed over. Illinois has since revised its process to try to address those issues.
The Nation Speaks (April 3): What Happens After Crossing the Border; Inside Bidens Infrastructure Plan; GOP States Push Back on Fed Bailout

The crisis at the southern border is getting more intense by the day. In March, Border Patrol caught at least 150,000 people crossing illegally50,000 more than in February. Facilities are overcrowded, and Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed.

But theres a lot more to this story, like how exactly so many people are making it to the U.S.Mexico border, and what happens to them next. Two guests give us great insight into these questions: Todd Bensman, senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies; and Anita Teekah, senior director of the Anti-Trafficking Program at Safe Horizon.

President Joe Biden unveiled his $2.5 trillion infrastructure plan this week, saying it will modernize Americas transportation infrastructure. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) calls it a Trojan horse for far-left demands. Here to help explain what that means is Sarah Anderson, director of policy at FreedomWorks.

The recently passed $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the American Rescue Plan, is over 600 pages and chock-full of implications most Americans will never hear about. One such provision being fought by Republican states relates to the strings attached for states when they accept bailout money from the federal government. Joining us to discuss the implications of this is Chris Jacobs, founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group.

And in America Q&A, we ask Americans across the country what they think about criminal cartels profiting from smuggling people across the southern border; and what they think about vaccine passports.
Romania has been part of the most successful alliance in human history for 17 years - the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - which ensures the security of over one billion citizens, Social Democratic Party (PSD) Chairman Marcel Ciolacu said in a message sent on the occasion of the celebration of NATO Day in Romania.

"This national goal achieved during the Nastase government made Romania today an important and influential ally within NATO, representing a basic pillar of security in the Black Sea region and the Eastern flank. This fact is also reflected in the fact that the number 2 position in the organization - Deputy Secretary General - is proudly represented by a Romanian, Mr. Mircea Geoana", said the PSD leader in the message posted on his Facebook page.

He recalled that since the beginning of the pandemic, NATO has provided support to its members and allies for this health crisis not to become a security one."Since the beginning of the pandemic, NATO has provided support to its members and allies through transportation and donations of essential medical equipment and products, but also by countering disinformation campaigns by external state and non-state actors, ensuring that this health crisis does not become a security one. On NATO Day in Romania, I express my support for the permanent adaptation of the organization and its members to the challenges caused by political, economic and technological developments at the global level", Marcel Ciolacu added.
About 1:30 a.m., officers were called to the 1100 block of South State Street, where they located a 26-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg. Authorities determined he had been attempting to rob an unidentified victim when he shot himself in the leg as he and the other person physically struggled.
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
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 19:56:10|Editor: huaxia

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PARIS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- French economy is expected to grow by 5 percent in 2021, lower than the previously forecast 6 percent, due to the new national lockdown starting this weekend to curb the third wave of novel coronavirus epidemic, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery, said on Sunday.

"Closing schools and 150,000 businesses is essential to curb the circulation of the virus. But these measures will have an impact on the French economy. We are therefore going to revise our growth from 6 percent to 5 percent for 2021," the minister told the French weekly paper Le Journal du Dimanche (The Paper of Sunday).

Since the beginning of March, the daily number of infections in France has been an average of 30,000 due to the spread of the more infectious virus variant first detected in Britain. As COVID-19 patients gradually fill up intensive care beds in hospital and the accumulative death toll nears 100,000, President Emmanuel Macron ordered on Wednesday evening a third national lockdown.

Macron expected to see France starting to return to normal in May.

"Everything will depend on the health situation, but in any case we anticipate (that) and we will be ready," Le Maire noted.

The minister urged the European Union to accelerate the implementation of its recovery plan. "France was to receive 5 billion (euros) in July. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that we will receive this amount on that date," he said.

"In 2020, Europe was able to free itself from its shackles to jointly raise debt, quickly adopt a recovery plan with coordinated economic responses. Let us not let red tape, old dogmatic reflexes and political reluctance in certain Member States take over. Let's go quickly. Let us implement our 750-billion-euro recovery plan without delay," Le Maire added.

For the third lockdown which will last at least one month, Le Maire said the total cost of government aid to businesses under restriction in April would reach 11 billion euros.

Macron's promise of "whatever the cost" to help companies and workers during the lockdown will be kept as long as the health crisis lasts, he noted.

Under the government aid program, businesses closed during lockdown are entitled to the solidarity fund, which provides a monthly aid of up to 10,000 euros or 20 percent of turnover.

"All the aid to companies discharged in 2020 amounted to 47 billion euros. Until now, the Ministry of Economy forecast a bill of 32 billion for the whole of 2021. This figure will therefore have to be reviewed (after the April lockdown)," said French daily Les Echos in its analysis.

In 2020, the French economy shrank by 8.3 percent, the worst recession since World War II, as the pandemic took a heavy toll on economic activities. (1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars) Enditem
Theres a poem by W.H. Auden that begins like this:

About suffering they were never wrong,

The old Masters: how well they understood

Its human position: how it takes place

While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along

The speaker in the poem is looking at Pieter Brueghels painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, which hangs in the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. The painting  which researchers in the 1990s determined was actually a copy of Brueghels original  shows humanity going about its work (the farmer plowing, the angler fishing, the shepherd tending his flock) as, in a remote corner of the canvas, Icarus is drowning in the sea after his waxwork wings have melted.

The painter, the narrator observes, captures how everything turns away/Quite leisurely from the disaster.

Its odd, the things that will pop into your head after youve watched a person dying over and over again on body-worn camera footage. But it was Audens words that came back to me after I and tens of thousands of other people around the nation watched a chunk of Wednesdays proceedings in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who stands charged with the murder of George Floyd.

Prosecutors showed the jury the footage captured by the officers who responded to the call that ended with Floyd dead on the pavement. Watching the scene repeated from slightly different perspectives could leave you feeling nauseous, and not simply from the herky-jerky first-person video. Each time, you hope it will turn out differently  that Chauvin will stop grinding his knee into Floyds neck. (The dreadful martyrdom must run its course, Auden writes of death.)

One of the last clips to be shown was captured by the camera worn by former officer Tou Thao, who interacted with the small crowd that assembled on the sidewalk a few feet from where Floyd was dying.

Several of those people testified last week, and offered up their own video from that day. They included Donald Williams, a bouncer and mixed martial arts fighter who can be seen begging and then demanding that Chauvin get off Floyd. The ex-officers defense counsel took Williams, who is Black, through an inventory of the invective that he had directed at Chauvin, and asked if he had been angry.

No, you can't paint me out as angry, Williams said. I was in a position that I had to be in control. Controlled professionalism. I wasn't angry.

Genevieve Hansen, a firefighter and EMT who was out for a walk that day, described trying to intervene and conduct a medical check on Floyd. When Hansen, who is white, stepped off the sidewalk to get a better vantage on what Chauvin was doing to Floyd, Thao shouted at her to step back. He did the same to Williams when he briefly stepped into the street.

Chauvins attorneys, you see, are planning to argue that the former officer was distracted from what he was doing to Floyd by the group of about a dozen people who were on the sidewalk pleading with the officers to stop killing him. The logic of this argument is that the bystanders bear a portion of responsibility for Floyds death, just as they will argue that Floyds drug use might have been the primary cause of his demise. The jury will have to determine the validity of those claims.

The testimony from Hansen and other members of the crowd revealed that many of them do carry around a measure of guilt  not for what they did or said that day, but out of anguish that they were helpless to stop Chauvin and his fellow officers, who were armed and invested with the power of the state. (I was desperate to give help, Hansen said on the stand.) These people have been traumatized, for life.

At the same time, they present the flip side to Audens portrait of our blithe indifference to the suffering of others. The escalating outrage on the sidewalk (Hansen: Check his pulse ... right __ing now!) is how humans are supposed to respond when someone is being killed a few feet from them on a public street.

Their actions stood in contrast to the video footage from Mondays brutal attack on a 65-year-old Asian-American woman in Manhattan. It happened in front of the lobby of a luxury apartment building in midtown. Security cameras show the buildings staff and a vendor doing nothing to intercede, though they do take the time to watch from behind the closed door until the assailant has moved on.

Audens poem ends with Brueghels image of the expensive delicate ship that must have seen/Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky but had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on. As opposed to someone rushing to the rail to yell for the ship to come about to help the drowning man.

As Americans, we should be furious about the actions of the police that day  and similar episodes of deadly official misconduct that play out over, and over, and over again. But we can take a measure of comfort from the fact that the people who saw it happening in real time knew it was wrong, and called it out.

cseiler@timesunion.com
PALMETTO  Amid concerns about the potential collapse of the Piney Point reservoir, Manatee County Sheriffs officials are evacuating about 345 inmates from the county jails first floor.

Sheriff Rick Wells said Sunday that moving all the inmates to the second floor, which was the plan county officials originally announced, would be too much of a security risk. Instead, the jail is taking the inmates by bus to a location Wells declined to share Sunday afternoon while they were still being moved.

The remaining inmates and staff on the first floor will be moved to the second floor, along with medical equipment. There were 1,063 inmates in jail Sunday.

The first floor will be vacant, Wells said.

The Manatee County Central Jail at 14470 Harlee Road is in the northwest corner of an evacuation zone surrounding the old Piney Point phosphate mine. About 300 million gallons of wastewater is threatening to breach a reservoir there and flood the surrounding area after the lining supporting the structure is believed to have torn last week.

County and state officials are working to pump water out of the reservoir to reduce the quantity in the event of a breach. The pond held about 480 million gallons last week. As of Sunday, that amount had depleted to less than 300 million gallons.

Wells said the jail isnt expecting more than a foot of flooding. He added that the jail has planned for floods before during hurricanes.

As news spread of the countys initial plan, a small group of protesters gathered at the countys Emergency Operations Center to urge officials to evacuate the jail.

Florida state Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby, whose district includes north Manatee County, said in an interview Sunday she feels comfortable with Wells plan.

If his plan is actually executed with how he explained it, I have no issue with it, the St. Petersburg Democrat said.
Arriving at a more complete picture of Dharmapala View(s):

Sarath Amunugamas The Lions Roar: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Making of Modern Buddhism offers a comprehensive yet very readable account of the life and inuence of Anagarika Dharmapala (18641933). In Sri Lanka, Dharmapala is revered for reviving Sinhalese Buddhism and for restoring Sri Lankan pride during a period of colonial domination. He is also admired for his lifelong struggle to establish Buddhist management of Buddhist sacred sites in India.

A great merit of Amunugamas book is that it provides a sound basis to arrive at a more complete picture of Dharmapala than has been here tofore possible. The author rst locates Dharmapala (born Don David Hewavitarne) in the context of social and economic changes in Sri Lanka during the colonial period, particularly as these relate to the revival of Buddhism in the late nineteenth century. Dharmapalas family belonged to the new merchant class who had prospered through the opening of commercial plantations by the British. Elements of this new nativist elite, with Dharmapalas father at the forefront, formed strong bonds with the Buddhist Sangha and laid the foundations for the early Sinhala-Buddhist revival and resistance to missionary inuence and colonial paternalism. Although educated in missionary schools (which gave him deep knowledge of Christian scripture and Western thought), Dharmapala was given special instruction in Buddhism and Sinhala language at home. When the Theosophical delegation headed by Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott arrived in Colombo in 1880, the young Dharmapala was present along with his father and uncle to welcome them.

Dharmapalas relationship with the Theosophists and the inuence they had on him is an important and very interesting aspect of Amunugamas book. It was Madame Blavatsky who encouraged Dharmapala to master Pali. (He was later instrumental in establishing a department of Pali at Calcutta University.) Blavatsky also encouraged him to make a pilgrimage to Bodhgaya, the site of the Buddhas Great Awakening (mahabodhi) in northern India. The 19-year-old Dharmapala travelled through southern Sri Lanka as Olcotts translator and learnt the art of public speaking and the importance of education and role of the printing press in spreading the message. The importance these aspects assumed in Dharmapalas mission is covered in detail in the book.

It was also under the inuence of the Theosophists that Dharmapala envisioned a new role for himself as a celibate homeless one (anagarika): neither a layperson pursuing worldly goals nor a monk enmeshed in rituals and cultural prescriptions, limited by the caste and other restrictions on the Sri Lankan clergy of his day. Fortunately, his wealthy parents supported his new vocation.

The book provides insight into Dharmapalas thinking and motivation through detailed attention to his diaries and hitherto unpublished letters.

Surprisingly, Dharmapala spent the greater part of his life in India. His rst visit came about because of his involvement in the Theosophical Society, which had established its headquarters in Madras (Chennai). A substantial portion of the book considers Dharmapalas establishment of the Mahabodhi Society and his efforts to return the sacred site in Bodhgaya and the site of the Buddhas rst teaching in Sarnath to Buddhist hands. It also details his relationship with the Bengali intelligentsia (the bhadralok) and discusses the impact of nascent Hindu nationalism on his thinking and his links with Hindu revivalists. (Swami Vivekananda and Dharmapala were both prominent gures at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893.)

Dharmapalas international connections with Japan, Britain, and the United States are explored in some detail. Readers interested in the broader inuence of Dharmapala and his ideas on political and social movements beyond his lifetime will also nd much of value in this book. Amunugama suggests that Dharmapala was more of an internationalist than a nationalist. He argues that Dharmapalas Sri Lankan nationalism needs to be seen in the context of colonial oppression and British condescension to Sri Lankan cultural and spiritual values. One of Dharmapalas goals was the restoration of Sinhalese self-respect.

More broadly, he believed that Buddhism had a message for all humanity. After his rst visit to Bodhgaya in 1891, Dharmapala committed himself to work towards the re-establishment of Buddhism in aryavarta (northern India) and the propagation of the word of the Buddha in Asia and the West. It is evident that Dharmapalas mastery of Pali and his study of original Buddhist texts were as much responsible for the direction of his moral and religious thinking, as was Protestant inuence. Amunugama makes clear that Dharmapalas position did not involve a repudiation of traditional Buddhism. It was also the reading of original Buddhist texts that led Dharmapala to reject Theosophy. Certainly, he was critical of the laxity of monks and encouraged lay religiosity, but he aspired to be a bodhisattva working for the good of humanity in all his future lives.

Dharmapala died in Sarnath a fully ordained monk. There is value in the detailed analysis provided by Amunugama, but the book is longer than it needs to be. Considerable repetition could have been avoided by some reorganisation. Some sections of the book would perhaps have been better left to journal articles, for example, the chapter on John de Silva and the Sinhala Nationalist Theatre and the chapter on the role of the printing press in the Buddhist revival.

Book facts The Lions Roar: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Making of Modern Buddhism by Sarath Amunugama

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019; pp. ix + 556

Reviewed by Peter Oldmeadow

(University of Sydney)
The Duchess of Cambridge's hairdresser is sitting on a 1 million post-lockdown jackpot after receiving an astonishing 4,000 pre- booking requests.

Richard Ward, who has been in charge of Kate's locks since before her marriage to Prince William ten years ago, said he was 'really excited' about reopening his salon in London's Sloane Square on April 12.

The average cut and half-head of colour is rather more than a snip at about 275, meaning that the pent-up demand could be worth seven figures.

Richard Ward, who has been in charge of Kate's locks since before her marriage to Prince William ten years ago

Mr Ward, pictured, who also styles the rest of the Middleton family, played down talk of a bonanza, suggesting trade may yet subside

Mr Ward told The Mail on Sunday: 'We've had about 4,000 emails  that's how many appointments were pending.

'We are only opening the phone lines next week and we haven't been allowing people to book online yet. We've had an extra 1,000 waiting for a haircut since last year's lockdown.'

But Mr Ward, who also styles the rest of the Middleton family, played down talk of a bonanza, suggesting trade may yet subside.

He said: 'It sounds amazing that we've all these clients booked but we will soon get through those, which will take a couple of months.

'There are parts of the business that won't see a return to normal until the country is properly open, which is why we know we will definitely be down 20 per cent from pre-Covid.

'All the people who come to London for weddings and events and Wimbledon are gone.'
An elderly man reacts on being inoculated by a medical staff with the Covishield vaccine as part of the nationwide Covid-19 coronavirus vaccination drive at the Rajawadi hospital in Mumbai on March 17. The new double mutant COVID variant from India has been confirmed in at least one case in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is not surprising or strange, Indian American physician Nirav Shah, Senior Scholar at Stanford Universitys Clinical Excellence Research Center, told India-West. What were seeing is nothing extraordinary. Every virus evolves over time: a spike protein may bend a little differently. (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that would put Americans to work on traditional infrastructure like roads, bridges, airports, railroads, electric car charging stations, water pipes, high-speed broadband and modernizing the electrical grid, and so-called human infrastructure like caregiving for the elderly and children, pandemic preparedness and technologies to reduce global warming. Biden said hed pay for it by raising taxes on corporations.

That is a nonstarter for Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said his caucus would not support a plan that raises taxes. Thus Biden would need the support of every Democrat in the 50-50 Senate to force passage of the bill using a budget reconciliation maneuver  the same way Bidens $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill was passed without a single GOP vote.

David Horsey of the Seattle Times views each bill as a shot in the arm to the U.S. economy, drawing on vaccine imagery by picturing Biden wielding giant hypodermic needles. Others depicted the president at the controls of heavy construction equipment.

Editorial cartoonists also commented on a CNN documentary featuring interviews with key Trump administration figures in the fight against the pandemic. Dr. Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator under President Donald Trump, said hundreds of thousands of deaths could have been prevented if the administration had acted more forcefully. Dr. Anthony Fauci took credit for deciding to pursue a vaccine.

Also in the news was more controversy over voting laws; the growing number of unaccompanied minors crossing the Mexico-U.S. border; premature celebration over nearing the Covid finish line; and Easter.

Cartoons were drawn by Nick Anderson, Bill Bramhall, Dan Wasserman, Dana Summers, Drew Sheneman, Scott Stantis, Walt Handelsman, David Horsey, Phil Hands, Joel Pett and Joey Weatherford of Tribune Content Agency; and A.F. Branco, Mike Luckovich and Michael Ramirez of Creators Syndicate.

View more editorial cartoon galleries.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4)  Pope Francis delivered a message for Filipinos on Sunday, as the country officially started the year-long celebration of the quincentennial of Christianity in the country.

In his message, the Pope said even in difficult times, the faith of Filipinos has still allowed them to share it with others. He encouraged Filipinos to keep going, adding he is always with them.

In his message, the Pope also shared three mysteries of the faith, which he said characterized the "the most profound Christian roots" of Filipinos: Nazareth, the Cross and Pentecost.

Nazareth, he said was where the Holy Family lived and where the child Jesus grew up. The Sto. Nino was the symbol of Christianity arriving in the country.

The Cross, meanwhile, represents the difficult times Filipinos have endured. However, the Pope said he knows that amid these challenges, Filipinos "have risen up one time after another."

Pentecost, the Pope said, stands for a new beginning.

"There is one person who marks this itinerary who has always been with Jesus when he was a child in Nazareth, and from there, accompanying him also in the most difficult moments of his life up to the feet of the cross. That person is his mother, Mary," he said.

The Pope added, "Mary has always been with all of you. She is the Mother who never abandons. She has accompanied you until here. And now we ask her to intercede for this new Pentecost of the Church in the Philippines."
(Newser)  Jordan implicated Hamzah bin Hussein on Sunday in a plot against the government, saying the former crown prince was working with foreign interests. "These were efforts that threatened Jordan's security and stability," the deputy prime minister said, "and these efforts were foiled." The prince, who's a half-brother of King Abdullah II, issued a statement on video Saturday denying involvement in a conspiracy while criticizing the government. He said he was under house arrest. Statements of support were issued immediately by allies including the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel, the Wall Street Journal reports. At least 20 high-ranking officials were arrested. The American-born Queen Noor tweeted, "Praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander"apparently referring to the allegations against Hamzah, her son.

story continues below

The deputy prime minister, Ayman al-Safadi, laid out the case against the former crown prince in a televised press conference, per the Washington Post. He said Hamzah plotted with another member of the royal family, an official who once was in charge of the royal court, and a representative to Saudi Arabia. He accused them of "promoting sedition." Someone with a foreign connection offered a private jet to Hamzah's family for leaving Jordan, he said. Hamzah does have support in the kingdom, and the government said the king will discuss the matter with himkeeping it "within the framework of the family"before it goes to the security courts. At the same time, the government sent messages about how the matter would be handled. "These designs and plots were dealt with with firmness," Safadi said. And the head of parliament said that "the king is a red line" and that Jordan would oppose "any trembling traitorous hand that aims to mess with our security and stability." (Read more Jordan stories.)
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.
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.
Over the last year, in an unrelenting series of episodes with clear racial animus, people of Asian descent have been pushed, beaten, kicked, spit on and called slurs. Homes and businesses have been vandalized. The violence has known no boundaries, spanning generations, income brackets and regions.

The New York Times attempted to capture a sense of the rising tide of anti-Asian bias nationwide. Using media reports from across the country, The Times found more than 110 episodes since March 2020 in which there was clear evidence of race-based hate.

There have been many more attacks on people of Asian descent in which hate is not a clear motivation the way it is when racial slurs are used. Those cases include the fatal attack of a Thai man in January, as well as the assaults of a 91-year-old man in Oaklands Chinatown and a 89-year-old woman in Brooklyn. Those episodes, and other brutal high-profile attacks, have terrified the Asian community.

But there is no ambiguity about the cases The Times collected: These are assaults in which the assailants expressed explicit racial hostility with their language, and in which nearly half included a reference to the coronavirus: You are the virus. You are infected. Go back to China. Youre the one who brought the virus here.

Media reports of harassment against people of Asian descent Physical attacks Verbal attacks Vandalism March 2020 April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. 2021 Feb. March Physical attacks Verbal attacks Vandalism March 20 April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. 21 Feb. March

The episodes unfolded in most every region, from Carmel Valley, Calif., to Cleveland, Ohio, to St. Petersburg, Fla. They have been mostly in big cities along the coasts with large Asian populations, but in small towns too, like Stevens Point, Wis.

Hate as a motive is historically difficult to prove. Prosecutors ask: Were the victims singled out because they were of Asian descent? Or would the assailants have attacked anyone who happened to be there at the time? But over the last year, hate crimes, as classified and recorded by the police, rose at a faster pace against people of Asian descent than hate crimes over all. In New York City and Boston, hate crimes over all fell while anti-Asian hate crimes spiked.

Anti-Asian hate crimes reported to the police New York City Los Angeles Seattle 30 30 30 anti-Asian attacks 20 20 20 10 10 10 0 0 0 15 20 15 20 15 20 Dallas Boston San Jose 10 10 10 0 0 0 15 20 15 20 15 20 New York City Los Angeles 30 30 anti-Asian attacks 20 20 10 10 0 0 15 20 15 20 Boston Seattle 20 20 10 10 0 0 15 20 15 20 Dallas San Jose 10 10 0 0 15 20 15 20 Source: B. Levin, K. Grisham, A. Venolia and G. Levin, Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino  Note: Data is based on each citys police departments. Los Angeles data is for only the Los Angeles Police Department. The 2015 number for San Jose is not available.

The tally arrived at by The Times may be only a sliver of the violence and harassment people of Asian descent have faced over the last year, as hate crimes are generally undercounted and underreported and only the most egregious accounts become headlines. It is also possible that the number of reports to law enforcement authorities and the media have increased, rather than the number of episodes.

That said, our broad survey captures the breadth of violence across the country  episodes that grew in number after Donald J. Trump as president began calling the coronavirus the Chinese virus, which activists said fueled anti-Asian sentiments early in the pandemic.

In New York City alone, the number of hate crimes with Asian-American victims reported to the New York Police Department jumped to 28 last year, up from three in 2019. And so far this year, the department is actively investigating or has solved 35 anti-Asian bias crimes.

The swell of xenophobia is unmooring. It breeds a kind of palpable fear and feeds the notion of othering, of reducing an individuals essence to ethnic stereotypes.

Weve gone from being invisible to being seen as subhuman, wrote Representative Grace Meng, Democrat of New York, after an attack in Manhattan last week. We just want to be seen as American like everyone else.

During that attack in Manhattan, in which the Filipino-American woman was knocked off her feet and stomped on her head and upper body, the assailant uttered four words: You dont belong here.

Beaten, pepper sprayed, spit on

Most of the physical attacks in The Timess survey have been reported in the last two months, though a vast majority of the earliest episodes involved perpetrators linking those attacked to Covid. Many of the victims  who ranged widely in age  were severely injured.

As videos from some of the episodes show, most of the assaults appear to have been unprovoked. The perpetrators were mostly male, though women were among the assailants, as were teenagers and seniors.

Called names and racial slurs

People of Asian descent, like many other ethnic groups, have long been subjected to racial slurs. A vast majority of the verbal attacks in the last year also blame Asians for creating and spreading the coronavirus.

Many of these attacks included racial slurs like chink and Chinaman. In a few instances, Covid was referred to as the Kung flu.

Homes and businesses vandalized

Graffiti, often linking Asians to Covid-19 or using other derogatory language, has become prevalent on peoples homes, businesses and cars, as well as on public property. In one instance, for example, Kill all Chinese people was written on the wall of a New York subway station.
The state government is considering sending future coronavirus cases solely to the Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital, following the recent virus outbreak linked to the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

The proposal was put forward to reduce the risk of transmission through Queenslands hospital system and would make the RBWH the states main hospital for COVID-19 cases.

The Royal Brisbane and Women\s Hospital could become Queenslands COVID-19 patient hub. Credit:Fairfax Media

On Saturday, Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said patients were moved out of the PA Hospitals COVID ward and no more would be sent there while the Queensland Health investigation continued into how two patients of a nurse at the hospital were infected in the same room.

Health Minister Yvette DAth said on Sunday Queenslands virus patients were currently spread across multiple hospitals, but a plan was being considered for them to all go to the same hospital.
New Delhi/Guwahati, April 4 : The third and final phase of polling in the Assam Assembly elections on Tuesday, covering 40 seats mostly across 12 districts of lower Assam, could be a game-changer for the Congress-led Mahajot, as the area is deemed a stronghold of its constituents, the BPF and the AIUDF.

Political analysts believe a focus on the anti-CAA factor in this area where there is a high-density of minorities and the Congress' 'five guarantees' can turn the tide for the opposition alliance.

Congress General Secretary in charge of the state Jitendra Singh also contends that the party's 'five guarantee scheme' will be a game-changer in the elections.

"Congress' five guarantee scheme is paving the way for peace, prosperity and happiness to fill up the lives of the people," he said, assuring that as state in-charge, he will ensure that these are implemented in totality.

The Congress leaders feel that the anti-BJP vote will consolidate in this phase which will be the final blow to the incumbent government. The alliance of the Congress and Badruddin Ajmal's AIUDF will pose a tough fight for the BJP, as the large chunk of the Muslims, who account for 34 per cent of the state's population, are likely to vote on the CAA factor which the BJP is pushing for in the state.

Ajmal, seeking to dispel any last-minute confusion, said: "AIUDF is committed to supporting a Congress Chief Minister in the state. A Mahajot government, an alliance of 10 parties, will work equally for all regions and communities of Assam without fear or favour. " He further said the the only agenda of the Mahajot government will be to implement five guarantees, while contending that the BJP's game of polarisation has failed in the state.

Analysts feel Assam could spring a surprise as it is seeing a very close battle and despite prediction of one-sided polls in favour of the BJP, the decision of Congress and the AIUDF to form a grand alliance, including the BPF, has changed equations and battle is now too close and intense.

Congress says that in upper Assam, the presence of regional players AJP and Raijor Dal has dented the BJP, and the AJP-Raijor Dal alliance is likely to eat a chunk of NDA votes, particularly the votes of AGP, the state's oldest existing regional party.

"Results on May 2 will show how two new parties in upper Assam were instrumental in making Congress sweep the first phase, helping divide non-Congress voters between themselves and the BJP, our post-poll research has found, helping Congress win seats it wasn't expecting," Jitendera Singh said.

In the 2016 Assembly election, the Congress and the AIUDF fought separately, winning 30.9 per cent and 13 per cent of the votes, respectively. The BJP, on the other hand, had 29.5 per cent and its allies AGP and BPF got 8.1 and 3.9 per cent, respectively.

But in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won decisively in the state, despite the NRC fallout.
Vietnamese real estate goes global

The first branded apartments of Grand Marina were purchased by customers of the Asia Bankers Club with a starting price of $1 million, equivalent to a unit price of $18,000 per square metre. This price is significantly higher than other luxury apartments in Ho Chi Minh City with an average price of nearly $7,000 per sq.m, according to CBRE Vietnams 2020 Real Estate Market Spotlight.

Artists impression of Grand Marina, Saigon designed to Marriott standards

However, this price is comparable to those of branded real estate projects in the region such as The Residences at Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok and The Residences at the St. Regis Singapore. On the other hand, compared to Hong Kong  one of the most expensive housing markets in the world  this price is significantly lower than the unit price of the city states luxury segment, estimated at an average of $46,800 per sq.m, according to Savills.

The potential of Vietnams real estate is catching the attention of international investors

The emergence of a new real estate model in Vietnam  the urban branded real estate  has caused the price of luxury apartments to jump and catch up with other countries in the region. With the endorsement of global brands, Savills Branded Residence 2020 report stated, The average price difference of the branded real estate market and the unbranded luxury real estate is about 31 per cent.

The Asia Bankers Club announced that many customers have boldly decided to invest in Grand Marina, Saigon, although they did not have the opportunity to visit the project or a model house.

Kingston Lai, founder and CEO of the Asia Bankers Club said, The project is backed by the Marriott International brand, which has created confidence for customers. Moreover, in the context of the global economy, Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian country to record GDP growth in 2020 and is forecasted by the World Bank to increase its GDP by 6.81 per cent in 2021. Vietnams real estate market is emerging as a bright star, promising growth and opportunities for foreign investors like those from Hong Kong.

The South China Morning Post wrote, Vietnam to host Marriotts largest branded residence project as investors bet on Southeast Asian nations stellar growth. The article reports that Marriott International is making a foray into Vietnams branded real estate sector, starting with Grand Marina, Saigon.

The success of the Grand Marina, Saigon launch event in Hong Kong is a milestone marking the success of a new export product - branded apartments, in addition to long-established products such as rice and coffee. The appearance of the Marriott International brand in the segment has placed the Vietnamese real estate market on the world map and caught the attention of foreign investors.
UN Mission reunites 58 abducted women, children with their families in South Sudan

Xinhua) 09:32, April 04, 2021

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.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
Delhi Chief Minister on Sunday alleged that the BJP-led Centre was trying topunish his government for supporting the farmers' agitation by making it powerless through a new law and went on to say that those not backing the stir were "traitors".

Addressing a 'Kisan mahapanchayat' in Haryana's Jind district, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener asserted that he is ready tomake any sacrificefor the sake of who are agitating against the three central agri laws.

They have brought a Bill in Parliament to punish Kejriwal. We bore the brunt. They are punishing us for supporting farmers' agitation, said Kejriwal, while lashing out at the Centre for the enactment of the Government of Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill in March.

The chief minister said all powers will now be with the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

What kind of law is this, he asked, adding that his party despite winning 62 seats would have no power.

It is the responsibility of every Indian who loves his country to support the farmers, Kejriwal said, adding the will have to bow before the agitating

Any person who is with this agitation is a patriot and the one who is against the farmers' agitation is a traitor, he said.

He claimed that each member of the had said in Parliament that Kejriwal waspunished for supporting farmers' agitation. I want to tell them that our 300 have laid down their lives. For the sake of this farmers' agitation, even if Kejriwal loses his life, we are not scared of your punishment,he said.

"Whatever punishment the central government wants to give me, I do not care, he said.

The Delhi CM also condemned the alleged lathicharge on farmers at Rohtak on Saturday during a protest against Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

In a country where farmers are not respected, the nation cannot progress, he said.

Should governments support farmers or cane-charge them? We strongly condemn this incident, he said.

On farmers' agitation, Kejriwal alleged that the Modi government had put immense pressure on his government for turning nine stadiums into prisons when farmers moved towards the Delhi borders last year.

Kejriwal said that he rejected the Centre's request as farmers' demands were justified and their agitation was non-violent.

Hee said that his government in the capital carried out various development works, be it setting up schools and hospitals or supplying free water, in the last six years and alleged that the was putting stumbling blocks to disrupt the works that were being done for the Delhi people.

He claimed the BJP, despite being the most powerful party in the country, has failed to deliver in the areas of education and health, while his government has made significant progress.

I want to tell the BJP that for building schools and colleges and serving people, there is no need for power. There is a need for intent. You have so many powers but your intention is wrong, he said.

"Kejriwal does not have power but our intent is clear," he said.

You go anywhere in the country and ask people what the BJP has done, they will say it destroyed farmers, traders and youth. Tell me one work done by the BJP in the last five years despite having so much power, he said.

He said only two parties -- the BJPand the Congress -- have ruled the country for 75 years.

Today people will ask the BJP and the Congress if the condition of schools can be improved in Delhi in five years, then why did they not do so in 75 years. They will have to answer, he said.

Why are they after me? Because they want Kejriwal to be like them, 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.)
Addis Ababa, April 5 : The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) disclosed on Sunday that around 2.1 million people in Ethiopia's eastern Somali regional state are in need of humanitarian assistance.

In a bi-weekly humanitarian bulletin report, the UNOCHA disclosed 2.1 million drought-affected people in the Somali regional state need humanitarian assistance, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The UNOCHA disclosed the drying up of traditional water sources as well as the availability of limited functional water boreholes in the drought-affected areas, has meant water trucking schemes are urgently needed.

This is in addition to various food and non-food humanitarian assistance the UNOCHA needs to meet the needs of the more than two million needy people in the state.

"At least $65.5 million is required to cover all identified needs," the UNOCHA disclosed.

Conflict, drought, and seasonal floods have contributed to internal displacement in Ethiopia's Somali regional state and elsewhere.

The humanitarian needs in the country have also been exacerbated by the outbreak of the Covid-19 disease.

Ethiopia currently has the largest number of Covid-19 cases in east Africa, as well as the fifth-highest number of Covid-19 cases in the African continent as a whole.

Ethiopia currently has recorded 208,961 Covid-19 cases and 2,890 Covid-19 related deaths as of Sunday noon.
No later than Monday, Oregon will give the green light to a large swath of residents to get their COVID-19 vaccinations.

State officials dont know exactly how many people are becoming eligible for inoculation. But the group of newly eligible Oregonians comprises anyone who works a frontline job or is ages 16 to 44 with underlying conditions  including being overweight or having common health problems such as hypertension and asthma.

By May 1, all healthy Oregonians 16 and older will get the official OK to get their shots. Thatll amount to about 3.4 million people, or more than 80% of the population.

If youre one of these newly eligible people, heres whats helpful to know:

Who will be eligible Monday?

Monday, April 5, was supposed to be the first day people in Group 7 could start getting vaccinated, but 23 counties last week actually began inoculations of the group because the counties had enough vaccine to go around.

That leaves 13 counties  including those in the Portland area  to start vaccinating this newest wave Monday.

Gov. Kate Brown on Friday expanded the list of underlying conditions that qualify a person to be a part of this group.

The group now includes anyone 16 to 44 who has the following underlying conditions: cancer, heart conditions, type 1 or 2 diabetes, a substance abuse disorder, kidney disease, sickle cell disease, HIV, a compromised immune system, liver disease or a past stroke or other condition affecting blood vessels to the brain. People who are current or past smokers also are eligible.

So are people who are overweight, defined as having a body mass index of 25 or higher. Thats most people. The mean BMI of an American man or woman is almost 30 -- with the average 5-foot-9 man weighing about 200 pounds and average 5-foot-4 woman weighing about 171 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Given the governors Friday announcement, people age 45 and older with any of the above newly listed conditions are immediately eligible for vaccinations, too. Pregnant people age 16 and older also are eligible now.

Oregonians with these underlying conditions are eligible for vaccinations several weeks ahead of the general population. (Oregon Health Authority)

Who else is eligible by Monday?

People in multigenerational households, which state officials define as at least three generations such as children, parents and grandparents living together. State officials also define multigenerational households as a relative living with and caring for someone who is not their child, such as a niece, nephew or grandchild.

Frontline workers also are getting the official OK to get the shot. The governor announced Friday that anyone 16 or older living in the households of frontline workers will be eligible to get vaccinated, as well.

Which jobs fit the definition of frontline?

Oregon is adopting the job categories set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To put it simply, the list is huge.

It includes people who work in grocery and retail stores, restaurants, vocational and trade schools, universities, community colleges, real estate, hotels, construction including contractors, energy extraction and delivery, gas stations, public transit, the U.S. Postal Service, beverage manufacturing, banking, child protective services, public health, news media, government, members of the Oregon Legislature and court staff as well as judges and attorneys. The list even includes people who make paper and cardboard, install cabinets or countertops or rent or repair cars.

A full list is available at https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/categories-essential-workers.html.

The one caveat is that Oregon officials say frontline workers are only eligible if they cant do their jobs unless they get within six feet of someone outside their households for more than 15 minutes.

State officials are trying to avoid a repeat of December and January, when they didnt explicitly say that people who can work entirely from home shouldnt get vaccinated. Back then, an untold number of Oregonians with jobs in the healthcare industry and who worked entirely from home got vaccinated  including administrators, accountants and IT specialists. That drew a fair amount of public criticism.

"Frontline" workers in these industries, among others, are eligible for early vaccinations. (Oregon Health Authority)

Why should I get vaccinated? (If you need a reason besides protecting yourself, be sure to read this:)

Oregon cases appear headed toward a fourth COVID-19 surge, with cases rising 42% in the 10 days leading up to this past Friday. The governor on Friday pleaded with residents to do their part by getting inoculated as soon as they are eligible  stating that Oregon is in a neck-and-neck race between the vaccines and the variants.

Some experts estimate 70% to 90% of Americans need to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity, the point that the virus has so much trouble finding hosts to spread that it dies off.

But 18% of Oregonians  or 766,000 people  are younger than 16, making them ineligible to receive any of the vaccines until more studies about their safety and efficacy on children are complete.

That means we need every or nearly every Oregonian whos eligible to get vaccinated to do so in order to achieve herd immunity. A recent study on vaccine hesitancy outlined the challenge: Only 62% of American adults said theyre sure they want to get vaccinated or already have been.

The longer it takes society to reach herd immunity, the more chances the virus has to replicate to forms that are more contagious, resist the current vaccines or are deadlier. That especially puts people who cant get vaccinated or havent yet gotten vaccinated  including children with serious conditions  at greater risk.

When can I schedule my appointment?

This might seem like a silly question. After all, the state has said Oregonians in Group 7 are eligible to start getting vaccinated Monday. But some readers have contacted The Oregonian/OregonLive wondering if they have to wait until Monday to start trying to schedule appointments.

David Baden, chief financial officer of the Oregon Health Authority, told the news organization that residents in Group 7 are free to start scheduling ahead of time for vaccination dates that fall on Monday or later.

The same holds true for May 1, Baden confirmed: Oregonians who become eligible in the last wave of the rollout can start booking appointments before May 1  as long as their actual vaccination dates are May 1 or later.

State officials say even though some websites, such as those for pharmacies or some mass vaccination clinics say people arent eligible to sign up ahead of time, they actually are.

How do I schedule an appointment?

In the Portland area that encompasses Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Columbia counties, you have three primary options:

 Visit www.ohsu.edu/covidvaccines or call 833-647-8222 at 9 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays to book appointments at the drive-thru lots at Portland International Airport or Hillsboro Stadium. Times are subject to change, but the website should notify visitors. Also, sometimes new appointments dont appear on the site until a few minutes after 9 a.m., so check back if you dont immediately see any.

 Register at getvaccinated.oregon.gov, which will enter you into a lottery. The state will send randomly selected names of people whove registered to the operators of the indoor mass vaccination site at the Oregon Convention Center in Northeast Portland. Those on the lists will be sent emails or texts with links that allow them to book appointments.

 Go to vaccinefinder.org, which will provide links to pharmacies with available appointments. Or visit covidvaccine.oregon.gov and click on Vaccine Information by County to learn if you can book appointments in other areas of the state. The state fairgrounds, for one, is vaccinating thousands of Oregonians each week regardless of their counties of residence.

If you have questions, call 211 for help.

Which vaccine will I get?

Sites across Oregon are administering doses of Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnsons Janssen vaccines. Many websites tell you which vaccine theyre offering before you schedule.

Medical experts say all three vaccines are good choices.

Last week, researchers who studied the real-world protection offered by the two-dose regimens of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines found them to be 90% effective  similar to 94% to 95% found in clinical trials.

A trial estimated the efficacy of Johnson & Johnsons Janssen vaccine, which requires only one dose, at 72% in the United States, 64% in South Africa and about 66% overall. But experts say the vaccine cant be directly compared with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines because their trials were held at a time when the South African variant played no role in the United States.

How competitive is it to get an appointment?

Although state officials say they cant provide an exact estimate, its safe to say hundreds of thousands of Oregonians will become eligible no later than Monday as part of Group 7. So its wise to prepare yourself for the possibility that you might not get an appointment right away.

But there are indicators that demand might not be as high as it was in February and early March, when seniors 65 and older became eligible.

One day last week, a surprising 22 hours passed before a batch of freshly released appointments at OHSUs drive-thru sites were reserved. That compares to the 10 minutes it took for appointments to vanish when seniors first became eligible.

Another example: Just one day after Group 6  which includes people 45 to 64 with underlying conditions and some frontline workers  became eligible, the Oregon Convention Center already was inviting people in Group 7 to start booking appointments for dates after Monday.

State officials said that appears to be because demand in Group 6 had already been met.

Baden, who is overseeing the vaccine rollout for the Oregon Health Authority, said these examples might be indicators that younger, generally healthier people feel less urgency to get vaccinated.

I think seniors appetite for going and finding that vaccine, Baden said, was very, very strong.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
Gateway College featured in Microsofts Annual Flagship Education event View(s):

Chairman, Gateway College, Dr Harsha Alles and Team Leader-Change Management, Surani Maithripala were among the speakers invited to be present at the Microsoft Education Exchange (E2), in which Microsoft brings together Worlds Change Makers  both leaders and educators every year.The discussion based on Leading Transformation: Navigating Change, highlighted how Gateway College manages change and the mechanisms put in place to handle unexpected challenges such as the pandemic. Dr. Alles and Ms. Maithripala were joined in the discussion by Dina Ghobashy,Business Strategy Leader, K12 School Leadership and Programs of Microsoft; and Emily Bell, president of the Georgia Association for Managers in Education Systems and K-12 IMS Global board member.

Gateway College also won the 1st Runner-up award in the prestigious Tech for Good Challengeunder the Creative Communicator category at the same event. This challenge is open to MIE (Microsoft Innovative Educator) Experts and Microsoft Showcase Schools that inspire and engage their students to make a difference in their communities and the world. Tech for Good equips students with the digital, emotional, collaborative and cognitive skills needed to be future ready. Ms. Ashra Shibly and her students of the ICT Society of Gateway College Dehiwala won the award for their Digital Art project on the Beauty of Mother Lanka.

In addition to being a Microsoft Showcase School and an SLT EdTech Specialist School, Gateway College follows a holistic approach and strives to add the A into STEM education by incorporating Arts on par with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The Artistic experience fuels the creative imagination and provides students with the ability to shape and define their identity and self-expression.

Being cognizant of the role of art in digital media, and the rapidly growing opportunities available, the Gateway Schools introduced a Digital Art Competition and exhibition within the school network. The themes of the competition are decided with the intention of inculcating Sri Lankan values and culture in a pluralistic setting and promoting a sense of belonging to the alma mater and the motherland. In 2018, the theme was Breaking Free  in commemoration of the 70th Independence Day of Sri Lanka. The theme in 2019 was Flora & Fauna of Sri Lanka, and in 2020 was Sri Lanka in 2025.

This years event that was organized by the teachers and students of the ICT Society of Gateway College Dehiwala was Beauty of Mother Lanka. Through Flipgrid, the young artists were also able to record a video describing their art. This meant that the audiencewas able to understand the ideas behind their creations better. This was a novel way of combining technology and art to develop transferable, 21st century skills.
Virus variants threaten to drag the pandemic Pushing aside all the gains from vaccinations and the optimism that there is an end to pandemic in sight, the virus is threatening to draw out longer and longer potentially for months, led by variants that are more contagious and some are even deadly. At the moment, most vaccines appear to be effective against the variants. But public health officials are deeply worried that future iterations of the virus may be more resistant to the immune response, requiring people to queue up for regular rounds of booster shots or even new vaccines. Already, the highly contagious variant first found in Britain and is wreaking havoc in continental Europe, is rising exponentially in the United States. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics Global infections: 130,784,257 Global deaths: 2,846,403 Nations with most cases: US (30,671,843), Brazil (12,953,597), India (12,485,509), France (4,802,545), Russia (4,520,879). Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Blood clots and the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine: is there a link?

Even as the United Kingdom reported more blood clot cases in people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine, the health regulator said that the benefits of the jab far outweigh the risks. However, many governments are still concerned about the jab. The main condition causing alarm is when blood forms clots in the veins that run from the brain, a potentially fatal complication. This has also been combined with patients having unusually low platelets, resulting in heavy bleeding. One hypothesis, put forward by a team of researchers in Germany, is that the AstraZeneca vaccine could be provoking an overexcited immune response in some people, causing them to generate antibodies that target blood platelets. Read here

Brazils nightmare: Bolsonaro is more isolated than ever

As the pandemic inevitably worsens with Brazil piling out record-breaking numbers day after day, President Bolsonaro has become more isolated than ever since the pandemic began last year. Recently, senior military leaders including the heads of army and navy have exited their positions, protesting the sacking of defence minister. This marks an end of a relationship with an institution Bolsonaro cultivated carefully for his use. The generals sudden exit comes amid a public health disaster, with record death tolls from turning Brazil into the global epicentre of the pandemic. Read here

How New Zealand's success made it a laboratory for the world
New Delhi, April 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address party workers across the country through video conference on Monday on the occasion of the party's foundation day at 10.30 a.m., said BJP media in-charge and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni.

"BJP chief J P Nadda will also address party workers on foundation day," he added.

According to press statement, the saffron party is organising several events at all the booths where workers will discuss welfare policy of Modi government.

Modi's address will be available on BJP's digital platform and other publicity channels.

A big screen will installed in all the offices of the party in state, districts and blocks for Live broadcast of Prime Minister's address.
It is not unusual for actors and musicians to drop out of high school with ambitions of honing their craft. Jim Carrey did. So did Christina Applegate, John Travolta, and Hilary Swank. The fact that Ryan Gosling also left before graduating isnt all that surprising. The native Canadian had a tough time early on in school, leaving lifelong effects on him. The actor eventually left to pursue his dream of acting  and it paid off.

Ryan Gosling | Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images

Becoming a Mouseketeer

Gosling grew up in Ontario, Canada. He has an older sister, Mandi. As youngsters both enjoy singing and dancing. Gosling also liked watching old movies. One of his favorite actors was Marlon Brando, also a high school dropout. To protect himself from the bullies in elementary school, Gosling decided to try to talk like Brando. That New York tough guy bravado is still with him today. Because of his hatred of school, Goslings mother homeschooled him through part of his growing up years, according to IMDb.

He sang in talent shows alongside his sister. At the age of 12, in January 1993, he tried out for the All-New Mickey Mouse Club in Montreal. He won over 17,000 other auditioning kids and earned a spot on the show. While he wasnt one of the main stars, for two years he was part of the club. He appeared in episodes alongside other notables including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera.

School just wasnt Goslings thing

.@RyanGosling and Emma Stone's musical 'La La Land' will open the Venice Film Festival https://t.co/TcKczHXr6Y pic.twitter.com/fmdbNRml4D  Variety (@Variety) June 17, 2016

RELATED: Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams Lived Together For 1 Month Preparing For Blue Valentine

When the show ended in 1995, Gosling returned to Canada. He attended Lester B. Pearson High School but left and moved to Hollywood at the age of 17. At 18, he landed the leading role of Hercules in the Fox Kids Network show Young Hercules. The show lasted one season airing 50 episodes from September 1998 through mid-May 1999.

Following, the young actor started getting movie parts. The one which received a lot of attention was The Believer, a film that won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Gosling won the Golden Aries award from the Russian Guild of Film Critics and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his role.

In 2004, he was cast as Noah in The Notebook opposite Rachel McAdams. Gosling didnt think he was right for the part, but director Nick Cassavetes hired him anyway. In 2006, Gosling earned an Academy Award nomination for his role as Dan Dunne in the Half Nelson. At the age of 26, he became one of the youngest actors to ever be nominated for the Best Actor award.

The role was followed by Blue Valentine. Then came Crazy, Stupid, Love in 2011 and in 2016, La La Land, each of which he played opposite Emma Stone. For his role as jazz pianist Sebastian Wilder in La La Land, Gosling won a Golden Globe Award and earned a second Academy Award nomination. Most recently Gosling starred alongside Harrison Ford in Blade Runner 2049.

What is Ryan Goslings net worth?

The fact Gosling dated Sandra Bullock and Rachel McAdams is widely known. But the now 40-year-old stays mum about his private life. He has been in a relationship with Eva Mendes since 2011. The two met while on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines. They have two daughters together.

Some have said that Gosling is an underpaid actor. Several sources revealed he was paid $1,000 a week for filming Half Nelson in 2006. It took about 23 days to shoot. He earned a meager $3,200 but did get his Oscar nomination. Go Banking Rates claims he earned $6 million for Crazy, Stupid, Love and $8 million for La La Land. His Blade Runner 2049 role earned him $10 million.

Whether Gosling reflects on leaving high school before graduating as a good thing or bad, we dont know. He is studious. He studies his craft and while he is a musician, he did not know how to play the piano when he was cast in La La Land. He spent the months before filming teaching himself to play. Gosling has done just fine for himself. His current net worth is estimated between $60 and $70 million.
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Worshippers have gathered all around the world to mark Easter Sunday despite ongoing lockdowns and coronavirus restrictions.

Pope Francis held Mass in St Peter's Basilica to a largely empty Vatican, with cardinals sat socially distanced and wearing face masks during the service.

In his address, he blasted 'scandalous' armed conflicts taking place and called for vaccines to be shared with poorer countries as he spoke to a small crowd as well as many who livestreamed the service from home.

'I urge the entire international community... to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries,' the head of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics said in his Easter address.

He added: 'May Christ our peace finally bring an end to the clash of arms in beloved and war-torn Syria, where millions of people are presently living in inhumane conditions; in Yemen, whose situation has met with a deafening and scandalous silence; and in Libya, where at last there is hope.'

Only around 200 faithful were allowed to attend the service normally watched on by a full basilica as well as up to 100,000 gathering in St Peter's Square.

Italy is currently under a strict three-day lockdown amid rising cases again of the virus.

The pontiff said: 'Dear brothers and sisters, once again this year, in various places, many Christians have celebrated Easter under severe restrictions and, at times, without being able to attend liturgical celebrations.

'We pray that those restrictions, as well as all restrictions on freedom of worship and religion worldwide, may be lifted and everyone be allowed to pray and praise God freely.'

It marks the second Easter that Christians have had to endure Covid restrictions with millions unable to attend church as services were again broadcast online.

In his Easter Sunday service, The Archbishop of Canterbury urged people to choose a 'better future for all', rather than live in a society that only benefits the rich and powerful.

Meanwhile in Myanmar, anti-coup demonstrators decorated boiled eggs to show their support for the protesters on the religious day.

The eggs were decorated with political messages and left on neighbours' doorsteps and hung in bags on front gates.

Pope Francis delivered a service from the Vatican on Sunday and did not wear a face mask while others inside the basilica wore coverings

Pope Francis celebrates Easter Mass at St. Peter's Basilica at a largely empty Vatican as others wore face masks and observed social distancing

In his address, he blasted 'scandalous' armed conflicts taking place and called for vaccines to be shared with poorer countries

It marks the second Easter that Christians have had to endure Covid restrictions with millions unable to attend church as services were again broadcast online

Policemen patrol an empty St. Peter's Square at the Vatican after Italy was forced into another three-day lockdown to stop the spread of the virus

Pope Francis delivers his Urbi et Orbi blessing, after celebrating Easter Sunday Mass at St. Peter's Basilica

In his Easter Sunday service, The Archbishop of Canterbury urged people to choose a 'better future for all', rather than live in a society that only benefits the rich and powerful

In Myanmar, anti-coup demonstrators decorated boiled eggs to show their support for the protesters to mark Easter Sunday

Pictures posted on social media showed eggs adorned with Suu Kyi's likeness and three-finger salutes - a symbol of the resistance - while others said 'save our people' and 'democracy'

Friends and relatives place flowers in front of a memorial plaque commemorating the people who died in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka

The traditionally dressed Sorbian Easter riders proclaim the Easter message on horseback according to an old custom in Ralbitz, Germany

People wear face masks as they attend an Easter Sunday mass service in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, amid ongoing Covid restrictions

Young Christian devotees attend an Easter mass on the second anniversary of the Easter Sunday attack in Sri Lanka

A fire in the brazier is used to light a wick for the Paschal candle at Salisbury Cathedral in England during a socially distanced ceremony

Fransiscan friars pray during a mass on Easter Sunday while wearing face masks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem

Women dressed in traditional clothes of the Slavic ethnic minority community of Sorbs meet early on Easter Sunday to sing in front of a church in Schleife, Germany

Members of the congregation socially distance during the Easter Sunday service at the Holy Trinity Sloane Square church in Chelsea, London

Pictures posted on social media showed eggs adorned with Suu Kyi's likeness and three-finger salutes - a symbol of the resistance - while others said 'save our people' and 'democracy'.

One Facebook group promoting the egg protest urged people to be respectful of Christian traditions on Easter Sunday.

In Sri Lanka, security was stepped up at churches across the country to guard against a repeat of the 2019 suicide bombings that killed 279, a police spokesman said.

More than 12,500 armed constables were on duty outside close to 2,000 Sri Lankan churches, and were backed by military personnel.

'We have also got the help the armed forces to patrol and reinforce police units across the country,' police spokesman Deputy Inspector-General Ajith Rohana said.

One Facebook group promoting the egg protest urged people to be respectful of Christian traditions on Easter Sunday

The eggs were decorated with political messages and left on neighbours' doorsteps and hung in bags on front gates

Christian devotees carry a partly damaged statue of Jesus salvaged from the rubble after the 2019 Easter Sunday bombing, during a Easter procession in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was shaken on Easter Sunday in 2019 when three churches and three hotels were targeted by alleged local jihadists in the largest single terror attack in the history of the country

More than 12,500 armed constables were on duty outside close to 2,000 Sri Lankan churches, and were backed by military personnel

Friends and relatives place flowers in front of a memorial plaque commemorating the people who died in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombing

Parishioners gather on a beach for an Easter Sunday service at sunrise hosted by Hope Community Church of Manasquan, New Jersey

A priest leads an Easter Sunday mass at the Roman Cathedral in Harare, Zimbabwe

Sri Lanka was shaken on Easter Sunday in 2019 when three churches and three hotels were targeted by alleged local jihadists in the largest single terror attack in the history of the country.

At least 279 people were killed in the attacks, and around 500 were wounded.

On Sunday, police checked identity cards and bags before allowing people to attend the morning mass at St. Sebastian's church north of the capital Colombo, where at least 115 were killed in the 2019 Easter attack.

Posters calling for justice were put up outside St. Sebastian's, which was packed with worshippers on Sunday.

At a hospital in the Lombardy region of Italy, where the pandemic first erupted in the West in February 2020, a hospital gave a traditional dove-shaped Easter cake symbolizing peace to each person who lined up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Many of the ones who came were in their 80s and accompanied by adult children.

Intent on tamping down weeks of surging infections, the Italian government ordered people to stay home during the three-day weekend except for essential errands like food shopping or exercise.

Premier Mario Draghi did grant a concession. permitting one visit to family or friends per day in residents' home regions over the long weekend, which includes the Little Easter national holiday on Monday.

In Jerusalem, air travel restrictions and quarantine regulations prevented foreign pilgrims from flocking to religious sites during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter celebrations.

The Easter service at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was celebrated by Latin Patriarch Pierbattista, the senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land. The site in Jerusalem's Old City is where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead.

In the UK, the Archbishop of Canterbury urged society to 'choose a better future for all' as it begins to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

Justin Welby said the country had a 'choice' to make over the coming years and warned against a society in which 'the most powerful and the richest gain and so many fall behind', during his Easter Sunday service from Canterbury Cathedral, Kent,

The head of the Church also encouraged people to take inspiration from the 'overwhelming generosity' of God to ensure acts of love, charity, and international aid are maintained.

An elderly Catholic prays outside the Saint Peter Parish Church in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Christians wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus attend while maintaining social distancing during an Easter service at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea

A Catholic priest blesses the congregation with holy water during an Easter Sunday mass service in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Malaysia recently eased its Covid regulations, allowing religious gatherings to operate at 50 per cent capacity with social distancing

Women in Germany dressed in traditional clothes of the Slavic ethnic minority community of Sorbs

Police stand guard outside a church in Indonesia amid tightened police security following the bombing last week at the Makassar cathedral

Members of the clergy attend the traditional Easter Vigil held in smaller numbers than in pre-pandemic years on the night of Holy Saturday in Portugal

Elsewhere, women in Germany dressed in traditional clothes of the Slavic ethnic minority community of Sorbs.

They gathered outside a church in Schleife to sing in the early hours of Easter Sunday.

In South Korea, churches only allowed 20 per cent of their normal capacity to attend services as Covid restrictions continued.

Yoido Full Gospel Church, the biggest Protestant church in the country, allowed only about 2,000 church members to attend Easter service, or about 17 per cent of the capacity of church's main building.

Masked church members sang hymns, clapped hands and prayed as the service was broadcast online and by Christian TV channels.

Seoul's Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral, the biggest Catholic church in South Korea, limited Mass attendance to 20 per cent capacity and livestreamed the Easter service on YouTube.

In Salisbury, England, the Paschal candle was lit and carried into the cathedral by its bishop, The Right Rev. Nicholas Holtam.

People wearing face masks as a protection against Covid receive communion during an Easter Sunday Mass at the St. Peter Parish Shrine of Leaders, in Quezon City, Philippines

In Portugal, members of the clergy held a traditional nighttime Easter Vigil in smaller numbers than usual amid tightened rules

The lighting of the Paschal candle is lit every year at Easter in Salisbury and is used during the Paschal season and then throughout the year on special occasions, such as baptisms and funerals

The lighting of the Paschal candle is lit every year at Easter, and is used during the Paschal season and then throughout the year on special occasions, such as baptisms and funerals.

Rev. Holtam said: 'The lighting of the Paschal candle from the new fire, in the half-light early on Easter morning, is a great moment of resurrection and new life.

'The single candle is carried into the Cathedral and the proclamation of the Light of Christ fills the whole space. The light is spread round the Cathedral with candles held by all the baptised - truly the light of the world.'

In Portugal, members of the clergy held a traditional nighttime Easter Vigil in smaller numbers than usual.
Google has been working hard to make Maps a useful tool for navigating the world and it's continuing to roll out new features. Today, the company is unveiling a set of updates that should make the app more helpful in more scenarios. For one thing, it's bringing its AR navigation tool Live View to some indoor locations like select malls, airports and transit stations. It's also prioritizing more eco-friendly directions when recommending routes, adding weather and air quality data to destinations and integrating pickup and delivery options with grocery retailers.

Indoor Live View

As a recap, Live View is an AR feature that let you see exactly where your destination is by pointing your camera at your surroundings and overlaying directions on the scene. To make that work indoors though, Google had to "develop an entirely new technology" that it's calling "global localization." Google Maps' director of product said in a press briefing that this has become "the backbone of the Live View feature we know today."

It uses AI to scan "tens of billions of street view images and maps them up with images on your phone to identify where you are." With adjustments made in the last few years, Google adapted that to understand "the precise altitude or placement of an object in a building." That way, it doesn't give you the instructions to get to some other gate in another airport, for example. You can use this feature to look for the gate to your connecting flight (next time you're traveling by air), or find that hot new restaurant in a mall before rushing to your movie, for example. It'll also help you find the nearest elevators, escalators, ATMs, restrooms, check-in counters, ticket offices and more.

Google Maps Indoor Live View animation. An animation showing a phone panning around Zurich airport with overlaid instructions saying

Indoor Live View is now live in some Westfield malls in US cities including Newark, Los Angeles, Chicago, Long Island, San Francisco, San Jose and Seattle. It starts rolling out over the next few months on Android and iOS in select transit stations, malls and airports in Tokyo and Zurich. Google said support for more places and cities is coming, too.

Story continues

Environmentally rich and eco-friendly guidance

As part of its commitment to help its users reduce their environmental footprint, Google is continuing to surface greener means to get around. Later this year, when you use the iOS or Android version of Maps to look up directions, it will default to the route with the lowest carbon footprint if it takes about the same time as the fastest route. If the eco-friendly option will take significantly more time, Maps will display a comparison of their CO2 impacts so you can consciously decide whether speed or the environment is more important. You can revert back to seeing the fastest route as the default by changing this in Settings. This feature is headed to the US first, and Google says a "global expansion" is on the way.

Speaking of other countries, many places around the world have designated "low emission zones" that restrict vehicles like diesel cars which cause pollution. This June, Maps will start alerting users if they'll be navigating through one of these and offer alternative directions when necessary. It'll be available in the app in Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK, and the company says more countries are coming soon.

Google Maps New Directions Experience. An animation showing the new Google Maps directions page getting from

Google is also revamping its directions interface that will put routes for all transportation modes in one page, instead of having separate tabs for things like car, walking and public transit. This will make it easier to compare the time it will take across the different routes. Maps will also use machine learning to understand your preferred means of getting around to prioritize them, and also "boost modes that are popular in your city." Those in New York City or Singapore, for example, will likely see the subway or MRT routes higher up, while Citibike regulars will see bike routes more.

To help users better anticipate the environment at their destination, Maps is also adding new Weather and Air Quality layers. These will show the current temperature and forecasted hourly weather conditions (pulling data from The Weather Company) so you can bundle up for your outdoor dining reservation on a windy evening, for example. Google also uses info from AirNow.gov and the Central Pollution Board to give details on a location's air quality so those who have allergies or live in smog-affected areas can adjust their plans accordingly.

Making pickup and delivery easier

The final set of updates (this time, anyway) is around grocery shopping. Google is adding info like pickup and delivery windows, fees and order minimums to stores' Business Profiles on mobile search, starting with Instacart and Albertsons Cos. in the US. Google plans to expand this to more stores and bring it to Maps, though it hasn't said when.

Google Maps Pickup animation. An animation showing the pickup integration with Fred Meyer, with options to share your ETA and check in when you arrive.

The company is also launching a pilot program with US supermarket Fred Meyer in some of its Portland, Oregon stores. When you order something for pickup on Fred Meyer's app, you can add it to Maps to get alerts when it's time to head to the store for your pickup. You can also share your arrival time with the store, and your ETA will be continuously updated based on location and traffic. This way, the store can prioritize your order when you're close, and you can check in via Maps so they can bring your stuff out when you arrive.

Though this is just a limited pilot program for now, it's easy to see how Google might be able to integrate with more retailers and partners to fully bring this feature to Maps in time. As we continue to rely on curbside pickups for the foreseeable future, this could become a truly useful tool whenever it becomes more widely available.
Has CBS skidded down to straight-opinion activism? Sure looks like it.

On April 2, they came out with a supposedly straight-news article (archived version here) bearing this headline:

3 ways companies can help fight Georgia's restrictive new voting law

And here's a summary of the content from the Daily Caller:

The article in question, written by CBS MoneyWatch reporter Khristopher J. Brooks, gave three suggestions for companies to boycott Georgias voting law, according to activists. The first section urged companies not to donate to the two Georgia Republicans who co-sponsored the bill. The second bullet point pushed for companies to spread awareness via television and social media advertisements, and the third note called for them to fight for federal law regarding the For the People Act.

It was as if aliens had taken over Georgia or a pandemic were on, and companies everywhere needed advice on what to do, how to combat it, since they would have no idea and CBS knows everything, even political strategy.

What didn't figure in this was that the law they advocated fighting was brought on by the duly-elected and legitimately seated legislature of Georgia.

It was pure, straight, naked activism masquerading as news.

What it shows is that what was once the gold standard of straight-news reporting many decades ago is now as left-wing as The Nation:

Now it's been yanked, according to reports, because of backlash from the public, and more important to CBS News, other journalists, who recognize opinion-writing when they see it and know it wouldn't cut it at their own outlets.

Here's some Twitter reaction from some of the few professional trained journalists out there:

Embarassment, yes, for CBS, but don't blame just the bylined writer.

Incredibly, this crap passed through a lot of editors before making it onto the Internet. Anyone who knows the news industry would know that.

And that demonstrates a problem of culture, a rotten fish problem that stinks from the top.

Anyone hear anything funny from CBS of late suggesting as much.

Take a look at Lester Holt. The Mr. Assuring Newsman of avuncular demeanor was just talking about the importance of not reporting conservative views in his reports. That would make such reports better, of course, but for Lester, they'd undermine the leftist agenda, so guess which one wins?

I got news for Lester: I've been educated in journalism, too, at Columbia University's famous grad school of journalism, in the 1990s, and don't think that issue didn't come up. I recall a memorably good professor of foreign reporting, Stanley Meisler, of the Los Angeles Times, teaching us kids at the time that we don't have to give every nutbag view equal weight or even space in every story ... but, and this is a big 'but,' we do have weigh whether a view with which we may disagree with, or find bad does have consequence. That's called news judgment.

Umm, Lester apparently is saying that anyone with conservative views is bearing a view without consequence and conservative voices don't matter. They're fringe, despite 70-plus million votes that came in for President Trump in 2020, and therefore, like any nutbag view, need to be ignored. Sound like a good news judgment? Only if you are convinced that Democrats will be in power forever, conservatives will never vote to win, and Republicans will be erased, Stalin-style, from every picture.

Thus far, history doesn't work that way. But CBS is continuing its slide downhill, with a "news" culture that lets this kind of activist call to action get put out, trashing its credibility, and retreating only when other journalists say 'yuck.'

Image: Logo, via Pixy.com / public domain

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Doubleontherocks and Its Pointless, leaders in their respective divisions, look to add to their impressive resumes in a pair of California Sire Stakes that headline the Sunday (April 4) night menu at Cal Expo.

There will be 12 races presented under the Watch and Wager LLC banner and the program will get underway at 4:55 p.m. The Sire Stakes for the four-year-old colts and geldings will be decided as a non-betting race prior to the regular card.

Doubleontherocks has accounted for two of three Sire Stakes held for the sophomore pacing fillies with Rockin The Dragon prevailing in the other. The former is a Lettherockbegin homebred who carries the banner of Nikki Hudson with husband Luke Plano reining and training, while Rockin The Dragon is owned and was bred by Mark Anderson with Gordie Graham training and will once again have Jake Cutting doing the honours.

Doubleontherocks has been able to work out pocket journeys in her February 20 and March 20 stakes scores, on both occasions coming away at the end from Rockin The Dragon.

In the March 6 stakes gathering, it was Rockin The Dragon and Cutting who got the two-hole trip, and she streaked away in the late stages to prevail over her arch-rival by four lengths that night.

Rounding out the cast are a pair of Bob Johnson trainees in Cookiesncream and Shewentthataway and the Marcos Rios-conditioned Witch Hunter.

Meanwhile, Its Pointless has been untouchable when doing his work versus his four-year-old peers in the two big-money get-togethers for that group. The Kents On Nuke homebred races for Mark Anderson, hails from the Gordie Graham barn and will again have Tony Kerwood giving directions.

Taking him on are White Knuckle Ride, Good To Be Glad and Itsonlymakebelieve.

Surprisingly Sweet, Part Time on to new pastures

Scott Ehrlich has given us an update on two of his popular performers, as Surprisingly Sweet is about to have her first baby and Part Time has retired to Minnesota to live out his days in comfort.

Surprisingly Sweet, who captured some big races over this layout, is due to drop a filly or colt by Wind Me Up any day now, and Scott has names for either scenario. If its a filly, I have already had her name approved by the USTA and it would be Secreharriet, named after my mom.

If it turns out to be a boy, hell be named Farrington after my harness hero and mentor Bob Farrington.

As for Part Time, who is best remembered around these parts for capturing an Open Pace over current kingpin he Allmyxsliventexas, he had a 2020 that would make for a great soap opera storyline.

It started last July at Running Aces when he overheated badly during a race and was pulled up near the wire while wanting to fall down. Thanks to the combined heroics of outrider Tyler Wiseman, his driver Mooney Svendsen, the starter John Betts and his wife Sandy, they were able to get him safely to the paddock.

It was just 10 days later that Part Time was unable to swallow his feed and was having trouble breathing, which sent him to the clinic and an emergency tracheotomy. Part Time was eventually returned to California to prepare for this Cal Expo meet, but was unable to recreate his previous success here.

After talking to his trainer Kathie Plested, as well as his drivers Gerry Longo and Mooney Svendsen -- who both said he had no kick -- and East Coast vet John Kokinos, I made the decision to retire him to his forever home in Minnesota.

Part Time was claimed for $4,000 at Pompano Park and banked nearly $45,000 for Ehrlich while going through his paces for Plested and the late Steve Wiseman. He deserves the retirement, Scott added.

(Cal Expo)
For one little girl, Easter goodies were delivered to her by people wearing state trooper uniforms instead of a bunny costume this weekend.

State troopers from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut all coordinated efforts to send Easter gifts to a girl who lost both her parents in separate incidents.

A video posted by Connecticut State Police showed troopers delivering the presents Saturday to Eyvie.

New Hampshire State Police coordinated the delivery of the gifts.

New Hampshire State Troopers met Eyvie a few months ago when she tragically lost both of her parents in separate incidents, a Facebook post from Connecticut State Police said. The New Hampshire State Police werent able to make the trip to Connecticut, but they wanted to make sure a few special presents made their way to their friend Eyvie.

Troopers from New Hampshire passed the gifts over to troopers from Massachusetts who then met with Connecticut troopers so the presents could be delivered.

We are honored to have been given the opportunity to take part and meet Eyvie, Connecticut State Police wrote. She is an amazingly strong and resilient girl and we were honored she shared her bright smile with us this morning!
The Microsoft logo is displayed during a presentation at the Mobile World Congress on the eve of the world's biggest mobile fair in Barcelona on Feb. 24, 2019. (Gabrier Bouys/AFP via Getty Images)
POTTSVILLE  A Girardville man will not have to spend more time in prison, but will be on parole and then probation for almost four years, after admitting Wednesday to a Schuylkill County judge that he threatened a woman and then endangered her and a child, in September 2020.

Gregory M. Wilson, 31, pleaded guilty to two counts of recklessly endangering another person and one each of terroristic threats and disorderly conduct.

Prosecutors withdrew six additional counts, three of terroristic threats, two of recklessly endangering another person and one of disorderly conduct.

President Judge William E. Baldwin accepted the plea and sentenced Wilson to time served to 23 months in prison with immediate parole and 24 months consecutive probation. He also ordered Wilson to pay costs and $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account, undergo a mental health evaluation and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.

State police at Frackville charged Wilson with threatening the woman, and endangering her and a 9-year-old child, on Sept. 29, 2020.

Wilson already is an inmate at the county prison, and Baldwin conducted the hearing by videoconference.

Also on Wednesday, Joel T. Garber, 63, of Barnesville, pleaded guilty to criminal trespass. Prosecutors withdrew a charge of disorderly conduct.

Baldwin placed Garber on probation for 18 months, and also sentenced him to pay costs and a $50 CJEA payment and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.

State police at Frackville charged Garber with breaking into the building at 23 Elm Ave., Barnesville, on July 26, 2020.

Garber already is an inmate at the county prison, and Baldwin conducted the hearing by videoconference.

In another Wednesday case, Baldwin revoked the probation of Dusty Wolle, 38, of Minersville, and sentenced her to spend three to 12 months in prison, and an additional 12 months on probation, and undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation.

Wolle, who admitted violating her probation by committing new crimes and possessing drugs and paraphernalia, originally pleaded guilty on Nov. 17, 2020, to driving under the influence, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and careless driving in one case and possession of a controlled substance, possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia in another. Prosecutors withdrew charges of obstructed window, disregarding traffic lane and improper sunscreening.

At that time, Baldwin placed Wolle on probation for 12 months, and also sentenced her to pay costs, $1,025 in fines, $200 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund and a $50 CJEA payment.

State police at Schuylkill Haven filed both cases against Wolle, alleging she was DUI on Dec. 20, 2019, and possessed drugs and paraphernalia on March 11, 2020.

Wolle already is an inmate at the county prison, and Baldwin conducted the hearing by videoconference.

Also on Wednesday, Jennifer M. Velousky, 38, address not known, pleaded guilty to possession of contraband/controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Prosecutors withdrew an additional count of possession of contraband/controlled substance and a charge of possession of a controlled substance.

Baldwin accepted the plea and sentenced Velousky to serve two to four years in a state correctional institution and pay costs, a $100 SAEF payment and a $50 CJEA payment.

State police at Hamburg charged Velousky with possessing drugs on Sept. 25, 2020, at Schuylkill County prison.

I tried to throw it away but I had it on me, said Velousky, who admitted having the drugs in her bra.

Velousky already is an inmate at Berks County Prison, and Baldwin conducted the hearing by videoconference.

In another Wednesday case, Baldwin placed Paul A. Lapinsky Jr., 49, address not known, on probation for 12 months, and also sentenced him to pay costs and a $50 CJEA payment and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.

Lapinsky pleaded guilty to theft and receiving stolen property. Pottsville police originally charges him with committing the theft on Aug. 23, 2017, in the city.

I just want to get it behind me, Lapinsky said of the case.

Lapinsky already is an inmate at Berks County prison, and Baldwin conducted the hearing by videoconference.
(Yahoo News Singapore file photo)

SINGAPORE  A 49-year-old man was arrested on Saturday (3 April) for his suspected involvement in the murder of another 49-year-old man at a home along Bedok Reservoir Road.

In a news release, the police said they were alerted at about 10.15am to a stabbing case at the residential unit.

Upon arriving at the scene, officers found a man lying motionless inside the home. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The police said that preliminary investigations showed that the two men were known to each other.

The suspect will be charged with murder  which carries the death penalty  on Monday.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

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PSP's Francis Yuen takes over from Tan Cheng Bock as party chief

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[April 04, 2021] JT INVESTOR ALERT: ROSEN, A LEADING AND LONGSTANDING LAW FIRM, Encourages Jianpu Technology Inc. Investors with Large Losses to Secure Counsel Before Important April 19 Deadline in Securities Class Action - JT

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Jianpu Technology Inc. (NYSE: JT) between May 29, 2018 and February 16, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important April 19, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline. SO WHAT: If you purchased Jianpu securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the Jianpu class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2033.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than April 19, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience or resources. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Cass Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020 founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.



DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) certain of Jianpu's transactions carried out by the Credit Card Recommendation Business Unit involved undisclosed relationships or lacked business substance; (2) as a result, Jianpu's revenue and costs and expenses for fiscal 2018 and 2019 were overstated; (3) there were material weaknesses in Jianpu's internal control over financial reporting; (4) as a result of the foregoing, Jianpu's fiscal 2018 Form 20-F was reasonably likely to be restated; and (5) as a result, Jianpu's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the Jianpu class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2033.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn (News - Alert) : https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter (News - Alert) : https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook (News - Alert) : https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210404005004/en/

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PUCSL oversteps mandate to negotiate prices By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s):

The electricity regulator, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), this week overstepped its mandate to negotiate prices with and approve a four-year extension of contracts for three independent power producers (IPPs)even as a Cabinet sub-committee discusses whether to keep or take the furnace-oil fueled power plants off the national grid.

We have negotiated and given them [the IPPs] a cap on their capacity and energy charges, based on their prices, in order to achieve the least-cost target, said Janaka Ratnayake, the PUCSLs new Chairman, who took over last month.

Mr Ratnayake summoned a meeting on Thursday with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the three IPPs: Ace Power Matara, Ace Power Embilipitiya and Asia Power. Neither party knew the other would be present, sources confirmed.

The three IPPs have been campaigning for extensions on the basis that, being furnace-oil-fired, they are cheaper for the CEB than auto-diesel-fired plants. Together, they produce 170 megawatts (mw) for the national grid but their contracts are due to end in days.

At the meeting, the Chairman proposed the pricing caps and bore on the IPPs to accept. He then issued a letter the same day saying the PUCSL was agreeable to extending the contracts for a further four years provided the conditions were adhered to.

The PUCSL has based its decision on a section of the Sri Lanka Electricity Act which ostensibly allows extension of the contracts to meet any emergency situation as determined by the Cabinet of Ministers during a national calamity or a long term forced outage of a major generation plant, where protracted bid inviting process outweigh the potential benefit or procuring emergency capacity required to be provided by any person at least cost.

But both industry and CEB sources agreed that negotiation of priceswhich are part of power purchase agreements (PPA)was not the job of an independent regulator. It was also in question whether the CEB faced an emergency under the terms of the Act.

Mr Ratnayake offered a different interpretation. The regulators role is to make sure you purchase power at the least cost, he said. The regulator can from time-to-time use different tools to make sure that, at the end of the day, the customer, who is the main stakeholder, will get the right price. Price negotiation was one of those tools.

In September last year, the CEB Board recommended the extension of the three IPPs on technical and financial grounds. But it did not ask for four more years.

Energy costs of these plants as per latest fuel prices are Rs 19.41, Rs 19.81, and Rs 19.95 respectively per kilowatt hour (kWh), the Board paper said. This price is significantly lower than auto diesel power plants, for those the fuel cost is generally above Rs 25.00 per kWh.

A Cabinet sub-committee comprising Ministers Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Bandula Gunawardena and Ramesh Pathirana is also deliberating the subject. This group, notwithstanding the PUCSLs decision to grant four-year extensions, is considering six-month extensions for Ace Power Matara and Ace Power Embilipitiya. And it is exploring the possibility of allowing Asia Power to continue for a further year provided the CEB can acquire it for one US dollar at the end of this term.

The PUCSL rushed its recommendation on the request of the Power and Energy Ministry Secretary, informed sources said. Wasantha Perera contacted the Commission on Thursday morning and wanted a submission in time for the Cabinet sub-committee meeting the following day.

It was not immediately clear why the independent regulator did not maintain that a 24-hour deadline could not be metor why it decided a recommendation was tantamount to negotiating prices.
Burma Myanmar Protesters and Interviewees Remain in Detention After Speaking to CNN

Three females detained after interviews with CNN's reporter at Mingaladon Market. From left Ma Nay Zar Chi Shine, Ma Yin Thet Tin and Ma Phoo Mon Kyaw.

At least nine civilians and anti-regime protesters in Yangon who spoke to CNN on Friday remain in detention, although the junta told the US broadcaster that they had been released.

CNN reported on Saturday that Myanmars military authorities said they had been released but at least four women and a man remain in the Shwepyithar interrogation center, according to sources.

The witnesses recently told The Irrawaddy that seven civilians, including those who spoke to CNN reporter Clarissa Ward at Mingaladon market, were detained on Friday afternoon. Among the arrested were Ma Nay Zar Chi Shine, Ma Yin Thet Tin and Ma Phoo Mon Kyaw.

Two female protesters near Salminegone bazaar in Sawbwagyi Gone ward, Insein Township, were also detained after CNNs visit on Friday.

According to a witness, personnel in plainclothes seized anyone seen protesting or speaking to CNN at Mingaladon market in Mingaladon Township after the reporters left on Friday.

We thought civilians were allowed to talk to CNN. But the security forces in civilian clothes had already been deployed to the market secretly, the witness said.

On Friday morning, the CNN team visited the Salminegon bazaar in Insein after troops had been deployed to the area, a witness told The Irrawaddy.

When they saw the CNN team at the market, many traders and shoppers began protesting, banging pots and pans and shouting anti-regime slogans.

The protest swelled with drivers sounding horns and displaying three-finger salutes to the CNN crew.

As soon as the journalists left, a vehicle from the convoy returned and detained two female protesters, who were later reportedly released.

A lawyer who is assisting detainees told The Irrawaddy that he has been asked to help secure the release of two of the detainees from the CNN visit.

We dont know where the two have been held. They havent been sent to Insein Prison, the lawyer said.

The CNN team has the regimes permission to visit Myanmar and an escort is being provided.

Ward and her colleagues have been spotted across Yangon, traveling in an army convoy, leading to fears that the team will not be able to conduct accurate reporting.

By Saturday, about 557 people have been killed by the security forces, according to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

It said about 2,658 people, including elected leaders, election commissioners, pro-democracy protesters, students, teachers, writers, artists, journalists and civilians, have been detained since the February 1 coup.
ALEXANDRA SHULMAN (pictured): Eight days to go and changing rooms will be opened for the first time in more than a year. As it happens, changing rooms are one of the few things I haven't much missed because they are, across the board, terrible

Eight days to go and changing rooms will be opened for the first time in more than a year. As it happens, changing rooms are one of the few things I haven't much missed because they are, across the board, terrible.

Why this should be so is truly mystifying, since the biggest difference between shopping for clothes online and in real life is the ability to try something on immediately.

To touch the fabric, see how it hangs on the body. And check the colour  in a changing room you can't add a filter turning a dingy grey into a gentle jade as I'm certain some brands do with their online offerings.

If I owned a clothing shop, I would be chucking everything at improving the changing room. Let's cast our minds back to the old days when they were one of the million things in life we all took for granted.

Firstly, even finding them is tiresome as they are invariably stuck somewhere near the back of the shop, hidden away as if they are something to be ashamed of rather than the key to a purchase.

In big chains or department stores, bored-looking assistants hand out tokens to log how many pieces we are taking in. Is that an attractive way to treat a customer? Guilty until proved innocent of shoplifting?

Then there's the ubiquitous downlighting which, as we have all learnt from a year of video calls, does our appearance few favours. And claustrophobic cubicles which usually allow you little space to stand back and get a good look.

How many offer enough hanging space? Do we have to leave our own clothes in a crumpled pool on the floor?

Enough! It's time for a changing room revolution. Stores should be investing money to make these spaces a highlight of shopping: enjoyable, relaxing  even luxurious  places to spend time in, encouraging us to buy.

I bought a top online last week, counting down the days to its arrival, eagerly ripping open the bag when it came. Alas, wrong size. The swap to the right size will take another week and involve a long queue at the post office. If I had tried it on in the store, I would have been able to wear it that night.

Clothes are not like canned veg or even ink cartridges that we can buy on repeat. Being able to try them makes us more confident of buying. Both the much-loved M&S and John Lewis are closing branches around the country as they lose physical customers. It's no coincidence their changing rooms are rubbish.

Now I know why my man is cross...

It being Easter, I have been buying hot cross buns. Two weeks ago I picked up a couple of delicious home-made ones for my menfolk.

David ate his, I imagined happily, so I bought some more a few days later. 'Oh,' he said, as he rummaged in the bread bin. 'I see you've bought more hot cross buns.' I sensed the purchase wasn't met with the glee I had hoped but put that down to his anxiety about waiting for a second jab.

The next day there was a lot of huffing and puffing about how the jam had disappeared from the fridge. So I bought more  Tiptree Strawberry, if anyone's interested. Now, I thought, David is well set up  hot cross buns and jam available.

But nothing is that simple. He hadn't, he said, particularly wanted jam. He was only looking for it to go with his hot cross buns and, as it turns out, he doesn't much like hot cross buns. I was tempted to say maybe that's because you eat them with jam  who does that?  but resisted.

We've been together for 15 years and I never knew he didn't like hot cross buns. That he only eats them because he thought it pleased me.

'I always thought you buying hot cross buns was the kind of nostalgic thing you enjoy, like being excited about snow,' he explained.

And all this time I had been buying them because I thought he liked them. Will we ever really know each other?

Being vague is only thing that's certain

I'm fascinated by Denise Coates, the boss of Bet 365 and the highest-paid woman in the UK, who last year earned 469 million  about 54,000 an hour, Shulman writes

As someone who has lost a number of people in my life through suicide, I was interested to hear John Preston, Robert Maxwell's biographer, discuss the subject recently. Investigating the disgraced publisher's unsolved death, he suggested there is a less defined line between accident and suicide than we might generally consider.

It reminded me of when Tom Ford told me there was no such thing as definitive hetero or homosexuality and we were all on a spectrum. Vagueness is the new certainty.

Chic 'magazine' I'd brand a catalogue

When is a magazine not a magazine? Even before I worked in the business, I loved magazines. It was the way they introduced me to new things  fashion and beauty tips, music reviews, interviews, snippets of gossip  that I adored.

So I was excited to read that Bottega Veneta, one of the most successful fashion brands of the moment, were launching Issued, a quarterly audio visual magazine.

It's entertaining  Bottega boots made from jelly wobble on a table, there's a daring display of parkour (jumping from rooftop to rooftop) by a team dressed in Bottega Veneta padded jackets. Biba founder Barbara Hulanicki wears their jewellery and US rapper Missy Elliott poses in their shades.

But this isn't a magazine  it's a brand catalogue, every bit as hard-selling as the Next Directory. And the idea that it could be in any way considered one is dispiriting for those of us who remain true fans of the real things.

The secret to being ridiculously rich

I'm fascinated by Denise Coates, the boss of Bet 365 and the highest-paid woman in the UK, who last year earned 469 million  about 54,000 an hour.

Call me trivial but it's not her management skills I'm intrigued by but pretty well every other thing about her  most of which is unusually hard to discover. All we know is that she is building a modernist palace in Cheshire.

There are hardly any pictures of Coates around  the three or four that do exist show a simply dressed woman with cropped hair. Where does she shop? Where does she holiday? Does she cook? Is she a lark or an owl? But information is there none.

It just goes to show that even in these over-sharing days, you can be someone who puts Beyonce's earnings in the shade, make more in a year than the Queen's total wealth, and yet still remain completely private if you wish.
Chinese people pay respect to martyrs who sacrificed in China-India border clash ahead of Tomb-sweeping Day

Global Times) 10:17, April 04, 2021

"Come to my dream, child," relatives of martyr Wang Zhuoran, a People's Liberation Army soldier who sacrificed himself in China-India border clash in June 2020, cried at Wang's tomb located in the martyr's cemetery in Luohe, Central China's Henan Province, on Saturday, the day before China's traditional Tomb-sweeping Day.

It is the first Tomb-sweeping Day - during which Chinese people visit the graves of the deceased and conduct memorial activities - after Wang, a 24 year-old PLA soldier, and other three soldiers sacrificed during the border clash.

Photo: Li Hao/GT

Wang's mother Yang Suxiang, 51, swept the tombstone of Wang with a towel, took out apples, cakes and boxes of drinks and opened the packages before putting them in front of the tombstone.

"Do not worry, son, we will take care of your grandmother and ourselves, we will continue to live our life well," Yang said while crying.

Wang Hengzhao, Wang Zhuoran's father, stood silently beside his wife with teary eyes.

Wang Zhuoran's grandmother, who is in her 70s, is still unaware about her grandson's death.

Wang Hengzhao told the Global Times that the grandmother once had thrombosis in her brain and is not in very good health condition. The family decided not to tell her about Wang Zhuoran's death in case she could not take it well.

She keeps asking about her grandson. We can only make excuses to keep her calm like saying he could not come back due to the epidemic, or he is busy with missions in the army, Wang Hengzhao said.

Wang's parents came to the cemetery with a company of dozens of family members. Before they came, streams of local students, police, residents and villagers from Wang's home village, had gathered at the square of the cemetery early Saturday to pay respect to Wang.

"I came here voluntarily to pay my respect, we are proud of him," a Luohe teacher surnamed Zhi told the Global Times.

Wang Zhuoran

Born in the same year with Wang in 1996, Zhi said he regretted that he did not join the army. "I believe if I were him, I would do the same thing as Wang Zhuoran did."

About 60,000 people have visited the cemetery to pay respect since the Chinese authorities officially revealed the death of Wang and his other three colleagues in February, working staff at the cemetery told the Global Times on Saturday.

"Thank you for your sacrifice to protect us!" read a message written by an anonymous visitor on the message board of the Luohe cemetery.

Wang's application for battle assignments and his farewell letter to his family have also been displayed at the cemetery to the public since March 29, according to the working staff.

"I always miss the noodles Mom cooks, the fried cake Dad makes and so many other delicious foods grandmother makes... I might not be able to be there for you through the end. If there were an afterlife, I wish I could be your son again and repay your love and care," read Wang Zhuoran's farewell letter.

China in February unveiled details of the Galwan Valley conflict in June 2020 to pay respect to martyrs who sacrificed their lives to safeguard national sovereignty and territory and also to clarify the truth by revisiting the whole incident since India had hyped the casualties, distorted truth and tried to mislead the international community, according to the Chinese defense military.

Wang Zhuoran is one of the four martyrs who sacrificed their lives during the border conflict.

Chen Hongjun

Xiao Siyuan

Chen Xiangrong

The other three were battalion commander Chen Hongjun and soldiers Xiao Siyuan, and Chen Xiangrong. They were born in 1987, 1996 and 2001, respectively.

As the Tomb-sweeping Day falls on Sunday, activities have been held in cemeteries in the martyrs' hometowns, where they are buried, to pay respect to them. Chinese netizens also left comments on social media platforms to commemorate and expressed gratefulness to them.

In Pingnan, East China's Fujian Province, people flock to the tomb of Chen Xiangrong and brought oranges, which was his favorite fruit.

In Lanzhou, capital of Northwest China's Gansu Province, Chen Hongjun's wife took their son to visit Chen on Saturday. It is the first time that the child met his father.

The tomb of Xiao Siyuan in Xinxiang, Henan, is also filled with flowers and messages from visitors.

Wang Zhuoran's parents also sent a message to other three martyrs which reads, "good child, you are the best!"

There are more than 20 million martyrs in China in the modern times but only about 1.96 million of them can be identified with names, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
The New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan  The Asadi family was up before dawn Tuesday after a fitful nights sleep. They dressed quickly in new clothes bought the day before and tucked a few precious belongings into two suitcases and two backpacks. Maj. Naiem Asadi was about to make the move of a lifetime  one that would separate his family from their loved ones and the only country they have ever known. As he and his wife, Rahima Asadi, zipped their luggage, they worried that unforeseen obstacles would block the p
Lachlan Murdoch's model wife Sarah is certainly making the most of her new life in Sydney, Australia.

The couple and their three children quietly arrived Down Under from Los Angeles last month, amid claims Joe Biden taking power made things 'rough' for the family.

And on Good Friday, the mother-of-three decided to celebrate the holidays by treating her children to a day at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, at the city's Olympic Park.

Casual chic: Lachlan Murdoch's model wife Sarah appeared in high spirits as she attended the Sydney Royal Easter Show at the city's Olympic Park

Sarah, 48, looked effortlessly stylish in form-fitted jeans and a white button-up shirt.

She blended in with the crowds in her understated look, teaming her ensemble with a pair of Lowe ballet runners, in nylon and calfskin, valued at $820.

The former Australia's Next Top Model host wore her hair in a casual wavy style, and appeared to wear a touch of makeup to enhance her features.

Under her arm, she was seen carrying a haul of showbags and chocolates in a bag for her children.

All smiles: In her left hand, the doting mother carried a haul of showbags and chocolates in a bag for her children

The Sydney Royal Easter Show is Australia's largest annual ticketed event, which attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees each year to celebrate the country's rural traditions to modern day lifestyles.

There's an array of rides, animal and wildlife showcases, competitions and food and drinks for the whole family to enjoy.

It's believed Sarah attended the event with her sons Kalan Alexander, 16, Aidan Patrick, 14, and daughter Aerin Elisabeth, 10.

Easter fun: She blended in with the crowds in her understated look, teaming her ensemble with a pair of Lowe ballet runners, in nylon and calfskin, valued at $820

Stylish: The former Australia's Next Top Model host wore her in a casual wavy style, and appeared to wear a touch of make-up to enhance her features

Sarah and Lachlan, the man most likely to take over his father Rupert's global empire, and their offspring arrived in Australia in March via private jet.

While no reason was given for the family's return Down Under, a new report claimed that it was the political climate in the US that helped make the decision for the family to leave LA in favour of their Sydney home.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the family 'felt the cold winds of political change' when Joe Biden assumed power over Donald Trump, after the family-owned Fox News appeared to favour the Republican Party throughout the election campaign.

Back Down Under: Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, 49, and his wife Sarah arrived in Australia on a private jet last month

The publication also claimed things 'got pretty rough' for their children at school.

A source said: 'The school communities here are very close knit, and it extends into the wider families and the circles and parties they all go to. That Hollywood set is very pro-Democratic.

'They are mostly big fundraisers for Biden, so you can imagine how well it went down when one of their classmates' dads is at the helm of the biggest anti-Biden machine in the country.'

Change: According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the family 'felt the cold winds of political change' when Joe Biden (pictured) assumed power over Donald Trump, after the family-owned Fox News appeared to favour the Republican Party throughout the election campaign

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to News Corp for further comment.

The family completed the mandatory quarantine period for international visitors by remaining confined to their luxury home in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

The Murdochs bought the beautiful Georgian mansion in Sydney's Bellevue Hill in 2009 for $23 million and then reportedly spent $11.67million renovating the property.

Isolation: The family completed the mandatory quarantine period for international visitors by remaining confined to their luxury home in Sydney's eastern suburbs

They also purchased an adjoining property for more $4.4million in 2018. In the current Sydney market, the estate would be worth closer to $50million.

Despite their life in Los Angeles, where Lachlan is Executive Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, the couple has always maintained the home in Sydney, where they first met in the late 1990s before marrying in 1999.

It's not known how long the glamorous family plan to stay in Australia, although a large 90th birthday for patriarch Rupert is said to be planned for July this year in California.
A 20-year-old man has been charged with murder after an alleged brawl that left a second man dead at an apartment complex in Sydneys CBD.

Police say the incident occurred in the hallway outside his room at the Oaks Sydney Castlereagh Suites in Haymarket early on Sunday morning.

The victim, a 43-year-old man from northern Sydney, was unresponsive when police arrived. Neighbours and emergency services attempted to revive the man, performing CPR for about 40 minutes, but they were unsuccessful, and he died at the scene.

Neighbours had called police at about 3.15am after they heard a fight in the hallway and discovered the unconscious victim.

Following initial inquiries, police believe the men arrived at the apartment complex together an hour earlier. They were inside an apartment until a violent confrontation allegedly escalated in the hallway outside.
Fortunately, theyre not necessarily related to the device itself but to the experience with Android Auto, as some report on Googles forums that running the app isnt possible on their brand-new and shiny Android flagships.If youve been keeping an eye on Android Auto reports lately, you should find these new errors rather familiar, as the app just fails to launch when the OnePlus 9 Pro is connected to the head unit.Several users confirmed the same problems on their new OnePlus devices, explaining that the phones detect the head unit, only that Android Auto fails to launch. Theres no error message or anything like that, and turning to generic workarounds like changing the connection method produces no improvements.Someone says the same problems are also encountered with a regular OnePlus 9 (not the Pro model), and in some cases, Android Auto started after repeatedly plugging and unplugging the device.One user recommends downgrading to Android Auto 5.8, adding that similar connection issues have also been experienced on Samsung models. You can find older Android Auto versions on this page At this point, however, theres no confirmation that downgrading to an earlier Android Auto release fixes the OnePlus 9 connectivity glitch.Googles community specialists have only posted a generic response regarding connectivity problems, so at this point, the company is yet to publicly acknowledge this issue.In the meantime, Google is getting ready to roll out a new update for Android Auto, with the release expected to take place as soon as the next week. At this point, its not yet known what Android Auto 6.3 is supposed to come with, but its most likely a bugfix-packed update that will further refine the experience with the app on certain phone models and head units.
New Delhi:

On the occasion of Navratri people all over the country are preparing themselves to celebrate this festival with full enthusiasm across the country in various forms. Festival of colours, music and dance 'Garba' and 'dandiya' is being celebrated by keeping noise pollution in mind and by restricting the use of loudspeakers post 10 pm, Garba organisers in the city have come up with various plans to continue the festivities till late in the night during Navratri.

Especially across Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat huge crowd gathered to dance the night away to traditional music, wearing colourful traditional attire as well.

But this navratri, this Mumbai organisation is up with a new concept with a very good and healthy motive that is silent garba nights for revellers who dont want the festivities to end. Rajmahal Banquets in Malad has taken the concept of silent Garba and Dandiya nights wherein everyone will be seen dancing to traditional tunes but with headphones on from 11 PM-2AM.

Monesh Soni, the banquets owner, says, We got this inspiration from the film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and thought of giving it a shot, referring to the silent disco scene from the Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma-starrer movie.

#WATCH: This Navratri, silent Garba at a Malad pandal; people groove to the tunes of their choice using headphones from 11 PM-2AM #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/UgLf1AC6Mr  ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2017

Silent #Garba at a Malad pandal this #Navratri-People use headphones, groove to the tunes of their choice from 11 PM-2 AM #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/18wVBx1zcc  ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2017

Also Read: Navratri 2017: Know all about Skandamata, fifth form amongst Navdurga

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Chinese People's Liberation Army personnel attending the opening ceremony of China's new military base in Djibouti on Aug. 1, 2017. (AFP via Getty Images)

CCP Groomed 6 African Presidents to Expand Its Unified Front

The Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) decades of infiltration in Africa paid off on March 12 when it won support from Russia and African countries, such as Egypt and South Sudan, for its condemnation of Australias human rights violations in a statement to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Since the CCP came to power, its military academy has trained six presidents, eight defense ministers, more than 100 commanders, and a large number of military personnel for Africa.

To date, five presidents and former presidents of African countries have graduated from the CCPs Nanjing Army Command College. They are Samuel Nujoma, the founding president of Namibia; Jakaya Kikwete, the fourth president of Tanzania; Laurent Kabila, the third president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); Isaias Afwerki, the first and current president of Eritrea; and Joao Vieira, the former president of Guinea-Bissau.

In addition, former DRC President Joseph Kabila (also known as Kabila Jr.), the eldest son of former President Laurent Kabila, once studied at the PLA National Defense University for six months before being called back to the country by his father due to a sudden change in the countrys situation. He succeeded to the presidency after his fathers assassination.

In addition to the presidents, the CCP has trained a large number of military personnel for African countries through its military academies such as the PLA National Defense University, Nanjing Army Command College, and Shijiazhuang Army Command College.

Free Aid in Mao Zedongs Era

Over the past few decades, the pattern of the CCPs military aid to Africa has changed considerably.

During the era of the CCPs first generation leader Mao Zedong, Africa received free aid.

Mao Zedong adopted a closed-door policy with the United States and the Soviet Union in his time, and he very much needed to draw in African and other third world countries to confront the two superpowers.

In 1971, Communist China succeeded in becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with crucial support from the votes of 26 African countries. In the words of Mao Zedong, It was the black African brothers who carried us in.

From 1964 to 1985 under Maos policy of free aid, the CCP sent 3,418 military experts in 226 envoys to 19 African countries, including Algeria, Tanzania, Congo, Zambia, and Mali. The CCP trained 17,000 soldiers, received 3,022 military trainees, and sent farming, engineering, and medical teams to assist those countries in building industrial and infrastructure projects.

Moderate Fees in Deng Xiaopings Era

Faced with isolation from the international community and the risk of economic collapse, the CCPs second-generation leader Deng Xiaoping ended Maos closed-door policy to improve relations between China and the United States.

In the 1980s, Dengs military aid to Africa was adjusted to a policy of charging appropriate fees and bartering, supplemented by gratuitous aid, and gradually increased the scale of military sales.

Over the following 30 years, the CCP sold to African countries military equipment such as jets, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, escort boats, and military equipment, the most common of which were the jets, K-8 trainers, and WZ-551 armored vehicles.

African countries such as Egypt, Tanzania, and Algeria were the main buyers of Chinese weapons.

Arms Business in Jiang Zemins Era

The CCPs third generation leader Jiang Zemin, who came to power by carrying through with the bloody crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests, not only understood how politically important the Third World countries were but also saw enormous opportunities in doing business with them.

In 1996, after visiting six African countries, Jiang proposed a strategy of going out to develop the markets of Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and other developing countries, as well as Eastern Europe and former Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

After that, the CCP replaced its arms aid policy with arms exports.

In 2013, Chen Hongsheng, chairman of Poly Group, the largest arms dealer in China, said in an interview with Chinese language website and magazine Talents that exporting weapons and equipment was an important part of the CCPs diplomacy, and that the CCP needed to sell equipment to in order to buy resources in other countries.

According to Chen Hongsheng, Poly had already acquired tens of thousands of square kilometers of land with oil reserves in Africa at that time.

Poly Groups 2013 annual social responsibility report shows that in 2013, Poly Technologys military export contracts amounted to $5.07 billion, accounting for half of Chinas total military export contracts in that year. Its military export contracts to African countries exceeded $1 billion.

High-End Arms Sale in Xi Jinpings Era

Since Xi Jinping came to power, the CCPs highest-end weapons have begun to appear frequently at major arms shows. Weapons such as the Xiaolong combat aircraft (also Joint Fighter-17 Thunder), different models of escort vessels, multiple rocket launchers firing large-caliber rockets, and the Rainbow and Wing Loong series of unmanned aerial vehicles, have been exported to Africa.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden, the top 25 global arms dealers traded a total of $361 billion in 2019, with the U.S. leading with a 61 percent share, and China in second place with a 16 percent share.

SIPRI figures show that during 2016-2020, 16 percent of Chinas arms exports went to Africa, while during 2014-2018, Africa accounted for 20 percent of Chinas arms export.

Major Overhaul in Africa Strategy: Setting Up Overseas Military Bases

A major reorientation of the CCPs Africa strategy can be traced back to the summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in December 2015.

At the summit, Xi Jinping presented Africa with some big gifts, including proposing the three year Ten Major Cooperation Plan, which included a peace and security cooperation plan, and $60 billion of funding support.

In July 2017, the CCP established a military base in Djibouti, a country located in the Horn of Africa. The base covers an area of about 90 acres and can accommodate up to 10,000 troops, including weapon storage facilities, boat and helicopter maintenance facilities, as well as five commercial berths and a military dock.

Djibouti is the main artery of maritime trade between Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia, and the starting point for military operations on the African continent. As a result, the United States, France, Japan, and Italy all have military bases there, and the only permanent U.S. military facility in Africa is in Djibouti.

Although the CCP claims that its base is only a logistical support facility, it is seen as a major strategic move, Peter Dutton, professor of strategic studies at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, told the New York Times, because it marks the first overseas military base for the CCP.

According to a Voice of America report in 2018, Djibouti might transfer control of the Doraleh container terminal to the CCP. Thomas Waldhauser, then commander of U.S. Africa Command, said at the time that control of the port by the CCP could have serious consequences for the supply of U.S. bases in Djibouti and the ability to resupply naval vessels.

In January 2020, Djibouti rejected a London Court of International Arbitration ruling to hand back control of a container terminal to global port operator DP World, after it took over for two years and allowed a Chinese state entity to build a separate terminal for the growing African market.

Africa Important for Unified Front Pushing CCPs Global Dominance

According to U.S.-based Chinese current affairs commentator Li Yanming, Africa is an important part of the CCPs overseas Unified Front efforts to push the regimes global dominance.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Li said that more and more people are witnessing the extent of CCPs global ambitions as it deploys its military power to Africa in addition to its economic, political, and ideological penetration on all fronts.

According to Lis analysis, the reason why the CCP has been able to expand in Africa is because of the huge amount of money it has paid to African dignitaries, and because African dictatorships have been able to strengthen their totalitarian rule with the help of the CCP.

He explained that when Western countries offer aid to Africa, they often demand human rights, freedom of the press, and democratic values at the same time, posing greater challenges for rulers.

However, the CCPs slogan of no political strings attached has seen African countries flock to it for funding.

Li added that under the backdrop of the new cold war between the CCP and the United States, international forces led by the United States are increasing their efforts to contain the CCP in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the Korean Peninsula.

In the meantime, the CCP is deliberately publicizing its military deployment, and political and military influence in Africa to intimidate its rivals.

Li said that the CCPs military ambitions should not be underestimatedgiven that the CCP is in its final death throes and is likely thinking, Why dont I give it a gamble, and if I die, we can all die togetherand Africa has become an important force in the new round of U.S.-China rivalry, as well as one of the battlegrounds of the new U.S.-China cold war.
PORTLAND, Ore.  The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) on Saturday reported 476 new COVID-19 cases and six more deaths connected to the virus. The state has reported 166,480 cases total since the start of the pandemic, including 2,391 deaths.

Twenty-nine of Oregon's 36 counties reported new cases Saturday. Multnomah County reported the most with 66, closely followed by Clackamas County with 65. Here's a county-by-county breakdown:

Baker (13), Benton (7), Clackamas (65), Columbia (10), Crook (3), Curry (3), Deschutes (30), Douglas (4), Grant (1), Hood River (1), Jackson (36), Jefferson (2), Josephine (14), Klamath (31), Lake (1), Lane (39), Lincoln (6), Linn (18), Malheur (1), Marion (37), Morrow (1), Multnomah (66), Polk (11), Tillamook (6), Umatilla (6), Union (3), Wasco (1), Washington (50), Yamhill (10).

OHA released the following information about the six people who died:

Oregons 2,386th COVID-19 death is a 70-year-old woman in Multnomah County who tested positive on March 14 and died on March 26 at Providence Portland Medical Center. She had underlying conditions.

Oregons 2,387th COVID-19 death is a 90-year-old man in Lane County who tested positive on February 17 and died on March 24 at his residence. He had underlying conditions.

Oregons 2,388th COVID-19 death is an 87-year-old man in Curry County who tested positive on March 16 and died on March 21 at his residence. He had underlying conditions.

Oregons 2,389th COVID-19 death is an 81-year-old man in Josephine County who tested positive on March 12 and died on March 19 at Asante Three Rivers Medical Center. Presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.

Oregons 2,390th COVID-19 death is an 85-year-old man in Lake County who tested positive on March 11 and died on March 26 at Lake District Hospital. He had underlying conditions.

Oregons 2,391st COVID-19 death is an 89-year-old woman in Clackamas County who tested positive on January 18 and died on February 19 at her residence. She had underlying conditions.

There are 153 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Oregon, four fewer than reported Friday. Forty-four COVID patients are in intensive care unit (ICU) beds, which is two more than Friday.

On Saturday, OHA said 44,782 more doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

The state has given 983,921 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 911,515 doses of Moderna, which both require two doses, and 47,048 doses of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine. OHA's vaccine dashboard says more than 723,000 Oregonians are fully vaccinated.

To date, 1,225,575 doses of Pfizer, 1,102,200 doses of Moderna and 105,800 doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to sites across Oregon.
By Jason Lim



This is the movie that came to mind when I first heard about the whole brouhaha surrounding the cancellation of "Joseon Exorcist," a K-drama that took extensive liberties with historical figures in the early decades of the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom. While I understand that King Sejong is one of the most revered figures in Korean history, Abraham Lincoln is probably not too far behind in the annals of American history. Yet, the movie about Abraham Lincoln hunting down and killing vampires was panned by the poor execution of the movie and not by the patently false premise. How is Sejong killing evil spirits more offensive to Koreans than Lincoln killing vampires? Yet, it was, and led to the cancellation of the series only after two airings.



What's even more confounding is that the Netflix drama series "Kingdom" basically told a similar story of a Joseon prince leading a fight against zombies in the midst of palace intrigue. And that one was a huge hit. So, what was it about "Joseon Exorcist" that triggered this reaction among the Korean public? Hint: historical memories, even inaccurate ones, run deep in Northeast Asia. One has to be careful not to step through its ever-shifting cracks.



This is all about China. The scene that caused the most issue was the one inside a Chinese-themed Joseon brothel that showed Chinese-style foods and clothing. It even led to SBS issuing a press release specifically addressing the issue: "In our series, the gisaengjip is located near the border of Ming China, so we thought a lot of Chinese people would visit the region. That's why we prepared the (Chinese) props. We did not have any other intention. We will be more careful in producing our work in the future."



Korean press calls the intrusion of Chinese capital and cultural artifacts in the K-pop industry a cultural version of the Northeast Project that began several years back. The Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was seen by many in Korea as a thinly veiled attempt by the Chinese to justify a potential history grab from Goguryeo and Balhae and any attendant land and cultural claims under the guise of an academic research project. If the Northeast Project can academically ''prove" that Goguryeo and Balhae were really offshoots of the larger Chinese nation, then it stands to reason that the historical, cultural and territorial legacy of these two ancient nations belong to modern China, not Korea.



The Korea Times writes, "Driven by the temptation of the vast Chinese market, studios often have made too many concessions to curry favors with Chinese investors, letting scripts to be altered significantly. This, in turn, makes their products deviate considerably from the initially planned stories while overly emphasizing China's "charm offensive," a factor that distresses viewers and chases them away."





Two underlying dynamics drive this flare up. First, the increasingly strident Chinese expansionist nationalism raises concerns throughout Asia that China is going back to its imperialist roots and will try to go back to its hegemonic role. This is an especially sensitive matter to Korea that had been subjugated by its much bigger neighbor for most of its written history. In fact, the last 70 years of Pax Americana probably represent the time when Korea was most free from Chinese influence. A resurgent China may be good for the Korean economy but not without transcendental threat to its very existence. What happened in Tibet and is happening to the Uyghurs are cases in very sharp point.



Second, Korea is not without its version of a mythical past wrapped in splendor. While its nationalism maybe more insular rather than expansionist, there is a strong desire to paint Korea as a dominant regional player in Northeast Asian history. In fact, it's suspected that the Korean government cut off funding for the Northeast Asian History Foundation at the Harvard Korea Institute when its interim findings supported the placement of the four Commanderies of the Han Dynasty after the fall of Wiman Joseon within today's Korean Peninsula, instead of supporting the notion that in Ancient Korea under Dangun kings ruled over a wide swath of land in Manchuria and even China proper.



One may wonder how the locations of ancient fortresses or the clothing featured in a fantasy drama could possibly rile up modern public sentiments to this extent. However, in a region sliding more and more into respective nationalism, actively reshaping the historical narrative is necessarily a political act. Keep in mind that national identity is not carved in stone. It's a matter of indoctrination to a certain set of ethnic and cultural narratives shared by everyone else in a group. As such, it can be flexible and inclusive as the situation demands. In other words, there is no objective history per se. And narratives can be rewritten, which makes history a matter of now.





Jason Lim (jasonlim@msn.com) is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture.


Credit:Age

It seems likely that voters in the Upper Hunter will have no candidate advocating for employment that extends more than the next few years (Back coal to win byelection: Labor MP, April 3-4). As the market for export and domestic coal declines, parties need to distinguish between support for a coal industry and support for the communities currently relying on it  and back the latter. A transition plan would be an honest recognition that coal pollution, with its impacts on the local environment, health and climate, means the industry is not fit for the future. Who will stand up for what the region can build on for the next decade? Angela Michaelis, Balmain

Good thinking, Joel Fitzgibbon. At least what hes suggesting is a plan for the coming byelection, but thats about all you can say for it, as it will clearly get us on the wrong side of the US and most other Western governments, ignore what coal and other fossil fuels are manifestly doing to our planet, and squander capital that could be used for renewable energy projects (thus enhancing employment). This is not a seat that Labor needs, in the sense that winning it would likely herald a victory in the next state election, but it does give the party an opportunity to spruik its environmental credentials by campaigning on the basis of new and different jobs created through renewables. Labor should ignore the fossils in its parliamentary ranks and appeal to the common sense of the Upper Hunter electorate. Ian Jackson, Freshwater

Mr Fitzgibbon supports the environmentally damaging coal mining industry because he knows his own political future is dependent on it. Unless you have been living under a rock recently you would know that the world is turning away from fossil fuels. If Labor wants to win over its former heartland, be honest with people, admit that coal mining should be phased out over the next five years, and guarantee that people will be re-employed in the tourism, hospitality, and recyclable energy industries. Robert Hickey, Green Point

There is no hope for any meaningful action on climate change with current state and federal governments in office. For purely political reasons  the upcoming Upper Hunter byelection  the NSW government has publicly stated they support coal and are trying to gag Malcolm Turnbull and his efforts to actually do something about this problem. It is increasingly obvious that our grandchildren are going to be left to fry due to short-term greed and political expediency.

Stephanie Edwards, Roseville
The Nationals call for a one-off visa amnesty on up to 100,000 undocumented agricultural workers has been rejected by the federal Department of Home Affairs, presenting a test for the Coalition government as regional MPs warn illegal workers are unlikely to present for vaccinations.

Nationals MP Anne Webster brought a motion to the partys conference last week calling for one-time legalisation of undocumented workers  many of whom work in regional fruit picking and other horticulture jobs  during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Nationals want a one-off visa amnesty to aid the horticulture industry. Credit:Dean Sewell

The motion, unanimously supported at the Nationals conference, was rebuffed by the Department of Home Affairs, which said an amnesty would significantly undermine the integrity of Australias visa system.

A recent report from the National Agricultural Labour Advisory Committee said there were between 60,000 and 100,000 undocumented workers in the country and they were likely to avoid contact with the government, including at vaccination clinics, due to fears they could be identified for deportation.
Two schools in Louth have been approved by the Government for additional classroom space for their pupils.

Bellurgan National School and Ardee Community School have been granted approval to get more accommodation for their classes.

Bellurgan NS is set to gain two new classrooms and one Special Education Teacher room and Ardee Community School will receive 18 general classrooms, a Special Education Needs based classroom, a Home School Community Liaison room, a Home Economics room, Art room, and two Construction Studies rooms.

Senator McGahon, speaking about the announcement, said: The purpose of the additional accommodation scheme is to ensure that essential classroom accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year and where the need cannot be met by the schools existing accommodation.

Where the need for additional accommodation is likely to be for a finite period of less than three years, a school may be given approval to rent temporary accommodation for this period.

The rental contract is between the school authority and the rental company.

Where the need for additional accommodation is likely to be for a period of more than three years, a school may be given grant aid with the option to purchase a prefabricated structure or to use this grant aid to construct a permanent classroom.

This is great news for everyone involved in the Bellurgan and Ardee communities.

As we move out of this Covid era, increased classroom sizes and space for children and teachers alike is very important and this is a substantial investment that the Department is investing in for two Louth communities.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

Mostly cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 84F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
A Hasidic rabbi who heads a Brooklyn yeshiva is under investigation for allegedly arranging marriages for boys and girls as young as 15 years old, it has been reported.

Rabbi Yoel Roth, who runs Yeshiva Tiferes Hatorah in Williamsburg, is reportedly the subject of a probe by the New York Police Department and the citys Administration for Childrens Service.

News of the investigations was first reported last week by the Jewish Daily Forward.

A spokesperson for the NYPD told DailyMail.com: 'The NYPD takes sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a police report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors.'

An ACS spokesperson told DailyMail.com: 'Our top priority is the safety and well-being of New York children.

'Child marriage is illegal in New York and we take allegations of child marriage and child sexual abuse very seriously.'

Roths secretary, Shaul Indig, denied the charges. He told the Forward that the allegations were lies told by people who hate the rabbi.

Indig said that the rabbi organizes engagements of underage couples and then waits until they are of legal age before marrying them off.

On March 17, a journalist, Frimet Goldberger, posted a shocking photo showing a 15-year-old Hasidic girl who was engaged to a 17-year-old boy.

Rabbi Yoel Roth, who runs Yeshiva Tiferes Hatorah in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is reportedly under investigation by authorities in New York for allegedly arranging underage marriages

On March 17, a journalist, Frimet Goldberger, posted a shocking photo showing a 15-year-old Hasidic girl who was engaged to a 17-year-old boy. Goldberger also posted a video showing the 15-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy being subjected to a binding engagement contract known in Judaism as tenaim - which is translated from the Hebrew as terms or conditions.

Goldberger also posted a video showing the 15-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy being subjected to a binding engagement contract known in Judaism as tenaim - which is translated from the Hebrew as terms or conditions.

According to Goldberger, on the same night the photo was taken, another 15-year-old girl was married off to a 21-year-old man.

Video of Roth that surfaced on social media reportedly shows him admitting to arranging underage marriages. Speaking in Yiddish, the rabbi likened abiding by the states marriage laws to listening to the Gentiles.

If you want to make a child happy, you have to marry him or her off, Roth reportedly says in one video.

The investigations were launched after several reports began circulating on social media last month of youngsters being married off by a child matchmaker.

The legal marriage age in New York State is 18, though 17-year-olds are permitted to wed if granted consent by the State Supreme Court or family court.

The Forward quotes one boy who said he was 16 years old when he began his studies at the Williamsburg yeshiva last year.

According to the boy, Roth approached him on his first day of school to discuss arranging a marriage.

He told me, Wow, youre so cute. Youre going to find a girl fast, the boy told the Forward.

I was 16.

The image above shows Yeshiva Tiferes Hatorah in Williamsburg. It is also known as Heichel Hakodesh Breslev

Roth has been described as a cult leader who has gained full-fledged underage followers who have succumbed to his teachings urging them to wed at a young age.

One Brooklyn-based Hasidic woman told the Forward that several of her siblings have fallen victim to Roths persuasion.

This is a real cult, she said.

It was only once they got really hurt and they left, that those cult-like characteristics really - you could see it.

The yeshiva that Roth leads is also known as Heichel Hakodesh Breslev. He also runs Camp Breslev in Brooklyn and a nonprofit, Ach Tov V Chesed.

He has also reportedly started a community of about 60 families in the Sullivan County, New York town of Liberty, which is located some 100 miles northwest of New York City.

Those families are said to be some of Roths most devoted followers. They reportedly include couples who were married young.

Breslev, or Breslov, is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded more than 200 years ago by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, a town located in Ukraine.

After crackdowns by Communist Russia and the Nazi German invasion, the movement was dispersed to places like the US, Israel, and the United Kingdom.

This is the second time in recent years that a prominent figure from the Breslev movement has been suspected of arranging child marriages.

Last month, several videos surfaced on social media showing Roth advocating for underage marriage

In 2011, the late Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick, who founded the yeshiva which Roth heads, was arrested by authorities in Israel for arranging underage marriages. Schick died in 2015. He was 74 years old.

In one video, Roth is said to reference Schick.

The yeshiva head spoke of pain, he spoke of 50 years that teenage boys write him letters, open themselves up to him, the rabbi says in the clip.

Quoting the rabbi, Roth says: Theres no other advice to be given except to marry off children young.

After Goldbergers posts, several others on social media posted videos showing the rabbi urging youngsters to marry.

Among the Hasidic Jewish community in Williamsburg and elsewhere, it is common for marriages to be arranged, though most nuptials take place with the knowledge of the parents after the bride and groom reach legal age.

According to Hasidic tradition, the bride and groom are taught about sex two weeks before their wedding. They usually spend their first night together after they wed. It is then that they are expected to consummate the relationship.

Those who are familiar with Roth say that he aims to marry off young children because boys start to have sexual thoughts and urges after puberty.

In 2011, the late Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick, who founded the yeshiva which Roth heads, was arrested by authorities in Israel for arranging underage marriages. Schick died in 2015. He was 74 years old

By arranging marriages, boys would have an outlet through which to exercise their sexual urges, it is claimed.

Previously, the solution was to really castigate those boys and threaten them with eternal hell, said Yehudis Fletcher, the co-founder of a UK-based nonprofit organization called Nahamu, which advocates for civil liberties like divorce for Haredi Jews.

Roth came up with a new solution  Dont worry, well just arrange a vessel for them to masturbate into.

Thats what these girls are to him, according to Fletcher.

Roth allegedly arranges marriages without the permission of the parents. In some instances, parents are misled into thinking that they are going to meet a possible match for their child.

In reality, however, they are shocked to discover that they are actually attending an engagement ceremony.

Roth also allegedly does not reveal to the parents the ages of the children that he picks.

Indig denies that the rabbi has any bad intentions.

If you do something good, theres always people who criticize you, he said.
The replacement of fossil fuel-derived energy with environmentally-friendly energy is the focus of research by a PhD student from Hue who is studying in Taiwan.

In March 2019, a research article on materials used in the field of clean energy production by Mr. Nguyen Van Can, a PhD student in Taiwan, and his colleagues was published by the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, a prestigious magazine in fuel technology, according to Web of Science in 2019.

Mr. Nguyen Van Can

The research team has been working to develop quantum dots from materials that are eco-friendly, have strong photosensitivity properties and high sensitivity to visible light, namely semiconductors, graphene or carbon-based materials. The application of these in the regeneration of biomass substances derived from plants associated with dehydration reaction to release H2 gas energy is underway. Bio-based plant products such as glucose or table sugar are also used as reactants that will be catalyzed to regenerate smaller derivative products.

The only limitation is that the water electrolysis process requires the presence of metal oxide materials (titanium oxide), which are strongly ultraviolet light-absorbent. In addition, to boost chemical irreversible reactions of the products on the catalytic surface, some environmentally unfriendly matters must be used, which is likely to cause a greater amount of discharged chemicals after each reaction ends.

Simulation of a photocatalytic reaction under the illumination of sunlight.

It took us almost three months from the time we sent the manuscript to its acceptance. That Lunar New Year I backed out of returning to Vietnam to finish editing it, as well as to do the experiments and sample analysis requested by the reviewers.

Its quite riveting for me how simple the photocatalytic reactions are, you only need graphene quantum dot materials, granulated sugar, water and solar energy to release good H2 gas with high quantum efficiency," Can said.

According to Can, the results achieved will contribute to the promotion of current studies on photocatalytic to regenerate environmentally friendly biomass materials made into valuable products associated with clean energy production.

One of the research works by Can and his fellows.

This could boost the production of clean energy in lieu of fossil energy in the future.

If the first project mainly focuses on analyzing the structural characteristics of catalytic materials, and introducing applications, the teams second project has developed a more holistic approach to discover the complex mechanism of chemical responses.

With the second study, we chose new more complex biomass materials rather than simple ones as previously, and focused on discovering the mechanism of the reaction that occurs between biomass and photocatalytic graphene quantum dots.

Also as shared by Can, the research requires large investment funding, high-tech equipment, and complex techniques to perform analysis as well as evaluation, which is quite challenging.

Valuable trip

This research contributes to the future production of green energy in lieu of fossil fuels.

Researcher Nguyen Van Can (born in 1989) is currently a member of the Faculty of Mechanical Technology, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry. His life changed when a group of professors from National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan) came to work at his University.

I longed to study abroad. In 2016, I went to Taiwan as a PhD student as I got a scholarship from Cheng Kung University which is in the top 190 in the world for science and technology and one of the top 3 best universities in Taiwan according to US News report ranking.

The time Mr. Can spent participating in research with professors and group members left him with a treasure trove of knowledge.

Nguyen Van Can and his colleagues in the lab.

Nguyen Van Can and other Vietnamese students in Taiwan.

I was fortunate to work with senior professor Hsisheng Teng, an expert, an eminent researcher not only in Taiwan but globally in our field. He reminded me to focus more on the quality of the research instead of quantity.

I keep coming back to one thing he taught. Young people live in such a hurry, do things superficially, and don't pay attention to details or have a holistic approach.

Can intends to complete the research publication this year and return to Vietnam to join research groups at Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry.

If lucky enough, I hope to contribute to levelling up Vietnam's science in the world rankings. Despite some shortcomings, Vietnam has increased investment in scientific research associated with university curriculum and research centers.

Ngan Anh

Female scientist dreams of reviving contaminated land The image of a boy with shining eyes and crippled limbs damaged by Agent Orange prompted Ngo Thi Thuy Huong, born in 1974, "to do something" to revive contaminated land in Vietnam.
Three local men who returned to Vietnam from Angola have tested positive for Covid-19, sending Vietnams tally to 2,629 cases as of this morning, April 4, the Ministry of Health confirmed.



A health worker sprays disinfectant at a Covid-19 quarantine facility. Three local men who returned to Vietnam from Angola have tested positive for Covid-19  PHOTO: VNA

The new patients, aged 38-45, were taken to a quarantine center in Bac Giang Province after arriving at Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh Province on March 31, boarding Flight VN88. They are under medical treatment at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Earlier, five passengers travelling on this flight had been confirmed as positive for the coronavirus and placed in quarantine upon their arrival in the country.

Up to now, of the nations tally, 2,383 cases have fully recovered. Fatalities remained at 35.

The latest coronavirus wave in the country has been brought under control, with many provinces and cities reporting no new locally-infected cases for over a month, such as HCMC, Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hoa Binh, and Dien Bien.

SGT
New Delhi: Easter is celebrated to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ, after he was crucified by Romans at Calvary in 30 AD on a Friday (Good Friday marks the crucifixion of Christ).

Each year devout Christians, celebrate Easter with their families by attending church services followed by a scrumptious Easter lunch.

History of Easter

Among Christians it is believed that on the third day of Jesus Christ crucifixion, he was resurrected by God - marking the victory of good over evil.

The auspicious day of Easter comes after 40 days of the Christian Lent month. The period of Lent is a spiritual time when devotees fast, do penance and try to attain closeness to the almighty.

The week before Easter is specially auspicious and is called the Holy Week and ends on Easter.

Significance of Easter

Many Christians believe that Easter is even more important than Christmas despite the latter getting all the limelight. Easter signifies unending mercy and love of Christ towards humanity. He willingly agreed to be crucified for the sins of humankind and his resurrection is a sign of mercy and hope and goodness.

Celebration of Easter

Easter celebration generally includes Church services followed by an Ester lunch. The festival is celebrated with cutely decorated Easter eggs - that can be both edible and inedible. The use of eggs has a special significance on Easter.

Eggs are supposed to symbolize life and birth and on Easter signify the resurrection of Christ from his tomb.

Easter bunnies, who deliver Easter eggs to kids are also a popular part of the celebration. However, there is no direct religious connotation of bunnies and Easter. Their use in the festival is said to have come from pagan influences in which bunny symbolizes fertility.

Depending upon which corner of the world you reside, there will be some specific cultural influences that play a part in how the festival is celebrated.

This year due to the Coronavirus pandamic, people are having an intimate Easter celebration.
New Delhi: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar recently took to social media to inform his followers that he tested positive for coronavirus. The Kesari actor assured fans that he has isolated himself at home and is following all the required protocols.

The 53 -year-old actor shared a note on Instagram that read, "I wish to inform everyone that earlier this morning, I have tested positive for COVID-19. Following all the protocols, I have immediately isolated myself. I'm under home quarantine and have sought necessary medical care. I would sincerely request all those that have come in contact with me to get themselves tested and take care. Back in action very soon."

Before testing positive, Akshay Kumar was in Ayodhya, shooting for Abhishek Sharma's 'Ram Setu' along with co-stars Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushrratt Bharuccha. The film crew had travelled to the holy city of Ayodhya to begin shooting for the film Ram Setu following a 'muhurat' shot on March 18.

On March 27, Khiladi Kumar was in Agra where he wrapped up the shooting of his other upcoming film 'Atrangi Re' after which he wrote a thank you note to his co-stars Sara Ali Khan and Dhanush and team. In December 2020 too, the actor was in the city along with his co-star Sara Ali Khan, where they reportedly shot for a song sequence at the iconic Taj Mahal.

Earlier in January, the actor was stationed in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer for more than a week to complete shooting for his film 'Bachchan Pandey'. A video of the actor from his shoot location had surfaced and shared on social media. As per reports, Akshay was spotted leaving Nachna Haveli in Jaisalmer. 'Bachchan Pandey', directed by Farhad Samji, also stars Kriti Sanon, Prateik Babbar, Arshad Warsi, Pankaj Tripathi and others.

In August last year, the actor had flown to London along with his family, where he shot for his film 'Bell Bottom'. The actor was joined by the cast and crew of the film, including Vaani Kapoor, Huma Qureshi and Lara Dutta. Inspired by true events, the film is set in 1980s and is about one of India's forgotten heroes. The film is set for release on May 28, 2021.

Earlier, on Holi, Akshay had urged fans to avoid Holi celebrations due to the rising COVID-19 cases in the country.
AMD will reportedly improve the supply of its much-desired Ryzen 5000 chips during the second quarter of 2021. Huge demand has overwhelmed the chip designer, leading to price premiums being placed on SKUs like the Ryzen 9 5900X and Ryzen 9 5950X. The supply bump comes just in time to counter Intels Rocket Lake series availability.

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A report out of China has claimed that AMD Ryzen 5000 parts will have greater availability in the second quarter of this year. According to ChannelGate (via MyDrivers), Team Red has managed to bump up supply by 20% to try to deal with the demand for Zen 3 desktop processors. While a 20% increase over the first quarter in terms of supply will still be far from meeting all consumer requirements, it is at least a step in the right direction.

Whether AMD sees Intels Rocket Lake as a direct threat to Ryzen 5000s continued success or not is irrelevant at the present time because of the issues with availability. While many reviewers have been collectively shaking their heads at the 11th Gen desktop parts from Intel, especially in regard to the top-end i9-11900K SKU, it seems likely many desktop PC builders will resort to a purchase simply out of frustration or discontent with the AMD chip shortage.

AMD has had to deal with huge chip demands, as its not only Ryzen 5000 that has been snagging all the available 7nm silicon coming from TSMCs fabs. Both Microsoft and Sony have been knocking on AMDs door for the custom processors required by the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles, and of course Team Red has also upped the demand itself with the release of Zen 3 EPYC Milan server chips. Hopefully, those looking for one of the powerful high-end Ryzen 9 5000 processors will soon be able to find something priced closer to MSRP.

Buy the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X from Amazon
Egypt moved on Saturday evening 22 Pharaonic mummies from the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in a festive, remarkable parade known as "The Pharaoh's Golden Parade."

The festivity started with 22 ancient-like vehicles especially designed for the event, each carrying the name of the mummy of the king or queen inside, moving from Tahrir Square and escorted by parades of chariots, motorcycles and men and women dressed in ancient Egyptian outfits.

The royal mummies belong to 18 kings and four queens from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties that ruled ancient Egypt over 3,000 years ago.

They include mummies of famous ancient Egyptian King Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut.

About an hour before the parade set off, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the main hall and the mummies hall in the NMEC, accompanied by Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Anani, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili.

"It's the only one of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East," the minister told Sisi while taking him in a tour inside the museum.

The minister explained that the main hall of the NMEC contains 1,500 artifacts and it will be open for visitors the next day, while the mummies hall will be opened on April 18 to coincide with the International Day for Monuments and Sites, also known as World Heritage Day.

"It is a unique cultural, awareness, tourism event. It's unprecedented and it shows that Egypt puts our civilization and antiquities on the top of our priorities," Anani said in a statement before a ceremony started at the NMEC.

With joint efforts of the UNESCO and the Egyptian government, the NMEC's foundation stone was laid in 2002 and its temporary exhibition hall was opened in 2017.

The 22 royal mummies of the Pharaoh's Golden Parade were discovered in two cachettes, the first of which was unearthed in 1881 and the second in 1898, both in Upper Egypt's monument-rich province of Luxor.

"The remarkable and magnificent parade shows that Egypt celebrates and honors its ancestors," Khaled Gharib, professor of Egyptology at Cairo University, told Xinhua after the parade.

"It is a new museum with a new technology that presents a new Egypt," the professor said, referring to the newly-opened NMEC.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 11:12:48|Editor: huaxia

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People are seen at a coffee shop at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, capital of Germany, April 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

The pandemic situation in Europe has hardly improved. The risk of another wave of infections is feared to be imminent after Easter with the continued spread of virus variants and increased mobility.

by Chen Jing

HELSINKI, April 4 (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.

People picnic and enjoy the sunshine at the Monceau Park in Paris, France, March 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

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.

A woman wearing a face mask walks on a street in Warsaw, Poland, on March 30, 2021. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/Xinhua)

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.

People walk under Easter egg decorations in Ogre, Latvia, on March 26, 2021. (Photo by Edijs Palens/Xinhua)

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.

Few people walk in downtown Madrid, Spain, March 27, 2021. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

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.

Carabinieri officers patrol at Fontana di Trevi in Rome, Italy, April 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting)

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.

People line up to enter a mass immunization center in Riga, Latvia, on April 3, 2021. (Photo by Edijs Palens/Xinhua)

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)

(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.)
Two sisters were arrested for the human smuggling attempt of two immigrants who had crossed the border illegally, according to an arrest affidavit.

A black sedan with four occupants arrived at about 3:15 p.m. March 25 at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 35. Authorities identified the driver as Jacklynn Rae De Leon. She stated she was traveling with her sister, Jessica Denise De Leon; her sisters boyfriend, Selvin Honay Guardado-Mejia; and her cousin, Deysy Adelina Perez-Garcia. Jacklynn stated they were traveling to San Antonio.

During the immigration inspection, all claimed to be U.S. citizens. However, agents noticed that Guardado-Mejia and Perez-Garcia maintained a rigid posture and avoided eye contact. The vehicle was referred to secondary inspection. There, Guardado-Mejia and Perez-Garcia allegedly admitted to being Honduran citizens who had crossed the border illegally.

In a post-arrest interview, Jacklynn Del Leon stated she told her sisters boyfriend that she wanted money, and he said he would arrange it. The boyfriend showed Jacklynn De Leon a picture of Guardado-Mejia and Perez-Garcia and told her she would be paid $1,500 per immigrant if she would take them to San Antonio. When she picked them up, Jacklynn De Leon instructed Guardado-Mejia and Perez Garcia to say they were U.S. citizens once reaching the checkpoint.

Jessica De Leon also provided a post-arrest interview. She stated she picked up her sister from work and later got a call from her father saying that her cousin had a medical emergency in San Antonio. Jessica De Leon said they stopped at a gas station before traveling to San Antonio. Thats when Guajardo-Mejia and Perez-Garcia asked them for a ride, according to court documents.

Confronted with inconsistencies about her statement, Jessica De Leon then changed her story saying that she and her sister would split the earnings from the human smuggling attempt, states the affidavit.

Jacklynn De Leon and Jessica De Leon were charged with transport, attempt to transport and conspire to transport immigrants.
Who were these people really worshiping on January 6? Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As evidence of the decline of religious observance in America continues to mount even as cultural and political divisions become more intense and pervasive, a very old fear has arisen again. It is that in a thoroughly secularized society, politics will begin to take on some of the absolutist features normally associated with religious claims of possessing ultimate truth.

For many years analysts have wondered if the savage nature of totalitarian movements of the left and right was owed to their occupation of metaphysical ground once held by supernatural religion. And theres no question that both the classless, stateless society imagined by Marx as waiting for the human race at the end of history, and the Aryan Valhalla dreamed of by the Nazis for their own master race, were in appeal  if not intention  secular replicas of the Kingdom of God.

So its not surprising that Andrew Sullivan, in an Easter essay that begins with an insightful and moving tribute to his own inveterate Catholicism, enters the same dark woods of fear about politics raised to the level of religion:

[Religion] is about removing oneself from life while still living it: a pause, a grace-note, a moment when nothing is getting done. It is good to get out of the addled brain for a while, to live in the soul and the body alone. 

What were witnessing, it seems to me, is not a collapse in the religious impulse as such. The need to transcend, to find meaning, and purpose, is eternal for humans. What were witnessing is what happens when politics replaces or becomes a form of religion.

But out of apparent exasperation with all sorts of misplaced absolutes, Sullivan sets up an equivalence with which I cannot agree:

The fusion of Evangelical Christianity with the Republican Party blasphemously climaxed in the Trump cult. Among the Trump banners and a Confederate flags in the crowd that invaded the Capitol on January 6 was a flurry of wooden crosses. And in wokeness, the younger generation are quite obviously replicating previous religious movements in America. Look at the zeal in their eyes, the relentless search for heresy, the ostracization of sinners, the mass confessions of iniquity, and the need to do the work every day to bring about the Kingdom of Anti-Racism.

Yes, secular progressive causes from wokeness to public health to voting rights are fed by inherent human longings for self-improvement, righteousness, solidarity, and progress itself. There are overzealous and censorious social justice advocates just as there are overzealous librarians who are censorious about noise and overzealous chefs who are censorious about nutrition and table-scapes (though the collateral damage to their victims is obviously more innocent). Perhaps the woke are filling holes in their souls once filled by faith, and are engaged in crusades that lead to campus warfare rather than to Jerusalem. But by and large they do not profess that their certainties came down from heaven on tablets of stone, or that by smiting their enemies hip and thigh they are saving their souls. And that matters.

What has been most dangerous about the Christian right before and after it succumbed to the Trump cult was that its prophets had so thoroughly confused the sacred and the profane that it made a habit of deifying mere secular concerns. I once had rural relatives who refused to observe daylight saving time because standard time was Gods time. Anything traditional was hallowed. And in the Church of the Day Before Yesterday, the cultural mores of 1950s middle-class America displaced the Christian gospel, making family values  meaning Dad as patriarch and Mom as reproductive vessel and homemaker and, in general, women and gay people and minorities quiet and knowing their place  the keys to the Kingdom. That the whole movement culminated in celebration of the ur-heathen Donald Trump as national savior showed how perverse the whole enterprise had become.

So give me a thousand woke young militants over a single man in a pulpit proclaiming anyones  much less Trumps  reelection as essential to the salvation of the human race. For that matter, Id much prefer grim and censorious secularists to any Christian left that would sanctify political goals I happen to share. Politicized religion can spoil both politics and religion, which is why the American tradition of separation of church and state is so essential to religious as well as civic freedom. As Sullivan rightly says: It took centuries for Christianity to  reject earthly power as a distraction from what really matters, what really lasts. It would be a terrible shame if America threw that shimmering inheritance away.

This Easter I am worshipping my risen Lord and Savior with not a bit of resentment of those who find meaning in secular pursuits or in the watery spirituality of the 21st century. I will even endeavor to maintain fellowship with Christians who seem to worship an angry God and look forward to a paradise that bears a great resemblance to a gated retirement community in Florida. And I will pray that even if our differences grow more bitter and unforgiving, we will never confuse culture war with holy war, or elections with the Eschaton.
The Duke of Cambridge has said humanity needs to 'fundamentally reset our relationship with nature and our trajectory as a species' to avoid climate disaster.

In a video message played at a gala for US-based charity Conservation International, Prince William said the next decade would be 'one of our greatest ever tests'.

He warned the most vulnerable people around the world, 'and those who have done the least to cause climate change', would be impacted the most.

William urged those present to take their lead from the millions of young people who are booking for solutions to the problem.

'All of us, across all sectors of society, and in every corner of the globe, must come together to fundamentally reset our relationship with nature and our trajectory as a species,' he said.

'I truly believe that humans have an extraordinary capacity to set goals and strive to achieve them.'

William added: 'The remarkable development of the Covid-19 vaccine in record time is a case in point.'

In October last year, the duke launched the Earthshot Prize to help those coming up with solutions to climate change scale up their ideas.

Rather than a Moonshot , we need Earthshots  for this decade.



Watch Prince Williams @Tedtalks talk in full: https://t.co/pgoXB1XDf7@TedCountdown @EarthshotPrize pic.twitter.com/QNjzUHqpTV  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) October 11, 2020

The prize's has five goals for the next decade  protect and restore nature, fight air pollution, revive the oceans, build a waste-free world and fix the climate.

The duke told attendees: 'We want to find the brightest minds and boldest ideas that will help us to achieve these Earthshots.

'But it will require our collective energy, determination, and optimism to get there.'

The Duke of Cambridge says humanity needs to `fundamentally reset its relationship with nature

He added: 'Together we must unite every business, every community, every government and every person around our common goal to repair the earth.'

William said he hoped people over the world regardless of background or beliefs could 'join this shared optimism for the future and conviction that change is truly possible'.

'Together, I'm confident that we can begin to heal our planet, protect nature, and improve lives for billions of people, today and for generations to come,' he said.

'The interdependence between human health and planetary health has never been more clear': Prince Charles urges leaders to take action in impassioned speech At the start of this year, The Prince of Wales called on business leaders across the world to invest in green issues and sustainability as he launched a 7.3billion recovery plan to right a string of 'broken promises' over the environment. Marking 50 years since he first began campaigning on green issues, Charles unveiled his 'Terra Carta', a pioneering multi-national agreement between some of the biggest firms in the world to put sustainability at the heart of the global post-pandemic recovery. Charles urged business leaders to support his Earth Charter and 'bring prosperity into harmony with nature, people and planet' over the next decade. He told delegate at the One Planet Summit in Paris: 'I am making an urgent appeal to leaders, from all sectors and from around the world, to give their support to this Terra Carta, to bring prosperity into harmony with nature, people and planet over the coming decade.' Prince Charles told the summit in January: 'The current pandemic exemplifies the devastating impact global threats can pose to human and economic wellbeing  after all, nature is central to all aspects of our existence; from the air we breathe, our nourishment and shelter, to out spiritual, cultural and recreational wellbeing. 'The interdependence between human health and planetary health has never been more clear. For so many of the problems we face, nature - with the benefit of billions of years of evolution - has already provided us with the solutions. 'As we urgently seek to rescue the situation we must now look to invest in natural capital as the engine of our economy. 'With growing interest in natural capital as an investment theme, the financial sector has come to see that natural capital can come to play a decisive role in addressing climate change as well as supporting the sustainable development goals. 'Integration of biodiversity, related risks and opportunities into the finance sector is already underway. 'We also need to think holistically about land, food, and health systems. Climate change, land use change, food production and human health are all deeply interconnected. 'Regenerative agriculture, including practices such as organic and no-till farming, to restoring soil fertility or using silvopastural or agroforestry systems, could enable agriculture to become a net carbon sync - rolling climate change backwards profitably as it revitalises rural communities and enhances human health. 'As we look towards the United Nations biodiversity conference in China later this year, the Great Green Wall has the potential to serve as an example of large scale natural capital investment in critical areas such as wider Africa, the Amazon, small island states and the Great Barrier Reef. 'It can also be instrumental not only in bringing together Commonwealth countries ..but around landscape restoration in Africa in particular. 'This is why I am so grateful to all of you here today for taking an interest in natural capital and the Great Green Wall initiative. 'It is also why have created a natural capital investors alliance targeting $10bn in investment by 2022 to help us arrive at a common language on natural capital investment so that we can start putting money to work and improve the flow of capital.' Advertisement
Chennai, April 4 : Superstar-turned-politician and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan on Sunday asserted that he is ready to quit cinema for the sake of politics.

Addressing media persons at Coimbatore, Kamal, who is contesting from the Coimbatore South seat in the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, said that he would complete all his movie assignments and contracts and is contemplating to walking off the silver screen if politics demands it.

"I am ready to quit the film world and show business for politics if it demands so. However late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and popular actor MGR had continued to act in movies even after becoming an MLA to communicate his ideas to the people of Tamil Nadu and to serve the people," he noted.

Kamal also told media persons that he had received several threats during the election campaign but did not further elaborate.

He said that several political leaders had called upon him to quit politics and continue with cinema.

"Let us see who will quit politics... and as I said earlier, I will continue with politics." Kamal also said that his party has provided proper details to Election Commission officials on the details of the money spent during the campaign.
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The TSA  whose job is supposedly fighting terrorism  is, without doubt, one of Americas most corrupt and incompetent agencies. However, last year, they apparently became so unsatisfied with the mere ability to strip search babies, remove colostomy bags, beat up blind cancer patients, and fondle your genitalia, that they announced a more invasive physical pat-downs. The pat-downs, which TSA warned would probably prompt assault complaints with the police department because of their invasive nature, have been implemented.

On top of aggressive pat downs and indiscriminate molestation of the young, old, and even triple amputees, the TSA can and will steal your money if they find it in your bag. A new class action lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice, exposes an egregious practice of agents taking money  specifically, lots of cash  from innocent people, and keeping it. And they are doing it legally.

The class action lawsuit seeks to put an end to this legal theft and it will now move forward against both the TSA and DEA.

TSA and DEA routinely violate Americans Fourth Amendment rights at airports across the country by detaining them for doing something completely legal: flying with cash, said IJ Senior Attorney Dan Alban. Seizing and forfeiting someones savings should not be done lightly, yet weve documented how easy it is for law enforcement to take money at airports without any evidence of a crime. Now, thanks to our class action lawsuit, we are going to uncover the truth behind how and why the government is targeting innocent flyers, and ultimately put an end to this predatory practice.

Several of the victims named in the lawsuit had tens of thousands of dollars stolen from them and were never even accused of a crime, much less convicted of one. Terry Rolin and his daughter Rebecca Brown were flying from Pittsburgh to Boston with Terrys life savings in order to open a bank account to help care for her father. When TSA found the cash in their luggage, it was stolen.

According to the IJ, additional named plaintiffs joined the suit in July 2020. DEA seized $43,000 from Stacy Jones at the Wilmington, North Carolina, airport in May 2020 as she was flying home to Tampa. The agency returned her money after she joined the lawsuit and nine months after it was seized. Once again, criminal charges were never filed.

TSAs and DEAs unconstitutional conduct across the country suggests that the agencies are more interested in seizing cash than securing safety, said IJ Attorney Jaba Tsitsuashvili. And these seizures subject people to a confusing bureaucratic process, without an attorney provided, where a single misstep could mean losing their life savings forever. Even those who succeed in getting their money returned are deprived of it for months or years, often upending their lives. No one should lose their money without a criminal conviction.

We agree.

Sadly, the TSA, who has never stopped a terror attack and is unable to stop 95 percent of the tests against its tactics, gropes and molests children and adults alike  who unquestioningly accept it.

As TFTP has previously reported, when the TSA isnt stealing from the elderly, they are molesting them  even 84-year-old survivors of the holocaust.

Eva Mozes Kor exposed her abuse by TSA in a Tweet, explaining how she was forced to undergo a very demeaning body search just to board a plane. In her Tweet, she drew a parallel with the TSA and Auschwitz.

Kor was traveling back home after giving a lecture on the horrors of Auschwitz when she said she was able to survive being in a concentration camp but could barely survive the abuse she suffered at the hands of TSA.

Another very demeaning body search by the TSA  there has to be some way that at age 84 I can get some clearance by the POWERS of Government from this procedure. As I lecture about surviving Auschwitz I barely survive the TSA body search I detest it. That ruined my experience, wrote the 84-year-old.

Hopefully, this lawsuit exposes the problem with TSA and Americans start paying attention before TSA is deployed to malls and grocery stores, stealing our money while checking our vaccine passports.
By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis, leading an Easter vigil service scaled down due to COVID-19, said on Saturday he hoped the dark times of the pandemic would end and that people could rediscover "the grace of everyday life".

This year has been the second consecutive Easter that all papal services are being attended by only about 200 people in a secondary altar of St. Peter's Basilica instead of the nearly 10,000 that the largest church in Christendom can hold.

The service began two hours earlier than usual so that participants could get home before a 10 p.m. curfew in Rome, which, like the rest of Italy, is under tough lockdown restrictions during the Easter weekend.

At the start of the service, the basilica was in darkness except for the flames from candles held by participants to signify the darkness in the world before Jesus. As the pope, cardinals and bishops processed to the altar and a cantor chanted three times, the basilica's lights were turned on.

In his homily, Francis, marking the ninth Easter season of his pontificate, said the festival brought with it the hope for renewal on a personal as well as a global level.

"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," Francis said.

Just as Jesus brought his message "to those struggling to live from day to day", he said, people today should care for those most in need on the fringes of society.

"(God) invites us to overcome barriers, banish prejudices and draw near to those around us every day in order to rediscover the grace of everyday life," Francis said.

On Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar, the pope will deliver his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message.

(Reporting By Philip PullellaEditing by Gareth Jones)
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A noted leaker has dropped a hint that Xiaomi is preparing to launch its new Mi Pad tablets, which may be called the Mi Pad 5 and Mi Pad 5 Pro. It appears the main difference between the two Xiaomi Mi Pad 5 slates will be the processor used, with the regular tablet getting a Dimensity 1200 while the Pro is fitted with a Snapdragon 870.

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A few more details about the upcoming Xiaomi Mi Pad range have been slipping out, although it seems nearly every relevant point was leaked back in February if that particular leak was genuine. Unsurprisingly, it is now believed that Xiaomi will release at least two new tablets in the currently labeled Mi Pad 5 series, with a regular model and Pro model constituting the 11-inch device lineup.

According to a new report out of China, the Mi Pad 5 Pro will have a 2K LCD display that can manage a 144 Hz refresh rate, while the regular model will seemingly have to make do with 120 Hz. A touch-sampling rate of 480 Hz is also mentioned, which corresponds with the earlier Xiaomi Mi Pad leak. The tablets will apparently operate on a MIUI for Pad system that is similar to the OS for the Mi Mix Fold.

While the Xiaomi Mi Pad 5 Pro should impress users with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 SoC, it has been reported that the Mi Pad 5 will utilize the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 processor. This is a curious choice if true, because although it would be expected that the likely cheaper tablet would sport a cheaper chip, the Dimensity 1200 is already looking like it will be quite a performance beast, even when compared to the SD870.

As for release date, some believe the Mi Pad 5 tablets could make an appearance before the end of April, with leaker Digital Chat Station claiming the devices will soon be sent to the net for record (machine translated  likely final certification and classification processing). However, there are others suggesting we will have to wait until May or even June to finally see a new Xiaomi tablet.

Buy the Xiaomi Mi 10T on Amazon
Chennai, April 4 : With barely a day to go before Tamil Nadu goes to the polls, Tamil Language Minister, Ma Foi K. Pandiarajan landed in a controversy over a video tweet featuring an aspiring medical student who committed suicide in 2017, after her plea for cancelling the NEET exam was struck down by the Supreme Court.

The controversial video, showing the dead student's images, with an audio message promoting the ruling AIADMK, was tweeted from the minister's official Twitter handle.

Pandiarajan is seeking re-election from the Avadi assembly constituency.

On Sunday, Anitha's brother S. Manirathinam filed a complaint, under the Information Technology Act, against the minister with the Superintendent of Police, Ariyalur district, stating that his sister's pictures and footage were used in an unauthorised manner.

He also wrote to the Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer, and sought action against the minister.

However, the minister later released a video in which he claimed that the controversial video was posted on Twitter without his permission or knowledge. The video was subsequently deleted from his Twitter handle.

Despite scoring 1,176 marks out of 2000 marks in her intermediate board exams, Anitha had failed to make the cut in NEET. She then approached the Supreme Court where her plea for cancellation of the entrance test was turned down. With her dreams of studying to become a doctor dashed, she ended her life in September 2017, which led to widespread resentment in the state over the NEET exam.
60%

Website defontana.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It is very popular on the web, it's within the 1 million most visited websites of the world at position 321524 by Alexa. It supports HTTPS and GZIP compression. The main html page has a size of 3559 bytes (3.48 kb uncompressed) and 1526 bytes (1.49 kb compressed).

This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-04-04, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
South Korea's National Security Adviser Suh Hoon, right, talks with his counterparts Jake Sullivan of the U.S., center, and Shigeru Kitamura of Japan during their meeting at the United States Naval Academy in Maryland, Friday (local time). Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs



Seoul, Beijing agree on two-plus-two meeting soon



By Nam Hyun-woo



South Korea finds itself stuck in between the United States and China, with the two superpowers striving to tip the balance of Seoul's diplomacy in their own favor at two high-profile meetings in Annapolis and Xiamen over the weekend.



Washington is pressuring Seoul to show support by stressing the importance of their long-term security alliance, while Beijing is trying to leverage its influence over North Korea.



National Security Adviser Suh Hoon met his counterparts Jake Sullivan of the U.S. and Shigeru Kitamura of Japan on Friday (local time) at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland for talks on North Korea and the Indo-Pacific situation.



After the meeting, the White House issued a statement that the advisers not only shared "their concerns about North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs" but also discussed "common concerns including Indo-Pacific security," with the latter seen as a move against China.



Though the White House statement only briefly mentioned the common concern of Indo-Pacific security, it is assumed that indirect pressure has been made for South Korea to stand with Washington in the U.S.-China rivalry.



During a background press call before the trilateral meeting, a senior U.S. administration official commented that the trilateral partnership is "increasingly important in a complex environment in the Indo-Pacific going forward" and the U.S. "would welcome at any point a closer consultation and engagement with South Korean friends in the process" related to South Korea's joining of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue  a strategic forum of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. toward "a free and open Indo-Pacific."



The U.S. has been sending signals to its Asian allies to bolster their alliances in the face of an assertive China, while South Korea has been pursuing "strategic ambiguity" to maintain its relations with Beijing, which is Seoul's largest trading partner possessing a significant influence over North Korea.



The U.S. pressure appears to be growing on economic issues as well, as the trilateral meeting also discussed the global shortage of semiconductors, whose supply chain is heavily relying on producers in Asian countries.



The U.S. official said, "Three countries hold many of the keys to the future of semiconductor manufacturing technology," and the countries "will seek to affirm the importance of keeping these sensitive supply chains secure while also working together to uphold upcoming norms and standards discussions."



The Biden administration has already set the semiconductor shortage in the global market as a matter of national security, with U.S. reports saying that Biden's national security and economic advisers plan to meet semiconductor and car companies on April 12. Bloomberg reported that South Korea's Samsung Electronics is among the chipmakers invited to the White House.





South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, left, shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi before their meeting at a hotel in Xiamen, China, Saturday. Yonhap
Commissioner for public utilities in Anambra State, Engr Emeka Ezenwanne who was kidnapped on Wednesday night has been released. Eze...

Commissioner for public utilities in Anambra State, Engr Emeka Ezenwanne who was kidnapped on Wednesday night has been released.

Ezenwanne was kidnapped by gunmen who invaded the venue of an interactive session between an All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship aspirant, Prof Chukwuma Soludo and youths of his community, Isuofia.

The gunmen killed three policemen, and made away with the commissioner who had scaled the fence in attempt to escape, but ran into the gunmen.

A source who spoke said, I just spoke to the commissioner now. He has been freed, and he is in good health too.

He denied paying any ransom, and also told me that his abductors did not maltreat him in anyway.

It was gathered that Ezenwanne, the Hon. Commissioner for public Utilities in Anambra State, who is among the youngest commissioners in the State, was released at about 1am on Easter day.
Reminder PACCdigi contest

Dear YL, OM , SWL

We would like to invite you to take part in the first Dutch PACCdigi contest.

The contest will take place April 17, 2021 from 12:00 UTC to 23:59 UTC.

This first edition will use the RTTY and FT8 modes on the 160 to 10 m contest bands.

The rules are published on the PACCdigi webpage: www.veron.nl/PACCdigi



Wil van der Laken - PA0BWL

PACCdigi.manager@veron.nl
Sam Frost is one of the biggest stars on Home and Away.

And the 32-year-old showcased her sensational curves on the famous Palm Beach set in Sydney on Tuesday.

Sam, who plays Jasmine Delaney on the soap, looked to be in the best shape of her life as she donned bright activewear for her upcoming scenes.

Fit! Home and Away star Sam Frost, 31, (pictured) flaunted her sensational figure in activewear as she cosied up to newcomer Nicholas Cartwright as they film at Palm Beach on Tuesday

The actress flaunted her toned midriff in a deep purple crop top along with a pair of super-slim colourful tights.

The former Bachelorette ensured her pins looked long and lean in the tights.

She finished the look with a pair of gold-rimmed aviators and a pair of grey Puma joggers she wore on the sand.

Fun! Sam, who plays Jasmine Delaney on the show, looked to be in the best shape of her life as she donned bright activewear for her scenes

Sam wore a glossy style makeup palette and a matte lipstick, and placed her blonde tresses up in a messy ponytail.

In the scenes she looked playful alongside newcomer, actor Nicholas Cartwright.

According to Home And Away's fan website Back to the Bay, he will portray Senior Constable Cash Newman.

Slender: The actress flaunted her toned midriff in a deep purple crop top along with a pair of super-slim colourful tights

The two actors looked to be joking around before he stripped off his policeman's shirt.

The actor revealed his bulging, tattooed biceps while standing next to Sam.

It comes after Sam made headlines last year for uploading - and quickly deleting - two Instagram photos of herself posing in a tiny striped bikini.

Oh my! In the scenes she looked playful alongside newcomer Nicholas Cartwright. According to Back to the Bay, he will portray Senior Constable Cash Newman

A day after deleting the photos, Sam uploaded an essay to her website.

She wrote: 'It was just easier to [delete the photos], than deal with people's judgment about my body or their opinions about what I should or shouldn't be posting.'

Earlier in the essay, the blonde shared details of her decade-long battle with body confidence.

Hunk! The actor revealed his bulging, tattooed biceps while standing next to Sam during the scene

Mainstay? It is not known yet if the pair will get romantic on the show with spoilers about Nicholas' characters being few and far between

'I spent my twenties hiding under a black cap, wearing baggy clothes,' she wrote.

'I was wearing clothes like that because I felt extremely insecure about my body,' Sam added in the essay.

'I felt ashamed and uncomfortable.'
FRIENDS and colleagues in Limerick Fire and Rescue Service of the late Des Fitzgerald have set up a GoFundMe page in his memory.

Mr Fitzgerald, of Bengal Terrace, Old Cork Road and late of Castleisland and Adare, died on Friday. He will be laid to rest on Thursday.

This Easter Sunday afternoon, Limerick Fire and Rescue Service posted on social media: "As we come to terms with the loss of our friend Dessie, we remember the great times we shared. In lieu of flowers you may wish to contribute to Pieta House

Weve created a GoFundMe for anyone that may wish to donate. Please click here."

In two hours, almost 3,000 has been raised for Pieta House.

In a previous post, Limerick Fire and Rescue Service said: "We lost a family member, friend, legend - Firefighter Des Fitzgerald. Our thoughts are with Dess family - his wife Elaine, daughters Aisling & Lynn, son Eoghan, his parents, brothers & extended family. A much loved member of White Watch. Rest in Peace Dessie."

Mr Fitzgerald will be remembered by those who knew him and loved him as being full of energy and life.

He was always out and about walking or running with his family and he had the best trained dog in the city - Lucky. It could take him an hour to get up Mulgrave Street to Bengal Terrace due to the number of people who would want to stop and chat with him.

Mr Fitzgerald would also drop into the fire station to see if those on duty were busy with calls. Being a firefighter was not a job to him, it was a way of life and of preserving it.

Mr Fitzgerald rescued a number of people while both on and off duty and received medals for his life saving actions. He worked for Analog and Mr Binman before joining Limerick Fire and Rescue Service in November 2011.

In those 10 years, Mr Fitzgerald made a huge difference to many people's lives. Out of the uniform he was a fantastic boxer and gym instructor with a huge passion for fitness. He trained in JJB & Functional Fitness where his loss too is keenly felt.

But none more so than his family and friends.

If you have been affected by this story contact any of the following organisations

Samaritans: 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org

Console 1800 247 247

Aware 1890 303 302

Pieta House 01 601 0000 or email mary@pieta.ie
An orphaned kitten who was found in a wall has a two-tone face which is perfectly split in half.

The adorable puss, called Apricot, and her sister Pretzel were discovered by a family who had recently moved into their new house and were doing some building work.

They were taken to Nashville Cat Rescue in Tennessee, where they were slowly introduced to two rescue mother cats, Bored Panda reported.

Apricot may be a genetic chimera cat, which means her cells contain two types of DNA, caused when two embryos fuse together, according to National Geographic.

An orphaned kitten called Apricot, who was found in a wall, has a two-tone face which is perfectly split in half

The siblings were taken in by volunteer foster carer Kiki, who had recently taken charge of two pregnant rescue cats called Pickle and Olive.

Pickle gave birth to six kittens, one of which unfortunately didn't make it, within a few weeks of being with Kiki, while Olive delivered a kitten a week later.

She had another baby 24 hours later and Kiki took her to the vets due to the long time between deliveries and the small litter size. Olive had an emergency Caesarean section as there was a deceased kitten still inside of her.

Kiki brought Apricot and Pretzel into the shared litter, introducing them to the mothers slowly, and because both kittens were so young, they were quickly accepted by Pickle and Olive and embraced into the two litters.

Both mothers are very close and even swap and care for each other's kittens like they were their own offspring.

Apricot and her sister Pretzel were found by a family who recently moved in and were doing construction work around their house. They were taken to Nashville Cat Rescue in Tennessee where they were slowly introduced to two rescue mother cats

Apricot may be a genetic chimera cat, which means her cells contain two types of DNA, caused when two embryos fuse together

Speaking about mothers Pickle and Olive, Nashville Cat Rescue told the publication: 'They were still a little shy and often greeted me with a hiss or growling. It was clear, however, that the girls loved each other and felt safe together.

'I spent as much time as I could with them, while still respecting their need for space. I even sat on the floor and worked on my laptop most days.

'I wanted to ensure as the babies came that they were comfortable with me assisting as needed, or just doing the simple necessities like weighing the kittens on a daily basis.'

The two cats were close, and the family that was working to assist the colony asked that the two mother rescues stay together, even when it's time for them to be adopted in a few weeks.

Because the babies were so young, Pickle and Olive quickly accepted them and have welcomed them into the shared litter, where Apricot and Pretzel have fit in well. Pickle and Olive are very close and often swap kittens and care for each other's litter
Thousands took to streets in Stuttgart as they protested against the virus restrictions amid growing fears of a third wave. The current lockdown involves the closure of non-essential businesses. There are also certain limits set for public gatherings, and requirements to wear a mask. Although the city is going through a phased reopening, the authorities will keep lockdown measures in place until at least 18 April.

Earlier, German chancellor Angela Merkel had announced an easter shutdown after a hastily arranged videoconference with Germanys 16 state governors, who are responsible for imposing and lifting restrictions. Her plan was to make the day before Good Friday a rest day, with all shops closed and allow only supermarkets to open on Easter Saturday. Merkels plan, however, raised many logistical and legal questions and was also criticised because there was no public discussion of it before it emerged Tuesday.

Merkel issues an apology

After all the criticism, Merkel on March 25 issued a personal apology to the nation as she dropped plans to put the country under a hard lockdown over Easter. While speaking at a press conference, Merkel said that the plan to close churches and shops over a five-day period has been her mistake. She added that she regretted that her proposal had caused further uncertainty and asked for forgiveness from the public, whose growing frustration with the governments cumbersome decision-making and glacial vaccine rollout is threatening to damage her party before national elections in September.

Further, the German chancellor even extended the apology to parliament in a previously scheduled question-and-answer session. According to AP, Marco Buschmann, who is the pro-business Free Democrats chief whip, said that Merkels apology won brad respect but pressed her to turn to parliament to manage the pandemic rather than making decisions with small groups of officials. Merkel, on the other hand, responded that the negotiations with state governments are necessary.

(Image Credits: AP)
Chief Minister asked on Saturday why DMK leaders were making a big issue out of a raid at the house of party chief MK Stalin's daughter, saying one need not fear if there is nothing to hide.

A slew of AIADMK functionaries, including some ministers, have also been raided by Income Tax officials "but we are not saying anything", he said.

Incidentally, the AIADMK moved the EC on Saturday against the searches, saying they were "unwanted" and allegedly carried out at the behest of the Congress and the DMK.

"But the DMK is making such a big issue out of IT officials holding searches at the house of Stalin's daughter. If one has nothing to hide, why are you afraid?" Palaniswami asked while addressing an election rally here.

The DMK lashed out at the BJP-led Centre on Friday over the searches by Income Tax officials at the residence of Stalin's daughter Senthamarai in Chennai and alleged that there was a "political objective" behind the action.

The raids on Senthamarai and others were aimed to check "political cash distribution" in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, sources in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had said.

Palaniswami further said I-T officials carry out checks based on information and referred to such searches on the premises of AIADMK functionaries, including Higher Education Minister KP Anbalagan.

He asked if Senthamarai belongs to a royal household and whether searches cannot be conducted at her place. In a democratic country, searches can be carried out anywhere, the chief minister added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amanda Burke covers Pittsfield City Hall for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. Find her on Twitter at @amandaburkec.
On April 1, 2021, the Italian Navy San Giorgio amphibious assault ship has replaced the Greek Ship Aegean as the new flagship for the operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI. Operation IRINI (named after the Greek word for peace) was launched on 31 March 2020, following a decision by the Council of the European Union. IRINIs mandate has been recently extended for two years, until March 2023.

On April 1, 2021, the Italian Navy San Giorgio amphibious assault ship has replaced the Greek Ship Aegean as the new flagship for the operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI. Operation IRINI (named after the Greek word for peace) was launched on 31 March 2020, following a decision by the Council of the European Union. IRINIs mandate has been recently extended for two years, until March 2023.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

Italian Navy San Giorgio amphibious assault ship is the new flagship of operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI. (Picture source Italian Navy)

The main task of the EUNAVFOR MED IRINI operation is the implementation of the arms embargo on Libya under the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The Operation has also secondary tasks including monitoring illegal oil trafficking from Libya, contributing to countering human trafficking and smuggling activities (through air monitoring), and contributing to the training of the Libyan Coast Guard and Navy. This latter task at the moment is frozen pending an agreement with the new Libyan government.

Operation IRINI has just completed its first year of activity. Recently, the EU Council has extended the mandate for two years.

In one year of activity, Operation IRINI has investigated more than 2,400 ships and has monitored 200 suspect flights. The Operation has conducted 100 consensual visits onboard merchant vessels (called Friendly Approaches) and nine inspections. It has seized one illegal cargo, after the first ever EU diversion operation, preventing illegal export of fuel for military purposes.



The Operation monitors 16 Libyan ports and oil facilities,25 airports, and landing strips. Operation IRINI has shared more than 22 classified reports with the UN Panel of Experts on Libya covering violations or possible violations of the arms embargo related to both sides of the conflict in Libya.

Admiral Fabio Agostini is the new Operation Commander of EUNAVFOR MED IRINI and has replaced Commodore Theodoros Mikropoulos of the Hellenic Navy. The Force Commander is the Commander of the assets (naval and aerial) deployed in the Area of Operation. He is appointed by the Council upon Operation Commander proposal and EU Military Committee endorsement. The Force Commander acts under the authority of the Operation Commander. In the duty of the Force Commander, Italy and Greece alternate on a half-yearly basis.

The San Giorgio class is an amphibious assault ship and helicopter carrier in service with the Italian Navy. The ship is able can carry a battalion of troops and up to 36 armored vehicles. The stern floodable dock can accommodate three landing craft. Three San Giorgio Class amphibious transport dock ships are in service with the Italian Navy that were built by Italian shipyard Fincantieri.

The San Giorgio amphibious assault ship or amphibious transport dock can accommodate three Sea King SH-3D helicopters or five Agusta Bell AB-212 helicopters.
Hot weather warning issued as La Nina withdraws By Jayani Madawala View(s): View(s):

As the Meteorology Department predicts extreme heat conditions in five dry zone districts due to the easing of the La Nina effect, health officials warn people not to stay in the hot sun for too long.

Met officials said Sri Lanka was going through mixed weather conditions with some parts of the country coming under hot weather, pushing the mercury up beyond 35.7 degrees Celsius, while other parts of the country were experiencing fair weather or evening thunder showers.

The districts to which severe hot weather warnings have been issued are Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Ampara, Monaragala and Hambantota.

Except for evening thunderstorms in the Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces, mainly fair weather would prevail over the island, the official said, adding that misty conditions could be expected in parts of the Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western Provinces in the morning.

Explaining the current weather pattern, Met Dept official Shiromani Jayawardena said, Due to the La-Nina condition, we are experiencing less heat. But with the La Nina effect easing, the temperature is expected to rise. La Nina is a weather pattern that occurs in the Pacific Ocean. In this pattern, strong winds blow warm water at the oceans surface from South America to Indonesia.

She said the warnings were being issued based on the heat index, which takes into account the temperature felt by the human body, the humidity and the air temperature.

She said the situation could change with the onset of the Southwest monsoon.

Meteorological Department Director General Athula Karunanayake said the current weather pattern would continue until April 14. We advise the people to remain indoors as much as possible, he said.

Consultant Community Physician Dr Inoka Suraweera, who is attached to the Health Ministrys Environmental and Occupational Health Directorate, said young children, the elderly and those suffering from chronic illnesses are the most vulnerable to face the adverse effects of the extreme weather.

They should drink plenty of water  at least two litres a day  and avoid the exposure to the sun between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Her other instructions are: Limit activities to early morning and evening. People should wear loose and light-coloured clothes. Those who have non communicable disease must not neglect their medication. To reduce the body heat, cold water shower is recommended. Workers who are exposed to the sun need to wear hats. Carry an umbrella if you are required to go out in the sun.

People should not ignore these instructions, especially in view of the COVID situation. What is recommended is to stay indoors as much as possible, she said.
"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
The Congress, which is relegated to a junior partner in the DMK-led front, is expecting to get a minimum of 15 seats and a maximum of 18 in the Tamil Nadu to be held on April 6.

The polls to elect 234 new members of the Tamil Nadu Assembly will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2.

Although there were initial hiccups in the Congress-DMK alliance, even as the former wanted to contest, but the chemistry between them improved later in the run-up to the elections.

DMK president M.K. Stalin, who has turned out to be the star campaigner, ensured that he travels to all the constituencies where the candidates are contesting. However, in seats like Ponneri and Arthangi there were revolts in the DMK camp for allocating the party strongholds to the Congress, but Stalin directly intervened and settled the matter for the party and all the revolting party leaders were asked to fall in line.

The grand old party is expected to do well in Karaikudi, Kallikurichi, Virudachalam and Thiruvadanai and is eyeing to capitalise on the votes being split by the AMMK-DMDK combine.

The is in a sticky wicket in four to five seats in the western part of the state, with the party leader Mayuara Jayakumar contesting against superstar-turned-politician Kamal Haasan of the MNM and Vanathi Srinivasan, the powerful national president of the BJP's women's unit.

M. Senthilnathan, senior leader in Erode told IANS: "The Congress will perform well in the state but in certain seats like Erode, Omalur and Coimbatore, the party will face a tough battle."

--IANS

aal/sdr/dpb

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
April 04, 2021

Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:

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Other issues:

Of the container ship Stuck In Mud in the Suez I wrote:

The ship is insured for probably up to 140 million. That will not be enough to pay for this incident. Many court claims will be made. The Japanese owners of the ship, the Taiwanese charterer, the German company managing the ship, the pilots and the crew will all be asked to pay for every penny that is not covered by the insurance.

On April 2 WaPo reported that the ship will have to stay in Egypt until the bills are paid:

On Thursday, the Ever Givens owner filed suit against the ships operator in the United Kingdoms High Court, the Lawyer first reported. An early stab at limiting the owners liability, the lawsuit highlights the labyrinthine ownership structure of container ships, and how difficult it can be to determine who should be held responsible when something goes wrong at sea.

Flagged in Panama, the Ever Given is owned by two Japanese firms, Luster Maritime and Higaki Sangyo Kaisha, which are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and are both subsidiaries of holding company Shoei Kisen Kaisha (itself a subsidiary of Japanese shipbuilder Imabari.) It is being leased by Evergreen Marine Corporation, a Taiwan-based conglomerate listed as the defendant. On top of that, the ships technical manager is Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, a German entity that isnt a party to the lawsuit and was responsible for hiring the Indian crew.

...

That doesnt mean that the company is willing to shoulder the financial burden alone. On Thursday, Shoei Kisen Kaisha declared general average, appealing to a principle of maritime law that states that the owner of cargo on board a ship should contribute to the cost of rescuing the vessel during a major casualty event, according to industry news site gCaptain.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR SUNDAY, APRIL 4, 2021

The Moral Fitness To Survive

April 3 , 2021 (EIRNS)Increasingly, around the world, nations and individuals are asking if the United States, the Western world generally, has the moral fitness to survive. NATO is mobilizing forces for a war with Russia, and declaring itself no longer an Atlantic defense institution, but a global force that will confront China militarily, as well as Russia. Of course, neither Russia nor China is in any way threatening anyone outside their borders, but then, neither was Iraq, nor Libya, nor Syria, nor Yemen. And yet, Iraq and Libya and Syria, three of the most developed and productive states in Southwest Asia, have been bombed into oblivion, and the Western forces responsible have done nothing to help in reconstructionto the contrary, Mike Pompeos Caesar Act forbids any reconstruction of Syria, and will sanction any country which does so. The result is death and starvation, the most impoverished nation on Earth, according to the UN, although Yemen is perhaps worse, and is still suffering from a foreign war of terrorist destruction armed by the U.S., which is denying it food and fuel.

As for the pandemic, both the U.S. and the EU have declared that no vaccine shall leave their borders until all of their own, including the less vulnerable younger citizens, have been vaccinated. The result of this immoral and foolish policy is that conditions in some locations, like parts of Brazil, are hard to distinguish from the Dark Ages, when the Black Death wiped out a third of the European population in the 14th century, or 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Ibero America, where 270 million people face death by starvation, according to the World Food Program. And, the spread of the virus in the South means more mutations, threatening to undermine the effectiveness of the vaccines being hoarded in the North.

Within the advanced sector, the political leaders are openly turning control of the economy over to the City of London and Wall Street mega-banks, which are rapidly implementing Green Financethe intentional cutting of credit to fossil fuels and to most productive industry and agriculture. Why? Because these industries and farms, they say, are a weapon of mass destruction. They argue, as they did with Iraqs WMDthe lie which started the genocidal wars across Southwest Asiathat carbon, the valuable element which makes our plants grow, is actually a threat to the entire planet. This belief has reached a level of mass hysteria which, if civilization survives, will appear to future generations as a madness far worse than Chicken Little believing the sky was falling. This self-destruction is fully exposed in The LaRouche Organizations mass pamphlet Great Leap Backward: LaRouche Crushes the Green New Dealread it here, and circulate it everywhere.

This acceptance of a new dark age is only possible in a population which has lost its sense of compassion, of the agape which gave rise to every great renaissance in history, in every part of the world. In China, the Confucian concept of ren (  ), equivalent to the Platonic and Christian notion of agape, is flourishing, as a renaissance in Confucian thought over the past 40 years has achieved a miracle: eliminating abject poverty in the entire population, creating a scientific and aesthetically based nation from the near-ruin of the Cultural Revolution, and taking their miracle out to the rest of the world in the form of the New Silk Road. Not only is China not hoarding its vaccines, it is rapidly delivering them around the world, and building factories in the nations of the South to produce their own vaccines.

What madness denounces this as vaccine diplomacy? What madness accuses China of genocide when they have lifted the entire nation, including the Uighur population in Xinjiang, out of poverty, to participate in building a more perfect union and a more perfect world?

The Western world must confront its own economic decline and its cultural decay. It is not too late. Man is born as imago viva Dei. The creative spirit and the love of truth can be suppressed, but not destroyed, and once awoken, can work miracles. Now is the time.
A man was shot and killed on a residential street in Cherry Hill early Sunday morning, authorities said.

The shooting took place on the 1700 block of Abbey Road around 4:30 a.m., according to the Camden County Prosecutors Office. Police found the man in the parking lot of an apartment complex. He had been shot multiple times, authorities said.

The prosecutors office identified the man of 64-year-old Leopold McKoy of Bear, Delaware.

The shooting remains under investigation, and authorities did not release any further information.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Prosecutors Office Det. Andy McNeil at 856-225-8407 or Cherry Hill Police Det. Rene Lobanov at 856-432-8823.

Tips can also be emailed to ccpotips@ccprosecutor.org.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Amanda Hoover may be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj.
Meghan Dollar is the legislative advocacy manager for the Colorado Municipal League. Rep. Kevin Van Winkle (R Highlands Ranch) represents House District 43 in the Colorado General Assembly.
I became a photographer  at work I felt free, says Jodie.

Her childhood had no birthdays, no parties, no Easter, but Jodie Chapman didnt want her children to have that life. The decision meant she risked being cut off by everyone she loved

I was 35 when I first went to a birthday party. Looking around at the happy smiles, I searched for the evil Id been brought up to believe stalked moments like this. Of course, it wasnt there. Raised a Jehovahs Witness, a prohibition on birthday parties was the tip of the iceberg when it came to the strict beliefs that governed every aspect of my life until I made the decision to step back from the religion a few years ago.

Its one that has cost me dearly. Some members of my family no longer speak to me, and Im now an outsider in the only community Ive ever known. Ive had to reflect on my identity, figuring out how I want to live my life now Im finally in control of it. Despite the people Ive lost, the tears Ive shed and the nights Ive lain awake, I have no regrets. After becoming a mother, I just couldnt bring up my children in this all-consuming way of life that I felt so much doubt about.

I grew up in Kent, the youngest of six  four half-siblings from my dads first marriage, then my sister and me. To an outsider, we appeared a typical family. Dad ran a double-glazing business, Mum was a housewife but did some part-time telesales, and we lived in a converted Victorian rectory in a rural village, where my sister and I went to the local primary.

Behind closed doors, however, our family life was very different to most peoples. As Jehovahs Witnesses, every moment of every day was governed by the rules of the faith. And they were endless. Witnesses are Christians who believe the Bible is historically accurate and interpret much of it literally as the basis for how they live their life. They believe the end of the world is coming and only they will survive Armageddon, passing into Paradise, while everyone else is killed.

The Watchtower magazine is distributed by Jehovahs Witnesses

As a child I used to stand in the middle of the playground and imagine all the children around me lying dead on the ground. I felt so sad for them but not frightened, because I believed I was going to live for ever. So many normal childhood experiences were off limits. I never had a birthday party nor was allowed to attend a friends, because theres no evidence in the Bible that Jesus celebrated his. School discos were a no because Witnesses arent meant to associate with unbelievers, and trick-or-treating at Halloween was forbidden because of the associations with paganism. With an emphasis on living a nonmaterialistic life, I never yearned for new things and although my home life was happy, it was patriarchal. My father was head of the house, because that is the Witness way, and Mum would never have questioned his decisions.

Witnesses dont celebrate Christmas or Easter  they believe both are based on pagan customs  and Id be taken out of school in the days leading up, so I didnt participate in themed games or concerts.

It would be easy to look at a childhood like mine and assume I must have been desperately unhappy. Truthfully, I wasnt. I knew I was different and didnt always fit in, but I was taught, both at home and at the weekly meetings at the Kingdom Hall, where we worshipped, that it was good to be different because it meant Id be saved when Armageddon came.

Something I never enjoyed was ministry  going with my parents every weekend from house to house, trying to convert others. Standing in the cold, while one door after another was closed in our faces, I just wanted to be at home. Most people were polite but uninterested, some screamed at us to get off their property. Occasionally someone would be interested in learning more. I was taught that anyone who shut the door on us was rejecting Gods message and was doomed when Armageddon came. It never crossed my mind to allow so much rejection of our faith to cause me to doubt it. I pitied them.

As I became a teenager, my outlook began to change. I started to look at my life with more mature eyes and I saw so many paths closed to me. Friends from school were planning gap years abroad but I couldnt do that because Id miss weekly meetings and ministry. University was also discouraged because its seen as an improper use of time in the last days before Armageddon.

My career ambition was to be a film critic, but one of the congregational elders  who were all men  told me that was impossible as Id have to watch movies with violence and sex in them. Witnesses are encouraged to dedicate their life to God and only work to pay the bills. I just couldnt imagine myself taking on a job I had no passion for, and knocking on doors for the rest of my life.

I felt on the outside of teenage life. Getting drunk was forbidden, smoking banned and casual dating was off limits because going out with someone is meant to be a step towards marriage. I wasnt even sure if I wanted to do these things, but I knew it would never be my choice. Id never have the freedom to live life on my own terms.

I still respected the faith and didnt want to lead a double life, so aged 17, I decided to step back from the religion. However, when I confided in a close family member what I was contemplating, I was told that if I left, theyd cut off contact with me. I knew if they were prepared to do that, the rest of my family could too. That emotional blackmail is seen as tough love by Witnesses. They believe cutting off someone who leaves is the best way to bring them back into the fold.

But at that young age, the idea of being shunned by the people I loved most in the world was too much. I stayed, trying to push my doubts and frustrations to the back of my mind. In 2005, when I was 21, I married my husband Greg, now 37, who was also a Witness. In private, we were honest with each other about the parts of the religion we doubted, but we did our ministry and attended meetings because our concerns did not feel great enough to rock the boat.

As time went on, my doubts began to increase and I started to question more of the rules. I became a wedding photographer, travelling all around the world, which was at odds with the expectations on me to have a low-paid job and focus on my ministry work. At work, I felt free, a more authentic version of myself. Seeing into the lives of other people broke down the mental walls Id built against the outside world. Women are meant to be submissive, but I became known as a sister with opinions, questioning the ban on women wearing trousers to meetings, or the plan to install uncomfortable seats at the back of the hall for breastfeeding mothers.

But I loved my family and didnt want to lose my relationship with them. It was only after becoming a mother myself that I realised I had to put my own family first. My first two children were born in 2013 and 2014, and realising I had to pass this way of life on to them, without questioning the rules, I felt ill at ease. Greg and I would take them door to door every single weekend, and I felt wretched doing it. I was forcing them to live in a way I didnt know if I believed in myself.

In 2015, the church was plunged into a child sex abuse scandal after an investigation in Australia revealed over 1,000 allegations had been reported to elders there since 1950 but not one passed on to the police. This didnt surprise me, as Witnesses believe the authorities are controlled by Satan. But the idea that children had endured such horrors because members chose to protect one another made me feel sick.

When my eldest began school, he started being invited to birthday parties. I had to say no, even though I felt sad that my children would miss out on such normal milestones.

I decided it wasnt right for me to ban things from their lives unless I fully agreed with the reasons. My becoming inactive didnt happen overnight. It was a slow burn, but the final straw came in 2017 when I was pregnant with my third son. At a Sunday meeting with Greg, I read a pamphlet that encouraged battered wives to endure any abuse, in the hope their violent, unbelieving husbands would become Witnesses. Glancing at my innocent sons, my blood ran cold. I couldnt raise them to become men who believed this was right.

That was the last meeting I ever attended, my ministry work having already stopped the year before. There were many sleepless nights as I considered the reactions of my family, knowing they could choose to turn their back on me for ever. I knew I was risking a lot, but I had to do this  for my children, if not for myself. Greg supported my decision and now neither of us are active members.

Today, I remain close to my parents, who live just a few doors down, but we dont talk about religion. My mum still lives within the faith, but weve found a way to come together and Im so thankful for that. Only two of my siblings are still active in the faith.

Jodie aged three: every moment of every day was governed by the faith

I have contact with one but, sadly, one of my sisters has cut me off. I love and miss her, and thats never going to change. She believes shes doing the best thing and, although I disagree, I have sympathy for her. Black and white thinking is a requirement in that world.

Now when I bump into a Witness, some will chat to me but most recoil and walk on. When my children point at someone in a photo who no longer speaks to us, and ask, Whos that? I reply, Thats such and such. They only want to know people like them. As the children get older, Ill have to explain more, but for now thats enough.

I dont wish I hadnt been raised a Witness. Like every religion, there is good and bad in it, and I did have happy times among many good people. But its a religion that demands all of you, that generally favours obedience over truth, and I struggled with its lack of flexibility. Ironically, being taught I was different gave me the self-belief to take a step back and put myself and my family first.

Now Im different in another way, and although it has brought sadness and rejection, its also brought me a great sense of peace that I am finally living life, and raising my sons, in a way that I choose.

Jodies debut novel Another Life is published in hardback by Penguin Michael Joseph, 14.99. To order a copy for 12.74 until 18 April, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193. Free UK delivery on orders over 20
The tide of Northern Ireland's 'hidden homeless' - young people forced to 'sofa-surf' between homes - has soared inside a year, new figures have revealed.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey disclosed that last year there was a total of 1,481 placements in hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation, compared to 320 in 2019.

And the Housing Executive revealed requests for temporary accommodation has soared from 3,500 to 7,500 in the last 12 months.

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Pressure on placements came as accommodation used by the Housing Executive shrunk to allow for social distancing and self-isolation cases during the Covid-19 crisis.

And Sinn Fein minister Hargey also said a number of families may have obtained more than one placement during the period.

The figures were revealed in an Assembly written response to MLA Robin Newton, who said it is becoming almost impossible for young people to meet deposits demanded by private landlords.

The DUP member for East Belfast also claimed the Housing Executive is facing an uphill climb to tackle the increase in young adults unable to go on living with their parents.

"That in one year the number of 18- to 25-year-olds placed in hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation quadrupled is alarming and a sad indictment on housing provision," he said.

"The reasons for young people needing a home away from their parent or parents can vary and may be complex. Relationship breakdowns, substance abuse, mental health issues and unemployment can lead to difficult home situations and families breaking down.

"I am frequently contacted by young constituents who are the hidden homeless as they sofa-surf with many moving from one house to another.

"It's virtually impossible for them to meet the deposit and reference conditions for private landlord homes, and the situation is extremely worrying."

It is thought the Covid-19 pandemic, with families forced to spend much longer hours together in their homes, may have been a factor. It has also lead to pressure on housing allocations from women seeking refuge from domestic violence.

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Mr Newton went on: "My contact with the Housing Executive confirms that despite their best efforts they are fighting an uphill battle trying to get on top of the issue.

"Providing a permanent home is a start to tackling the problems and the minister for communities must step up to the plate and deliver new homes."

A spokesperson for the department replied, however: "Some individuals may have been placed multiple times so it is not the case that the number of young people quadrupled. Nevertheless, it is sadly the case that there is a significant disruption in the housing system as a result of the ongoing health pandemic. The department has sought to support the Housing Executive with an additional 7m.

"Both the department and HE expect the longer term impacts will be significant and long lasting. The department will be working proactively, with others across government to improve our response to homelessness, to focus on prevention rather than management."

The Housing Executive said: "The real solution lies in the long term supply of homes which would provide security for families and is also a better use of resources and finance."
Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that there is no need to wear masks in the state as there is no more coronavirus. The BJP leader made the comments amid the ongoing Assam assembly elections and at a time when India is seeing a steep rise in coronavirus cases. He said that if the situation takes a turn then he would impose strict orders to wear masks.

"Mask ki zaroorat nahin hai. Nahin hai toh nahin hai ab mai kya karun? (mask is not need. If it is not needed then it is not needed, what do I do?)" he said in an interview with The Lallantop. When reminded that the central government has been constantly reiterating the importance of mask-wearing, Sarma said, "Central government apna nirdesh de lekin in the context of Assam aaj ke din mein COVID-19 yahaan nahin hai." (Central government must order people but in the context of Assam, there is no COVID-19 currently.)

When pointedly asked if wearing masks is not required, Sarma said, "Kyun bekaar ka panic create karein? Jab hoga, tab mai bata dunga logon ko ke aaj se pehno. Abhi humein economy revive karna hai. Ab mask pehnenge, toh parlours kaise chalenge? Beauty parlours bhi chalna chahiye." (Why create unnecessary panic? When there will be coronavirus, I will tell the public to wear masks. We need to revive the economy now. If you wear masks, how will parlours run? Beauty parlours also need to run.)

Sarma said that he has told the public that this is interim relief. If cases surge then they will need to wear masks again or they will be fined Rs 500. He said that people have been saying that there will be a rise in coronavirus cases after the BTC (Bodoland Territorial Council) elections but nothing happened, they are saying the same for Assam elections but nothing will happen. The health minister said that not only elections, Assam will also celebrate Bihu in a grand way. He said that he is sure nothing would happen then also.

When asked if he has consulted experts, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Zaroorat nahin hai". (It is not required) He added that people have suffered for a year, and now it is not required to push them back to the same situation. Sarma said that Assam's economy has been growing at 18-19 per cent.

Also read: India races past US in daily COVID-19 cases

Also read: Delhi seeing '4th wave' of coronavirus, no lockdown plans yet, says Kejriwal
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.
A naval mine washed ashore on a Florida beach which is popular with sunseekers - leaving officials baffled about its origins.

A deputy on patrol found the unexploded munition at around 2.30am Sunday just by the water's edge at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and police urgently sealed off the area.

The Broward County bomb squad arrived to remove the mine and ensure it was safe. It will now be handed over to the US Air Force for further investigation.

A deputy on patrol found the unexploded munition at around 2.30am Sunday just by the water's edge at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and police urgently sealed off the area

The Broward County bomb squad arrived to remove the mine by tractor and ensure it was safe

The word 'inert' could be seen on the device, suggesting it could be a 'dummy' device used during training.

Naval mines are usually laid by a ship and attached to the sea bed.

They explode on impact from a surface vessel or submarine, and can only be cleared by a specialist minesweeper.

The Broward Sheriff's Office said a deputy found the device during a patrol of the sandy beach, which is around 30 miles north of Miami, at 2.30am Sunday.

'BSO deputies secured the area around the item and closed off a small section of the beach,' the sheriff said in a statement.

It was 'determined that the sea mine was safe' and it was taken away before the beach was reopened.

The word 'inert' could be seen on the device, suggesting it could be a 'dummy' device used during training. It is pictured being removed by tractor

Video shot by Local10News showed the naval mine on the beach around a yard from the waterline.

Later, in further footage, officials could be seen loading the large metal object onto a trailer after it was removed from the beach using a tractor.

Military sources told the channel that mines are sometimes filled with drugs and left in the sea by traffickers before being picked up by conspirators.

It is not clear whether members of the public were on the beach when the device was found, but as it was early in the morning it is unlikely there were large crowds.

The origin of the device is still unclear.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-03 23:33:22|Editor: huaxia

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Checkley Sin Kwok-Lam speaks in an interview with Xinhua in Hong Kong, south China, April 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaochu)

With a clear understanding of such practice, Checkley Sin Kwok-Lam said it is all but double standards that Western politicians and media assaulted and demonized the improvement to Hong Kong's electoral system.

"Obviously, they say one thing and do the opposite. What they can do, you can't," he said.

HONG KONG, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Checkley Sin Kwok-Lam, 64, was known in Hong Kong as a film producer, kung fu master and business leader. But his talk show that disclosed Western hypocrisy on Hong Kong affairs has earned him new fame.

One of his recent videos about how the United States vets public officers was viewed by 50,000 times and had over 800 comments on YouTube.

Most of the comments were supportive. They were like: "Master Sin's argument is reasonable and supported by solid evidence. He has the courage to speak up (the truth)," "Hong Kong people stand with you for 100 percent," "Master Sin's video increased my knowledge."

"Not only YouTube. I also said the same thing on Twitter and Facebook. There have been more than 120,000 views," Sin said proudly.

The resonance with viewers cheered on Sin. "More and more people started to realize that they may be misled if only reading Western media," he said.

"In terms of political vetting, former U.S. President (Harry) Truman signed United States Executive Order 9835 in 1947 that allowed loyalty screenings of government employees, which is the first open document of political vetting," he said.

The loyalty review was even strengthened after former U.S. President (Dwight) Eisenhower took office in 1953 and employees could be fired just on suspicion, he said.

Having produced several blockbuster kung fu movies, Sin was shocked by how actors were vetted and blacklisted by the U.S. government. Once serving as a police officer for a year in Hong Kong during the British colonial rule, he also remembered a number of his relatives underwent government scrutiny for his job.

With a clear understanding of such practice, Sin said it is all but double standards that Western politicians and media assaulted and demonized the improvement to Hong Kong's electoral system.

"Obviously, they say one thing and do the opposite. What they can do, you can't," he said.

The recent video was just one of his smash hits.

Sin's road to fame as an "internet celebrity" began in October 2019, when he uploaded his first episode about violent incidents in Hong Kong. After watching the footage of rioters besieging and storming the Legislative Council building in July, Sin decided to make his show to speak out his opinion and tell Hong Kong young people the right thing.

As far, he has talked about a wide range of topics from social unrest and government policies. He currently has some 148,000 subscribers on YouTube.

At its height, Sin's show was once watched by nearly 700,000 people at the same time but as Hong Kong has resumed peace and order, the views have dropped sharply. However, he did not see it as a bad thing.

"You step forward when your country needs you," read one comment on his show.
A new documentary on Ernest Hemingway - powered by vast but little-known archives kept at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston - is shedding new light on the acclaimed novelist.

Hemingway, by longtime collaborators Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, is premiering on PBS on three consecutive nights starting April 5.

It takes a more nuanced look at the author and his longstanding reputation as an alcoholic, adventurer, outdoorsman and bullfight-loving misogynist who struggled with internal turmoil that eventually led to his death by suicide at age 61.

This 1920s photo provided by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation from the Ernest Hemingway Collection shows Ernest Hemingway in his U.S. passport photo

In this July 1934 photo provided by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation from the Ernest Hemingway Collection, Ernest Hemingway poses with a marlin at Havana Harbor, in Key West

The truth about the man many consider Americas greatest 20th-century novelist - whose concise writing style made him an outsized celebrity who became a symbol of unrepentant American masculinity - is much more complex, Novick said.

'We hope this film opens up opportunities to look at Hemingway in different ways,' said Novick, who has co-created several other documentaries with Burns including 'The Vietnam War' and 'Prohibition.' 'There is a complexity beneath the surface.'

That complexity would have been nearly impossible to detail without the largest-in-the-world Hemingway collection that ended up at the JFK Library, thanks to Hemingway's and Kennedy's widows.

Although the two men never met, they admired each other and corresponded briefly. Hemingway was even invited to Kennedys inauguration but couldnt make it because of illness, said Hilary Justice, the Hemingway scholar in residence at the library.

This 1918 photo provided by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation from the Ernest Hemingway Collection shows Hemingway on crutches in Milan, Italy, where he was convalescing after being wounded while serving as an ambulance driver during World War I

Ernest Hemingway pictured at a Cuban fishing village like the one in his book The Old Man and the Sea

When Hemingways fourth wife, Mary Hemingway, was figuring out what to do with her late husbands effects, she asked Jackie Kennedy if they could be housed at the JFK Library.

The archives contain Hemingways manuscripts - including 'The Sun Also Rises' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' - personal correspondence and about 11,000 photographs.

Much of the material used in the documentary has not been widely seen in public, if at all, Novick said.

Burns had been to the JFK Library on multiple occasions for several functions, but had no idea about the extent of the Hemingway archives until they started researching the film, which has been in the works for years.

'The Hemingway collection was central to the process,' Burns said. 'It helped us understand just what a disciplined writer he was.'

Much of the documentary deals with Hemingways complicated relationship with the women in his life, from his mother and sisters to the nurse he fell love with while recovering from wounds suffered in World War I to his four wives.

In this 1932 photo provided by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation from the Ernest Hemingway Collection, the writer poses with a bear skin and deer antlers during a hunting trip to Nordquist's Ranch in Wyoming

Hemingway is seen reading by the water during a break in fishing

'So much of what he did in life was about love: running to it, running from it and ruining it,' Burns said.

While considered the archetype of American manhood, the truth about Hemingway's masculinity was more complex, the filmmakers found.

As a child, Hemingways mother treated him and one of his sisters as twins, often dressing them in identical outfits, sometimes as boys, sometimes as girls. He explored gender fluidity both in his books and in life, letting his hair grow as his wives cropped theirs short.

'We wanted to push back against this idea that Hemingway didn't like women,' Novick said.

Novick's favorite part of the collection were Hemingway's manuscripts, many handwritten on store-bought notebooks. They show in great detail his thinking process as he wrote, rewrote, amended and edited his works through cross-outs, scribbles and notes in the margins.

Hemingway, for example, wrote dozens of endings to 'A Farewell to Arms' - as many as 47, according to one count.

In this 1922 photo provided by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation from the Ernest Hemingway Collection, Hemingway stands with his first wife Hadley Hemingway in Chamby, Switzerland

'You can trace how each work developed, from first draft to final manuscript,' she said.

For Burns, the most striking thing about the collection are the pieces of shrapnel dug from Hemingway's body after he was almost killed as a teenager driving a Red Cross ambulance in World War I. Burns can't help but think that such a profound near-death experience had a major impact on the rest of Hemingway's life, and contributed to his death.

Whether youre a Hemingway aficionado, or know virtually nothing about him, there is something in the series for you, Novick said.

'Theres a huge amount to be learned and new interpretations of his work and life in here,' she said.

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick have put together the six-hour documentary airing on Monday
by The Artful Observer

Bay City News Foundation

The Bay Area is a hub of artistic expression, attracting artists, writers and musicians from around the globe to live, work and create. We highlight some of the offerings here.

A cultural mash-up: San Francisco Symphony's "Currents," a series of streaming videos that explore the evolving options for modern-day orchestras, launches a particularly intriguing episode at 10 a.m. Thursday with "Thunder Song," an examination of the intersection of classical and Native American music curated by composer and pianist Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. He will conduct and perform along with 17 SFS instrumentalists, Elder Thomas Leon Brown (a.k.a. Machuchuk) on vocals and clapper stick and Elder Ron Montez on traditional Pomo drum, introducing his own music as well as works by Rochelle Chester, Louis W. Ballard and a traditional Pomo song called "Hoy-Ya-A" (Shake Head Coming Out Song). Tate, a composer whose multiple commissions have been performed by entities as diverse as the National Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the South Dakota Symphony, the Colorado Ballet, Canterbury Voices and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, also has an Emmy won for his work on the educational documentary, "The Science of Composing." Another fun fact: His music was recently featured on an episode of HBO's "Westworld." Individual tickets to the program are available for $15 at www.sfsymphonyplus.org, and it will remain accessible for repeat streaming indefinitely. To get an inkling of his style, check out a brief teaser here:

If they wrote it, she can sing it: Powerhouse soprano Christine Goerke, famed for tearing up many a stage as a Wagnerian Brunnhilde or Strauss' Elektra, has a bit more variety in store for her upcoming recital, with pianist Craig Terry, on the Cal Performances at Home digital series. Their professionally staged, full-length program, streaming at 7 p.m. Thursday, will offer gorgeous music by Handel, Brahms, Schumann, Mascagni and Richard Strauss -- fairly heavy-duty operatic stuff, to be sure. But she is also sprinkling in some lovely Italian songs from Tosti, Cimara and Zandonai, Leonard Bernstein's "One Hundred Ways to Lose a Man" from "Wonderful Town" and Cole Porter's "Why Can't You Behave?" from "Kiss Me, Kate." And for kicks, she'll throw in Carrie Jacob-Bonds' delightful little song cycle from 1910, "Half-Minute Songs." Tickets, $15-$60, are available at calperformances.org/buy or (510) 642-9988, and the performance will be available for repeat viewing for three months after its debut.

Dynamic duo: Whether they are playing as a duo or in a full band, the Bay Area's Misner & Smith represents the epitome of everything you'd want in an Ameicana act: evocative, storytelling songs, dazzling harmonies and crack musicianship. Sam Misner and Megan Smith first met as actors who crossed paths on the summer Shakespeare Festival circuit. Two years later, they met again when both were cast in a touring production of the musical "Woody Guthrie's American Song." They discovered that they liked making music together and have been doing so for more than 15 years, releasing five albums and exploring folk, rock, country and many more genres. But what Misner and Smith really like to do is perform in concert, which is what you'll get to see them do if you check into the Freight & Salvage website -- thefreight.org -- at 7 p.m. Saturday. You can access the streaming show with a donation of $10 or more. Meanwhile, the Freight website will also carry an Easter-themed concert from gospel legends the Blind Boys of Alabama, streamed live from City Winery in Nashville, at 6 p.m. (PT) Friday. Tickets to that show are $18-$25.

Ballet & bling: San Francisco Ballet kicks off Program 04 of its 2021 digital season this week -- and it's a sparkly affair. "Jewels," a three-part, evening-length impressionistic work by the legendary George Balanchine, was inspired by the iconic French jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, and each of its three segments -- titled "Emeralds," "Rubies" and "Diamonds" -- pays homage to dance styles from France, Russia and the United States. The digital production streaming Thursday through April 21 features one segment, "Emeralds," that was recently filmed in the War Memorial Opera House, the company's home base, while the other two segments are from previously recorded productions. S.F. Ballet is dedicating the production to former ballerina and longtime dance director and stager Elyse Borne, who gained fame during her performing career for her mastery of Balanchine's works. Borne passed away in 2019 while preparing the company for a new staging of "Jewels" that was to be performed in 2020. Single tickets are $29; a 2021 digital subscription is $289. Go to www.sfballet.org.

Courting 'Trouble': San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater recently announced its 2021-2022 schedule, which calls for a return to live performances early next year. In the meantime, however, you can catch several streaming productions, including Alice Childress' explosive dark comedy "Trouble in Mind," which is available as a streamed reading through Sunday. Childress' play, which centers on a mixed-race cast gathering to rehearse a play that seems to advocate a nuanced look at lynching, so accurately captures aspects of white guilt, cultutral appropriation and phony liberalism that it's hard to believe it was written in the 1950s. According to ACT, the play was supposed to premiere in 1957 as the first Broadway production written by a Black woman, but nervous producers delayed the play's opening because Childress refused to soften its tone. Access to the play costs $5-$50 (depending on how many are watching) at www.act-sf.org. And at 2 p.m. Saturday, you can access a free, live discussion of the play's newfound relevance presented by members of the Museum of African Diaspora and San Francisco's director of cultural affairs, Ralph Remington.

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FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) - More than 200 people gathered in Connecticut to denounce increasing attacks on Asian Americans. A Stop Asian Hate rally was held Saturday outside Fairfield Town Hall and included speeches by state Attorney General William Tong, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, state Sen. Tony Hwang and other officials and advocates. One of the rallys organizers, Aimee Guerrero, condemned an attack on a Filipina American woman in New York City last week. Surveillance video showed the assailant kicking and stomping on the 65-year-old woman near Times Square, and bystanders not helping her. Guerrero urged people to intervene to stop hate crimes.
In just over a week, millions of Britons will be dining at restaurants, returning to exercise classes and, at long last, getting a haircut. This easing of lockdown rules is a remarkable feat, given that just eight weeks ago Covid deaths stood at 1,500 a day and the population was stuck inside with no hope of an imminent escape.

The turnaround is all down to the astonishing success of the Covid vaccine rollout, with nearly two-thirds of the adult population now protected. There is nothing in the data to delay the continued easing of lockdown, the Prime Minister said last week.

But there could be a fly in the ointment. While cases are still dropping, the rate of decline has stalled. And in pockets of the country, infections are creeping up again. In Scotland, for instance, infections in younger age groups have doubled since the end of February.

Nicky Byers, 12, from Kentucky in the United States is receiving the Modena Covid-19 jab as part of a clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of vaccinating children to reduce the level of infection in the community

Dr Deepti Gurdasani, epidemiologist from Queen Mary University, highlighted the culprit: children.

We appear to have two different pandemics, she warned. Its declining in older age groups, but accelerating among young children.

Infection rates are highest  and rising  among primary-school children, followed by secondary-school children.Johnson admitted the slight uptick was almost certainly to do with the reopening of schools. And scientists are already investigating the solution: vaccinating youngsters. Early data from Israel  where the majority of over-16s have been vaccinated  shows jabbing older teens not only limits child infections, but also drives down cases in the wider community, preventing mutant variants from developing.

Last week Pfizer reported early results from its trial on 12 to 15-year-olds  and the data is stunning. Immunity was seen in 100 per cent of the 2,000 adolescents given the jab.

Similarly positive findings are expected to be reported in June from Oxford University researchers, who are currently trialling their AstraZeneca jab on six to 17-year-olds.

Meanwhile, Pfizer and Moderna  the American firm supplying 17 million doses of its vaccine to the UK  are testing their jab on babies as young as six months old.

If more data proves jabs are safe  and work  every child could be offered a jab by August, according to recent reports. Experts have even suggested the Covid jab is added to the list of routine vaccinations given to toddlers, such as the MMR and polio jabs.

A growing number of international experts believe vaccinating children could stop the spread of Covid-19 in the wider community

Vaccinating infants against respiratory diseases isnt unusual, says virologist Dr Julian Tang. It would make sense to give them immunity in the first year or two of life. But it would need to be an annual programme, like the flu vaccine, to account for mutant variants and waning immunity.

Despite the clear benefits, unsurprisingly, the subject of vaccinating children has sparked fierce debate on social media. Some went as far as to declare Covid jabs for kids a live experiment.

But others strongly disagreed. Among them was journalist Robert Byers, 51, who allowed his 12-year-old son Nicky to become a volunteer on the Moderna vaccine trial in the US in January.

Robert, from Kentucky, says it was his wife Tara, a freelance editor, who first suggested it. Speaking to The Mail on Sundays Medical Minefield podcast, he admitted he was nervous at first: My first thought was, well, if something would go wrong, wed hate ourselves for the rest of our lives.

But Nickys reaction to the suggestion convinced Robert it wasnt such a bad idea. Hes been asking from the beginning when children could get their vaccine, says Robert. When we suggested it, he was kind of excited. And we thought, weve all felt so helpless over the past year, maybe this is something we could help with.

By the time it came to the injection, Roberts doubts had diminished. We were very familiar with what was going on in the adult trials, so we felt pretty good about it.

The Byerses faith in medical science continued, despite the fact that Nicky suffered side effects  developing a fever after his first dose.

He had a temperature of nearly 39 degrees, and was a bit miserable, but it passed within two days.

Researchers from Imperial College suggest that only three per cent of children infected with Covid-19 develop a serious form of the disease

Similarly short-lived flu-like symptoms happened after the second dose, which Robert saw as a good sign. It was a clue hed had the real vaccine, rather than the placebo. So hopefully it means hes protected, which is great  because who knows what can happen if any of us were to contract the virus. And now he relishes the attention. All his friends think hes a hero.

Tilda Leighton from Oxford is another brave young person taking part in a trial  the 16-year-old volunteered to be a guinea pig for the AstraZeneca vaccine. I saw the advert for participants and immediately signed up, then three hours later they called to ask me to come in the following week, says Tilda, who received the first dose back in February at Oxfords Churchill Hospital.

I thought if I can do something to help and make getting out of the pandemic easier, Ill do it.

My dad was supposed to be a part of the adult vaccine trial but couldnt in the end because of his history of allergies, so it was almost like I was doing it for him.

Tilda likened the injection to her HPV jab  given to teenage girls to protect against the cancer-causing strain of the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus.

It wasnt painful but my arm ached a little bit for the rest of the day, she says. Later in the evening I felt a bit tired and had a temperature, but it disappeared within an hour and a half.

The next day I felt a bit like I had mild flu, with some muscle pain, but it only lasted 24 hours. I woke up the following day feeling absolutely fine.

And after her second dose a fortnight ago, she suffered no problems whatsoever.

Tilda hopes the mild side effects she felt with the first dose mean she received the real Covid-19 vaccine rather than the meningitis B jab given to teens in the control group.

My parents have had their first doses too  so hopefully it means our family are pretty protected, she says. We often do shopping for my great-aunt, who is 84, so it would be nice to know I can talk to her outside without worrying too much about the virus.

Convincing parents the jab is safe is one thing. But experts say the biggest challenge will be persuading them that it is necessary.

Vaccination has been a very easy decision for the elderly, who were very concerned about the risk of Covid to them personally, says Professor Adam Finn, paediatrician and public health expert from the University of Bristol. But as you work your way down the population towards childhood, that personal risk is reduced.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said children played a minor role in the transmission of Covid-19

Its true that children rarely get ill with the virus. Roughly three per cent suffer critical symptoms, according to Imperial College London research.

The aim of vaccinating children wouldnt necessarily be to protect them, but to stop them from spreading it to older, vulnerable people around them, says Prof Tang.

Part of the problem in persuading parents may come from the fact that public health messages on Covid in children have been confusing. Last autumn, shortly before schools reopened, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson claimed there was little evidence that the virus was transmitted in classrooms. Meanwhile, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said children played a minor role in transmission.

But experts now say this isnt the case.

Early Chinese studies found children were just as vulnerable to Covid as adults, with the disease spreading widely between children in Hubei province.

More recently, research from Israel, South Korea and the US shows children and teenagers may, in fact, be more likely to transmit Covid than adults.

Dr Tang says: The only reason we didnt have evidence in the UK that children were spreading it was because we werent testing enough of them.

Vaccinating children would, he says, help to plug gaps in the adult programme, assuring that as many as possible in the population have some immunity.

A significant number of people who end up in intensive care with Covid are in their 30s and 40s with no underlying health issues, says Prof Tang.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson claimed there was little evidence that the virus was transmitted in classrooms, but experts now say this is not the case

And the fewer outbreaks we have, the less likely vaccine-resistant variants will develop.

But vaccinating children to protect older, vulnerable adults is a notoriously hard sell.

It is, says Prof Finn, a dilemma familiar to doctors who work to improve the uptake of the flu jab in children every year.

Since 2013, all schoolchildren aged between five and 11 have been offered a flu vaccine each year  despite only 12 in every 10,000 children who catch it becoming severely ill. The programme was launched after pilot studies showed an 85 per cent reduction in flu-related hospital admissions in older, vulnerable people, in areas that vaccinated children.

But the national scheme hasnt quite managed the same striking effect, due to a problem with take-up.

The vaccination rate in children has hovered just under 60 per cent for much of the past decade  short of the target of 65 per cent. In some areas, coverage is as low as 30 per cent.

Studies suggest its not just parents reluctance to give kids a jab for the good of others that causes low uptake, but also practical and cultural reasons.

Prof Finn says that health officials must hammer home the direct benefits of vaccination on childrens lives.

He adds: If people are choosing not to have effective vaccines, its a failure on our part to give them the information that they need in order to make what is an obvious and clear decision.

We should say: in order for schools to stay open and children to benefit from normal social interactions, it proves necessary to immunise them.

Despite recent reports, Prof Finn says were still a way off rolling out a national Covid jab plan for children.

At this point, I dont think immunising children is a certainty, but its something we need to be able to do if it proves necessary, he says. Were still in the relatively early stages of knowing about the safety profile, the correct dose and effectiveness of these vaccines in children.

And thanks to youngsters such as Nicky and Tilda, we will, hopefully, soon have that data.

Tilda says it feels amazing to know shes been part of a ground-breaking medical trial.

Im the only one in my school who has potentially been vaccinated. Hopefully it means that I am less of a risk to younger people I know with underlying health conditions.

All my friends think its great. In fact, they all wanted to do it but the trial got filled up quickly.

I have no doubt there will be plenty of people my age who will be more than willing to take the jab too.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Thomas Coughlan is the new president at St. Michaels High School. (Courtesy of Thomas Coughlan)

A new chapter is set to begin at St. Michaels High School.

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The schools Board of Trustees announced March 24 that Thomas Coughlan would take over as the schools new president in July, nearly a year after his predecessor, Taylor Gantt, announced he would step down from the role. Coughlan is currently serving as Co-CEO of the Hanna Boys Center, a reform school based in Sonoma, California.

Coughlan is a newcomer to New Mexico  his on-campus interview for the position was actually his first time in Santa Fe.

However, he said hes long thought about working in the area, which he said is perfect for his wife, a professional photographer, and four children. He often heard St. Michaels and Santa Fe mentioned during network events of various Lasallian Catholic schools around the nation.

There was always that draw, that connection, to work in a Lasallian school in Santa Fe, Coughlan said.

Coughlan has spent nearly his entire career in Catholic education. It even forms the basis of the doctorate degree he is in the process of attaining from the University of San Francisco.

Much of that time has been spent in leadership roles, as well. He took over as president at a Catholic school in Petaluma, California, when the school was suffering a major enrollment crisis.

I got a taste of what crisis leadership is like, Coughlan said.

And with his newest post, Coughlan steps into an educational environment steeped in crisis, this time thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Private schools around the nation, especially those that are Catholic, have dealt with large enrollment losses as economic shutdowns caused by the pandemic made tuition unaffordable for many families. The National Catholic Educational Association announced in February that enrollments had declined by 6% since the start of the 2019-20 school year.

Catholic schools in general across the country have been dealing with the shifting landscape of how Catholic schools can not only exist, but (also) survive and thrive, Coughlan said, adding theyre forced to be more competitive as charter schools become more prevalent.

St. Michaels High School Principal Sam Govea told the Journal before the current school year that they expected a decrease in enrollment due to the pandemic. In response, a program to help struggling families pay tuition was initiated.

Private school officials in New Mexico have also said fundraising  typically a large source of revenue  has been impacted during the pandemic for similar reasons.

Coughlan said hes still familiarizing himself with the state of St. Michaels fundraising efforts.

I think that can help set any school apart, especially after a pandemic, and I think those are the things that Ill be looking to help promote.
Petrol bombs have been thrown at police amid further disorder in Newtownabbey on Sunday.

Police have urged motorists to avoid the area.

A spokesperson said on Sunday night: "Motorists are advised to avoid the Cloughfern Roundabout of Newtownabbey, as a number of youths have gathered in the area. Motorists should seek alternative main routes for their journey."

Earlier, police confirmed a 47-year-old man has been charged following rioting in Newtownabbey on Saturday night in which thirty petrol bombs were thrown at police.

Three vehicles were hijacked and set alight during the rioting and petrol bombs and other missiles were thrown at PSNI Land Rovers at the Cloughfern roundabout in the O'Neill Road area.

Police said a crowd of 20 to 30 people consisting of young people and older men, some of whom were wearing masks, gathered from shortly after 7pm on Saturday.

The man remains in police custody after being charged with rioting and throwing a petrol bomb and is expected to appear at Belfast's Magistrates Court later in April.

DUP MP Gregory Campbell called for an end to attacks on the police and said Sinn Fein must apologise for "arrogant and condescending" comments about young loyalists after scenes of disorder.

"Rioting and injuring rank and file officers will only result in young people being criminalised," he said.

It's after Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly claimed the disturbances were "a direct consequence of the actions of political unionism" and accused "DUP rhetoric" of sending a "very dangerous message to young people in loyalist areas".

Tensions have soared within the loyalist community in recent months over post-Brexit trading arrangements and after last week a decision was taken not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending the funeral of republican Bobby Storey during Covid-19 restrictions.

Mr Campbell said: "For Gerry Kelly and Sinn Fein to comment on the frustrations on our streets without recognising the major part they played in creating that anger is arrogance personified.

"People arent taps that some politician can turn on or off. Riots on the streets, just as they must be condemned, it also has to be realised that they are a symptom of the manner in which Sinn Fein has played fast and loose with the Covid rules whilst zealously demanding everyone else obey them."

Earlier on Sunday, First Minister Arlene Foster told young people that causing injury to police officers will not make things better following the violence that descended on parts of Northern Ireland over the weekend.

Twenty-seven police officers were injured during Fridays riots in Belfast and Londonderry.

Meanwhile, seven people were charged with riot after the violence in the Sandy Row area of south Belfast on Friday.

Three men aged 25, 21 and 18, a 19-year-old woman and three youths aged 17, 14 and 13 are also expected to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court and Belfast Youth Court towards the end of April.

As is normal procedure all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

A 19-year-old man, also arrested following the disorder on Friday night, was released on police bail pending further enquiries.

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The Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents rank and file PSNI officers, called for an end to the disturbances.

The violence came as loyalists and unionists are still angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland the rest of the UK.

Tensions were ramped up further earlier this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending the large scale funeral of former IRA man Bobby Storey in June when Covid-19 restrictions limited crowd numbers.

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In her Easter message, DUP leader Mrs Foster said she was aware that many young people were hugely frustrated and sent her support to officers who are on duty this weekend.

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Whatsapp Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster calls for calm following rioting in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA Wire)

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, she stated.

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

I also ask people to remember that not all messages on social media are genuine and they may come from sources which are deliberately trying to cause harm to your community.

So on this Easter weekend, please stay safe with your families. Don't get pulled into something which will ruin your life.
King Mohammed VI held a phone call this Sunday with King Abdullah II of Jordan during which he reassured him of Moroccos full support for the stability and security in Jordan, a statement from Moroccos royal office said.

King Mohammed VI, who was the first foreign leader to call the Jordanian Monarch, enquired about the situation in Jordan following reports of an attempted coup dEtat.

The King renewed his full and natural solidarity with King Abdullah II and expressed support for all of his decisions to ensure stability and security in his country.

The phone call reflects the strong historical and family ties between the two noble monarchs and the two royal families, and the ties existing between the two countries and the two brotherly peoples, the royal office added.

The Moroccan foreign ministry also issued a press release reiterating Moroccos support for the Jordanian King and his actions to preserve the stability and security in Jordan.

On Saturday, authorities in Jordan announced their decision to arrest 20 people, including high-profile officials.

Jordan also limited the movement of Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, King Abdullahs half-brother Hamzah who served as a crown prince for four years before the designation was passed to Abdullah II in 2004, for his alleged involvement in a plot seeking a coup detat and a security sweep.
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Romania is a pillar of stability in the region, due to its membership in the North Atlantic Alliance, and NATO Day is celebrated in our country under the sign of Euro-Atlantic solidarity, through constant support to member countries for limiting the spread of the new coronavirus, said the Chamber of Deputies' Speaker Ludovic Orban.

"Today, on the first Sunday of April, we celebrate NATO Day in Romania, to mark two important events in Romania's history, namely Romania's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance on March 29, 2004 and the official hoisting of the Romanian flag at NATO in Brussels, on April 2, 2004. Last year, in January, I met in Brussels with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, where I conveyed that the North Atlantic Alliance is fundamental to Romania, and our commitment to its success is one Nobody knew then that in a few months the worst health crisis would break out, that of the new coronavirus, which will cover the whole of humanity", reads a message sent by Orban on the social page, on the occasion of the celebration NATO Day in Romania.

He said that, like last year, NATO Day in Romania is celebrated under the sign of Euro-Atlantic solidarity, through the constant support, both logistically and with equipment and medical personnel, that the Alliance has given to member countries to limit the spreading of the virus."Romania is a pillar of stability in the region, due to its membership in NATO, by participating in Allied missions, especially in the Black Sea region and hosting, on its territory, the multinational structures of the Alliance. It is a commitment that our country has made, within this Security structure, for the defence of the citizens of the region. We continue to be reliable allies of NATO", Ludovic Orban also transmitted.
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Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

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Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low around 65F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
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Dr. Bernard Lown died February 16, four months shy of his one-hundredth birthday. The Dr. Lown we knew does not emerge from the long list of his many accomplishments, which include the invention of the DC defibrillator and cardioversion, the development of the modern (and when he described it, revolutionary) approach to the care of patients following myocardial infarction, and the founding of International Physicians to Prevent Nuclear War (which won the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1985) and Physicians for Social Responsibility, which collectively saved hundreds of thousands, and perhaps hundreds of millions of lives.

The Dr. Lown we knew held court in his living room, the little dining room off his kitchen, or the library upstairs. He entertained hundreds of medical students, young physicians, world leaders, corporate giants, and many others. While we all came to seek his counsel, he seemed fascinated by everyone he met  people to know and to learn from. He listened deeply, never passively. He challenged us with incisive questions, poking, prodding, and pulling the best out of everyone. . . and recording our thoughts and his observations in his little notebook. Ever the humanist, he valued every single human life and believed that deep interpersonal relationships could move the world. We left those meetings honored and energized, albeit a bit intimidated.

The Dr. Lown we knew was more than just a good listener: He was the moral compass of medicine and health care in a world that could not find true north. He never patented the defibrillator. When the manufacturer paid him for the rights anyway, he donated those funds to endow a scholarship program in public health for health professionals from around the world. He counseled students, colleagues, and patients not just to seek scientific evidence but to avoid entrapment by the allure of pharma or technology or wealth. Stop all ten drugs but one, he once told a student on rounds. You choose which one to retain.

The Dr. Lown we knew used his voice persistently and with urgency to call for justice in pursuit of health. He wrote, never whisper in the presence of wrong. He advocated for an equitable health care system, not a market-based industry; he called out the failures and excesses of for-profit medicine; he prescribed survival not just for his patients but for our planet; he implored all health care workers to leverage their special, trusted relationships to advance true democracy, in which all people are valued, have a voice and an even chance.

Ever the teacher, the Dr. Lown we knew modeled The Lost Art of Healing (the title of one of his books) in the clinic, the laboratory, and the halls of power. As health professionals, we watched him listen carefully to his patients; as citizens, we saw him listen deeply to our neighbors. We heard him importune our health care enterprise to do what is best for democracy with an eye on the future, instead of what helps todays bottom line. And he entreated us to bear witness to the harms and risks of our social choices, to shine a light on the possible, and to lead toward a future that is better than the past. If you can see the invisible, Dr. Lown said, you can do the impossible.

Dr. Bernard Lown was the best of his generation. Kind and wise. A listener, a thinker, a doer. A teacher and prodder. A challenger and inspirer. Impossible to equal. And impossible to ignore.

Michael Fine is a family physician. David Bor is an internal medicine physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Hong Kong: Catering premises inspected

The Food & Environmental Hygiene Department said it took stringent enforcement actions relating to anti-epidemic regulations during the Easter holidays.

It stepped up inspections and conducted joint operations with Police in various districts on April 2 and 3.

A total of 92 catering premises were inspected during the joint operations, and 894 catering premises and 145 other premises were reviewed by the department on its own in the past two days.

It initiated procedures on prosecution against 10 catering business operators suspected of breaching the Prevention & Control of Disease (Requirements & Directions) (Business & Premises) Regulation.

Among them, three were related to failure to ensure that customers scan the LeaveHomeSafe QR code or register their names, contact numbers and the dates and times of their visits before they are allowed to enter the premises.

The remaining were related to the distance or partitions between tables, mask-wearing and failure to arrange for all staff to undergo a COVID-19 test every 14 days.

To minimise the transmission of COVID-19, the department strongly appealed to catering business operators to comply with the relevant regulations on prevention and control of disease.

It also reminded the public to exercise self-discipline and co-operate to fight the virus together.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
For the second year in a row, a quieter 1916 Easter Rising commemoration took place in Dublin today.

Two non-public events, which were restricted due to Covid-19 guidelines, took place at Aras an Uachtarain and the GPO at midday this Easter Sunday.

President Michael D Higgins led the commemoration at his home where he took part in the wreath laying ceremony and he rang the Peace Bell.

This bell was installed in 2008 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and has begun the annual ceremony since.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu attended a ceremony in the courtyard of the GPO.

It featured a performance of the National Anthem from Claudia Boyle along with a military ceremony and prayers.

Military Chaplain Fr PJ Somers opened the ceremony and sent his prayers to those who have been affected by Covid-19.

We pray with a continued found gratitude for our frontline healthcare workers, he said, adding that hes sending strength for all those who carry the burden of Covid-19.

Outside the GPO, the proclamation was read by Captain Marie Carrigy from Co Longford.
The catastrophic cause and effect of a presidential fallacy View(s):

President Gotabaya Rajapaksas vow this week that he would not bend to international pressure and that Sri Lanka would not become the victim of big power rivalry in the Indian Ocean hides an ominous fallacy.

Karmic cause and effect

It is precisely due to acts of the State under his watch that the country has become exposed to the very evils that the President pledges to protect the country from. This is a beautifully circuitous illustration of karmic cause and effect if there ever was one. In fact, the immediate factors that propelled this gathering international storm with potentially catastrophic political, social and economic effect have absolutely no relationship to Sri Lankas sovereignty, national security or for that matter, the conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lanka Government which ended more than a decade ago. Let that be clear.

Formerly friendly nations abstained or voted against Sri Lanka on Resolution 46/1 at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) not due to pressure by one geo-political block or the other as propaganda mouthpieces would have us simplistically believe. Rather, this was owing to one grievous folly after another by this Government which quite deliberately informed the world that the Sri Lanka State did not give a tuppence or rather, the spectacularly devalued rupee, for democracy. We had the (later abandoned) needlessly cruel policy prohibiting cremation of the Muslim covid-dead and the relentless persecution of criminal investigators handling deeply troubling cases on corruption and gross human rights abuses.

These cases included the abduction and killing of Tamil and Muslim children and teenagers for ransom money by criminal elements in the state security system, long after the drums of war had ceased to roll. To that list must be added the harassment of activists protesting on issues ranging from disappearances to the environment. Let me repeat. There is no relationship to national security in all of this. Rather, in appearance and in substance, this speaks to a consolidation of autocracy and racism egged on by monks who demand their pound of flesh by bringing a Sinhala Buddhist President to power and want to rename the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as Sinhale.

Bat crazy xenophobia as state policy

Ministers meanwhile made no pretence for translating bat crazy xenophobia into state policy. Politically appointed bulls in a china shop rampage in the guise of diplomatic representatives in Geneva and New York and retired soldiers who have no understanding of diplomacy front Sri Lankas foreign policy response to the world. With friends like these in our ranks, Sri Lanka has no need of enemies that the President must bestir himself to protect the country from, as he pledges to do in uneasily angry monologues. True, the motives and motivations of nation states talking down on human rights to others are dubious.

As pointed out in these column spaces last week, States who voted against Sri Lanka have considerable skeletons in their national cupboards. The United Kingdom (UK) is undoubtedly remarkable in this regard. Whilst spearheading Resolution 46/1 on Sri Lanka with all pompous sound and fury in the Council, the UK Government is simultaneously pushing legislation in the Houses of Parliament that runs directly contrary to universal principles of international criminal law. If enacted, the law would throw a protective special shield over the British military from prosecutions for human rights abuses committed during overseas operations, which the Government sees as vexatious. Regardless, Resolution 46/1 is a direct result of extraordinarily deliberate racist state policy aimed at Sri Lankas minorities post 2019.

And let us be frank, the Government grandly mistook the historical moment. After years (it seems an eon) of Trumpian disdain for human rights, the mood is now different. We failed to realise this but strutted and strode on the international stage with all the misplaced bravado of a petulant infant. Indeed, Sri Lanka lost the moral high ground to the extent that Fiji, once expelled from the Commonwealth when a military coup replaced a democratically elected Government, voted against Sri Lanka. Thus, the Presidents articulation of why and how he will protect the motherland is unconvincing.

A Government at sixes and sevens

The litany of grievances that we hear in choreographed events of the President to the village is beginning to sound uncannily like Donald Trumps bitter rants on liberal conspiracies. Sri Lankans may have had some consolation if the lot of citizens had improved as a result of purportedly hard nosed leadership by a President whose electoral message was action and not words. But what we have is a Government at sixes and sevens, with one corrupt scandal succeeding another, whether it be deals on sugar, coconut oil or rice all benefitting big business interests cosying up to ruling politicians.

The 20th Amendment concentrating all powers in the Office of the Presidency coupled with the superimposing of military officers at all levels of governance has only resulted in confusion worse confounded. Key state entities with retired military men as secretaries replacing public service officials have run aground, including the Ministry of Health which keeps changing its policies day or by day and the Sri Lanka Customs embroiled in poisonous coconut oil invading the market. Meanwhile so-called deradicalisation regulations have been gazetted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA, 1979) creating new categories of persons assessed as needing rehabilitation and treated completely outside judicial scrutiny.

To add insult to injury, a harebrained proposal has also been mooted to add the protection of human dignity as a criminal offence in the Penal Code. The noted criminal law reformer Thomas Babington Macaulay whose proposals formed the Penal Codes of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh must surely be turning indignantly in his grave at this affront to commonsense. What is human dignity, pray?? In what manner can such an undefined notion give rise to criminal consequences, fundamentally premised on legal concepts of mens rea (criminal intent) and actus reus (a specific guilty act)?

Corruption and militarization running like a dirty thread

This proposal and the reference to causing religious, racial or communal disharmony or feelings of ill will or hostility prohibited in the deradicalisation regulations are equally problematic, reflecting the nonsensical draft Counter Terror Act of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition (2015-2019) which made, inter alia, writings offending unity being formulated as terrorist offences. But the point is that by hastening the Myanmar-isation of the Sri Lankan State, national security is directly undermined.

Myanmars military leadership embodies contempt towards the very notion of democracy and governance institutions. Military leaders are linked to multinational corporates with corruption running like a dirty thread through the regime even as the military turns against the entire people. That trajectory is inevitable, let me add, if this path that the Sri Lankan Government is on, continues without substantive correction. There are precedents from the past, when communities asking for water were shot at in Rathupaswela and free trade zone workers in Katunayaka were hunted down and killed for protesting.

In that final deadly clash, the distinction between the majority and the minorities becomes a distinction without a difference. As bodies pile up on the streets of Yangon and Mandalay with the army randomly shooting anything that moves, we find the Myanmar youth apologising to the Rohingya population for not speaking out on their behalf, once upon a time.

These are illustrative lessons for Sri Lankans still inclined, like the proverbial ostrich, to bury their heads in the sand.
A South Australian man believed to have the South African strain of Covid-19 is in hospital in critical condition.

The man, aged in his 40s, was placed into the intensive care unit at Royal Adelaide Hospital on Saturday.

Acting Chief Public Health Officer Michael Cusack said the man had likely contracted the highly contagious South African strain of the virus.

The man, aged in his 40s, was placed into the intensive care unit at Royal Adelaide Hospital on Saturday

Acting Chief Public Health Officer Michael Cusack said the man had contracted the highly contagious South African strain of the virus

'One person was taken from Tom's Court [medi-hotel] to the Royal Adelaide Hospital this morning because they were unwell and are currently being assessed there,' Dr Cusack said.

'This is a male in his 40s we believe has the South African variant.

'Clearly if someone is deemed unwell enough that they have to go to hospital, we have concerns for their welfare, but obviously they are in the right place.'

The man is one of 12 people in the state who has contracted the virus from overseas.

South Australia Health identified on Sunday one new case in hotel quarantine.

'Today's case is a child who recently returned from overseas and has been in a medi-hotel since her arrival,' the department said in a statement.

'She is considered an old infection but has been added to our case numbers as she has not been diagnosed and counted overseas.'

More to come
Argentina President Alberto Fernandez tested positive for COVID-19 despite receiving his vaccine against the notorious disease earlier the year. The announcement was made by the President himself on his Twitter account late Friday. Despite the diagnosis, Fernandez noted that he is in good spirits.

The President's tweet translates that he had a fever with a temperature of 37.3 with a slight headache. Fernandez also emphasized that he has undergone an antigen test that confirmed he is positive for the notorious disease.

READ NEXT: Argentina President Decries COVID-19 Vaccine Scandal

Argentina President and COVID

A statement from the Argentine president's doctor, Federico Saavedra, emphasized that the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection is confirmed, according to a Reuters report. Despite his diagnosis, Fernandez remained on the job.

"The clinical picture is mild due in large part to the protective effect of the vaccine received," said Saavedra in a statement. Argentina President Fernandez was administered with Sputnik V vaccine earlier in the year to immunize him against the notorious disease, according to a report from New York Post.

Para informacion de todos y todas me encuentro fisicamente bien y, aunque hubiera querido terminar el dia de mi cumpleanos sin esta noticia, tambien me encuentro bien de animo. Agradezco desde el alma las muchas muestras de afecto que hoy me han brindado recordando mi nacimiento.  Alberto Fernandez (@alferdez) April 3, 2021

"For everyone's information I am physically well," said Fernandez in his tweet, adding that he is in good spirits. The Argentine president also expresses his gratitude to those who have given him affection as he celebrates his birthday amid his diagnosis of COVID-19.

Argentina was the third country to authorize the Sputnik V vaccine after Russia and Belarus, according to a report from Al Jazeera. Argentina has begun its vaccine rollout using the Sputnik V vaccine doses in late December.

Gimaleya Institute from Russia has issued an open statement addressed to the Argentina president reassuring that their vaccine is 91.6 percent effective against infection. Moreover, the institute also noted that it is 100 percent effective against severe coronavirus. Gimaleya Institute is the developer of the Sputnik V vaccine.

"If the infection indeed confirmed and occurs, the vaccination ensures quick recovery," said Gimaleya Institute in a statement. The institute also ensured that there will be no severe symptoms while wishing the president his quick recovery.

Argentina and COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 2,363,251 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Argentina from January 3, 2020, up to April 3, 2021. Meanwhile, 55,941 deaths have been associated with COVID-19 in the same time frame. As of March 25, 2021, the organization has recorded about 3,365,839 administered vaccine doses in the country. Argentina has been on a lockdown with varying degrees for more than a year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Argentine government, on the other hand, highlighted that their vaccine rollout has been prioritizing the elderly and healthcare workers. In other news, many Argentinians protested on the streets after reports regarding people using their connection to be immunized even though they are still not eligible. The allegations led to the resignation of the country's former health minister in February.

Debemos estar muy atentos. Les pido a todos y todas que se preserven siguiendo las recomendaciones vigentes. Es evidente que la pandemia no paso y debemos seguir cuidandonos https://t.co/pHDETeRkop  Alberto Fernandez (@alferdez) April 3, 2021

Meanwhile, the Argentina president urged the people in his tweet to be vigilant against COVID-19. "It is clear that the pandemic did not pass," said Fernandez in his tweet. The President added that the people must "continue to take care" of themselves.

READ MORE: COVID-19 Patient Dies After Judge in Argentina Forces Clinic to Inject Bleach

WATCH: Argentinas president tests positive for Covid-19 - from TeleSUR English
The mother of the little boy left fatherless by killer Dave Mahon has lashed out at reports that he plans to become a handyman when hes released from prison this summer.

Mahon is currently serving a seven-year manslaughter sentence after a jury found him guilty of knifing innocent Dean Fitzpatrick to death during a verbal row they had in May 2013.

He gets out and gets to enjoy his life while Leons dad is not here. I wish him nothing bud karma (sic). Horrible! Makes me sick, Deans partner Sara ORourke said this week.

Deans death came over five years after his sister disappeared from an apartment she was living in with Mahon and her mother Audrey Fitzpatrick in Spain.

He should be locked up for life, said Sara, who was Deans partner at the time of the killing and mother of their boy Leon.

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His 50th this month, thats great but Dean wasnt here to celebrate his 30th.

If theres one person in this world I hate its him, she said.

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It comes after Mahons partner Audrey revealed that he is thinking about taking up a career as a man in a van handyman.

Despite Mahon killing her son, Audrey has said she is looking forward to his imminent release  which she says will be a great day of relief.

At this stage Ive been doing everything myself for the last five years, she told The Star.

So when Davey gets out hes taking over and Im just going to sit back.

She also spoke of his plans to get work as a handyman.

Hes always worked in landscaping for example and when he was in prison he got certificates for level four in horticultural, hes done woodwork  hes done animal training.

He knows how to do tiling, painting, decorating. He can build kitchen units. He can do everything.

This month Dave Mahon celebrates his 50th birthday  the last one he will have to serve from prison.

Dean Fitzpatrick was the older brother of teenager Amy Fitzpatrick who went missing in Spain in 2008.

The 23-year-old received a single stab wound to the stomach outside the apartment his mother Audrey shared with Mahon at Burnell Square, Northern Cross in Malahide.

In May 2016, a jury of six men and six women took eight hours and 16 minutes to reach a verdict that Mahon was not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan said the facts of this case were very distressing. She added that Mahon had apologised, through his barrister, to all those who knew Mr Fitzpatrick before she imposed a seven-year sentence.

Deans father Christopher Fitzpatrick said at the time there were no words to describe his pain, anger and despair.

Read More
Soybean farmers are cautiously optimistic about this years crop, thanks to steadily increasing prices and a worldwide increase in demand. After dipping down to $8.66 a bushel in August, the price for the grain has steadily gone up to $14, the highest price theyve been in nearly seven years.
Jakarta, April 5 : The death toll of the flash floods in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara stood at 41 on Sunday, with 27 people still missing, the country's disaster mitigation agency said at a press conference on Sunday evening.

Spokesman of Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Raditya Jati said that at least nine people were injured, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Floodwaters destroyed roads and bridges in several areas of the province's East Flores district.

The country's Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has said that extreme weather such as heavy rains, strong winds and huge waves may occur in parts of Indonesia, including West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces.

Earlier, officials said that 44 people were killed in the disaster.
A man and his spouse have been arrested in connection with a stash house located north of Laredo where authorities encountered 18 immigrants illegally present in the country, states an arrest affidavit.

On March 29, U.S. Border Patrol agents conducting surveillance near Jarvis Plaza in downtown Laredo observed four suspected immigrants exiting an El Aguila bus in the 1000 block of Matamoros Street. The immigrants then got into a maroon GMC Terrain. Agents followed the vehicle but lost sight due to traffic.

About 1  hours later, agents observed four additional immigrants exit El Aguila bus and get into the GMC Terrain. Agents followed the vehicle to a home in the 400 block of Falcon Drive in Bonanza Hills, north of Laredo. Webb County Precinct 2 Constables Office deputies pulled over the GMC for a traffic violation after it departed the residence on Falcon. Authorities identified the driver as Daniel Martinez. He allegedly allowed agents to search the property on Falcon.

As Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations and deputies searched the property, Martinez allegedly admitted he picked up the immigrants and that the individuals were in the back of the property. Agents and deputies encountered Mariana Martinez-Campos near a residence at the rear of the property. She allegedly allowed authorities to search the rear property.

Agents discovered footprints that led them to the apprehension of 18 people in the brush behind the property. All were determined to be immigrants who had crossed the border illegally. In a post-arrest statement, Martinez stated he was a U.S. citizen who resided and worked at the property on Falcon for about eight years. Martinez stated he and his spouse, Martinez-Sanchez, reside at the rear of the property. Martinez then requested an attorney.

Martinez-Sanchez stated she is a citizen of Mexico lawfully admitted as a permanent resident who lives with her spouse, Martinez, at the residence on Falcon. She stated she was in the back of the property when she observed law enforcement arrive, according to court documents.

Martinez-Campos stated she did not know anything about the human smuggling and that she observed the (agents) bring people into the property and said they were trying to incriminate her. Martinez-Campos repeatedly stated that the (immigrants) were not found on the property and then stated she did not have anything else to say and requested an attorney, states the affidavit.

Martinez and Martinez-Campos were charged with harbor, attempt to harbor and conspiracy to harbor immigrants from detection.
Brendon Woods started banging the drum for jury reform in 2018.

That was the year Alameda Countys first Black chief public defender spoke out against a Superior Court effort that would force residents to appear for jury duty at any courthouse in the county rather than the one closest to them. Woods said this would make jury participation harder for low-income Black and brown residents who rely on public transportation. He won that argument. The proposed change never took effect.

But Woods didnt stop there. The 50-year-old New York native recognized that the legacy of racial disparity in Americas justice system extends to the often hidden way in which courts choose and exclude a jury of our supposed peers.

The dominant society arent the ones being targeted by police, suffering from mass incarceration, theyre not suffering the same way as Black people, he told me. This is why we have to make sure the ones who can and want to serve on juries arent being excluded.

The problem boils down to peremptory challenges, the method attorneys use to exclude someone from a jury without having to say why. The history of peremptory challenges dates back hundreds of years ago to England. In the U.S., researchers say prosecutors disproportionately use them to keep people of color off juries. Efforts to address this have been failing for more than 40 years.

This is reflected in a June 2020 study by UC Berkeley law Professor Elisabeth Semel, the Berkeley Death Penalty Clinic, and other faculty and students. Whitewashing the Jury Box: How California Perpetuates the Discriminatory Exclusion of Black and Latinx Jurors analyzed 683 cases in which California courts of appeal heard objections to peremptory challenges from 2006 to 2018. The analysis found that in these challenged cases, prosecutors tried to remove Black jurors nearly 75% of the time and Latinx jurors roughly 28% of the time. For potential white jurors, this happened in less than 1% of challenged cases.

Both the California Supreme Court in 1978 and the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986 issued rulings against using race as the sole reason to strike a prospective juror. But those landmark decisions didnt stop prosecutors from coding racial stereotypes to keep people of color off juries, according to the UC Berkeley study.

In one of the studys examples, a Sacramento County prosecutor struck a Black man from a jury for his hairstyle, attributing his decision to how dreadlocks are somewhat associated with a Reggae culture ... (that) promotes drug use.

In 2012, a research article in the Quarterly Journal of Economics showed the connection between jury discrimination and high incarceration rates for Black men in Florida. In The Impact of Jury Race in Criminal Trials, economists considered felony trial verdicts over a 10-year period and found that Florida juries without a Black member were significantly more likely to convict Black defendants than white defendants. As the number of Black jurors increased, the conviction rates for Black and white defendants became almost even.

California took a significant step last year to make it harder to discriminate against prospective jurors based on stereotypes and economic status. SB3070, which will take effect in January 2022, blocks peremptory challenges for a long list of reasons, including how a prospective juror dresses, what neighborhood they live in, if they express distrust of law enforcement, speak another language, have a child outside of marriage or receive benefits from the state.

Written by Shirley Weber, who left the state Assembly to become Californias first Black secretary of state this year, the legislation gets closer to ensuring an individuals right to a jury of actual peers.

But the state needs to do more. Jurors in California receive only $15 a day for their service. For low-income residents who live paycheck to paycheck and have to take off work to perform their civic duty, this isnt close to enough. If we truly want a broad cross-section of citizens to participate, jury compensation needs to match the states minimum wage.

Woods could lead this effort.

Two years after being named Alameda Countys public defender in 2012, he led a Black Lives Matter rally calling for police accountability on the steps of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland. Two years after that, he publicly criticized a problem-riddled Alameda Superior Court case management that turned misdemeanors into felonies and resulted in mistaken sex offender statuses, the East Bay Times reported in 2016. In 2017, Woods was again on the steps of the Oakland courthouse, this time kneeling to protest police brutality. And after opposing Alameda Superior Courts proposed changes to jury service in 2018, Woods became a vocal champion for Webers bill.

During a recent phone conversation, Woods and I connected over shared experiences being racially profiled by police. He called Americas criminal justice system broken and described its jury selection process as bulls.

The Constitution promises every defendant a trial by an impartial jury. We need public servants like Woods to keep the system honest  and call B.S. when it fails.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Justin Phillips appears Sundays. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
A former American intelligence analyst and member of the armed forces has pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining classified national defence information and giving it to a reporter.

A statement from the US Department of Justice on Wednesday said Daniel Everett Hale of Nashville, Tennessee, who served in the US Air Force from July 2009 to July 2013 faced a maximum penalty of 10 years.

The DoJ said Hale had been assigned to work at the NSA after he received language and intelligence training and was posted to Afghanistan as an intelligence analyst.

He was assigned to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and worked as a political geography analyst between December 2013 and August 2014.

He held a top secret // sensitive compartmented information security clearance and had access to classified national defence information.

Hale has now admitted what the evidence at trial would have conclusively shown: that he took classified documents from his work at the NGA, documents he had no right to retain, and that he sent them to a reporter, knowing all along that what he was doing was against the law, said assistant attorney-general John Demers of the DoJ's National Security Division.

This conduct undermined the efforts of our intelligence community to keep us safe. Hales plea is another step in the departments ongoing efforts to prosecute and deter leaks of classified information.

Raj Parekh, acting US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, added: Those who are entrusted with classified information have a duty to safeguard that information in order to protect our nations security.

As an analyst for the intelligence community, Daniel Hale knowingly took highly classified documents and disclosed them without authorisation, thereby violating his solemn obligations to our country.

"We are firmly committed to seeking equal justice under the law and holding accountable those who betray their oath to safeguard national security information.

Court records showed that from April 2013, Hale began communicating with a reporter, met him on a number of occasions and communicated with him via phone, text message, email, and, an encrypted messaging platform.

In February 2014, while Hale was a cleared defence contractor at NGA, he printed six classified documents unrelated to his work and exchanged messages with the reporter.

Hale is also alleged to have printed 36 documents from his top secret computer, including 23 documents unrelated to his work at NGA. Of the 23 documents unrelated to his work at NGA, Hale provided at least 17 to the reporter and/or the reporters online news outlet, which published the documents in whole or in part. Eleven of the published documents were marked top secret or secret.

According to court records, in August 2014, Hales cell phone contact list included contact information for the reporter. He also had a thumb drive with a page marked SECRET from a classified document that he had printed in February 2014 and had attempted to delete from the drive. In addition, on his home computer, Hale had another document he had stolen from NGA.

The statement did not name the reporter but it is widely known that it was Jeremy Scahill who works for The Intercept. The report appeared on 15 October 2015.
Hong Kong reports zero new local Covid infections

All seven of Hong Kong's new coronavirus cases were imported. Image: Shutterstock

Hong Kong health authorities reported no new local coronavirus cases on Sunday, with all seven new Covid-19 infections coming from people who had arrived in the city from overseas.



The seven imported cases include five people who arrived in the city from India, one from Indonesia and one from the Philippines.



None of the imported cases showed any symptoms.



The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said 130 Covid infections had been recorded since March 21  including 39 local cases, of which 11 had an unknown source.



It said people should avoid going out, dining out and having social contact, and strongly urged the elderly to stay at home as far as possible.



"Given that the situation of Covid-19 infection remains severe and that there is a continuous increase in the number of cases reported around the world, members of the public are strongly urged to avoid all non-essential travel outside Hong Kong, the CHP said.



Hong Kong has recorded 11,508 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the first infections were detected in the city in January 2020.
The Kasoa Divisional Police Command on Saturday arrested two teenagers for allegedly killing an 11-year-old boy, one Ishmael Mensah.



The suspects, Felix Nyarko, 16, and Nicholas Kini, 17, invited the unsuspecting victim to an uncompleted building and hit him with a club and cement blocks killing him instantly.



Narrating the incident to the Ghana News Agency, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Irene Serwaa Oppong, Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer, said on Saturday, April 3, at about 1015 hours, the Kasoa Divisional Command received a distress call that there had been a ritual murder at Coca Cola near Lamptey Mills, a suburb of Kasoa.



She said the Police immediately proceeded to the crime scene and saw a blue-shirted boy in a pair of white shorts lifeless in a pool of blood in an uncompleted building.



However, preliminary investigations conducted by police revealed that the suspects after killing the boy, hid the body in the building with the hope to remove it at night for rituals.



The Body of the deceased has since been deposited at Police Hospital Mortuary awaiting post mortem, whilst the suspects have been detained to assist police with the investigation, DSP Oppong said.

Source: GNA









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NEWPORT, NY (WKTV) - State Police tell NEWSChannel 2 the search for a man believed to have fallen in the West Canada Creek, has been called off for the night as of 8:30 p.m Saturday.

Police say they will continue their search Sunday morning.

NY State Police, Department of Environmental Conservation, Oriskany Water Rescue and local firefighters have been searching the West Canada Creek in the Newport area. Police also had a K-9 Unit scouring the area, as well as a helicopter overhead.

The search has been going on since Friday.

Police tell us an elderly man is believed to have fallen in the creek. They have not released the man's name.

The search Saturday centered around an area along Route 28 in Newport just east of the West Canada Creek fishing access site.
High wildfire danger levels have resulted in swaths of burn bans and travel restrictions to be put in place throughout the province.

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A firefighter uses a hose to put out a fire in a house's backyard near Roundell Road in the Municipality of North Cypress-Langford on Thursday afternoon. (Drew May/The Brandon Sun)

High wildfire danger levels have resulted in swaths of burn bans and travel restrictions to be put in place throughout the province.

Manitoba Wildfire Services announced Level 2 travel restrictions in the southern half of the province, including much of the southeast.

Similar restrictions are in place for various provincial parks, including Turtle Mountain, Spruce Woods, William Lake and Criddle Vane Homestead, Whitemouth Falls, Marchand, Woodridge, Whiteshell, Moose Lake and Birch Point. Also affected is the Spruce Woods provincial forest and surrounding Crown Land.

Level 2 travel restrictions include:

 Motorized backcountry travel, including ATVs and other off-road vehicles, is prohibited unless under the authority of a travel permit

A map of municipal burn bans as of Saturday afternoon. The latest information can be found online at gov.mb.ca/wildfire. (Manitoba Wildfire Services)

 Camping is restricted to developed campgrounds

 Campfires are permitted only between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.

 Wayside parks remain open

 Landing and launching is restricted to developed shorelines only

 Industry and outfitters should contact local Manitoba Conservation and Climate offices for more information

Further, provincial burn permits within these areas will be limited to essential agricultural, municipal or industrial operations and will require the approval of an officer alongside site inspections.

As of Saturday afternoon, at least 14 Westman municipalities had imposed burn bans of their own, the majority of which total bans. The province will not contradict these bans.

The plethora of bans comes off the heels of Thursdays large grassfire in the Municipality of North Cypress-Langford, which has had a burn ban in place since March 19.

The fire, in the Dane subdivision in the Camp Hughes area several kilometres west of Carberry, came within striking distance of multiple homes. The Carberry North Cypress-Langford Fire Department believes the fire originated from an ATV.

Westman ATV Association president Chad Finlay said his club doesnt recommend heading out on ATVs at the moment, even in areas they are allowed, but those who do should take precautions.

"Right now were just advising to check with your local RM on travel bans, fire bans, and to travel with a fire extinguisher on your bike," he said.

Riders should keep their exhaust free of debris, stick to trails and not park their machines on long grass.

The province offers similar advice, in addition to ensuring your ATV has a working spark arrestor and to carry an axe and shovel.

The latest restrictions are posted online at gov.mb.ca/wildfire.

 The Brandon Sun
(LR) Apollo is crowned by Tmolus in a contest with Pan, while Midas sports new ears as punishment for poor taste. Apollo as Victor Over Pan, 1637, by Jacob Jordaens. Oil on Canvas, 70.8 inches by 106.2 inches. Prado Museum, Madrid. (Public Domain)

How to Be Worthy of Being Human: A Look at 2 Paintings

Reaching Within: What traditional art offers the heart

Many stories in Western culture warn of the woes that come from challenging the divine. Today, we will investigate two paintings that illustrate one of these stories: Apollo as Victor Over Pan by Jacob Jordaens, and Apollo and Marsyas by Bartolomeo Manfredi.

The Musical Contest Between Apollo and Pan (Marsyas)

As the ancient Greek story goes, Athena was playing the flute until she saw her reflection in a body of water. Playing the flute distorted her beauty so much that she threw the flute away in disgust.

The satyr Pan (also known as Marsyas) found the flute and blew into it. Since it once belonged to a goddess, the flute effortlessly made beautiful sounds. Marsyas believed it was his own talent that produced the beautiful music, and he soon challenged Apollo, god of music and dance, to a musical contest.

Apollo accepted Marsyass challenge on the condition that the winner could punish the loser however he wished. According to differing sources, the judges were either the Muses or the god Tmolus and the mortal King Midas. Tmolus and King Midas are the judges depicted in Jordaenss painting.

Apollo played beautifully on his lyre, and he was followed by Marsyas who also played beautifully on the flute. In the second round, however, Apollo outdid his competitor by either turning his lyre upside down to play or singing along with the tune he played. Marsyas could do neither.

The Muses agreed that Apollo was the greater musician. The god Tmolus believed that Apollo had produced the most heavenly sound he had ever heard. King Midas, however, disagreed and said that the ruling was unfair. For this blasphemy, Apollo turned King Midass ears to donkey ears.

Apollo was deemed the winner. For challenging a god, Apollo decided to punish Marsyas by pinning him to a tree and flaying him alive.

Illustrating Blasphemy

Jordaens and Manfredi both illustrated the consequences of challenging a god.

Jordaens, a 17th-century Flemish painter, depicted four figures on a mountainside. Apollo is at the far left holding his lyre. According to Ovids poem, Apollo is dressed in robes dyed with Tyrian purple, but Jordaens depicted him in pinkish robes, unless the original color has faded.

To the right of Apollo is Tmolus, who is in the act of crowning Apollo the victor. Beside Tmolus is Marsyas, whose face is distorted since he continues to play his flute. The figure to the far right is King Midas. According to the Prado Museum website, Apollo is pointing at King Midas to give him donkey ears.

Manfredi was a late 16th and early 17th-century Italian painter and leading member of the Caravaggisti, a group of painters who followed in the high-contrast style of Caravaggio. He depicted Marsyas enduring the punishment that comes from challenging a god.

Marsyas is on the left. He is tied to a tree and wears an animal pelt around his loins. Apollo is shown to the right of Marsyas; he wears the victors crown of laurel leaves and is dressed in a purple robe.

Apollo has just begun the act of flaying Marsyas. He looks calmly but intently at the satyr as he seems to slowly slice into his skin. In response to the pain, Marsyas leans forward, revealing some of the veins in his neck. The corners of his mouth draw downward, his eyebrows lift, and his eyes widen as the knife starts its journey.

Apollo and Marsyas, between 1616 and 1620, by Bartolomeo Manfredi. Oil on canvas, 37 5/8 inches by 53 9/16 inches. St. Louis Art Museum. (Public Domain)

Avoiding Blasphemy and Recognizing the Divine

Modern culture openly challenges the divine. Whether its in the sciences, academia, or arts and culture, traditional beliefs in the divine, in heaven, in God, in angels, and so on, are being challenged.

Challenging the divine, however, comes with its consequences. Marsyas didnt realize that the flutes creation was divinely inspired or that the sound it emanated was a consequence of its divine nature. His pride, one of the most dangerous of character flaws, caused him to challenge Apollo, the divine representation of music itself.

Of course, Apollo wins the contest. Mere mortals may think they can challenge the divine, but they can never truly compete with divinity. But we must presume that Apollo, as a god, knew he would win. Why might he participate in the contest, then?

Maybe Apollo sought to leave a lesson to those who would later think it wise to challenge the heavens. In Jordaenss painting, Apollo is shown turning King Midass ears to donkey ears.

Is it the case that Apollo punishes King Midas for even daring to side with anyone who would challenge the heavens?

Is it also possible that Apollo turns King Midass ears to donkey ears because, unable to hear the beauty of heavenly music, Midas is no longer deserving of human ears? If so, this suggests that being worthy of being human is directly connected to recognizing and appreciating the divine, wherever and however it manifests.

Of course, the real punishment comes to those who directly challenge the divine. Because he challenged heavens, Marsyas is tied to a treewhich, to me, represents the earthand made to suffer. Challenging heavens causes Marsyas to be imprisoned and tortured on earth. Apollo, however, is framed by the heavens, which reasserts his divine and heavenly nature.

Manfredi doesnt depict Apollo as taking pleasure in the punishment he causes Marsyas. Instead, Apollo seems to calmly but intently do what he ought to do as a being of heaven: punish those who challenge the heavens. And Marsyas is punished greatly for his sin.

Both King Midas and Marsyas were prideful mortals. Their hubris did not affect them at first, but it eventually made them suffer.

For Those Who Recognize the Divine

This is not a call for us to attack those we think are challenging the divine. This kind of act would suggest that we are divine ourselves, a claim that is itself blasphemous.

But if we do possess a connection to the divine, and if we are to be worthy as human beings, shouldnt we try to recognize and appreciate the divinity in things?

Is it the case that we should spend more time celebrating and encouraging an appreciation of the heavens and the divine, while leaving punishment to God? Should we repopularize, encourage, and appreciate the moral lessons that are prevalent in traditional stories concerning divine things, so that we may once again be worthy of our humanity?

The traditional arts often contain spiritual representations and symbols the meanings of which can be lost to our modern minds. In our series Reaching Within: What Traditional Art Offers the Heart, we interpret visual arts in ways that may be morally insightful for us today. We do not assume to provide absolute answers to questions generations have wrestled with, but hope that our questions will inspire a reflective journey toward our becoming more authentic, compassionate, and courageous human beings.

Eric Bess is a practicing representational artist and is a doctoral candidate at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA).
New Delhi: As congratulatory messages poured in all through Thursday after it was announced that he would be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, superstar Rajinikanth took to Twitter to convey thanks and gratitude. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government of India, as well as several others including Raj Bahadur, the bus driver who would inform him of acting auditions during his days as a bus conductor.

"For discovering my acting skill and for encouraging me, my friend Raj Bahadur," he wrote in a special letter he posted on Twitter.

Rajinikanth also thanked his brother Sathyanarayana Rao Gaekwad for "making all the sacrifices that he did to make me an actor, even when wrought by poverty".

The actor made his acting debut with filmmaker K. Balachander`s "Apoorva Raagangal" in 1975. In his letter, the superstar thanked Balachander, his "guru" for teaching him the art of acting and honing his skills.

Rajinikanth also thanked his well-wishers including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, leader of the Opposition MK Stalin, his friend and colleague Kamal Haasan, and all other leaders.

He also expressed gratitude to directors, producers and technicians, media, stunt master, theatre owners and everyone who has helped him.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi had congratulated Rajinikanth by writing: "Popular across generations, a body of work few can boast of, diverse roles and an endearing personality...that`s Shri @rajinikanth Ji for you. It is a matter of immense joy that Thalaiva has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Congratulations to him."

Rajinikanth responded to PM Modi`s tweet saying: "Immensely humbled and honoured with your greetings and the most prestigious #DadasahebPhalkeAward award respected and dearest Shri @narendramodi ji. My heartfelt thanks to you and the government of india."

Rajinikanth ended the letter with "Jai Hind" and the slogan, live and let live.
Hoda Mansour, Managing Director, SAP Egypt and New Frontiers, has received the prestigious Best Distinguished Arab Woman in the Field of Digital Transformation and Digital Inclusion at the Arab Women Event by the Arab Council for Social Responsibility (ACSR).

She received the award during the Third Forum of Arab Women which was held under the auspices of the League of Arab States with the nomination prepared by the United Nations Women in Egypt. Judges praised Hoda Mansour for being the first woman to lead a multi-national software company in Egypt and posting triple digit growth.

Winning the Arab CSR Award is a major milestone for SAP, as we continue to support nationwide digital transformation across Egypt and the Arab World, in line with government-led visions, said Mansour. Our Digital Skills for Today initiative is also training the workforce of the future across the region, and enabling Arab youth to gain digital careers. -- Tradearabia News Service
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Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right, speaks with Dipesh Sonar as he visits the quality control laboratory at Oxford BioMedica where batches of the Oxford/Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine are tested as part of the manufacturing process in Oxford on January 18, 2021. AFP-Yonhap



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.





In this file photo taken on November 17, 2020 an illustration picture shows vials with Covid-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes, with the logo of the University of Oxford and its partner British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, on November 17, 2020. AFP-Yonhap
Lawyers acting for women caught up in the CervicalCheck debacle have reported Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to the Data Protection Commission.

Mr Donnelly has been accused of an alleged data breach and "unauthorised" use of the women's home addresses by writing to them directly about the CervicalCheck tribunal.

Stephen Donnelly wrote to the women on November 28 to "update" them on the tribunal and encouraged them to take part as it was a more "sensitive and less confrontational alternative" to the High Court and a better way to progress legal actions.

However, several women questioned the minister's use of their personal addresses and referred the letters to their solicitors.

Cian O'Carroll Solicitors, which acts for a number of the women, has alleged that the minister's letter to them constituted an unauthorised use of their addresses, which were held by the National Screening Service.

It is the second alleged data protection issue involving the Department of Health to be brought to the attention of the Data Protection Commission.

The Commissioner launched a statutory inquiry last week following an RTE Investigates report that the Department of Health built and maintained dossiers on children with autism who were involved in legal actions against the State.

Data Protection officers inspected the Department last Thursday. However, the Department of Health insists it "never accessed [or] gathered sensitive medical and educational information on children involved in court cases in the manner portrayed in media reports".

The CervicalCheck tribunal was set up as an alternative way for affected women to deal with claims arising from their missed cancers, other than going to court, in the wake of the CervicalCheck controversy.

The tribunal was first delayed, and when it was due to resume last October, talks with a group representing many of the women affected, 221 Plus, broke down. The group had sought assurances that the minister was unable to provide.

Mr Donnelly wrote directly to the women after those talks ended, in a letter dated November 28, to "update" them that the tribunal was going ahead.

The letter was forwarded by one of the women to her solicitor, Cian O'Carroll, who challenged the minister on how he accessed her data.

In letters seen by the Sunday Independent, the Department of Health denied any data breach. It said the minister wrote to the women to notify them that the tribunal was starting its work and to provide all of the women eligible to apply with "important information" about the talks with 221 Plus group.

The Department said the minister had no access to the women's data which is held by the National Screening Service. He sent his letter to the National Screening Service, which then added the names and addresses and issued them to the women, it said in a letter to Cian O'Carroll Solicitors.

"I wish to reassure you that at no point in this process was personal data provided to the Minister or the Department by the NSS, and that the Minister and the Department did not have access to the personal data related to your client or any other person who received a letter," the letter said. However, the lawyer argued that the Department used the women's addresses for a purpose for which they were not intended.

"Not only did the Health Service Executive knowingly send a letter offering legal advice on their own behalf to our client in proceedings in which they are a defendant, but they facilitated the access of her personal data by the Minister for a purpose in respect of which the data was not lawfully held," a letter from Cian O'Carroll said.

The solicitor confirmed that he reported the "data breach" and "unauthorised use" to the Data Commissioner last week.
You are here: China

China's railways are expected to see an increase in passenger flows during the three-day Tomb-sweeping Day holiday from Saturday to Monday.

April 2 saw approximately 11.8 million railway trips, setting a single-day record for this year, according to the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (CSRC).

A peak of more than 14 million passenger trips in a single day is expected on April 3, the first day of the three-day holiday, said the CSRC.

The latest data also show that airlines handled nearly 1.54 million passenger trips in China on April 3, a jump of 369.2 percent compared to the first day of the holiday last year.

Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, falls on April 4 this year. It is a traditional Chinese holiday during which people pay tribute to deceased family members. Many also spend the holiday traveling.
As more states legalize marijuana for recreational use  New York became the 15th to do so on Wednesday when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law  a Louisiana political pollster found that a fast-growing number of people in this state favor doing the same.

Sixty-seven percent of the 1,160 people surveyed across the state March 22-23 by JMC Analytics and Polling of Baton Rouge favored legalization of marijuana for both recreational and medicinal uses. They were asked: In general, how would you describe your position on permissible usage of marijuana?

Thats up 13 percentage points from when the same question was asked in 2020.

Marijuana poll results Survey shows growth in percentage of Louisiana residents who support recreational use of marijuana

The poll, which was commissioned by Louisiana Association for Therapeutic Alternatives, elicited responses from age groups, party affiliations, race, gender, and home regions that roughly parallel the states demographics. The margin of error, with a 95% confidence interval, was 2.9%.

Pollster John Couvillon said the results show public opinion about legalized marijuana usage is strongly supportive across nearly all of the demographic and political spectrum. The only differences of opinion about legalized marijuana seems driven by the age of the respondent, with those over the age of 55 being less enthusiastic, he added.

Louisiana legislators have filed more than a dozen bills dealing with marijuana for when the session convenes next week on April 12. Most measures adjust regulatory provisions surrounding the laws that allow marijuana to be used as a medicine.

But legalization proponents filled media mailboxes Friday with demands to cover House Bill 524 only minutes after first-term state Mandeville Republican Rep. Richard Nelsons pre-filed the legislation became public.

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HB524 would ask for parish by parish votes on decriminalizing possession and sale of marijuana, and if approved provide a framework for setting up a regulatory framework to allow for the sale and use of the weed.

But HB524 isnt the only measure dealing with dope.

House Bill 243, by New Orleans Democratic Rep. Candace Newell, another first-termer, would decriminalizes the possession and distribution of marijuana contingent upon legislative enactment of a statutory regulatory system and sales tax regime.

Few expect either measure to do much better than previous legalization efforts that have died quickly in their first legislative committee hearings.

Inn the past, passage of using marijuana-for medical purposes was nearly sidetracked by an effort to permit smoking the drug as well as taking medicines made from the oils of the plant.

Gov. John Bel Edwards has said repeatedly in the past that he opposes legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
Desperate judgment creditors laying claim to about N159 billion Paris Club refund-related judgment debts have resorted to a smear campaign against Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State over his objection to the settlement of the suspicious debts.

PREMIUM TIMES expose on the controversial debts triggered the attack on Mr Fayemi, as the creditors, initially hiding behind a mask, accused him of demanding 10 per cent of the total amount at stake to drop his objection to the settlement of the debts.

Checks by this newspaper, however, indicated the allegation is false and was merely orchestrated to smear the governor as a way of weakening his resolve to block the controversial payment.

Mr Fayemi, who is the incumbent chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), denied the allegation in an interview with this newspaper.

He said he was rather offered $80million to compromise his opposition to the total $418 million (about N159 billion) debts, but rejected the proposition.

Following Mr Fayemis interview with this newspaper, the creditors cast aside their veil, with one of them, George Uboh, issuing a statement in which he insisted that Mr Fayemi, through two unnamed VIPs, demanded a kickback of 10 per cent of the total amount at stake from the creditors.

Governor Fayemi was actually writing to the President, the minister of finance, taking a tough stance on the matter in the press, thus creating the impression that he was against the payments, but under the table, he hand-picked two VIPs to come and negotiate with us, distancing himself from the negotiation and MoU, the statement by Mr Uboh who is the Chairman of Panic Alert Security Systems (PASS) Limited, reads in part.

He said Mr Fayemi, whom he said was nursing a presidential ambition in 2023, was only maintaining a holier-than-thou stance on the matter to portray himself as the nouveau anti-corruption Czar in Nigeria.

Governor Fayemi, you are pontificating. There is direct evidence linking you to the 10 per cent demand. I, George Uboh, will not in a million years offer you a dime to provide a non-service, he added.

Mr Uboh, who likes to posture as a whistleblower, was convicted in the United States for credit card fraud and later in Nigeria for Criminal Breach of Trust.

Fayemi sent Proxy X and Proxy Y

The ex-convict claimed Mr Fayemi on different occasions sent Proxy X, whom he described as a former minister, and Proxy Y, whom according to him is a powerful man currently serving in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, to strike the 10 per cent deal with the creditors.

But Mr Uboh admitted that Mr Fayemi, in a personal encounter with him in February denied Proxy X, and insisted that he never sent anyone to negotiate with the creditors on his behalf.

He said to his surprise, after Mr Fayemi disowned Proxy X, Proxy Y surfaced, claiming to have the mandate of the governor to negotiate the 10 per cent deal on his behalf.

He said due to the earlier denial of Proxy X by Mr Fayemi, he was reluctant to attend another meeting with Proxy Y without strong proof of a nexus between him and the governor.

Mr Uboh said he eventually attended a meeting with Proxy Y due to pressure from his partners.

But he said Proxy X left the meeting angrily following his assertion at the meeting that he did not require Mr Fayemis approval to execute a consent judgment awarding him $47.8 million.

He added, When proxy Y left, my partners got angry at me, stating that for such a powerful man to leave his office to wait for me I should not have been that hard on him. I left angry too.

He however said the evidence proving that both Proxy X and Proxy Y were acting for Mr Fayemi eventually came on March 14, when Proxy X allegedly revealed for over 10 minutes all his communications with Fayemi on this matter and other matters.

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As I write, proxy X has written Fayemi a letter  excuse me, a stinker, Mr Uboh stated.

But when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Fayemi challenged Mr Uboh to reveal the identities of proxies X and Y as well as details of the communication he claimed took place between him and Proxy X.

Now that he has done this, the only response he should get from the lawyers, the governor added.

Threats

In his statement laced with threats suggestive of blackmail, Mr Uboh threatened to scuttle the governors rumoured 2023 presidential ambition.

Any action you take contrary to the terms of the consent judgment would be deemed inimical to that consent judgment in which case I will come after you in your personal capacity and garnish your four homes worth over 6 billion Naira which I intend to blow the whistle on soon.

If you want to pontificate to Nigerians as the nouveau anti-corruption Czar merely because you want to run for President in 2023, you are in for a rude awakening.

I am not a politician, but I, George Uboh, will for the first time in my life publicly campaign against you and bring your secrets out in the open. I will dissect your hidden assets like a lizard is dissected in the laboratory.

He also challenged Mr Fayemi to name those who offered him the $80million he said he rejected.

How can someone looking for money to run for the highest office in the land decline $80 Million USD? Your statements on this matter are nothing but mere political demagoguery. If you name who offered you the $80 Million USD, I will name proxies X and Y. Period, Mr Uboh said.

In what appeared a warning to Mr Fayemi about the extent of damage he could cause, Mr Uboh bragged about how his whistleblowing works had led to the sacking of an unnamed federal judge, and partly caused the removal of a sitting EFCC chairman.

When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, Mr Uboh, who is laying claim to a share of $47.8million in the $418 million judgment debt, insisted that he would not name proxies X and Y until Mr Fayemi name those who offered him $80 million in bribes.

Sources fault Uboh

But those with deep knowledge of the Paris Club refund-related debts at the NGF have picked holes in Mr Ubohs claims, saying his allegations were not in sync with the reality of how far Mr Fayemi has gone to stop the payment.

PREMIUM TIMES report on the matter showed that Mr Fayemi has remained consistent in his opposition to the debt. On January 8, 2021, he succeeded in persuading President Buhari to suspend his earlier approval for the controversial payment.

Also, on February 18, 2021, Mr Fayemi similarly secured the backing of the National Executive Council (NEC) for the NGFs demand for a forensic audit of the indebtedness until a forensic audit of the indebtedness is done.

I have been there from the beginning and I can say there is no iota of truth in his claims, said Asishana Okauru, the director-general of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).

Since he became NGF Chair in 2019, he has been consistent in his opposition to the judgment debts. He never wavered for one day and when Uboh contacted me to ask if Governor Fayemi wanted 10 per cent as claimed by someone, I told him that is impossible. I told him the chairman wanted nothing and that he was opposed to the debt strictly on principle and in the public interest.

Uboh also met the chairman one-on-one and the chairman told him clearly that he wanted nothing and that he did not and would not ask anyone to demand anything from anyone on his behalf. So what is the basis of his claim based on some so-called proxies the chairman strictly warned him against?

Fayemi denies Ubohs allegations, demands apology, N5billion compensation

Mr Fayemi has denied Mr Ubohs allegations contained in a statement published on March 31 on his online platform, GeorgeUbohtv.

PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday obtained the governors pre-action letter giving Mr Uboh 14 days to retract the allegations and pay him N5 billion compensation.

Mr Fayemi, in the pre-action notice, issued through the law firm of Akinboro & Co on April 1, also demanded that Mr Uboh publish a repeated apology to him and the NGF for seven consecutive days or risk being sued.

It is clear that your story is a fabricated one considering that you could not even mention the names of the proxies whom you claimed our client sent to you, the letter signed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olumuyiwa Akinboro, read in part.

Mr Akinboro, who is acting on Mr Fayemis behalf along with four other SANs, stated that Mr Ubohs allegations are untrue and false, insisting that the governor was not a criminal as suggested.

He contended that the allegations were published with the intention to ridicule our client before the whole world and rubbish his hard-earned reputation for excellence and damage the good career and reputation he has built over several years.

The letter added that Mr Uboh could not produce the purported communications which the phantom or supposed Proxy X showed him on the phone.

Our client is firmly of the view that if at all the persons you referred to as Proxies X and Y exist (which is not conceded), they only exist in your warped or perverted imagination, the letter added.

Denying the allegation of the purported 10 per cent deal the governor tried to strike with the judgment creditors, the letter added, Just like you said in the publication that our client told you when you visited him at home that he never sent any proxy to you to make any demand, our client maintains that he never at any time appointed or commissioned anybody as a proxy or representative to meet or demand any money or thing from you or from anybody for that matter in respect of the Paris Club Refund or any matter howsoever.

The letter added that Mr Fayemi is not a criminal and never demanded kickbacks or any form of gratification from you or from any contractor or person.

It added, Our clients records as Governor of Ekiti State, Minister of Steel Development and as Chairman of the NGF are there for all to see and clearly show that he never engaged in any form of corrupt practice, corrupt enrichment or collection of gratification for any purpose or reason in all the offices it has pleased God to put him in.

It is not true that while he was a Minister, foreigners plundered Nigerias mineral resources and or carted away such resources under his watch or with his acquiescence, as you claimed in your lie-infested story.

Our client maintains that he would not soil his hands or engage in any form of corrupt practice to finance any political ambition and is definitely not looking for money to run for president of Nigeria or for any political office.

The lawyer informed Mr Uboh that as a result of the dastardly publication of this deliberate falsehood against our client Mr Fayemi has suffered and continues to suffer severe humiliation, mental and emotional anguish, pain and suffering.

Accordingly, we hereby demand the IMMEDIATE retraction of the publication of March 31, 2021 from your online and other platform(s) and to publish forthwith on daily basis for a period of seven (7) days an open apology to our client and the NGF for the false and malicious publication.

In addition, we hereby demand from you the immediate payment of the sum of 5,000,000,000.00 (Five Billion Naira) to our client for the utterly false and malicious publication.

We hereby further notify you that failure or refusal on your part to meet these demands within fourteen (14) days from the date hereof, would inexorably leave us with no other option than to commence legal action against you and seek necessary legal redress for and on behalf of our client.

A stitch in time saves nine!

$418 million judgment debts

PREMIUM TIMES had, in an exclusive report on the controversial debts, exposed how the six creditors, through the tacit support of previous leaderships of the NGF and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), obtained the court judgments awarding them a total of $418million (which is about N159 billion).

The judgment awards were said to be the creditors fees for helping the states to recover excess deductions from their allocations for the servicing of the Paris and London clubs debts of the Federal Government between 1995 and 2002.

Our report revealed that the NGF under the new leadership of Mr Fayemi demanded the suspension of the moves to settle the debts until a forensic audit into the legitimacy of the entire indebtedness is carried out.

But the creditors have been able to secure the support of the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, and two other ministers, Zainab Ahmed (finance) and Abubakar Malami (justice), who are scrambling to ensure a quick settlement of the debts.
A meat delivery van driver has won 1 million on a National Lottery Scratchcard, which he bought as he popped into a shop to buy a vape to help him quit smoking.

John McFadden, from Southampton, is one of several new millionaires celebrating their Lottery wins during the Easter weekend.

The 63-year-old, who drives vans delivering meat from butchers across the country, said: I knew I had to do something about my smoking. With the change from buying the vape, I bought a Scratchcard and took it home.

When I started scratching it off, it said 50,000 under the first number and I thought whoopee!. I carried on and just kept seeing more and more 50,000s. I thought it was a lot but didnt know what to believe.

He said that he first checked his win at the shop where the assistant told him it was too big to pay out in the shop, so he called Camelot to check.

He said: I was just stunned when they said I had in fact actually won 1 million and that I was a millionaire  I couldnt believe it was real.

Mr McFadden said he will spend his winnings on moving closer to his three children and two grand-daughters and on exotic holidays to the Far East.

He said: After my divorce, my children moved to Weymouth so now they and my grandkids all live there. I see them as much as I can but am often away driving the van.

Having a base close to them will mean I can see them all so much more. Hopefully, the bar and hot tub I plan to have in my new back garden will also mean more fun family time.

Im not planning to give up work  Im nowhere near retirement age. But I do work long hours so cutting back a bit will help me to spend more time with family.

John McFadden celebrates his 1 million National Lottery Scratchcard win (Camelot/PA)

Mr McFaddens first purchase was a brand-new Skoda Kamiq and he plans on making a dream trip to Bora Bora, as well as to Cambodia and Vietnam, inspired by his sons recent holiday.

Mr McFadden is one of several millionaires created by the Lottery during the Easter weekend.

On Good Friday, a 122 million EuroMillions jackpot, which has now been claimed, was won by a single UK ticket-holder.

Story continues

In the same draw, a ticket-holder also won 1 million in the UK Millionaire Raffle, which has also been claimed.

And in Saturdays Lotto draw, one ticket-holder matched all six main numbers to win the 12,523,601 Lotto jackpot.

A further five players won 1 million by matching five main numbers and the bonus ball. All of the Lotto prizes are waiting to be claimed.

Mr McFadden bought his winning 50X Scratchcard at the Post Office in Regents Park Road in Southampton.

Watch: How England will leave lockdown
Hyundai Motor Group introduces its luxury G80 sedan and GV80 SUV during the Genesis Brand Night event held at the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal, Friday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group





By Baek Byung-yeul







Hyundai Motor Group has decided to launch its Genesis luxury brand in the Chinese market, introducing the G80 sedan and GV80 SUV there, aiming to vie with prominent brands including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Lexus in the world's largest car market.







On Friday, Genesis held a China launching event called "Genesis Brand Night" at the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal. Featuring executives of the automotive group and local Chinese media, Genesis also displayed the G80 and the GV80 models.







"By targeting the younger generation, key customers in China's rapidly growing luxury car market, Genesis aims to strengthen its status as the first luxury car brand in Korea and to compete against the world's leading brands," a Hyundai Motor Group official said.







The official added that the specific release date of the G80 and GV80 has not been decided yet.







Hyundai Motor Group introduces its Genesis G80 luxury sedan during the Genesis Brand Night event held at the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal, Friday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group





"Today is the day when Genesis' grand journey begins anew. We are glad to introduce the luxury brand Genesis to Chinese consumers who pursue differentiated value," said Chang Jae-hoon, global head of Genesis.







"The China launching will become a new chapter of Genesis' brand expansion," Genesis Motor China CEO Markus Henne said in a company statement issued in Korean.







"As a luxury car brand, Genesis has improved its brand awareness in the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia and the Middle East."







Unveiling details of the brand's business strategy in China, the popular G80 luxury sedan and the GV80 will play a leading role in boosting Genesis' brand awareness in China. Genesis showcased the two models in front of Chinese consumers last November at the third China International Import Expo in Shanghai.







The company will open the Genesis Studio Shanghai store this month where customers can experience the brand and purchase the luxury vehicles.







Genesis Motor China CEO Markus Henne speaks during the Genesis Brand Night event held at the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal, Friday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group





According to data by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, around 25.3 million new cars were sold in China last year. The figure is around 80 percent more than the sales record of the U.S. estimated to be 14.4 million to 14.6 million.







Given the market is expected to grow to more than 30 million in 2025 and is also the world's largest electric vehicle market, it remains to be seen whether Genesis can contribute to raising the brand awareness of Hyundai Motor Group.







The development of local Chinese carmakers has bitten into the market share of Hyundai and Kia, which have been selling quality cars at affordable prices. According to data by the China Passenger Car Association, Hyundai and Kia sold 28,952 new cars there in February, down 49.6 percent year-on-year.


All good things must come to an end

Last Chance Tourism isnt a new concept. The fear of missing out, or FOMO, social and psychological notion has been around for several years, feeding tourists with a hunger to visit or experience a place at risk of vanishing or altering due to climate change. Now, I am not suggesting that Thailand is about to disappear, however a huge shift is most certainly on its way, so this might well be your Last Chance Tourism window of opportunity.



By Advertorial

Sunday 4 April 2021, 10:00AM

Right now might be your last chance to experience the stunning beauty of the islands around Phuket before the weather changes and tourists return.

With a strong push by the Thai government to reopen Phuket by October, and even hopes to open the door by July, along with a relaxation in minimum mandatory quarantine days for vaccinated travellers starting this week, it is inevitable that tourists will come flocking back.

The month of April provides one of the last periods to see the islands around Phuket as they currently are  think Phi Phis famous The Beach, snorkelling around Koh Racha Yai, the striking turquoise waters of the Similan Islands, Hong Krabis lagoons and new 360-degree viewpoint, rock climbing at Railay Beach, the iconic limestone karsts of Phang Nga Bay, and so on. The list goes on and on with numerous day trip and overnight itineraries easily accessible with 5 Star Marines fleet of private VIP speedboats.

So, for those of us in or around Phuket right now, we do have a small opportune time frame in which to enjoy these islands in all their natural beauty, before the tourists return. April bestows fantastic water clarify, which makes for an even more memorable day especially if your private VIP group fancies a spot of snorkelling. Towards the end of May, this starts to change. From then onwards we will see the arrival of more and more rainy days, and with rougher seas making their entrance too, the ideal weather we have experienced will be going, going gone.

In addition to this, National Parks have been known to consider shutting certain areas for a few months before tourists return, to give them a chance to recover. So, we have another time frame to get sorted and go off to explore and appreciate some exquisite scenery right on our doorsteps before it is literally too late. Also, for example if and/or when Maya Bay  made famous after its starring role in Danny Boyles 2000 film The Beach, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio  reopens the tourists will be back like a shot there; so get a glimpse of it now, unspoilt, utterly beautiful and completely deserted.

Which Thailand islands are on your bucket list? Maybe your list contains some you have never been to, or perhaps you have already been to a dream location but it was so overrun with tourists that the experience was more like a nightmare.

So, go ahead  make the time, and take the opportunity NOW while you still can, as this could be your last possible chance to experience the islands around Phuket in peace and quiet before the borders reopen, the rainy season is upon us and the rougher seas make an appearance.

For added convenience, 5 Star Marine have launched a new, super convenient and tempting day-trip picnic menu. Lunch menu orders will be delivered to the departure pier ready for your trip, making the process completely hassle-free. The menu features firm picnic favourites which are easy to eat on or off board; and cater to vegetarians and meat eaters with a selection of set lunches including sandwiches, wraps and salads.

So why not embrace the theory of Last Chance Tourism and make the effort to see somewhere youre unlikely to ever see again in its present state?

Contact Shaun at 5 Star Marine on 093 720 6221 and quote The Phuket News when booking your adventure to get FREE round-trip private mini bus transfers.

By Joanna Matlub
She welcomed her first child, a baby boy named Frankie, with husband Nathan Constable on March 23.

And on Sunday, Tracey Jewel, 37, could barely contain her joy as she shared two images of her new newborn to Instagram.

The former Married At First Sight star looked pleased as punch as she cuddled the apple of her eye in what appeared to be a sunny suburban setting.

'What an amazing feeling!' Former Married At First Sight star Tracey Jewel documented her first Easter with newborn son Frankie on Sunday

In a second image, baby Frankie enjoyed a spot of downtime, working all his best angles in a cot alongside a plush, stuffed toy.

Tracey used the opportunity to share her delight with her followers on the social media platform, writing 'Happy Easter from our family to yours!'

'First Easter with Frankie and being married - what an amazing feeling!'

In a second image, baby Frankie worked all his best angles in a cot alongside a stuffed toy. The 37-year-old used the Instagram post to share her delight. 'Happy Easter from our family to yours!' she wrote to her 157,000 followers

The reality star, who also has a 10-year-old daughter named Grace from a previous relationship, announced the birth of Frankie by sharing a photo to Instagram.

'Our Pisces baby has safely arrived! Our hearts are bursting with love. Photos and deets to come soon x,' she wrote in the caption.

In the photo, Tracey and Nathan's adorable son slept soundly in his hospital bed, with a sign that read 'I'm here' gently resting on his body.

Congratulations! The reality star, who also has a 10-year-old daughter named Grace from a previous relationship, announced the birth of Frankie by sharing a photo to Instagram

Smitten: Tracey and Nathan were married in February in a surprise ceremony. At the time, she sweetly told Daily Mail Australia that she now has 'everything she's ever hoped for' in a partner and was excited for their future together

Tracey and Nathan were married in February in a surprise ceremony.

At the time, she sweetly told Daily Mail Australia that she now has 'everything she's ever hoped for' in a partner and was excited for their future together.

'It was Nathan's first wedding and Ive done it twice before, so we wanted to do the official vows at Perths registry office, Tracey said of her big day.

Tracey shares Grace with her ex-husband, who she split from in 2012.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 20:38:25|Editor: huaxia

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JAKARTA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 44 people were killed and the number of victims may rise after flash floods and landslides hit East Nusa Tenggara province in central Indonesia on Sunday, Spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency Raditya Jati told Xinhua.

The spokesman said that nine people were injured when the natural disaster hit Flores Timur district and Bima district.

The disaster buried dozens of houses, swept away several others houses and destroyed five bridges.

Earlier the agency reported that the disaster killed at least 23 people.

Most of the victims were found in Flores Timur district, according to Jati.

Unfavorable weather conditions have hampered access to the impacted areas, he said.

All the wounded persons have been treated at nearby health clinics, he said.

Risk assessments of the impact of the natural disaster have been undertaken, according to Jati.

The meteorology and geophysics agency has forecast that heavy downpours, strong winds and huge waves may occur within a week, he said. Enditem
Franklin Graham urges Christians to pray Arkansas gov. will sign bill banning child sex changes

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Evangelist Franklin Graham has urged the nation to pray that Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson will sign a bill into law that would prohibit the hormonal and surgical mutilation of minors suffering from gender dysphoria.

In Wednesday's broadcast of "Pray Vote Stand" with the Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Graham said it was as though every demon in Hell has been let loose in the last few months, and it is time for Christians to stand for Gods truth and with elected officials who are willing to sign good legislation, referring to Arkansas' "Save Adolescents From Experimentation" bill, better known by its acronym, the SAFE Act.

Whats happening is just wicked, to take a child and try and convince them that they can change and be a girl; they can change and be a boy. We can give you drugs and you can have surgery and all these things. A child cant comprehend that, and once you start down this path you cant reverse it. Its just a wicked thing, he said.

Graham went on to advise evangelicals to raise their voices just as loud or louder than what is heard on the left, noting that the worst thing that could happen is for the Lord to return and find Christians sitting on their hands.

When He comes back, I hope He finds us fighting and standing for truth ... against this tsunami, this tidal wave of evil that is coming down society today, Graham declared.

The evangelist said he believes the nation is in a moral free-fall and won't stop declining, but added that the church can help slow it down. Graham specifically urged people to pray for the Arkansas governor to have the courage to take a stand.

Earlier this week, Arkansas state senators passed House Bill 1570, the SAFE Act, by a vote of 28-7. The bill earlier passed in the state House on March 10 by a vote of 70-22, with eight abstentions.

Hutchinson has until Monday to either sign the bill or leave it alone for it to become law. The only way it would not become law is if he vetoes the measure.

If enacted, Arkansas would be the first state in the nation to ban the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and elective cosmetic gender surgeries  the mutilation of sex organs  on gender dysphoric youth. A handful of other states, mostly across the Southern U.S., are considering similar legislation.

Perkins also interviewed Arkansas state Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Benton, who is among the numerous co-sponsors of the SAFE Act, who noted that the bill prohibits experimental procedures from being performed on minors who are 18 years old or younger.

It simply says were not going to experiment on our children; were not going to give them drugs that would keep them from going through puberty, Lundstrum said.

We need to protect children and allow them to make choices after theyre 18, she stressed, emphasizing that the bill is tightly crafted and doesn't take away access to healthcare or counseling.

Lundstrum told Perkins that she had received a heartfelt letter from a trans-identifying woman who is a Democrat and read the bill and agreed with it, saying that she, too, would never advise a child to undergo a medicalized gender transition.

I think the shrill left is loud, but underneath, both sides of the aisle can agree, protecting children should be the first goal, she said.

We dont need to experiment on our kids. We just need to love them.

The Arkansas lawmaker said she doesn't know whether Hutchinson will sign the bill, but noted that both he and the state's first lady care about the well-being of children. She encouraged people to pray for and support the governor, and urge him to back the measure.


















Authorities in Thanh Hoa Province, located in north-central Vietnam, on Saturday reported over 30 metric tons of dead fish in aquaculture cages, in the natural environs of the Ngoc Pond area in Nghi Son Town, and several other locales along the provinces coastline.

The mass fish die-off has killed 25 metric tons of farmed fish on the Ngoc Pond, as well as four metric tons of fish in the natural habitat along the seaside area, according to leader of Nghi Son Town.

A total of 32 out of 55 fishery households in Nghi Son reported severe losses from the incident, local authorities added.

After being notified of the mass fish deaths, the aquaculture and environmental officials of Thanh Hoa Province have arrived at the scene to collect samples of the dead fish and water for further inspection.

Relevant agencies of Nghi Son Town have instructed fish cage farmers to collect death fish and dispose of them properly, harvest the remainder to salvage the financial damage, and distance the fish cages to make space for the living ones.

By Saturday afternoon, residents of Nghi Son Town had reported the cessation of the mass fish deaths.

Nghi Son officials are still investigating the cause of the fish kill.

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A child was killed in Donbass amid the escalation of the conflict these days.

According to Korrespondent.net, Ukrainian fighters were fired upon from large-caliber machine guns, grenade launchers, and small arms. A military man was blown up by an explosive device.

As of 7:00 am on Sunday, there were no ceasefire violations.

The Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe (PACE) and OSCE (PA OSCE) should demand an explanation from the Ukrainian leadership in connection with the death of a child in Donbass and assess what happened, State Duma Speaker Viacheslav Volodin said on Saturday in his Telegram channel, proposing to discuss the exclusion of Ukraine from the CE.

Germany and France, in turn, called on the conflicting parties in the Donbass for an immediate ceasefire, and also expressed concern over reports of increased shelling.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has mourned for compatriots killed in a train derailment in Taiwan on Friday.

Xi has been deeply concerned about the accident that caused heavy casualties.

He sent sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and expressed sympathies to the injured and wished them a speedy recovery.

(CGTN)
ALBANY  The marijuana industry in New York will be similar to Colorado's, where nine years after it was legalized there are nearly 1,000 retail stores and small medical marijuana dispensaries spread across that state.

For many people who suffer from conditions such as insomnia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or chronic pain, the legislation will also pave the way for easier access  and lower prices  to marijuana therapies that may help them treat their symptoms and avoid the need for synthetic drugs that often come with debilitating side effects or potentially dangerous interactions with other substances.

The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act passed by the Legislature  and signed into law last week by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo  is largely mirrored after Colorado's system that has enabled small business owners to establish a network of boutique shops and dispensaries that sell everything from small amounts of cannabis to pain creams and edibles.

Unlike some states where a few large dispensaries are spread out geographically and customers drive sometimes long distances to make purchases, New York's plan is a statewide framework of relatively small retail shops with a focus on awarding licenses in many of the communities where convictions for marijuana-related offenses have been the highest.

Tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical companies for years had dispatched lobbyists to ply the Capitol corridors in Albany trying to influence the framing of the legislation, but lawmakers said they beat back that effort and their attempts to seize control of the industry here.

"We modeled it originally on the SLA (state Liquor Authority) and how we do operate liquor stores and bars, and then we kept taking a look at Colorado and go 'OK,' we see where theyre making the mistakes and theyre fixing it," said state Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who championed the legislation with Assembly Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, a Buffal0 Democrat.

The legislation signed by the governor immediately decriminalized the possession of less than three ounces of marijuana  or less than 24 grams of concentrated cannabis  for anyone 21 and older. Possession of amounts higher than that remains a violation and escalates to a felony charge when someone possesses more than 10 pounds of marijuana, or more than four pounds of concentrated cannabis.

The rollout of the regulatory platform, including an Office of Cannabis Management that will award licenses for growing, distributing, processing and selling, is expected to take at least a year to set up. The illegal sale of marijuana will remain a crime, escalating from a violation for selling small amounts to a mid-level felony for selling more than 100 pounds.

Although stigmas remain, the marijuana industry has evolved significantly in the past half-century, and become much more than a vehicle for someone to get "stoned."

There is a science and expertise in developing the genetics and different strains from around the globe, with advanced cross-breeding techniques that have been used to grow plants that have particular attributes for treating pain, reducing anxiety and medicating those afflicted with diseases ranging from cancer to Parkinson's Disease .Some strains will relieve anxiety, for instance, but not leave the person feeling "high" or lethargic from the use.

In Israel, Krueger said, where medical research on medical marijuana is allowed, scientists have had breakthroughs using marijuana extracts to treat children with severe autism.

"Theres a bunch of problems with medical. Were not allowed to do research in this country, unlike the drug companies," she said. "It's hard to come up with a new product, research and market it. Its more word of mouth  in which case people will say, 'Ill just go get marijuana.'"

To encourage the medical industry to continue to flourish  insurance companies won't pay for it and prices for patients are extremely prohibitive  the new law increases the types of illnesses for which doctors can prescribe marijuana treatment. The additional conditions eligible for marijuana prescriptions include Alzheimers disease, muscular dystrophy, dystonia, rheumatoid arthritis, autism and "any other condition certified by the certifying health care practitioner."

The law also doubles the number of medical marijuana licenses available and allows those companies to have up to eight dispensaries  up from four  with two of those being retail outlets.

"They also be allowed two of the first few years to sell marijuana (non-medical) to companies with recreational licenses," Krueger said. "Theyre the only ones in the state of New York who are already growing legal product. ... It takes a while to get everybody started up. So we dont want a program that starts up with no supply of marijuana (and) it will increase their ability to make money because they had complained we had set up a system for them that left them barely hanging on."

Dr. Mark Oldendorf, who runs a general practice in Albany and has studied the marijuana industry and its medical applications for years, said the provision enabling New York practitioners to certify medical marijuana use for patients for any condition is a big step.

"I think thats terrific because that will really, really be a shot in the arm to the medical marijuana industry here in New York state, because now doctors can say you can have medical marijuana for whatever  for insomnia, for depression, for whatever they feel its appropriate for," he said. "That is key because I found a tremendous benefit for insomnia for a lot of people. And thats a big market. I think thats an underlying theme in a lot of these preparations, especially for underlying pain, PTSD; it works well for them and it also gets them a night's sleep, whether it works for the pain or not."

Oldendorf said he is studying the potential of establishing a retail outlet that would benefit an inner-city community but also be used to fund research. Because marijuana remains a prohibited substance under federal laws there have been relatively no control studies on its use and effectiveness in treating medical conditions.

"You look at the list of side effects of the drugs that I give out; theyre all synthetics made in the laboratory that God probably never, ever meant to put in our body," Oldendorf said. "I think that probably this is going to maybe mark the beginning of some formal, randomized control trials and for people to invest in research and use some of the money from retail sale to invest in research  that's what I would do."

In Colorado, where many dispensary owners obtained their first seeds from overseas, the retail shop owners are also allowed to grow and manufacture their own products.

New York's law also allows "nursery licenses" that will allow someone to grow immature plants and sell them to other cannabis licensees, and "delivery licenses" that allow a business to make home deliveries from retail locations.

In addition, there will be "microbusiness licenses" that allow the holder to cultivate, produce and retail their own cannabis products but with significant size limitations. There will also be "on-site consumption licenses" for retail locations that will allow people to use cannabis products at the location.

As in Colorado, regulation will be extremely tight.

A man who owns a small dispensary in southeastern Colorado, not from from the Kansas border, said experienced growers there often find a plant that becomes one of their top sellers  the right levels of THC ((tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol)  and will keep that plant in a vegetative state using artificial lights. That vegetative state  which is about 18 hours under light and six hours in darkness  mirrors conditions early in a grow season when the plants grow but do not flower.

Instead, the growers take clippings from those plants and create new plants that yield the "buds" that are smoked or used to make concentrates, edibles and creams. Once a plant is 8-inches tall, it receives a tag that allows the state of Colorado to track that plant throughout its life, including documenting how much product it yields, the level of THC and the weight of any waste product left over.

The law in Colorado allows someone to buy up to one ounce per day. But shop owners can do little to stop "loopers," the show owner said, who are often coming across state lines and will move through various shops in a town and buy multiple ounces of marijuana from different shops on the same day. They often take it back and sell it illegally in their home state.

The prices fluctuate in Colorado and are driven by factors that include availability as well as the strength of the strain. Marijuana with a very high level of THC, often sells for the highest prices.

In Colorado, the shop owner said, CBD products that do not contain THC  much like what has been available legally in New York  are viewed skeptically as "snake oil" and many industry experts believe those products are not effective without some level of interactive THC.

"You need the THC to react with the CBD and then it becomes effective ... effective for helping people with pain," he said. "Creams, topical creams, transdermal patches, suppositories for people with colorectal cancer. There is a long road ahead of us.  It's natural. People like that. It does give relief.

What we sell is happiness and relief. Thats what people are coming in the door looking for."

The level of THC will also be a factor in how much tax is paid in New York, with a distributor paying tax based on the per-milligram of THC in a product as determined by a lab analysis. That level will be labeled on the product. The legislation set tax rates of 0.5 cents per milligram for cannabis flower, 0.8 cents for concentrate and 3 cents for edibles. There is also a 9 percent tax for retail sale, which goes to the state, and additional 4 percent tax that will be distributed in the localities where the retailer is located.

"The price does fluctuate, especially seasonally, because of so many outdoor grows," the Colorado shop owner said. "We have our winter here, like there, and these plants cannot survive a frost. There is one growing season and everyone harvests at same time and then it comes to market."

But it also requires a great deal of effort to grow the marijuana under the regulations set by many states. The plant products are tested for yeast levels, microbials, pesticides, heavy metals and other pollutants that must remain belows levels  measured in parts per million  in order to sell the product to the public.

A provision similar to Colorado's that allows homeowners to grow up to six plants per adult  a concession that Cuomo had initially opposed  is not expected to be legalized until at least early 2023  18 months after retail shops have opened.

But an exception was made in the law for medical marijuana cardholders, who can begin growing their own plants six months after the effective date of the bill.

The law allows cities, towns, and villages to "opt-out" from having adult-use dispensaries or on-site "social consumption sites" located in their communities. But that decision would be subject to a permissive referendum that would allow those who oppose the governing body's vote to gather enough signatures to force a vote on the issue. The "opt-out" vote must be passed by Dec. 31, and cannot include other aspects of the industry such as grow or distribution facilities  only retail.

The issue of marijuana seeds remains a largely unregulated aspect of the industry. There are seed companies in the U.S. and also in Europe and other overseas locations that provide mail-order service to New York. Although the federal government considers marijuana seeds contraband, enforcement is rare. New York's new marijuana law does not address the issue of seeds.

"We sell them here. Its not a huge business. We also have clones for sale," the Colorado shop owner said. "How do you start something thats not legal? ... How do you get a plant without a seed (and) where do you get the seed from? It's that funny gray area. We kind of just bluffed our way through it.  Our seeds came from Amsterdam (Netherlands)."
My brother served in World War 2. In 2017 he checked out of the grand hotel, a phrase he coined for leaving this world, having left his kid brother (me) a wealth of good counsel, encouragement, and files enough to fill a basement. During my high school days he wrote a poem that hit hard and deep at the evil he sensed in his day. The sharpness of it stunned me, all the more since I was a tenderfoot in matters of such weight. That was over 70 years ago, when America still proved to be the land of the free and the home of the brave  for which the Great Generation is still venerated. While his poem reflects the tyranny of two world wars, the second of which called my brother to arms, it could have been written today as an outcry against the tyranny of globalists preparing us for their Great Reset:

THE LITANY

by Salvatore R. DeBlasi

[1946]

The vultures tear the flesh with savage relish;

The winds beat back the hairs and turn them thin,

While something deep within they serve to nourish:

An untouched, indomitable will to win.

A heart that hurls the earth when strength is seeping;

A mind that does not bow to bestial blow,

Must soon or late desert the painful weeping,

To conquer dreams still fast and full aglow!

The bosom of this spinning mass doth keep

The shells of its beleaguered specks.

Unconquered spirits travel oer the deep,

Sparking resistance to this monstrous wreck.

Doomed to disillusion and a sword,

Children of inequity must die;

Unless that faith within moves toward

The capture of all hearts that cry.

So move that ailing hide

Sing loud the Litany!

Stirring against the tide

Is Homo Sapiens Destiny!

Sals clap of thunder against tyranny was hard for me to grasp at first, but the source of its wrath became more evident as I watched what happened to America after my return from the war in Korea in 1955. Americas decline from a free and vibrant nation to one of encroaching dictatorship from a federal government colluding with unelected NGOs was getting hard to ignore.

My brother had gotten things wrong, early on. Like other teens wiser than their parents he dropped his religious training to become a staunch atheist. He kept his nose in books and his eyes and mind wide open, however. And so, as a layman scholar and indefatigable observer of the times, he returned to the tenets of Christianity, aware finally of its vital importance to humanity.

It was not long before Sal, back to the religion of his forebears, back to the God and the culture that made him, picked up his cross of atrocity against Christians, threw himself into the fight to keep unborn children from being slaughtered at abortion clinics, and in 1982 ran for state senator of New York under the Right to Life Party.

Bitter though his political defeat was, Sal did not stop fighting against injustice, even after he retired, as so many culture warriors have. The love of truth and the love of humanity permit no retreat from constant vigilance. against wolves in sheeps clothing. The play of evil among people of good will is something the founders of America were fully onto, having struggled for their freedom from oppression to a degree that few today can fathom, and having poured everything they had, including their blood, into establishing a country where people could live and pursue their happiness, free of oppression from dictatorial government.

Looking back over the many years since Sal wrote his entreating litany, I wonder if it was simply a cry against fiends like Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo, whose roles in the war he fought exceed any measure of infamy? What has transpired on my watch over the past century convinces me that his passionate outcry was aimed at injustice from any source of corrupted power.

Concern for the future of humanity, vividly expressed in The Litany, was shared by famous authors of the time. Aldous Huxley had sounded an alarm in 1932 for technology gone mad with Brave New World. Still more terrifying was George Orwells 1984, published four years after Sal wrote his poem, the story of a future in which Big Brother controls everyone with brainwash and fear, cancelling history and current events at will, altering the language and destroying every vestige of the past. Todays political leftists believe this is progress.

Its hardly a coincidence that the 1930s and 1940s produced an abundance of mad-scientist horror movies. Spun out of science/technology gone awry, these shockers were not to be taken seriously, of course, not even Frankenstein, exhumed from Mary Shelleys 1818 novel. It was utopian fantasies of the future like James Hiltons Lost. Horizon (1933) and H.G. Wells Things to Come (1936) that were to be taken seriously, not projections of future dystopia like Brave New World and 1984.

My big brother had reason to see deep trouble ahead for America if the love of truth and justice were to be politically hijacked by leaders without a conscience and the people made to commit political suicide  something hinted as early as1835 by Tocqueville in Democracy in America.

A growing number of souls are finally seeing how far down the slippery slope we have come. Is it too late for a saving course correction? Can every American of good will, regardless of color, background, or beliefs get back to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? This outcome requires every leader to square his/her conscience with true justice and act upon it as though their life is in danger. Those for whom this is too much to ask should not aspire to positions of leadership.

A middle school teacher  her name was Helen Drew  reminded me in 1946 of the importance of courage. In my graduation album she wrote: How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a wayward world. A teacher quoting Shakespeare today could face a symbolic beheading. Do you wonder why?

At a 1975 National Day of Prayer breakfast held where my brother worked, Sal concluded his prayer to God, saying You send prophets to remind us that the poor and hungry are also your children, that your love knows no bounds of race, class, language, or geography. Send us men and women with hearts ablaze with Thy love  patient, courageous, strong and true. These are the patriots our nation needs  those brave enough to do Thy Will. Amen.

Graphoc credit: Frederic Guimont Free Art Licnese

Anthony J. DeBlasi is a Korea War veteran and lifelong culture warrior.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Despite numerous challenges making dents in all trade and investment activities, Vietnams economic growth quality has seen significant improvements over the past five years in general,

eliciting praise from the National Assembly Standing Committee and high-profile international organisations.

Labour productivity rates in Vietnam increased 6.2 per cent on-year in 2019. Photo: VIR

Moodys Investors Service on March 18 reaffirmed the Vietnamese governments long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings at Ba3 and changed the outlook to positive from negative. The drivers of the positive outlook include signs of improvements in fiscal strength and potential improvements in economic strength that may strengthen Vietnams credit profile over time. Sustained fiscal consolidation has led to improvements in fiscal and debt metrics, which Moodys expects to be only briefly interrupted by the pandemic. Moreover, Vietnams economic strength may benefit from global shifts in production, trade and consumption following the coronavirus pandemic and support Vietnams economy. Over time, indications of higher fiscal and economic strength may point to improving policy effectiveness, also putting upward pressure on Vietnams credit profile. Meanwhile, Moodys has determined that the drivers of the previous negative outlook assigned in December 2019 have receded. The negative outlook, which followed a review for downgrade, related to the risks posed to Vietnams credit profile from administrative failures leading to payment delays on government guaranteed debt. In Moodys assessment, the government has enhanced administrative scrutiny on forthcoming payments. The affirmation of the Ba3 rating is underpinned by ongoing credit strengths and weaknesses, including a large, diversified economy with high growth potential offering resilience to shocks, and increasing capacity in the domestic financial system to finance government borrowing at low costs. At the same time, ongoing risks stem from persistent governance weaknesses related to the lack of transparency of the management of state-owned enterprises and lingering risks in the banking system. Source: Moodys Investors Service

About two weeks ago Standard Chartered Bank hosted an investment webinar on Vietnams Investment Landscape for 2021, drawing the participation of clients based in Vietnam and overseas who are seeking opportunities in the country.

The presentations focused on giving clients the latest information about the investment landscape in real estate, stocks, fixed-income, and funds in Vietnam in the context of a post-pandemic era and the strategies they can devise to capitalise on the prospects.

Standard Chartered Global Research forecasts that Vietnams economic growth will get back to 6-8 per cent in 2021 and onwards. Given its economic prospects, advantages of social stability, and success in managing the pandemic along with profitability of the local stock market and real estate market, which is growing at a higher pace than that of ASEAN, Vietnam continues to offer exciting investment opportunities, said Harmander Mahal  consumer, private, and business banking head for Vietnam and Asia Cluster Markets at Standard Chartered Bank.

The banks acknowledgement of Vietnams economic prospects and attractive investment climate is not irrational as since 2016 the economy has been weathering numerous difficulties to reap impressive growth achievements, with growth quality increasingly improved and a rise in investors confidence like Standard Chartered.

The 11th session of the 14th National Assembly, scheduled to be wrapped up on April 8, officially will elect the new state president, vice president, prime minister, deputy prime ministers, chair of the National Assembly, deputy chairs of the National Assembly, members of the cabinet, chief justice of the Supreme Peoples Court of Vietnam, and prosecutor general of the Supreme Peoples Procuracy. At this session, the National Assembly will use half of a day to consider and approve the revised Law on Preventing and Fighting Drugs. Deputies will also discuss the report on the NAs 14th term and summary reports of the state president, government, National Assembly Standing Committee, Ethnic Council, the National Assemblys Committees, Supreme Peoples Court, Supreme Peoples Procuracy, and State Audit of Vietnam.

Striking attainments

In the last government tenure (2016-2020), the Vietnamese boat has been riding out economic storms and since early 2020, COVID-19 has been sabotaging the global economy with aftermaths yet to be calculated.

In the last tenure and amid the ongoing pandemic, the government and the prime minister have taken timely solutions to remove difficulties for domestic production and business, boosting public investment, ensuring social security and order, and recovering the economy in the new normal, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the National Assembly (NA) last week.

Vietnams GDP in 2020 increased 2.91 per cent, making it the sole economy amongst Southeast Asias six largest economies with positive growth.

Vietnams average annual growth in the 2016-2019 period hit 6.8 per cent, higher than the 5.91 per cent of the 2011-2015 period, belonging to the worlds group of nations with the highest economic growth.

Thanks to accumulated incomes and significant improvements in the fiscal space, especially during 2016-2019, great contributions have been made to helping the whole economy and the public to weather difficulties caused by the pandemic, PM Phuc said. According to many international rating organisations, Vietnams rank has been on the rise. On March 18, Moodys raised Vietnams economic outlook to positive from negative (see box 1). This shows that Vietnam has a solid foundation for further growth which continues being improved even during COVID-19.

Vietnam has taken advantage of new-generation free trade agreements to develop export markets and partner networks. Its total export-import has risen by seven times, from $328 billion in 2015 to $545 billion in 2020, with five consecutive years of increased trade surplus.

Analysis from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) showed that the economys growth quality has significantly improved over the past few years. Specifically, the industrial-construction sector and the service sector are occupying over 76 per cent of GDP, and creating 95 per cent of the economys growth in 2019.

Meanwhile the ratio of the total-factor productivity (TFP) in the economys growth rose from 33.6 per cent on average in the 2011-2015 to 44.5 per cent on average in the 2016-2019 period, exceeding the strategic goal of 35 per cent earlier set for the 2011-2030 period. This has helped the economy improve its competitiveness.

Science and technology have been playing a very important role in the economys growth, said MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung.

The economys productivity was calculated at $4,790 per labourer in 2019, up by $272 against 2018, while labour productivity increased 6.2 per cent on-year in 2019.

Moreover, the economys incremental capital output ratio (ICOR), which is the additional capital required to increase one unit of output, has also clearly improved. The ICOR was 6.25 in the 2011-2015 period to 6.14 in the 2016-2019 period. In 2020, due to COVID-19, the ICOR rose to 14.28, leading to an average ICOR of 7.04 in the 2016-2020 period.

Major praise

The NA Standing Committee has praised the great efforts, responsibility of, and impressive achievements created by the government in the 2016-2021 tenure.

Amid difficulties, the government has increasingly renewed itself, with strong reforms which have accomplished all goals and duties set out in resolutions of the Party and the NA, making important contributions to the national socioeconomic achievements, said a committee statement on assessing the work of the government in the 2011-2016 tenure.

Global analysts FocusEconomics last week told VIR that it highly values the governments efforts to drive the economy forward.

Economy activity has likely gained further momentum in the first quarter of the year. Vaccination of frontline workers began in early March, although difficulty in sourcing sufficient doses could hamper the campaign to vaccinate the wider population, the analysts said.

This year, economic activity is forecast to accelerate rapidly, with growth set to outstrip regional peers on improving domestic and foreign demand dynamics. Our panelists expect GDP to expand 7.4 per cent in 2021, and 6.9 per cent in 2022.

Fitch Solutions under global rating firm Fitch Group also told VIR that one of the key drivers for Vietnams economic growth in 2021 will be a climb in public investment initiated by the government and foreign direct investment.

In 2021, we forecast state budget expenditures to grow by 16.6 per cent as a rebound of economic activity as well as government exorts to expedite public capital expenditure should drive rapid growth in expenditures, said the statement. We forecast real GDP growth to recover to 8.2 per cent in 2021, from 2.91 per cent in 2020, although we do ag some downside risks to our 2021 forecast from persisting economic challenges brought about by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the World Bank attributes Vietnams good economic performance to the governments good management and resilience of both its domestic economy and external sector.

Beyond the containment of the pandemic by bold, early, and innovative measures, the government has also used its fiscal and monetary policies to provide breathing space to the private sector and jumpstart the recovery. For example, public spending started rising again after three years of fiscal consolidation. The first nine months of 2020 saw a 40 per cent year-on-year increase in the disbursement of the public investment program, said a World Bank report recently released. Looking ahead, Vietnams prospects appear positive as the economy is projected to grow by about 6.8 percent in 2021 and, thereafter, stabilise at around 6.5 per cent.

A few weeks ago, Standard Chartered also released its fresh forecast for Vietnams 2021 GDP growth, saying that with its bright economic outlook, Vietnams GDP growth will largely come from manufacturing and help the country outperform the rest of Asia.

The economy emerged from the worst of the downturn in the third quarter of 2020, and we think recovery remains intact. Vietnam has been one of the best-performing economies for the past decade, and we expect this to continue, said Tim Leelahaphan, Standard Chartered economist for Thailand and Vietnam.

VIR
UAE-based value-added food manufacturing firm Global Food Industries (GFI) has given its all-out support to the UAEs F&B Innovation Lab, a programme that aims to discover, guide and mentor the UAEs next innovative F&B products.

The programme, which is an initiative of the Khalifa Fund and the F&B Manufacturers Business Group in partnership with several knowledge, technical, innovation project manager and technology experts, will incubate Emirati talent who have F&B concepts rooted in sustainability, health, and convenience, along with industry leading manufactures who can develop and promote successful product-market fits, with the aim of transforming their F&B concepts into internationally available products.

The UAE Government has consistently pushed forward the advancement of a knowledge-based and innovative economy by introducing initiatives that continuously harness and develop the skills and talent of Emiratis and facilitate growth within local industries, including the food and beverage manufacturing sector, Ahmed Bayoumi, CEO of GFI said.

As such, it is imperative for the private sector to pro-actively participate and work hand in hand with the UAE Government to make such initiatives work and succeed. These initiatives will be the key to unlock the full potential of the UAEs F&B ecosystem and certainly benefit and bring prosperity and growth, not just to individuals or companies, but to the entire community of citizens and residents across the UAE.

As a major player within the UAEs food and beverage manufacturing sector, Global Food Industries is honoured and privileged to support the UAEs F&B Innovation Lab, Bayoumi added. We therefore wish to extend our sincere thanks to the Khalifa Fund and the F&B Manufacturers Business Group for giving us this opportunity to contribute and be part of this initiative. We have no doubt that this initiative will facilitate new and innovative ideas and concepts that will further reinforce the position of proudly made in the UAE products across local, regional and global markets.

Apart from its support for the UAEs Innovation Lab, GFI has also actively participated in the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technologys Future of Industry Dialogue, which on its second online meeting session, focused on the delivery of a resilient food and beverage sector in the UAE.

In addition, GFI welcomed the launch of the UAEs Industrial Strategy Operation 300 billion ($81.68 billion) as announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Operation 300 billion aims to make the industrial sector the main driver of UAEs economy through multiple facilities and incentives that will position the UAE as a global industrial hub that attracts talent, developers and experts from all over the world, and increase the sectors contribution to the countrys GDP to AED300 billion by 2031. Sheikh Mohammed also launched the Unified Industrial Brand Identity under the slogan Make it in the Emirates, wherein the new campaign aims to build up the unique credentials of products made in the UAE through quality and global competitiveness enhancements.

Operation 300 billion and the Make it in the Emirates campaign serve as concrete proof of the UAEs unrelenting drive towards a sustainable and diversified economic strategy, Bayoumi said. As a key player within the UAEs industrial sector, GFI will be unwavering in its commitment to deliver proudly made in the UAE products in accordance with world-class quality standards and will continue working closely with the UAE Government in realising the goals set forth within the Operation 300 billion strategy and plan and the Make it in the Emirates campaign. -- Tradearabia News Service
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is ready to use the weight of his office to push for marijuana to be legalized across the country. After New York decided to legalize marijuana earlier this week, Schumer said he is hopeful that President Joe Biden will end up coming around on the issue. But regardless of whether that happens, at some point were going to move forward, period, the senator from New York told Politico. Schumer, who first introduced a marijuana legalization bill in 2018, said hes working with Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon on legislation.

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Schumer so far isnt offering any details on what the legislation might includeyoull have to wait and see, he saidbut he did describe it as a comprehensive bill. Once that is introduced, Schumer has vowed to sit down with people who object the move to see how they could get on board. Schumer said he is personally for legalization and specified that the bill that well be introducing is headed in that direction. Schumer shared the Politico interview on Twitter and said hes working to end the federal prohibition on marijuana and to repair the damage done by the War on Drugs.

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The War on Drugs has been a war on people, and particularly people of color.



Im working in the Senate to end the federal prohibition on marijuana and to repair the damage done by the War on Drugs.https://t.co/UU68K7ws4t  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 3, 2021

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Schumer appears optimistic Bidens thinking on the issue may evolve considering more than 40 percent of Americans live in states that have approved legalization. I want to make my arguments to him, as many other advocates will, Schumer said of Biden. For the majority leader, theres a good argument on how state efforts to legalize marijuana have gone. The legalization of states worked out remarkably well, he said. They were a great success. The parade of horribles never came about, and people got more freedom.

Schumer said that his thinking on the issue started to change when he talked to average folks in Denver about the issue and saw how people felt legalization helped the state with additional tax revenue and didnt hurt anyone. People had freedom to do what they wanted to do, as long as they werent hurting other people, Schumer said. Thats part of what America is about.

Under the Republican-controlled Senate, the issue never really went anywhere but now lawmakers would be forced to make their views clear, which could put many in an uncomfortable position considering more than two-thirds of Americans now support marijuana legalization.
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Washington, DC - The Justice Department Wednesday announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with Spike Inc., a moving and storage company doing business as Olympia Moving and Storage.

The settlement resolves the departments claims that Spike violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by failing to consider four U.S. workers for employment opportunities that it instead filled with H-2B visa workers at two of its locations in the Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC metropolitan areas.

Employers should hire workers based on their qualifications, not their citizenship or immigration status, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. The Civil Rights Division is committed to protecting workers from this type of discrimination.

The departments investigation determined that from at least Feb. 1, 2019, to March 11, 2019, Spike discriminated against four U.S. workers by failing to consider them for temporary mover positions. Despite receiving applications from these available workers, Spike filled the positions with H-2B visa workers, claiming that it could not find qualified and available U.S. workers. The INA prohibits employers from refusing to recruit or hire U.S. workers  i.e., U.S. citizens and nationals, asylees, refugees, and recent lawful permanent residents  because of their citizenship or immigration status.

Under the settlement, Spike will pay $12,000 in civil penalties to the United States, pay up to an amount of $70,000 in back pay to the affected U.S. workers, and conduct enhanced U.S. worker recruitment and advertising for future positions. The settlement also requires Spike to train employees on the requirements of the INAs anti-discrimination provision and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements.

The Civil Rights Divisions Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing the anti-discrimination provision of the INA. The statute prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation.
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Kaduna State government has denied appointing intermediaries to negotiate with bandits on behalf of the government.

In a statement by the states Commissioner for Internal Security and Homeland Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, on Sunday, the government will prosecute any person doing that.

 The attention of the Kaduna State Government under the leadership of Governor Nasir El-Rufai has been drawn to reports in the media that it has appointed representatives to interface with bandits on its behalf.

 The Kaduna State Government hereby clarifies firmly that such intermediaries have never been appointed.

 The position of the Kaduna State Government remains the same: the Government will not negotiate with or pay ransoms to bandits. Any person who claims to do so in any capacity, if found, will be prosecuted accordingly.

 Citizens are urged to report the details of any persons posing as official government negotiators to the Kaduna State Security Operations Room on 09034000060 and 08170189999, or email internal.security@kdsg.gov.ng.

We will not negotiate with bandits

Governor El-Rufai has maintained that he will not negotiate or pay ransom to bandits in exchange for Kidnapped persons.

The governor at the presentation of the state 2020 security report in March, said, his government had ruled out issue of negotiation with bandits.

 Our position on Kaduna state has been clear and consistent, bandits, cattle wrestlers and armed militia must be degradedand decimated to a state of unconditional submission to constituted authority.

While speaking at the event, Mr El-Rufai said the government would never negotiate with band of any kind or support  any grant of amnesty to them.

Meanwhile, parents of the recently kidnapped College of Forestry students are pleading with the government to negotiate with the bandits so their children will return to them.

In a renewed effort to get the college students freed, Shehu Sani, a former senator, led some parents of the kidnapped students to visit a prominent Islamic cleric, Ahmed Gumi, at his Kaduna residence last week.

Mr Gumi is known for visiting bandits hideouts pleading for peace with them.

The college students are yet to be released.
Today, Azerbaijan marks the sad anniversary of the events of 1918. 103 years ago in Baku and other cities, militants of the nationalist Dashnaktsutyun party and the Bolsheviks began massacres of Azerbaijanis. The head of the department of the history of Azerbaijan of the Soviet period of the Institute of History named after V.I. A.A. Bakikhanova, Doctor of Philosophy in History, Associate Professor Ilgar Niftaliev.

- Why did the topic of genocide of Azerbaijanis begin to be covered in detail relatively recently?

- During the Soviet period, historians covered these problems, but they mainly used Soviet sources, since the archives were closed, and materials related to the bloody events of March 1918 were classified as classified. But the theme of the "genocide" of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 was actively promoted in Armenian historiography. The Armenian diaspora abroad played an important role in this, as well as the fact that in 1965 the Soviet Union actually recognized the "genocide" of the Armenians, that is, Soviet historiography officially allowed coverage of this issue, since while Turkey, as a NATO member, was an enemy of the USSR.

In the late 1980s, in the wake of the beginning of the separatist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh, historians began to investigate not only the causes of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but also the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in general. Then the topic of the genocide of Azerbaijanis came to the fore. In the late 1980s - early 1990s, the first publications appeared on the pages of the press, primarily in academic journals, about the events in Shamakhi, about the events in Baku. After the restoration of independence by Azerbaijan, the first monographs on this topic were also published.

In 1998, Heydar Aliyev issued a decree according to which March 31 is annually celebrated as the Day of the Genocide of the Azerbaijani people. This decree was the first political and legal assessment of the events of 1918. After that, Azerbaijani scientists began to systematically and consistently study those events, since the bans on many documents that were stored in the archives were lifted. The materials of the commission of inquiry, which was created during the period of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) and studied the events that took place in the territory of the Baku province: in the territory of Baku and Baku district, Shamakhi and Shamakhy district, Guba and Guba district, as well as in Lankaran, were also made public. and Goychay. These documents have become available to researchers. Numerous collections of documents have been published on the genocide of Azerbaijanis in various regions of the Baku province. The geography of the study of the problem expanded, studies appeared related to the aggression of Dashnak Armenia against the ADR; in Nakhchivan, in Karabakh ... Today, the topic of the genocide of Azerbaijanis is quite deeply covered by Azerbaijani historians. Numerous collections of documents have been published, many works have been translated into foreign languages, published in Moscow and in some European countries.

- What was the true goal of the Dashnaks, given the geography of atrocities against the civilian population, especially in Baku, Shamakhi, Karabakh and Nakhchivan?

- The goal of the Bolsheviks was to prevent the development of the national democratic movement in Azerbaijan, to preserve the South Caucasus as part of Soviet Russia. The Bolsheviks could not allow the creation of independent states and tried to preserve these territories by Sovietization of the national outskirts. Those events took place in the regions of Azerbaijan, where Armenians and Azerbaijanis lived next to each other or mixed.

The territorial claims of the Armenian nationalists were based on an attempt to expand the borders of the Armenian state at the expense of the Azerbaijani lands. And what happened in Baku, in Guba, in Shamakhi - here the goals of the Bolsheviks and Dashnaks coincided. The Bolsheviks wanted to secure the territory of the Baku province and the city of Baku, which was the center of the oil industry in the Russian Empire and the largest oil center. What the Armenian nationalists did, I think, was revenge for the events of 1915. It's my personal opinion. They decided to take revenge on Muslim Azerbaijanis for what was happening on the territory of the Ottoman Empire. Some Armenian nationalists took part in the 1905 events in Karabakh; the genocide of Muslims in Eastern Anatolia in 1915; in the events in Guba in 1918. These are the same executioners who, wherever they find themselves, whether on the territory of the Ottoman state, whether on the territory of the Caucasus, took part in the genocide of the Muslim population.

At the end of the 19th century, Armenian political organizations set a goal to achieve the creation of an Armenian autonomy. At the end of the 19th century, it was the territory of the Ottoman state, and at the beginning of the 20th century, the party's program also included the territory of the Russian Empire. They wanted to clear the territory of Muslims to create their own Armenian state, resettling Armenians on it.

- Can we say that the March 1918 events led to the growth of the national movement in Azerbaijan?

- Of course, those March events became a turning point - the Azerbaijani democratic movement took the path of independence. Then the Bolsheviks showed their true colors. Contrary to the declarations on the right to self-determination of the peoples of the former Russian Empire, these bloody events, attempts to forcibly establish Soviet power on the national outskirts, they actually exposed their true essence. This was the same policy as that of the tsarist government, which first entered into treaties with our khanates, recognizing their independence, and then after a while liquidated these khanates and turned them into their provinces. In fact, the Bolsheviks took this path. They first recognized the right of peoples to self-determination, and then they occupied these territories. One way or another, the March events became a turning point for the activities of the Azerbaijani national forces to achieve the independence of Azerbaijan.

- In your opinion, how far in the future is it possible to obtain an international legal assessment of the events of 1918?

- I cannot speak for politicians, we are historians. When we investigate those events, we are not pursuing political goals. The main goal of the historian is to give an objective assessment of the past, so that the past becomes a lesson for the future generation, so that descendants know the truth. The rest is, of course, politics. Remember, the Turkish government called on the Armenian government to open the archives and give an objective assessment of the events of 1915. At the same time, the Turkish government, opening the archives, did not pursue the goal of demanding any compensation from the Armenians, some territories in the future. It raised this question in order to give an objective assessment of the past.

However, Armenian nationalists pursue purely political goals in order to expand the territory of Armenia in the future, to demand compensation from the Turkish government.

I think that the Azerbaijani government just wants to restore the historical truth, exploring these issues, so that the future generation will know where the historical border of Azerbaijan lies, what territories constituted the historical territory of Azerbaijan. The President has repeatedly said that we have no territorial claims to any state. We just want to restore historical justice and objectivity.
A man wanted for criminal activity in both Florida and Pennsylvania was arrested on Friday in Florida, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Gregory Allen Daniel, on March 25, started his crime spree by illegally gaining access to a vacant property in the 200 block of E. Market Street in Williamstown Borough in Dauphin County. He was driving a stolen vehicle from South Carolina, state police said.

Daniels evaded arrest in Pennsylvania, but was found and arrested in Ormond Beach in Florida on April 2. He is facing criminal charges in Florida, too. Currently, he is being extradited to Dauphin County.

Authorities said that Daniels, when approached by law enforcement on March 25, ignored commands to exit the vehicle and took off in his vehicle. The pursuit turned into a foot chase when he stopped his vehicle and escaped in a wooded area.

He had possession of a handgun, which was found in the vehicle. Daniels is not allowed to have a gun, which is another charge he is facing, state police said.

Daniels is also accused of stealing a school van around 12:10 a.m. on March 26 from the Williams Valley School. Hes said to have intentionally struck another occupied vehicle head-on and rear-ended another vehicle in Williamstown Borough, according to state police.

Daniels fled the area in the stolen van, which was recovered. It was found unoccupied around 7:30 a.m. near the intersection of Lukes Trail and Lykens Road in Jefferson Township in Dauphin County.

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A Republican candidate in the special election to replace the late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, R-Arlington, is facing intense backlash and has lost two of her biggest supporters after saying she does not want Chinese immigrants in the United States.

The comments by Sery Kim, a Korean American who served in the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump, prompted California U.S. Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel to rescind their endorsements of her on Friday. Young Kim and Steel are the first Korean American GOP women to serve in Congress.

We cannot in good conscience continue to support her candidacy, the lawmakers said in a statement.

The candidate has been unapologetic, however, arguing that she was speaking out against the Chinese Communist Party and blaming the "liberal media" for the uproar. She said she "will not back down from speaking the truth" about the party.

Sery Kim made the anti-Chinese remarks earlier this week at a GOP forum in Arlington while responding to a question about U.S. immigration issues.

I dont want them here at all, Kim said of potential Chinese immigrants. They steal our intellectual property, they give us coronavirus, they dont hold themselves accountable.

And quite frankly, I can say that because Im Korean, she added.

OPINION: CORPORATIONS STEPPING UP TO SAVE VOTING ACCESSIBILITY IN TEXAS FEELS PRETTY HOPELESS

Hate crimes against Asian Americans have increased since the coronavirus pandemic started in China. Trump has repeatedly blamed China for the pandemic and called the coronavirus "the Chinese virus." Kim's remark came less than a month after the Atlanta spa shootings that killed eight people, six of whom were of Asian descent.

The comments have received condemnation from groups including the DFW Asian-American Citizens Council and AAPI Progressive Action, which works to build political power around Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Kim is one of 11 Republicans  and 23 candidates total  on the May 1 ballot to fill the GOP-leaning seat seat of Wright, who died earlier this year after being hospitalized with coronavirus.

Young Kim and Steel endorsed Sery Kim early on in the race, about a week after the filing deadline last month.

In their statement pulling their endorsements, the two lawmakers said they spoke Thursday with Sery Kim about her hurtful and untrue comments about Chinese immigrants, and made clear that her comments were unacceptable.

We urged her to apologize and clarify her remarks, especially as hate against the AAPI community is on the rise, the congresswomen said. However, she has not publicly shown remorse, and her words were contrary to what we stand for.

Asked for a comment on the loss of the endorsements, Kim provided a statement that said: "I am shocked that in an effort to counter Asian-American hate the liberal media is targeting me, an Asian and an immigrant, in an effort to paint me as anti-Asian and anti-immigrant just for speaking against the oppressive Chinese Communist Party."

In the statement, Sery Kim went on to call the Chinese Communist Party the "foremost threat to the free world." She said she has received more "death threats and racist comments" since the forum controversy than she has in her entire life, and that the voters of the 6th District deserve "someone who will fight for them  who will literally put their life on the line for them."

Until this week, Sery Kim was not a particularly well-known candidate in the special election. The Republican field also features Wright's widow, GOP activist Susan Wright, as well as state Rep. Jake Ellzey of Waxahachie.

On the Democratic side, at least one contender, Lydia Bean, pushed back on Sery Kim's forum comments, saying they target people like her Chinese American husband, Norman, and their 10-month-old son. Norman's parents came to the United States from China in 1966, Bean said.

"This type of speech, no matter who it comes from puts their lives in danger," Bean, a 2020 Texas House candidate, tweeted Thursday. "Its racist, and its not who we are in Texas."

Early voting for the special election starts April 19.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4)  Governors and mayors in Greater Manila and other nearby areas that are considered critical zones may soon get vaccinated against COVID-19, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon said Sunday.

In a text message to CNN Philippines, Dizon said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases already approved this proposal, with a go signal from President Rodrigo Duterte himself.

Dizon said inoculation will first be done in high-risk and critical areas identified by the Health Department. These are Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal  collectively known as "NCR Plus", as well as Central Luzon, and the Cordillera Administrative Region. The rest of the local chief executives from other areas may then have their turn once sufficient vaccine supply is ensured.

"It was approved by IATF yesterday but only in high risk and critical areas like NCR Plus, Region 3, CAR, etc. Approved and mayors were informed last night," Dizon's text message read.

"IATF approves it initially for high risk and critical areas only and then when supply is more stable and sufficient, for the rest of the governors and mayors," Dizon added.

He also bared that the whole proposal initially came from the League of Provinces. After receiving the proposal, Duterte himself endorsed it to the IATF.

CNN Philippines is still awaiting the official document on this, but Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque is also expected to provide more details in his briefing on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benhur Abalos said that these local officials are also considered "frontliners" under the proposed inoculation rollout.

He added 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.

"No one can choose. [AstraZeneca is] only for seniors, while Sinovac would be for the rest. This goes for everybody," Abalos added.

On Sunday, Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso received his first shot made by Chinese firm Sinovac. Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan, who is also a doctor, administered his shot.

Some Metro Manila LGUs already launched the simultaneous vaccine drive for the A2 and A3 groups or the senior citizens and persons with comorbidities in certain areas last week.

Earlier, Duterte called out a few mayors who jumped the line in vaccination. That time, only those from the A1 group or the healthcare workers were permitted to get the shots before the government reimposed the strictest lockdown in the Greater Manila area.

CNN Philippines' Paolo Barcelon contributed to this report.
With a Mandarin-language movie nominated for best international feature and a Chinese-born woman the front-runner for best director, this years Oscars should have been an opportunity for China to take a victory lap.

Instead, the annual ceremony is becoming something else in one of the worlds largest film markets: a thorn in its side. The developments are turning a potential moment of easy Hollywood harmony into a political flash point and underlining the growing complexity of the industrys relationship with China.

The Beijing-backed Hong Kong broadcaster TVB said this week that it will not air the April 25 Academy Awards telecast in the city, marking the first time in more than 50 years it will not do so. It follows Chinese media regulators decision earlier in March not to air the Oscars live on its streaming platforms; a censored version probably will air later.

Oscar-nominated documentary short Do Not Split covers the face-off with police at Hong Kongs Chinese University in 2019. Credit:AP

The reason appears to be Do Not Split, a 35-minute film made at the front lines of the 2019 Hong Kong democracy protests that has been nominated in the documentary short category. Directed by Norwegian filmmaker Anders Hammer and focusing on such protesters as Joey Siu, a North Carolina-born and Hong Kong-raised activist, the film covers the siege of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Texans behind on their rent are at increasing risk of losing their homes despite a federal moratorium on evictions, according to housing attorneys, because a Texas Supreme Court order aimed at forestalling evictions has expired.

The nationwide order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention halting evictions through June 30  originally issued under the Trump administration  has been an important bulwark against a housing crisis as people lost jobs and income during the pandemic, housing advocates say.

But an emergency order issued by the Texas Supreme Court that instructed judges across Texas how to follow the federal mandate expired March 31.

Without the explicit backup of the moratorium from the states highest civil court, Texas landlords could resume pursuing evictions of people affected by the pandemic, housing advocates said, and it could fall to the federal government to enforce the CDC order.

A lot of people have been saying for the last year that this eviction wave is coming and that we are about to step off this cliff into the abyss. With this latest news, we just stepped off that cliff. This is the worst case scenario, said Mark Melton, an attorney who has helped hundreds of Dallas-area tenants during the pandemic. This basically says that if a landlord wants to risk federal prosecution, thats their business, not our problem. And if they want the eviction we have to grant it under state law.

The Texas Justice Court Training Center, which trains judges and issues procedural guidance, has updated its eviction-related guidelines to say that Texas courts can proceed with eviction cases, although the landlord might choose to place this case on hold.

This just means that the courts in Texas would follow Texas procedure in law, which doesnt have anything in it about the CDC moratorium. Now there could be local laws that would maybe have a moratorium, said Theadora Wallen, the training centers executive director.

To be protected by the CDC order, renters must sign a declaration stating they risk homelessness due to effects of the pandemic, among other requirements. The CDC order subjects violators to fines up to $100,000 and a year in jail. The penalties are steeper if violating the order results in death. Until March 31, justices of the peace in Texas played a key role enforcing it, halting eviction proceedings they believed violated the CDC order. Now it will be up to individual judges to decide whether to follow the federal orders.

Meanwhile, a Texas program meant to financially help renters who have fallen behind has barely taken root.

In essence, the Texas Supreme Court and the states leaders are abdicating their powers and moral obligation to protect renters from homelessness. Meanwhile, the $1.3 billion state-run rental assistance program has stumbled. As of less than two weeks ago, fewer than 130 payments had been made, said Christina Rosales, deputy director of the advocacy group Texas Housers, in a statement. Program administrators, who had aimed to process applications within 14 days, say that 60 days is closer to average. If landlords are able to evict tenants who have applied for rent relief, the program will fail before it has had the chance to succeed.

According to Kristina Tirloni, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, as of April 2 the program had provided $2.3 million in rent relief for 358 households. But when TDHCA announced the program in February  tapping federal funds  the agency said it hoped to help around 80,000 households.

Texas received more than $1 billion to start this first-time statewide rent program from scratch, with little to no federal guidance, Tirloni said. The system will ramp up considerably in the coming days and weeks, and we are preparing to administer another round of funding, approximately $1 billion more, very soon.

The slow deployment of assistance hasnt been a problem just in Texas. The Texas Tribune reached out to agencies in the six biggest states, and all have experienced similar delays. Some, like Florida, have not even opened the application process.

For Texans who have lost income, the delays are feeding stress and uncertainty. According to a survey by the U.S. Census Bureau released in March, around 1.5 million households in Texas have slight or no confidence in their ability to pay next months rent. The problem is most common among Black and Hispanic households. Thats the case for Nini Maldonado, a mother of five in Katy, who has applied to city and state rent relief programs with no success.

We would call the customer service hotline and no one would pick up, Maldonado said in Spanish. We would be waiting for an hour and then the call would drop. We never managed to get help to fill up the forms.

Maldonado works in a restaurant, and her husband is in construction. During the last year, both lost hours of work and sometimes were unemployed. On top of that, the couple contracted COVID-19, leaving them out of work in December. Right now, she owes two and a half months rent, and although their landlord is open to a payment plan, he has also said he is ready to proceed with their eviction.

He told us that if by April 3 we havent paid rent plus $200 [of the amount owed], he is going to court, Maldonado said. My husband is a calm person, he tries to stay positive. But I do feel this very hard on myself, I think about where we will go with the five kids if they throw us out.

Landlords  many also struggling to pay for mortgages and maintenance  also complain about the slow and cumbersome access to rent relief. David Mintz, vice president of government affairs at the Texas Apartment Association, said rent relief is key, and he expects the program to speed up.

While the Texas Apartment Association opposes the CDC order, so long as it remains in effect we will continue to educate rental property owners about complying with its provisions, Mintz said. The real focus needs to be on ensuring the Texas Rent Relief Program, the Texas Eviction Diversion Program and similar programs in local communities are running efficiently.

Nelson Mock, a housing attorney for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, said that the organizations immediate concern is eviction cases that were already in the legal pipeline before they were halted, when the judge had already instructed a constable to proceed with the eviction.

If a tenant is at the end of the process, where the judgment is final and a writ is allowed, then the tenant is given 24-hour notice and removed, said Mock, who has heard of many evictions that were stopped at the last minute. Once that pause is lifted, once that abatement is lifted, they will get this almost immediate removal from their homes.

Given the lack of protection for tenants in the states new guidelines, having legal advice could be key for people risking eviction, but in Texas most of them appear in courts on their own. Many avoid court altogether. Mock said that many attorneys and advocates are asking the Texas Justice Court Training Center to change its recommendations and, in the meantime, are advising tenants to be proactive and seek legal aid.

Anyone who has the protections of the CDC order should be urging the courts to follow the CDC order, Mock said. To the extent that they have a landlord who is not following the order, there is a help line, a complaint line that the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] has set up. Tenants should be reporting these problems.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Strikes Close to Home

Broken Men from Broken Homes in a Broken Industry

The Basement of Maslows Hierarchy

The Cost of Extracting Black Gold in the Name of Energy Independence

The Books Paradox

Michael Patrick F. Smith would not seem to fit the profile of an oil field worker. Hes an actor, a musician and a playwright who sublet his Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment to head out west to Williston, N.D., during the height of the Bakken Oil Boom in 2013. As he admits, Its a weird resume for a man applying to work in the oil fields. Now hes published a thoughtful and well-written memoir of that misadventure,(You can read Clay Jenkinsons interview with Michael Patrick Smith here .)is two journey stories under one cover. It is the story of one of the thousands of men (and some women) who gravitated to the Bakken between 2005 and 2016 in search of jobs, wealth, adventure and excitement in an industrial arena where things are so hectic that the norms begin to break down and all sorts of marginal or illicit pleasures are possible. It is also a personal journey story of a talented man with an uncertain core identity who thought he might find clarity on one of the last frontiers. In the end, the personal journey story dominates, but the cast of extras is fabulous. Its like a carnival but with gargantuan equipment. Smiths oil field pals are not the kind of young men you invite home to Sunday brunch.As a North Dakotan who is fascinated by the Bakken boom, which brought tens of thousands of men and women, mostly men, to a place they would never otherwise have visited, much less lived, I picked upto learn how well North Dakota handled a 21st-century analog to the California Gold Rush of 1849. Not particularly well or badly, seems to be the answer to that question, but I soon realized that Smith was not especially interested in North Dakota except insofar as it was the location, the platform, on which the human drama of the oil rush played itself out. It might just as well have been west Texas. His focus is on the kind of men who gravitate to oil booms or other madcap industrial developments.is a memoir about brokenness  his own and the brokenness of most of the individuals he met on the vast and open plains of a little-visited state tucked up against the Canadian border.Smith comes from a badly broken home back east  a violent, raging father, a favorite sister who died at the age of 16 in an automobile accident, and a mother who found the courage to leave her abusive husband, who periodically threatened to kill his wife and his children, and they knew he wasnt altogether bluffing. Brokenness is the organizing principle of the book.Smith writes, That scar, that hole in a mans soul the shape of his father, was a defining feature of every man I met in Williston. Men had built their lives around it. Like a tree growing around a hatchet. The father wound served as a method of communication between me and the men I met. We talked jobs, then fathers. Before women, before politics, before home, Man, my dad whipped my ass! It bonded us together.Among other things, this passage indicates how superb a writer Smith is. But heres the most compelling insight of. Smith believes that extractive industrial capitalism depends on the father wound  the brokenness  to accomplish its mission. This kind of industrial capitalism attracts (preys on?) strong working class, Lee Greenwood, loose-ends young men who are willing to sacrifice their best years and their health while living in decidedly marginal communities. The work is backbreaking and heartbreaking, too, but the payoff is enough cash to make the day off an orgy of drink, loud conversations heavily laced with the f-word, opioids if you want them, pliant strippers, and a street fight if you arent careful.In other words, an oil boom attracts men who are not so much seeking economic independence as escaping the civilities they would be forced to observe if they were living in their home communities, surrounded by family, familiar neighbors, pastors, former schoolteachers, and community cops. They may come west for the best and most earnest reasons, but it is not long before most of them descend into a testosterone coma that brings them to the brink of mayhem or the personal bust that is sure to follow any boom.When you watch the drilling of a single fracking well in the Bakken, as if in a time lapse video, you surrender to a kind of gross industrial awe. The oil must be leased. Its 13,000 feet below the surface of the earth. An approach road is created to the spot. A level gravel pad of an acre or two is shaped. Power lines are brought to the site from the nearest trunk lines. The drilling rig is trucked in and set up. (This was Smiths place in the equation: mantle and dismantle). Enough pipe to slink seven miles into the ground must be piled up neatly at the site. Two thousand water trucks have to visit the site, with water hauled from 10 or a hundred miles away. Fracking material  a special kind of sand or tiny plastic pellets  arrives. An array of modular buildings  trailers  are arranged to facilitate the drilling. Colossal hydraulic engines inch in to provide the enormous pressure required to fracture (frack) the shale in which the oil is suspended.It may take two weeks to drill down and frack the shale or two months. Gamers with joysticks find the thin layer of oil-bearing shale, using extremely sophisticated sensing equipment and colorful monitors. Then they force the fracking fluids through perforated pipe into the fissures of the rock (seven miles down!). As soon as natural gas and oil start to find their way to the surface, they dismantle the whole industrial village, slap a pump jack and some storage tanks on the pad, and move to the next site.Daily TelegraphDrilling a single Bakken well can cost up to $10 million. This is how we get the oil that becomes the gasoline that you take for granted when you drive to the grocery store or the reunion. This is how we achieve energy independence. This is where the natural gas comes from that heats your home and cooks your pork roast. At the height of the boom, during the time Smith lived in western North Dakota, between 180-213 of these rigs were operating simultaneously, each one employing a couple of hundred people, many of them unskilled field grunts like Smith. (Actually, many of them are highly skilled, but the work they do is mostly grunt work).An average Bakken well will produce up to 600,000 barrels of oil over 30-40 years. A 42-gallon barrel of oil will yield about 20 gallons of gasoline. The average American consumes 656 gallons of gas per year. If you work the math, all this means that a single well will supply 609 people their annual gas ration. The American people consume about 2.9 billion barrels of oil per year. North Dakota currently exports approximately 1.25 million barrels per day.When you see all of this in the field, you come to a couple of remarkable conclusions. One: We must really want that black liquid substance if we are willing to spend $10 million just to get at it. If we learned that a lost painting of Rembrandt were buried at 13,500 feet in the earth, would we spend $10 million to dig it out? Two: We have developed extremely sophisticated methods of getting at that oil, but the process nevertheless requires the labor of hundreds and thousands of strong young men who are willing to live in substandard housing in a barren landscape, hundreds or thousands of miles from their kin, performing dangerous and extremely exhausting work out-of-doors in a place where winters are long and raw, often brutal. Three: We may be headed to a post-carbon future, but its going to be hard to find a substitute for this miracle liquid that powers the world economy. It must truly be magical if we are willing to use so much equipment and human muscle to draw it up out of the ground. Four: The oil business is based entirely on extraction  extraction of a precious resource from under the earth, extraction of the metals that make the rigs and the pipes, extraction of gravel for the roads and pads, extraction of sand or plastic (made from oil) for the fracking process; but also extraction (or perhaps subtraction) of the aesthetic value of landscapes in all the places where oil is developed, extraction of the quality of life of the people who happen to live permanently in or near a boom town, extraction of the best years of the lives of the men (and some women) who drift around to work the boom sites, not to mention the friends and families they leave behind when they go in quest of the American dream.Heres how Smith summarizes the profile. Testosterone-fueled young men are working fourteen-hour shifts at jobs that can kill them in a town without friends or family. It only makes sense that the dangerous work of the day spills past sunset as parentless white boys roar through the night in F-250sSmith arrived in North Dakota in the summer of 2013. He had a very hard time finding a place to sleep  not to live, but merely to sleep. He had a hard time finding a job. When he did, he wound up working very long hours with very little time off, and the pay, though good, was never what he and the rest of the oil field workers had come to expect. In fact, Smith left the state of North Dakota with less money than he brought to the adventure. In this, he was roughly typical. Its hard to generalize accurately for several tens of thousands of oil field workers, but most came with very high economic expectations and left sobered and disillusioned. The cost of living in the Bakken oil zone was high. At one time it was cheaper to rent an apartment in New York than in Williston or Watford City, N.D. Ifis an accurate window on the boom, most of the workers played as hard as they worked. Smiths pals seemed to spend every hour when they werent working either sleeping or drinking, and often enough brawling.Its not clear what Michael Smith was trying to prove out in the oil fields. It was not finally about money. In fact, as a talented musician, he might have made more money entertaining oil field workers than slinging metal with them on the pads. This is the lesson of virtually every gold rush  the profit is in serving or servicing the miners, not sharing their privations. He did not take back to Brooklyn, and now Kentucky, any skills that would transfer to a less industrial career. As the title of the memoir makes clear, what he wanted most was to be accepted as a good hand, someone who was reliable, uncomplaining, hardworking and tough enough to take the physical and emotional abuse of the industry. The work woke something up inside of me, Smith writes, something that had been dormant for some time, something simple and elemental. I liked being tired at the end of the day. I like having sore arms and sore feet. I liked getting dirty. On top of that, I loved the opportunity to do something I felt had meaning. It woke up my hands and my heart.He stood the test  graduated from a rookies green hardhat to the standard white one  and had the opportunity to spend a big chunk of his life in northwest North Dakota, but chose to retreat after 10 months, before his body broke down or his after-hours diversions had the chance to spin out of control. He is a bit vague on just what motivated him, but he locates it in proving a kind of working-class masculinity that seems not to get validated in his artistic life  now he is a writer with an agent, working on his second book!is a book of paradoxes. The East Coast liberals who are most critical of carbon are just as hopelessly addicted to all that oil brings to world civilization and the American economy as the proponents of big oil, which convicts them either of ignorance or hypocrisy. New York benefits from the oil boom far more than Williston ever will. The broken young men and women who seek the American Dream or some other fulfillment out on the energy frontier usually wind up even more broken when they finally limp away with chronic back problems, shattered personal relationships with the ones they left behind, and empty pockets. Most of the individuals Smith met in the Bakken were foul-mouthed, law-breaking, pass-out-drunk, racists, bigots, sexists, and angry patriots, and yet many of them were in some essential way good people and good friends, and a few of them, like Smiths closest Bakken friend Huck, somehow beautifully innocent. I struggled with this question, Smith writes, even as I enjoyed the company of unabashed bigots and learned to compartmentalize their casual, constant, continuing faucet of racism. How terrible is that? Does it make me a bad person? I dont know. How do you love men you disagree with so violently on the ethical and moral questions that you think define you?One climax of the book comes when the crew travels to Glendive, Mont., to set up a new rig. In the middle of a day off of hard drinking  thats invariably what they do on their days off  Smith reveals that he voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 elections. If this were a film (which it deserves to be) the whole bar would instantly go silent and everyone would turn to stare at whatever man uttered so outrageous, so appalling, so heretical a sentence. The result was explosive. Were all here because were capitalists, one of Smiths colleagues shouts. Obama is a socialist. He wants to give your money to crack addicts. Jesus Christ, said Tex, a real flesh-and-blood Democrat! And so on all day long.Smith doesnt spend a lot of time writing about North Dakota, but when he does, he writes about it beautifully:It is 20 degrees below zero, and the sun has yet to rise. My breath crystallizes in front of me. I watch the crystals all but fall to the earth as soon as they appear. I look up. The sky is racked with stars. They pulse in brilliance through an atmosphere so thin and clean that I feel like if I reached up to grab them, they would burn my hand. But they wouldntthey are cold and distantso I dont. I stuff my hands in my jacket pockets as a single big rig barrels past me. It takes all the sound with it, and the silence once it passes is full and strange. I start walking, my boots on icy gravel the only sound.As a writer and a deep lover of North Dakota, I can tell you: Smith nails it.The great book on the Bakken Oil Boom is yet to be written, but that does not makeany less interesting. Call it a portrait of an artist as an oil field grunt. Its a portrait of working class men through the eyes of a very talented writer.Michael Patrick F. SmithViking Press, 464 pages, Feb. 16, 2021, $29.00
Thiruvananthapuram, April 4 : The Kerala state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is fighting a high-stakes battle in the state, might sprung a few surprises in the upcoming state Assembly polls.

While the saffron party has been seen campaigning for the 'Metroman' E. Sreedharan, who is contesting from the Palakkad district, P.K. Krishnadas from the Kattakada Assembly constituency, state BJP President K. Surendran is contesting from two Assembly constituencies -- Manjeshwar and Konni. BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan from Nemom constituency and actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi from Thrissur district. The BJP might do well in the two constituencies.

While the saffron party is facing a stiff fight at its lone sitting seat, Nemom, in Thiruvananthapuram with former party state President Kummanam Rajasekharan sweating it out, the emergence of Kattakada and Kazhakootam Assembly constituencies in Thiruvananthapuram district has come as a sigh of relief to the BJP cadres and leaders alike.

Former BJP National Secretary, P.K. Krishnadas, who is considered as the face of the state BJP, contested from the Kattakada Assembly constituency where the CPI-M candidate I.B.Satheesh had won the seat by 849 votes in a neck-in-neck fight against N. Sakthan of the Congress during the 2016 state Assembly polls. P.K. Krishnadas had come in third trailing by 12,000 votes behind the CPI-M candidate. However, in the 2019 General elections, the BJP improved its tally by nearly 4,300 votes and in the local body polls held during December 2020, the party improved its tally further.

The candidature of Malayinkeezhu Venugopal for the Congress has changed the community equations of the Kattakada Assembly constituency as there were allegations levelled against him for plotting the defeat of party leader N. Sakthan in the 2016 state Assembly elections. Sakthan is a Nadar Christian and with the community having 25 per cent of the vote share, there are possibilities of a befitting response to the defeat of Sakthan in the constituency and may settle scores with Venugopal.

Rajesh Chandran, political analyst and former journalist, while speaking to IANS said, "The fight is between the BJP and the CPI-M and if a certain percentage of the Congress votes fall in the kitty of Krishnadas, he could probably win by a slender margin. Kattakada is a low profile seat and the BJP candidate even though being a former party State President and former BJP National secretary is a low profile person and acceptable to the constituency and the anti-incumbency factor is working out against the CPI-M leader, I.B. Satheesh." Similarly, in a three cornered fight at Kazhakootam Assembly constituency, the Kerala Minister for Devaswom and Tourism, Kadakampally Surendran, is pitted against BJP state Vice-President, Sobha Surendran, who is the firebrand woman leader of the BJP. The Congress candidate, S.S. Lal, is a medical doctor who has served the World Health Organisation(WHO). BJP and its candidate have raked up the Sabarimala temple issue and the entry of women into the hill shrine as a threat to the Hindu community and with Kadakampally Surendran being the minister in-charge of Sabarimala temple, has been the target of political potshots.

Kadakampally had to openly apologise for the "mishap" that happened at the Sabarimala temple. Kerala Assembly elections is now revolving around Sabarimala after former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy brought the issue to the forefront putting the CPI-M on the defensive. Shobha Surendran is engaged in a high voltage campaign against the CPI-M and the Congress.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan was the BJP candidate at Kazhakootam in the last state Assembly elections and had come second losing by a margin of 7,347 votes and the BJP vote share had risen by 25.04 per cent. The BJP's tally in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls has also increased considerably and the vote share has touched 45,479 votes. The BJP is clearly expecting this hike in vote share to help Shobha Surendran against CPI-M candidate and sitting Minister Kadakampally Surendran.
(CNN) -- Nine years after being assaulted by a boy she alleges was a student at Eton College, Zan Moon can still remember the moment as if it was yesterday.

"I can picture the hallway where it happened, his hands around my neck choking me," she says. "Then he put his hands down my pants... It was painful. I told him to stop."

Moon says the five-hour attack took place outside of school in a secluded cottage on England's South Coast, rented for the weekend by a friend at the elite girls' boarding school she attended: Benenden. She was 15 then.

Boys from the two all-male schools the girls often socialized with -- Eton and Tonbridge -- were also there and saw her fight her aggressor off multiple times. Yet no one intervened, she says.

"We're privileged kids, but despite all the money that goes on the maths and lacrosse lessons, not a penny is spent in these schools teaching students about their right to be safe from this type of behavior, which is a disgrace," Moon remembers of her school days.

"And it's important we talk about this because these are the men who will in some cases go on to run the country," she adds.

Eton, which has educated numerous British prime ministers, including the incumbent Boris Johnson, and Princes William and Harry, told CNN by email that it does run workshops on healthy relationships, teaching pupils about consent. It said it always takes specific allegations extremely seriously, supporting those affected and working with the police and children's services, when appropriate.

"Safeguarding the welfare of young people is our highest priority," said Eton in a statement. "All involved in education have a responsibility to recognize that we can and must do more so as to effect meaningful and sustained change, for the benefit of all young people."

The school did not address CNN's specific questions about what Zan Moon has alleged.

'Rape Culture'

Like a growing number of young women in the UK, Moon is speaking out about her experiences -- and soliciting the memories of others -- to smash the stigma of discussing a "rape culture" which they say is rife in schools.

What has burst forth is a chorus of anger, drowning out the deafening silence that previously surrounded the issue of sexual violence among school children.

After compiling a 15-page dossier of alleged incidents at multiple institutions, Moon wrote an open letter to the heads of Eton, Tonbridge and others, serving them notice on the "chauvinism" that she said "runs deep inside the UK's private boys schools." "It ends now," she wrote.

James Priory, the headmaster of Tonbridge, expressed "significant concern" after reading Moon's letter, saying in a statement that such behaviors had no place in his school. Tonbridge also said in a statement that it teaches consent to its pupils and refers incidents to the authorities when necessary.

"'We will be listening carefully to our students, staff and alumni, as well as to anyone who has contacted us directly from outside the School, in establishing what more we can do to ensure that sexual harassment and abuse are never accepted and that everyone will feel supported and able to come forward if they wish to," it said.

Moon's letter follows the initiative Everyone's Invited, a website that has garnered more than 13,000 testimonials detailing rape culture in British schools from current and former students.

They include accounts of 10-year-olds being catcalled, 12-year-olds being sexted, and disturbing allegations of rape -- all well below the UK's legal age of consent at 16 years old. The testimonies also include allegations of incidents at state schools and universities, highlighting the pervasive nature of harassment and violence against women in the UK -- an issue recently thrown into sharp relief by the killing of 33-year-old Londoner Sarah Everard, attacked while walking home from a friend's house.

"It's a lot wider than just the schools that have been named," says Everyone's Invited founder Soma Sara, a Londoner and former student of Wycombe Abbey girls' school. "There is a culture within our whole society of acceptance of sexual aggression and harassment. It's a culture that trivializes and normalized the worst behaviors and that can create an environment where sexual violence can exist and thrive."

A new helpline and action promised

On Thursday, the UK's Department for Education launched a new helpline to support potential victims of sexual harassment and abuse in educational settings. The government also announced an immediate review of safeguarding policies in state and independent schools. Meanwhile, London's Metropolitan Police are investigating several specific offences in relation to allegations on Everyone's Invited, and police are encouraging sexual assault survivors to speak out and seek support.

"We have subsequently received a number of reports of specific offences.

In addition, where schools have been named on this website, officers are making contact with those schools and offering specialist support for any potential victims of sexual assaults," wrote the Metropolitan Police in a press release.

"We understand the complex and varied reasons why many victim-survivors do not contact law enforcement, but I want to personally reassure anyone who needs our help that we are absolutely here for you," said The Met's lead for rape and sexual offences, Detective Superintendent Mel Laremore.

The anonymous nature of the posts shared on such platforms makes it hard to look into claims unless they are specific.

Individual schools have also launched investigations. Highgate School in north London -- where girls in Year 11 (aged 15/16) and above held a walkout in protest -- has commissioned an immediate external review of the sexual abuse and harassment allegations raised by student testimonies. It said in a statement:

"We are deeply shocked and horrified by the allegations that have recently come to light. The Highgate they describe runs entirely contrary to the values of our whole community ... We are truly sorry."

King's College School in Wimbledon, southwest London, also commissioned an independent review and said it will not accept any form of abuse or discrimination.

"The school has established a system to handle disclosures made by pupils, past or present and to offer support, and we urge anyone affected by these issues to come forward," it said.

The Everyone's Invited website has since stopped posting the names of schools alongside testimonies, but the debate continues. While hundreds of schools were named on the site, some current and former students, Like Moon -- have written open letters to headteachers, detailing their experiences of misogyny, abuse, and sexual violence.

One letter, penned by former Dulwich College student Samuel Schulenburg, accused the south London boys' school of being a "breeding ground for sexual predators." The letter was written to his former headmaster to raise awareness of problems at Dulwich, and detailed anonymous stories of sexual violence and harassment put forward by girls at James Allen's Girls School (JAGS), the sister school of Dulwich College.

In response to the open letter and anonymous allegations, Dulwich College headmaster Joe Spence said in a statement, "The behavior described is distressing and entirely unacceptable; we condemn it unreservedly."

"Whilst we cannot comment on anonymous testimonies, any specific and evidenced allegations will be addressed, and we will involve external authorities where appropriate," Spence added. "As a boys' school the first thing we must do is listen to what women and girls are telling us about their experiences and their concerns, but we also have a particular part to play, as educators of boys, in making a difference."

Victims asked to move schools

The Children's Commissioner, Rachel de Souza, said in a statement that "there is no excuse" for any school failing to follow safeguarding guidelines and offer victims support. Activists and women's campaigners say more preventative education is also needed in schools -- well before the onset of puberty.

"I think there's a lack of severity taken when disclosures are made. So often in schools, it will be brushed under the carpet," said Elizabeth Brailsford, herself a former headteacher now with Solace Women's Aid, a charity that supports survivors of sexual violence and conducts educational workshops in schools.

"Every time we go in to do a series of our sessions on healthy relationships, we'll get young people that come forward and tell us about experiences that they've had," Brailsford said. She added that it's "too common" for schools to suggest that girls who come forward with disclosures leave the school, "even though they're not the one that perpetrated the sexual assault."

Women's rights campaigners say that's little surprise in a country where sexual violence is now prosecuted at a much lower rate than in years gone by.

Rape prosecution rates dropped by 30% between 2019-2020 compared with the previous year, according to data from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). More than 55,000 cases of rape were recorded in 2019-2020 but only 1.4% resulted in a charge or summons, the CPS data said.

Sexual assault, rape, and attempted sexual violence often goes unreported, and it's difficult to quantity experiences of rape culture more broadly. Fewer than 16% of victims in England and Wales report their experience of assault to the police, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). But among women aged 16 to 74, more than one in 20 (6.2%) have experienced rape or attempted rape, while 4.8% have experienced assault by penetration.

Meanwhile, 58% of girls aged 14 to 21 say they have been publicly sexually harassed in their learning environment, according to a new survey from Plan International, a global children's charity.

"I only realized fairly recently that most of the sexual relationships I had when I was younger were not what I would describe as consensual," says Moon.

"The whole top private school system is set up to protect the boy's prospects and the school's reputation. That's the priority," Moon said. "What happens to us girls doesn't matter to them."

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the age of the girls who protested at Highgate School. They were aged 15/16 and upwards.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "UK's elite schools face a reckoning on rape culture"
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(Photo : Flickr/ JD Lasica) Elon Musk tweet ordered to be deleted

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla filed an appeal against the National Labor Relations Board or NLRB's ruling, which ordered the company's CEO Elon Musk to delete an anti-union tweet.

Elon Musk's anti-union tweet debate

According to Reuters, Tesla is also requesting that the US Court of Appeals review the board's decision that the vehicle company breached US labor law after it fired a union activities.

The tweet in question was posted by the CEO back in 2018. Musk wrote that nothing is stopping the Tesla team at their car plant from voting union, and added "Could do so tomorrow if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2x better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare."

Also Read: Elon Musk: Tesla EVs Not Connecting to Starlink Internet Due to Massive Network-Only for Aircraft, and MORE

Last month in March, the NLRB ordered Tesla to make Elon Musk delete the tweet and to publicly address the unlawful statement at all of its sites, and to include speech that says "We will take appropriate steps to ensure Elon Musk complies with our directive," as per Reuters.

The NLRB told Tesla to reinstate a former employee and revoke a ban on the sharing of union details in its car park without prior company permission.

Tesla workers complaint

Tesla workers at its Fremont plant had been been trying to form a union with the United Auto Workers, amid grueling working conditions, according to Business Insider.

Furthermore, Tesla employees also accused the vehicle company of firing employees who were staying at home during the pandemic, despite telling the workers that they were able to do so.

In a report by the The Washington Post, at least 5 employees were fired at the time.

The factory in Fremont, California reopened in May 2020, and Musk reassured nervous workers that they would not have to report to work if they feel uncomfortable showing up at the factory during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite orders from Alameda County to remain closed, the Tesla factory reopened.

The EV company then sued the county, claiming that its shutdown contradicted California's broader COVID-19 guidance and Musk threatened to move the factory out of the state.

Alameda County official ultimately allowed the factory to reopen on May 18, and Tesla eventually dropped the lawsuit.

Musk then sent an email to employees that same week aiming to answer questions about pandemic concerns. Musk wrote that he will be on the line personally helping wherever he can but if the employees are uncomfortable coming back to work they are not obligated to do so.

A few days later, Tesla's HR department sent an email reinstating its attendance policy and outlining a process to claim unpaid leave through May 31.

Tesla did not send any further guidance after May 31, and employees stated that they thought the email from Musk was accurate of the company's policy, and kept their managers updated through June.

However, Tesla has reportedly been cracking down on workers who told their supervisors that they prefer to stay home to avoid catching the virus. An employee stated that he was fired after opting to stay home because his one-year-old son has a respiratory condition.

Related Article: Tesla TikTok Update 2021.4.12.6: April Fool's Joke Gets People Excited for In-Car Recording and Streaming

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sieeka Khan

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The New IRA pulled the plug on its planned Easter show of strength for fear of more men ending up behind bars.

The Sunday World understands that dissident chiefs halted plans for a full terror ceremony at Derry City cemetery commemoration event after fears the PSNI would launch a full-scale arrest operation.

A source said: The plan was for a full colour party and a show of strength, but the backlash in the press and from politicians put too much focus on them.

The last thing they need right now is to have more members locked up or on strict bail conditions.

Senior republicans wanted to show that the New IRA hasnt gone away, that it still has power and its still very much in operation.

But it was agreed last week that going forward with such a public display would inevitably lead to a heavy press and police presence would only end one way.

Last month a republican group encouraged people to attend the Easter commemoration in apparent defiance of Covid health restrictions.

The Derry 1916 Commemoration Committee said that it is encouraging people to wear face masks to the event.

However, the event was branded a clear challenge to police by dissident republicans by a DUP MLA.

The group said: Join with us to honour those who gave their lives in Irelands freedom struggle and rededicate ourselves to the ongoing struggle for a 32 County Socialist Republic.

Due to the ongoing Covid pandemic we encourage all those attending to wear face coverings.

In 2018, the Derry 1916 Commemoration Committees illegal Easter Monday rally saw masked men march through the streets of Creggan as dozens of youths pelted the PSNI with bricks, bottles and petrol bombs.

A crowd of about 200 watched as a colour party of 14 people, dressed in paramilitary-style uniforms and with their faces partially covered, marched to the City Cemetery for speeches and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Republican plot.

Five men were arrested at the time.

The same year, eight men were arrested over a dissident republican march in Lurgan, Co Armagh.

The parade, organised by Republican Sinn Fein the political wing of the Continuity IRA, was held on March 31, 2018, as part of an Easter Rising commemoration.

During the colour party police clashed with masked demonstrators when they moved in to break up the parade as it made its way down the Levin Road in the town.

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This years Derry event is being supported by Saoradh, although that dissident group has also arranged an online commemoration.

The Parades Commission said that no notification had been received for a parade for that specified location and date.

The commission regulates parades and related protests. It has no responsibility for static events, said a spokesperson.

Unnotified parades and related protests are a matter for the PSNI.

The Sunday World revealed last week how the commemoration show of strength was planned under the orders of the newly restructured New IRA army council.

A source also claimed that all units in the north had recently been briefed on plans to carry out a number of deadly attacks in the coming months.

This month marks two years since the New IRA murder of journalist Lyra McKee.

The 29-year-old was shot dead during rioting in the Creggan estate on April 18, 2019. No-one has been convicted over her murder.
Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has given reasons for initiating #HarassBuhariOutOfLondon protest. Some Nigerians staged a pr...

Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has given reasons for initiating #HarassBuhariOutOfLondon protest.

Some Nigerians staged a protest on Friday at the Nigeria House in London against the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), medical trip.

The President is currently in London where he is expected to spend two weekks to enable him to undergo a medical check-up.

The former presidential wondered why Buhari failed to build a standard hospital in Nigeria.

Among other reasons, according to Omokri, that led to the protest were the shooting of #EndSARS protesters by soldiers and Nigerias unemployment rate.

He said other Nigerians in London joined the protest because they were also uncomfortable with the situation of things in their country.

Omokri said, I flew into London on April 2, 2021 to lead the #HarassBuhariOutOfLondon protest, and I went there straight from the airport.

I did not eat, sleep, shower or rest. The Presidents people called the City of London Police on me, and I was questioned. At the end of the questioning, which was streamed live to my followers, they announced with their mouths that I had committed no crime and that my protest was peaceful, orderly and within my rights.

In fact, after General Buharis people called the police on me that afternoon, I calmly asked the officer questioning me this question:

Officer, has Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, ever come to Nigeria to access healthcare? So, why should you be called on me when I am asking my President to return to Nigeria to use our hospitals?

The police officer was touched. He told me I was within my rights and flashed the thumbs up sign, and allowed the #HarassBuhariOutOfLondon to continue. Buharis people failed big time!

So, why did I decide to initiate this protest at great personal expense and risk? It is because I believe that General Buhari is not running a government. He is running a criminal enterprise.

This man has been in office for five years. In that time, has budgeted over N10 billion for the Aso Rock State House Clinic. This is the equivalent of $27 million. Is that not enough money to build a hospital and train doctors to treat him and other Nigerians? Yet, his wife, Aisha Buhari, admitted that that clinic cannot even provide ordinary paracetamol. Google it.

However, that was not my main reason for initiating the protest. I did it really as a way of seeking closure for the victims of the EndSARS protests, because General Buharis spin doctors are going around town misrepresenting the US State Departments human rights report as a vindication that the Lekki Massacre did not happen.

That is not what the report states. Please read it yourself. The report states that the US was unable to independently verify what happened because the Nigerian authorities prevented anyone from obtaining the facts of the matter.

The report also said that while Amnesty International revealed that ten people died, the Federal Government said no one died, with the Lagos State Government saying only two people died and that that controversy makes it impossible to establish what really happened.

Finally, the report said that at least one corpse was found riddled with bullets and that they could confirm. They also said that another corpse was found with blunt force trauma. Nowhere in that report did the US State Department say that the massacre did not happen.

How did Buhari reward us? He sent soldiers to Lekki to kill peaceful, unarmed #EndSARS protesters. These are the children of the men and women who prayed for his son.

Now, after killing peaceful, unarmed EndSARS protesters asking for good governance, he is in London to secure his life and enjoy the benefits of good British governance. My conscience could not stomach it. I had to play my part in the effort to send the coward back home to fix the mess he created.

Only five per cent of Nigerians are covered by a doctor. This man forced himself on Nigeria. He promised he would do better than his predecessors, but he has turned Nigeria into the world headquarters for extreme poverty. He has bequeathed us the highest unemployment in the world at 33 per cent.

We have the highest number of out of school children at 13.5 million. And having destroyed our economy, he has run to a London that is on COVID19 lockdown to restore his health.
New Delhi, April 4 : 'Sankalp se Siddhi'-- a village and digital connect drive -- aims to aid a complete transformation of the tribal ecosystem across the country till mid-July this year.

The sole purpose of the drive is to help disadvantaged tribal sections of the society.

Starting from April 1 this year, this 100-day drive will entail 150 teams, 10 in each region, from Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) and state implementation agencies or mentoring agencies or partners) visiting 10 villages each.

At least 100 villages in each region and 1,500 villages in the country will be covered in the next 100 days. "The main aim of this drive is to activate the Van Dhan Vikas Kendras in these villages," said Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

TRIFED under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs launched the 'Sankalp se Siddhi' drive following the success of the Village and Digital connect initiative. The regional officials across of TRIFED across the country went to identify villages with a significant tribal population and supervised the implementation of the various programmes and initiatives earlier in 2021 under the Village and Digital connect initiative.

Among all of TRIFED's initiatives that have been put in place to help the disadvantaged tribal sections of the society, the scheme, Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP), through minimum support price (MSP) and development of value chain for MFP that provides MSP to gatherers of forest produce and introduces value addition and marketing through tribal groups and clusters and Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVK) has found widespread acceptance across the country.

Especially during the pandemic in 2020, the VDVK scheme has emerged as a panacea for the tribals, said the Ministry.

"The objective of the MSP for MFP scheme is to establish a framework for ensuring fair prices for the tribal gatherers, primary processing, storage, transportation while ensuring sustainability of the resource base addressing the problems tribals are facing such as perishable nature of the produce, lack of holding capacity, lack of marketing infrastructure, exploitation by middlemen, and timely government intervention." Once VDVK scheme is activated in 1,500 villages, the Ministry said sales of approximately Rs 200 crore is expected during the next 12 months. "The visiting teams will also identify locations and shortlist potential VDVKs for clustering as TRIFOOD, and SFURTI units as larger enterprises." "They will also identify tribal artisans and other groups and empanel them as suppliers so that they can have access to larger markets through the Tribes India network - both physical outlets and TribesIndia.com," said the Ministry.
Bengaluru, April 4 : Serial entrepreneur Ashok Soota on Sunday announced Rs 200 crore funding to set up Skan medical research trust here for ageing and neurological disorders.

"The not-for-profit trust will conduct research with partners and in-house. For neurological research, the trust has tied up with the Centre for Brain Research (CBR) at the premier Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in the city," said Soota in a statement here.

Soota, 78, is the co-founder of Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd and over 2 decades ago, co-founded software major MindTree after serving as an executive in global IT major Wipro.

Of the Rs 200-crore fund, Rs 100 crore will be for partners like CBR, St John's Hospital and state-run Nimhans in the city and IIT at Roorkee in Uttarkhand.

As part of consortium, CBR's first research project will be on Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement.

Soota has also agreed to fund the centre for research in ageing and geriatrics at St John's geriatrics centre in its hospital campus.

"In ageing, the research will be in community-based set-up and in neurological research, the plan will be to foray into areas like bipolar disorders, strokes and cerebro-vascular disorders," he said.

Admitting that it would take 10 years to build a centre for ageing and neurological research, he said the research will include searching for kinder, gentler therapies.

"Delaying onset and slowing progression of the disease and providing the affected a better quality of life even as they live with the illness," added Soota.
After the U.S. Capitol building was attacked this week for the second time in less than three months, former Laredo Mayor and U.S. Capitol Police officer Raul Salinas said he was in complete disarray.

With the increased security at the U.S. Capitol and the National Guard, all around the Capitol area, it is unbelievable that this would occur again, Salinas said. At one time, the U.S. Capitol was the safest place in the world, and now its just incredible what is happening. People would just go in and out and visit their congressman and get a tour of the Capitol, and now everything has changed. Im really disappointed on what is going on.

The former mayor said one of the main reasons why these attacks continue is the country is in a dismal state of division and continued panic caused by the changing of leadership and the lack of a call for unity amid the changing political landscapes.

I think they are considering bringing in more capitol police officers, but its just a sad time in this country with all the lives lost with the pandemic, and now you wonder if there is any place that is safe anymore, Salinas said. You cannot even go shopping to a grocery store now, and its really sad to me.

Salinas said the training of Capitol Police officers will now change because of this, and more officers will be recruited and hired to work in the area. He said a complete evaluation of why this is happening should be done.

Salinas said the response Friday was much better than the Jan. 6 attack, but it still resulted in the loss of an officers life and the wounding of another.

The security is so tight in the Capitol, but it doesnt matter what you do as when an individual makes up his or her mind to do harm, they are going to do it, Salinas said. The only thing that we can do is to try to be proactive rather than reactive.

In January, in the aftermath of the attack Salinas warned that both domestic and foreign threats could see how easily the Capitol could be attacked. He fears more attacks could occur, and he believes the National Guard and an increased police presence will be used following the latest attack.

First of all, you have to have a show of force as a deterrent. There is no question about that, and Congress has to do its business following the attack, Salinas said. The national guard will no doubt have to remain until they feel it is time to leave. Right now, we are living in different times, and unfortunately there is a lot of divide and hate in this country as we saw it in the insurrection in the Capitol.

Salinas said this show of force must remain not just to protect Congress but also to protect the blue-collar workers and other workers around the area.

Salinas also focused on how this week has been deadly for officers all over the country.

We have lost three police officers just in a weeks time, Salinas said. We have a police officer in Boulder, Colorado that left seven kids behind, and the state trooper that was killed last week that had four children, and they are the breadwinners, so I am really concerned and believe that something has to be done. Saying sorry is not enough, and expressing condolences is not enough. We have to realize that all lives matter.

Salinas said these attacks and continued threats have made the law enforcement profession much more dangerous than ever before.

If people see something, say something, Salinas said. The public has to be more vigilant as well. If people know about somebody that is talking or seeing somebody that is on Facebook saying something, they should report it and it could save lives.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
Imperial Valley News Center

Man Pleads Guilty to $244 Million Ghost-Cattle Scam

Spokane, Washington - A Washington man pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding Tyson Foods Inc. (Tyson) and another company (Company 1) out of more than $244 million by charging them under various agreements for the purported costs of purchasing and feeding hundreds of thousands of cattle that did not actually exist.

According to court documents, Cody Allen Easterday, 49, of Mesa, used his company, Easterday Ranches Inc., to enter into a series of agreements with Tyson and Company 1 under which Easterday Ranches agreed to purchase and feed cattle on behalf of Tyson and Company 1. Per the agreements, Tyson and Company 1 would advance Easterday Ranches the costs of buying and raising the cattle. Once the cattle were slaughtered and sold at market price, Easterday Ranches would repay the costs advanced (plus interest and certain other costs), retaining as profit the amount by which the sale price exceeded the sum repaid to Tyson and Company 1.

Beginning in approximately 2016 and continuing through November 2020, Easterday submitted and caused others to submit false and fraudulent invoices and other information to Tyson and Company 1. These false and fraudulent invoices sought and obtained reimbursement from the victim companies for the purported costs of purchasing and growing hundreds of thousands of cattle that neither Easterday nor Easterday Ranches ever purchased, and that did not actually exist. As a result of the scheme, Tyson and Company 1 paid Easterday Ranches over $244 million for the purported costs of purchasing and feeding these ghost cattle.

Easterday used the fraud proceeds for his personal use and benefit, and for the benefit of Easterday Ranches, including to cover approximately $200 million in commodity futures contracts trading losses that Easterday had incurred on behalf of Easterday Ranches. In connection with his commodity futures trading, Easterday also defrauded the CME Group Inc. (CME), which operates the worlds largest financial derivatives exchange. On two separate occasions, Easterday submitted falsified paperwork to the CME that resulted in the CME exempting Easterday Ranches from otherwise-applicable position limits in live cattle futures contracts.

For years, Cody Easterday perpetrated a fraud scheme on a massive scale, increasing the cost of producing food for American families, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. The Criminal Divisions prosecutors are committed to swiftly and thoroughly prosecuting frauds affecting our nations agricultural and other commodities markets, whether in the heartland or on Wall Street.

I commend the agents with the Federal Deposit Insurance Company Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for their dedication to investigating this case and tenacity in ferreting out the fraudulent activity to which the defendant has pleaded guilty, said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Harrington for the Eastern District of Washington.

Todays guilty plea holds the defendant responsible for his extensive and coordinated fraud over many years, resulting in more than $240 million of illicit gains, said Inspector General Jay N. Lerner of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation  Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG). The defendant submitted false and fraudulent documentation, and then brazenly used the proceeds to cover his losses and for his personal benefit. This scheme was unraveled through rigorous and diligent investigative work with our law enforcement partners, and the FDIC-OIG remains committed to helping preserve the integrity of the banking sector.

Producing and providing false invoices and information on goods and services never delivered, were the fundamental key in defrauding an American multinational company out of hundreds of millions of dollars, said Inspector in Charge Delany De Leon-Colon of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group. This case highlights the collaborative investigative work undertaken by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and its law enforcement partners to protect consumers and businesses from duplicitous practices. Anyone who engages in these fraudulent and deceptive activities will be brought to justice.

Easterday pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and agreed to repay $244,031,132 in restitution. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 4 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the case.

Acting Principal Assistant Chief Avi Perry and Trial Attorney John Fritz Scanlon of the Criminal Divisions Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell E. Smoot of the Eastern District of Washington are prosecuting the case.
The family of murdered Irish father of two Jason Corbett (39) is to lodge a legal challenge in the US to any bid by prosecutors to offer a plea bargain deal to his killers Tom (71) and Molly (37) Martens.

The former FBI agent and his daughter, a former nanny, had their second-degree murder convictions quashed by North Carolina Supreme Court last month and were transferred on Friday from separate North Carolina prisons back to Davidson County jail where they were first taken into custody.

Both have been offered a plea bargain deal by Davidson County District Attorney Garry Frank, through which, if they admit the voluntary manslaughter of Mr Corbett on August 2, 2015, they will avoid retrial for second-degree murder.

The father and daughter will next week consult with their defence lawyers over the plea bargain deal, which must be decided upon within seven days.

Instead of facing possible 20-25 year prison terms, they would instead receive a likely five-year and seven-month term if they accept the plea deal - and both will have served four years in custody by August. However, the Corbett family signalled they will now take legal action to challenge the deal.

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Mr Corbett's sister, Tracey Corbett-Lynch, said it was not acceptable that a factor in the plea bargain decision was the backlog of murder cases in North Carolina because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mrs Corbett-Lynch, her husband David Lynch, and Mr Corbett's two children Jack (16) and Sarah (14), all travelled to North Carolina to meet with Davidson County prosecutors and police over the retrial process.

"We appreciate that the District Attorney has a difficult job to do but we hold firm to our statement earlier this week that a plea deal in this case is tantamount to letting the Martens get away with murder," she said.

Under North Carolina law, such deals can be challenged by victims' families if they are perceived to be overly lenient or otherwise unjustified.

Mr Corbett, a Limerick widower, was beaten to death in the bedroom of his Winston-Salem home in North Carolina by his American second wife and his father-in-law. Both insisted they acted in self-defence.
Jordans king sends tough message on dissent in royal family View Photo

JERUSALEM (AP)  Jordanian authorities said Sunday they foiled a malicious plot by a former crown prince to destabilize the kingdom with foreign support, contradicting the senior royals claims that he was being punished for speaking out against corruption and incompetence.

Faced with rival narratives, the United States and Arab governments quickly sided with Jordans King Abdullah II, reflecting the countrys strategic importance in a turbulent region.

Domestically, Prince Hamzahs unprecedented criticism of the ruling class  without naming the king  could lend support to growing complaints about poor governance and human rights abuses in Jordan.

At the same time, the kings tough reaction  placing his popular half-brother under house arrest and accusing him of serious crimes  illustrated the limits on public dissent he is willing to tolerate.

The kingdoms stability and security transcend everything, said Ayman Safadi, Jordans foreign minister and deputy prime minister, as he accused Hamzah and two senior Jordanian officials of conspiring with foreign elements to destabilize the kingdom. The plot is totally contained.

Yet Safadis news conference Sunday did little to address questions surrounding the weekends dramatic events. In the night from Saturday to Sunday, Hamzah had announced in a secretly recorded video leaked to the media that he had been placed under house arrest.

Hamzahs mother, Noor, weighed in on Twitter, writing Sunday: Praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander. God bless and keep them safe.

Abdullah and Hamzah are both sons of the late King Hussein, who remains a beloved figure two decades after his death. Upon ascending to the throne in 1999, Abdullah named Hamzah as crown prince, only to revoke the title five years later. While the two are said to have generally good relations, Hamzah has at times spoken out against government policies, and more recently had forged ties with powerful tribal leaders in a move seen as a threat to the king.

In his video, Hamzah, 41, accused Jordans ruling class of corruption and stifling freedom of expression.

Im not part of any conspiracy or nefarious organization or foreign-backed group, as is always the claim here for anyone who speaks out, he said. He said his love for the country is seen as a crime worthy of isolation, threats and now being cut off.

Hamzah is a popular figure in Jordan, widely seen as pious and modest. But in his televised address, Safadi painted a far different picture, accusing the prince of engaging in a secret plot that would have harmed national security had it not been foiled at the last minute.

When they (security services) intercepted certain communications speaking about a zero hour, then it was clear that they (the alleged plotters) moved from designs and planning to action, Safadi said. As a result, it was necessary for the security and intelligence apparatuses to move to throttle at birth this malicious plot.

Safadi did not provide specifics on the alleged plot or say what other countries were purported to have been involved. But he said that some 14 to 16 associates of Hamzah had been arrested, in addition to two former senior officials, Bassem Awadallah and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family. Awadallah is a former Cabinet minister and one-time head of the royal court.

Safadi said Hamzah was warned Saturday by the countrys military chief to halt his activities but rejected the request. He claimed the prince recorded the conversations, passed them to foreign sources and issued his video message in an attempt to distort facts and to gain sympathy domestically and internationally. He said the princes activities amounted to incitement and efforts to mobilize citizens against the state.

Safadi accused Awadallah, now a prominent businessman in the Gulf, of handling the contacts with foreigners. He also claimed an individual with links to foreign intelligence services had offered services to Hamzahs wife on Saturday afternoon to try to get her out of the country.

The Jordanian news site Amoon identified the individual as an Israeli named Roy Shaposhnik. In a statement to the AP, Shaposhnik identified himself as a former Israeli businessman living in Europe, and a close friend of Hamzahs, but denied ever being an intelligence agent. He said he offered to host Hamzahs wife and children after hearing about the princes predicament. The offer, he said, was based on the strong personal friendship between their families.

Safadi declined to say whether the prince would be charged with a crime, saying only there were attempts to resolve the matter amicably.

Such public clashes between the highest ranks of the long-ruling family are unheard of, and any signs of instability in Jordan could raise concerns throughout the region.

The United States swiftly announced its full support for Abdullah. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait all expressed solidarity with the king.

Labib Kamhawi, a Jordanian political analyst, said the strong support for Abdullah reflected his generally good relations across the region as well as a concern that similar troubles could strike other countries.

None of the leaders in the region would like to see havoc hitting any regime, Kamhawi said. It could be contagious.

The U.S. considers Jordan a major ally, granting it access to military equipment and assistance. U.S. special forces and other troops routinely train with the Jordanians. The kingdom hosts some 3,000 American troops.

Stability in Jordan and the status of the king have long been a concern throughout the region, particularly during the Trump administration, which gave unprecedented support to Israel and sought to isolate the Palestinians, including by slashing funding for Palestinian refugees.

That placed Jordan, which serves as the custodian of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem  and is home to a large Palestinian population  in a delicate position.

Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994. The countries maintain close security ties, but relations have otherwise been tense in recent years, largely due to differences linked to Israels conflict with the Palestinians.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz called Jordan a strategic ally and dismissed the turmoil as an internal Jordanian matter.

Jordan, a country of some 10 million people, has been shaken by a series of crises in recent years, from the rise of the Islamic State group in neighboring countries to an influx of Syrian refugees and an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Bessma Momani, a professor of international relations at Ontarios Waterloo University, said the house arrest of Hamzah was self-defeating because it is likely to strengthen the princes popularity.

Nonetheless, she said it sent a powerful message to the Jordanian public. If a prince can be stymied, no Jordanian is immune from the heavy hand of the state, she said.

___

AP correspondent Sarah El Deeb contributed reporting from Beirut.

By JOSEF FEDERMAN

Associated Press
The Russian-made BRDM-2MS was showcased for the first time on March 27, 2021, during a military parade celebrating Myanmar Armed Forces Day. According to the SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) Arms Trade Database, Myanmar has purchase from Russia an undisclosed number of modernized BRDM-2, 4x4 reconnaissance armored vehicles in BRDM-2MS configuration that were delivered in 2019.

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New Russian-made BRDM-2MS of Myanmar armed forces at military parade that was held in March 2021. (Picture source Russian MoD)

Since the 2000s, Myanmar has purchased an impressive number of military equipment from China and Russia including fire control radar, anti-ship missiles, main battle tanks, air defense missile system, frigates and drones from China as well as air defense missile systems, combat helicopters, fighter aircraft from Russia.



China and Russia have key defense cooperation with Myanmar that includes military exercises and the delivery of weapons. In 2016, Myanmar and Russia signed a broad cooperation agreement including military training.

The BRDM-2MS is an upgraded version of the Soviet-made BRDM-2, a 4x4 wheeled reconnaissance armored vehicle that was unveiled for the first time to the public in 1966, during a military parade in Moscow.

The original BRDM-2 has an all-welded steel armor hull providing protection against firing of small arms and artillery shell splinters. The vehicle is fitted with a one-man turret armed with one 14.5 mm KPVT machine gun and one coaxial 7.62 mm PKT machine gun mounted to the right.

The BRDM-2 is powered by a GAZ-41 V-8 water-cooled petrol engine developing 140 hp at 3,400 rpm coupled to a manual transmission with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears. It can run at a maximum road speed of 100 km with a maximum road range of 750 km. The vehicle has a crew of four and is fully amphibious propelled in the water at a maximum speed of 10 km/g thanks to a single water-jet mounted at the rear of the hull.

The BRDM-2MS has many new features including an anti-fire device, thermal vision camera, laser range finder, surveillance systems for commander and gunner, target acquisition system, a geo-positioning system using GPS and electronic map, electronic monitoring of engine operation on drivers panel, six cameras providing 360 awareness outside of the vehicle.

The BRDM-2MS is powered by a new Diesel engine developing 150 hp. It has now a side door that enables the crew to quickly enter and leave the vehicle. Additional armor protection is mounted at the front and on each side of the hull. The floor of the vehicle has also been reinforced to provide protection against mines and IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) blasts.

The BRDM-2MS maintains the one-man turret using the same armament as the original BRDM-2 including one 14.5 mm and one 7.62mm machine guns. The roof of the turret is now equipped with optics and observation systems. According to our first analysis, the vehicle lost its amphibious capabilities due to a storage box mounted at the rear of the hull.

The BRDM-2MS is also in service with the Serbian armed forces. The first vehicles were delivered by Russia to Serbia in 2020.
Colorado's COVID cases and hospitalizations have plateaued at a "concerning" high, as the state both loosens its COVID restrictions and enters the final phase of its mass vaccination campaign.
Christian clergy and faithful gathered on Sunday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City for Easter Mass.

The service was led by the Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the region.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the dead.

Faithful wore masks, a sign of subdued celebrations amid an ongoing pandemic.

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.

Israeli authorities said up to 5,000 Christian Palestinians from the West Bank would be permitted to enter for Easter celebrations.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Evelyn Colons mother imagined her daughter living happily surrounded by her own family and children.

She was spared the heartbreaking news that her beautiful, green-eyed daughter never lived to see her 16th birthday or the birth of her own baby girl, who shared her mothers tragic fate.

Colon, who was known for more than four decades here in Northeast Pennsylvania as Beth Doe, was brutally murdered and dumped off an Interstate 80 bridge in East Side borough in December 1976.

Her then-boyfriend, Luis Sierra, now 63, of Ozone Park, New York, was charged last week with criminal homicide after DNA testing proved to be the break in the case investigators sought.

He is being held without bail and awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania in Colons murder.

Colons family didnt know what happened to her, as they lost all contact with her in late 1976 when she was eight or nine months pregnant with Sierras baby, said her niece, Miriam Colon-Veltman, on Friday.

The young couple had an apartment together in Jersey City, New Jersey, where their families lived.

But the apartment was abandoned when Colons family went to visit in mid-December and then they received a letter from Connecticut that she was happy, had the baby and was with her boyfriend, Veltman said.

The letter said that shed contact them if she needed anything.

She apparently chose to live her life apart from them  a fact they accepted with great sadness, Veltman said. So, no missing persons report was ever filed, she said.

Her family never stopped thinking about her, wondering how she was, where she was and how her family may have grown over the years with additional children or grandchildren, Veltman said.

Veltmans grandmother never gave up hope that she would see her daughter again, but passed before the family learned Evelyns true fate.

Veltman, who was born 11 years after her aunt vanished, grew up with stories about her, as they shared the same birthday, April 17.

Every year, my father would tell me, Happy Birthday, and say, You were born on your aunts birthday,  she recalled.

Evelyn would have been 60 years old in a few weeks, she said.

She was the aunt I never got to meet, but I always felt a deep connection to her, said Veltman, who lives in New Albany, Indiana.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/official-beth-doeevelyn-colon-headstone-memorial?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer

Hes the family hero

Veltmans brother, Luis Colon Jr., gets the credit for providing the link that finally gave Beth Doe her true name back and gave investigators the break they sought for decades.

Luis Jr. had his DNA tested, in the hopes that his profile would link him with close family members  Evelyns children and his cousins  reuniting the heartbroken family, Veltman said.

Hes the family hero, she said, as his DNA profile was a 99.9% match to Evelyn, leading investigators to him a few weeks ago.

Her brother confirmed that his aunt disappeared in the 1970s, and put them in touch with his father, Luis Sr., who gave investigators additional information about his sisters boyfriend, Sierra.

He hadnt seen Sierra, who was older than him and went by Wiso, in high school, since his sister disappeared, he told them. Their family lived next door to his family in Jersey City, he said.

Other family members told investigators about finding the young couples apartment empty, and that Sierra was abusive and jealous towards Evelyn, keeping her locked inside the apartment.

Evelyn, herself, told her mother that she feared her boyfriend and that if anything happened, he was likely involved, investigators learned.

The familys last contact was the letter in 1977 that told them of a birth of a 9-pound son, Luis Sierra Jr. Investigators did not think Evelyn authored the letter, according to court papers.

Evelyns family continues to reel over the details of her death  strangled, shot, dismembered, stuffed into suitcases and tossed like trash over a high bridge onto the banks of the Lehigh River.

Her unborn daughter, who the family has now named Emily Grace, was cut from her womb, and Evelyns nose, ears and breasts had been removed.

Reality overwhelming, heartbreaking

The reality has been overwhelming and heartbreaking for a family that had hoped one day to reconnect, said Veltman, who started a GoFundMe page for a memorial for her aunt.

They want now to connect with the then-teenager who found her body, Kenneth Jumper Jr., dogged investigators and people in Northeast Pennsylvania who mourned her death in absence of her own family and kept her memory alive all of these years, she said.

The family has no photographs of Evelyn, Veltman said, as they suffered a devastating fire in 1975 that took all of the cherished family mementos. They continue to seek them out, she said.

The family was also amazed at the likeness of composite sketches investigators created after her body was exhumed in 2007. Veltman immediately saw the resemblance to her niece and sister.

Her grandmother described her as the most beautiful girl in the family with hazel-green eyes, light skin and long, long dark hair, she said. She always imagined an equally beautiful life for her long ago, lost daughter, Veltman said.

Now, we know she didnt leave, she said. She was killed. She was taken away from us.

Her grave in rural Carbon County now bears her name. A block of wood with the name, Evelyn Colon, lays at the foot of a white cross reading Beth Doe. Flowers and a childs toy also adorn the grave.

Veltman cant express the gratitude her family has for all of the concern, caring and tears others shed for Evelyn and Emily Grace.

Carbon County adopted her, she said. Its incredible. You all kept her memory alive, knowing about her and praying for her. Thats so powerful that this county was praying for my family and how you loved someone you didnt know.

The GoFundMe page raised nearly $2,600 in donations as of Friday afternoon, and the case has attracted international attention, Veltman said.

A reporter from France has contacted the family, and a donation from Vienna, Austria, is among the more than 60 so far for the memorial.

Were so thankful for all of you, Veltman said. Youre all family now, too.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  For April, we tried an assortment of beers  different styles from all over  ranging from 3.5% to 9% alcohol. All should be available in Greater Cleveland retail distribution. Well list our favorite at the end. Email us and let us know what you like or dont enjoy. Or suggest a beer youve seen in local distribution we should sip. Cheers!

Krombacher Weizen

Krombacher Weizen

Krombacher, Germany, Weizen, 5.3%

Per the style, banana is front and center, but we detected no spice at all in this one. Carbonation is a bit finer, and if you like the traditional German-style Weizen youll like this.

Krombacher Dark

Krombacher Dark

Krombacher, Germany, dark beer, 4.7%

Smooth tasting, medium-bodied, balanced malts, with notes of slight burnt sugar before hops come out near the finish.

Fluid Forms

Fluid Forms

Jackie Os, Athens, Ohio; Hazy Double India Pale Ale, 9%

This hazy ale - made with Citra, Sabro and Idaho 7 hops  has orange pith and some pine and smells fruitier than it tastes. Hops are smooth and not overpowering, but they make their presence known.

Pina Playa

Pina Playa

BrewDog, Columbus, Gose, 5.2%

Billed as a Pina Colada Gose. We got notes of fresh peach then  true to its name  coconut. Also in keeping with the style its sour and salty, but not overly mouth-puckering. A nice refreshing ale that would be great in summertime for sour-ale fans.

Hydra's Haze

Hydras Haze

Heavy Seas Beer, Baltimore, Hazy India Pale Ale, 6%

Fresh lemon and the pith of fruit comes and stays across the palate, with hops big on the finish. A pleasing burnt singe on the tail end lingers in this IPA. A favorite brewery of ours.

Rubus Cacao

MadTree Rubus Cacao

MadTree Brewing Co., Cincinnati; Stout, 7%

This Stout is made with cacao nibs from Maverick Chocolate Co. and raspberry, and its truth in advertising: Equal parts chocolate and fruit come across the palate. The cans design is purposefully reminiscent of the chocolate companys candy-bar design. Dont expect an imperial bomb here; its medium-bodied and has moderate alcohol.

Slurm Lord

Shorts Slurm Lord

Shorts Brewing Co., Bellaire, Michigan; Double New England-style India Pale Ale, 7.3%

Orange pith comes through in this balanced ale with a nice peppery burn on the finish. Probably the best beer weve tried from this Michigan brewery. Tropical flavors abound. Delicious mouthfeel. Brewed with

Citra, Azacca, Amarillo, El Dorado and Mosaic hops.

Pacifico

Pacifico Clara

Cervecera de Coahuila, Grupo Modelo/InBev, Mexico; Pilsner, 4.4%

Clean tasting with just a slight breadiness, low alcohol, decent summer sipper, no off flavors. If you see a clear bottle you wont expect anything too crazy, but its a simple quencher nonetheless.

Guava Rodeo

Guava Rodeo

Oskar Blues Brewing Co., Longmont, Colorado; Sour Ale, 6%

The ale is made with guava and tangerine. Tangy-citrus notes hit you immediately, and the tangerine is front and center. Very light finish that tails off. Marketable Sour Ale.

Resolution

Resolution

Breckenridge Brewery, Littleton, Colorado; Golden Ale, 3.5%

This blueberry acai Golden Ale is extremely light, a bit dry tasting, and not as sweet as billed. Very light finish. Nothing crazy going on. Blueberry is there but faint. For those who like the flavor, its worth a comparison vs. Fat Heads Bumble Berry.

This months favorite: Shorts Slurm Lord, with Jackie Os Fluid Forms a close second.

Our reviews: Most of the beers we buy come from Northeast Ohio retail shops and stores. We choose from Lizardville in Copley, plus Heinens, Red, Wine & Brew; Acme, Giant Eagle, Mustard Seed, Whole Foods and others.

Related coverage

13 different beers for March

11 beers from 11 states - February

9 beers to start the year with - January

I am on cleveland.coms life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, heres a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. And tune in at 8:05 a.m. Fridays for Beer with Bona and Much, Much More with Munch Bishop on 1350-AM The Gambler.

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In embracing the cross, Jesus bestowed meaning on our sufferings, said Francis in his Easter message and Urbi et Orbi blessing. The pontiff expressed hope for people with COVID-19, the poor affected by the economic crisis, young people, migrants. He also mentioned certain countries and places: Haiti, Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Nagorno Karabakh, eastern Ukraine, Sahel, Nigeria, Tigray, and Cabo Delgado. Without citing any one country, Francis remembered all the places where religious freedom is denied.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis ended his Easter Message the occasion of the Urbi et Orbi blessing, saying we have been healed by the wounds of Christ (cf. 1 Pt 2:24). In the light of the Risen Lord, our sufferings are now transfigured.

In his address, the pontiff listed some of the travails and difficulties in todays world. This followed the Mass on the day of the Resurrection. Last night, Francis led the Easter Vigil and delivered his homily.

At Mass today, a period of silence was held in lieu of the homily. Before the final rites of the Eucharist, the Pope did something unusual: he first thanked the new archpriest of St Peter's Basilica, Card Mauro Gambetti, who recently took up his duties, and his predecessor, Card Angelo Comastri, wishing him all the best. The pontiff then thanked all those who made the dignity and beauty of the celebrations possible, namely the choir, the altar servers, the artists, the readers . . .

At noon, Francis was back at the Altar of the Chair, proclaiming the Message. First of all, he reiterated that The Easter message does not offer us a mirage or reveal a magic formula. It does not point to an escape from the difficult situation we are experiencing. The pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor. Nonetheless  and this is scandalous  armed conflicts have not ended and military arsenals are being strengthened.

In the face of, or better, in the midst of this complex reality, the Easter message speaks concisely of the event that gives us the hope that does not disappoint: Jesus who was crucified has risen. It speaks to us not about angels or ghosts, but about a man, a man of flesh and bone, with a face and a name: Jesus. [. . .] The crucified Jesus, none other, has risen from the dead. God the Father raised Jesus, his Son, because he fully accomplished his saving will. Jesus took upon himself our weakness, our infirmities, even our death. He endured our sufferings and bore the weight of our sins. Because of this, God the Father exalted him and now Jesus Christ lives forever; he is the Lord.

The pontiff noted that The risen Christ is hope for all who continue to suffer from the pandemic, both the sick and those who have lost a loved one. He urged everyone to combat the pandemic, calling on especially the international community, in a spirit of global responsibility, to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries.

Speaking about Haiti and its appalling economic situation, he mentioned those who have lost their jobs, a fact made worse by the pandemic, urging the authorities to provide the assistance needed for their decent standard of living.

The pontiff also invoked Christs hope for young people, forced to go long periods without attending school or university, or spending time with their friends, as well as for the youth of Myanmar, committed to supporting democracy and making their voices heard peacefully, in the knowledge that hatred can be dispelled only by love.

Francis called for concrete signs of solidarity and human fraternity for migrants fleeing from war and extreme poverty. He thanked host countries, citing Jordan and Lebanon. For the latter, which is going through a major political crisis, he hoped to see support from the international community in their vocation to be a land of encounter, coexistence and pluralism.

The Pope asked the Lord to grant peace and security (as well as two states side by side) to Israelis and Palestinians. For Iraq, which he visited last month, he expressed hope that it may fulfil Gods dream for a human family hospitable and welcoming to all his children. He equally prayed that weapons may be silenced and reconstruction begin in beloved and war-torn Syria as well as Yemen and Libya.

For the peoples in Africa affected by terrorism, especially in the Sahel, Nigeria, Tigray and Cabo Delgado, he called for efforts to resolve conflicts peacefully [. . .], in respect for human rights and the sacredness of life, through fraternal and constructive dialogue in a spirit of reconciliation and true solidarity.

Francis also called for Gods help to overcome the mindset of war by inspiring world leaders to curb the race for new weaponry and free prisoners of war, especially in eastern Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh. On this day, International Awareness Day against anti-personnel landmines, the pontiff said: How much better our world would be without these instruments of death!

Francis did not forget the countries where freedom of religious is violated. Although he did not mention any one by name, he said: Dear brothers and sisters, once again this year, in various places many Christians have celebrated Easter under severe restrictions and, at times, without being able to attend liturgical celebrations. We pray that those restrictions, as well as all restrictions on freedom of worship and religion worldwide, may be lifted and everyone be allowed to pray and praise God freely.

Amid the many hardships we are enduring, let us never forget that we have been healed by the wounds of Christ (cf. 1 Pt 2:24). In the light of the Risen Lord, our sufferings are now transfigured. Where there was death, now there is life. Where there was mourning, now there is consolation. In embracing the cross, Jesus bestowed meaning on our sufferings and now we pray that the benefits of that healing will spread throughout the world. Happy Easter to all of you!
Huawei on late Saturday launched a new fitness band. Called Huawei Band 6, the wearable is currently available in Malaysia. The device is priced at RM 219 ( 3,800 approximately). It comes in Graphite Black, Amber Sunrise, and Forest Green colour options. Huawei has not yet disclosed when the device will launch in other markets.

Huawei Band 6 comes with a 1.47-inch AMOLED touch display with 194 x 368 pixels resolution. It has a low-bezel 64% screen-to-body ratio and 282 ppi. Huawei says the new band offers 1.48 times larger screen real estate than the predecessor. The device has a Watch Face Store that allows you to choose different watch faces on the wearable.

The device measures 43x25.4x10.99mm and weighs around 18 grams (without the strap). It features a single side button. It also comes with 5TAM water resistance.

ALSO READ: Top fitness wearables with SpO2 monitor under 5,000

The wearable is compatible with Android 6.0 or later and iOS 9.0 or later. It pairs with the phone using Bluetooth (supports 2.4 GHz, BT 5.0, BLE). It comes with a 6-axis IMU sensor (Accelerometer sensor, Gyroscope sensor) and optical heart rate sensor. For charging, it has a Magnetic charging thimble.

In terms of features, Huawei Band 6 comes with all-day SpO2 monitoring and TruScreen 4.0 heart-rate monitoring. There is also TruSleep 2.0 sleep tracking. A TruRelax helps monitor stress. The device also comes with a menstrual cycle tracking feature.

ALSO READ: Xiaomi launches Mi Band 6

When youre putting all your effort into working out, let HUAWEI Band 6 take care of the rest. Choose from up to 96 different exercise modes, and keep a track of your heart rate, calories, and more. All your data can be stored and analysed in easy-to-read graphs, so you can chart your fitness journey and set goals that inspire you, the company says on its website.
BAGHDAD (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2021) Two rockets have fallen down in the Iraqi governorate of Saladin near Balad air base, where US troops are deployed, a source in Iraqi security forces told Sputnik on Sunday.

"Two rockets fell near the outer wall of the base without causing any human casualties," the source said.

In late February, Fox news broadcaster reported, citing its sources, that the US warned its military personnel in Iraq of heightened danger after a strike in Syria. Private military contractors reportedly introduced a special regime for their personnel in Iraq. For instance, all circulation is restricted at Balad base during the night.
Iran said it will hold no direct or indirect talks with the US when the two countries and other world powers gather in Vienna on Tuesday for planned talks on the possible resurrection of the 2015 nuclear deal.

A US official said last week that American and Iranian representatives would take part in indirect talks, but Irans deputy foreign minister ruled that out, according to state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

We will have no negotiations with Americans in Vienna, either directly or indirectly," Abbas Araghchi was quoted as saying. The remaining parties to the nuclear accord should persuade the United States any way they can" to lift all sanctions the Trump administration imposed before Iran will undo its own breaches of the agreement, he said.

Iran abandoned some of the limits on its nuclear program after former President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 from the deal championed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and reimposed crippling sanctions. Tehran has since repeatedly rebuffed direct talks with the Biden administration on reviving the pact.

Araghchi also ruled the prospect of a step-by-step" initiative for lifting sanctions and returning to nuclear deal commitments.

There is but one step; the US must remove all sanctions rebranded, imposed or re-imposed under Mr Trump," he said.

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif urged his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, to show a constructive stance" at the Vienna meetings and cease abiding by illegal sanctions imposed by the US."





This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.

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President Joe Biden's administration has stopped a Baltimore manufacturing plant from making AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after it ruined 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine.

The Department of Health and Human Services also put Johnson & Johnson in charge of the Emergent BioSolutions plant which will now solely be devoted to the company's single-dose vaccine, The New York Times reported.

Emergent BioSolutions, a contract manufacturer, had been making both the Johnson & Johnson and the AstraZeneca vaccines but alarmingly mixed up ingredients from the two, which led regulators to delay authorization of the plant's production lines.

The move is meant to avoid future mix-ups, according to the report, which cites two senior federal health officials.

Federal officials told the outlet that they are worried the mix-up 'will erode public confidence in Covid-19 vaccines.'

President Joe Biden's administration has stopped a Baltimore manufacturing plant from making AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine

Emergent BioSolutions, a contract manufacturer, had been making both the Johnson & Johnson and the AstraZeneca vaccines

The Biden administration knew more than a week before it became public that Johnson & Johnson's 15million doses of vaccine had been ruined by its contractor

Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday that a batch of vaccine made by Emergent at its Baltimore factory, known as Bayview, cannot be used because it did not meet quality standards.

The company said in a statement it was still planning to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June and was 'aiming to deliver those doses by the end of May.'

'Human errors do happen,' Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, said Thursday in an interview on CBS' 'This Morning.'

'You have checks and balances. ... Thats the reason why the good news is that it did get picked up. As I mentioned, thats the reason nothing from that plant has gone into anyone that weve administered to.'

It was revealed on Wednesday that Emergent BioSolutions had a string of citations from U.S. health officials for quality control problems.

The little-known company was vital to the vaccine supply chain and was a key to Johnson & Johnson's plan to deliver 100 million doses of its single-shot vaccine to the United States by the end of May.

But the Food and Drug Administration repeatedly cited Emergent since 2017 for problems such as poorly trained employees, cracked vials and problems managing mold and other contamination, according to records obtained by the Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that none of the J&J vaccine doses on the market are affected and the company was on track to deliver 24 million doses in April and 100 million doses by the end of May.

'These are doses that the U.S. government has purchased, but we also have plenty of doses from Pfizer and Moderna, regardless, Psaki said.'

The Biden administration knew more than a week before it became public that Johnson & Johnson's 15million doses had been ruined by its contractor.

A healthcare worker receives the Moderna Inc. Covid-19 vaccine in Tucson, Arizona

People line up in cars to receive the COVID-19 vaccination at State Farm Stadium on February 11, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona

Two senior officials on the government's Covid-19 response team told Politico that it was clear there were serious problems at the West Baltimore plant of Emergent BioSolutons, a little-known company at the center of the vaccine supply chain.

A third official said the Department of Health then found out last week that Emergent had ruined 15million doses of vaccine by adding the wrong ingredient.

'It was no secret that Emergent did not have a deep bench of pharmaceutical manufacturing experts,' that official told Politico on Wednesday.

Johnson & Johnson locked arms with Emergent in April 2020, enlisting the lesser-known company to manufacture the vaccine J&J was developing with federal money.

In February, before the Johnson & Johnson's vaccine received emergency authorization by the FDA, the Biden administration said it was exploring every option for increasing manufacturing of the company's vaccine.

The White House has invoked the Defense Production Act to help Pfizer ramp up COVID-19 vaccine production and that 'every option' was on the table to produce more Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Emergent Biosolutions' Chief Executive Robert Kramer said in an interview at the time that the company currently was making bulk drug substance for Johnson & Johnson 'at large scale.'

Emergent was only producing bulk vaccine, which is then filled into syringes or vials and packaged for shipment by another contractor.

Kramer said they were on track to make enough product for hundreds of millions of doses a year. It remains unclear what other supply bottlenecks may be.

Kramer said his company had already benefited from the Defense Production Act under the Trump Administration, which helped the company get to the point where it's ready to go.

Under the authority of the Defense Production Act, the government will give priority ratings to two components important to Pfizers vaccine production - filling pumps and tangential flow filtration units, the officials said.

Emergent's revenues skyrocketed during the Trump administration, jumping from around $523 million in 2015 to more than $1.5 billion in 2020. The company has invested heavily in lobbying the federal government, according to disclosure records, which show the company spent $3.6 million on lobbying in 2020 alone.
And when they looked, the stone was rolled away...  Mark 16:4

Peter Syrylo opened the front door of his South Abington Twp. home and found Easter in a loaf of banana bread.

A pair of 13-year-old boys presented the gift to the 87-year-old widower, whose wife of 65 years passed away last Thanksgiving. Sally Syrylo was 83. She loved banana bread.

For a few moving moments, the exchange of love and spiritual sustenance rolled away the stone of loneliness and isolation imposed by the death of his beloved wife and the threat of COVID-19.

Thank you so much, the thankful recipient said. For the bread and the spirit of community baked into its crust. Syrylo spent most of the past year at home while his three adult children attended to his daily needs. Fully vaccinated, he still doesnt go out unless its necessary.

I havent been to the store in a year, he said. I only go out for doctors appointments. My kids take good care of me. They dont like me going out with this thing.

The thing remains a risk in the second spring of the pandemic, challenging communities of faith to develop creative ways to sustain and strengthen the bonds of belonging. Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church in Clarks Summit used telephones and family recipes as tools of togetherness.

We have all different varieties of bread, from banana-nut to blueberry to cinnamon-swirl to chocolate-zucchini to carrot to chocolate chip to just plain regular white bread, Sue Burke said Wednesday as a steady stream of volunteers picked up Easter baskets at the parish center.

Burke, parish director of faith formation, said the baskets, assembled and delivered by more than 20 students in the parishs religious education program, were the culmination of two community service projects  Calls of Kindness and Easter Loaves of Joy.

During the past year, more than 25 volunteers made 1,200 phone calls to keep elderly parishioners company and remind them they are loved and missed by their brothers and sisters in faith. Baked by parish families, the loaves serve as tangible, edible testaments to the spiritual nourishment generated by simple human interaction.

Like most teenage boys, Jack Walsh, of Waverly, and Emmett Seyer, of Clarks Summit, didnt say much about how it felt to deliver a parcel of peace to a complete stranger, but Gina Peperno, Emmetts mom, was confident the seventh graders at Abington Heights Middle School got the message.

Its so important to learn to serve others, she said. We try to teach them to live their faith, and this is a great lesson in how to do that.

Easter is the crown holiday of the Christian calendar, but its spirit of resurrection, redemption and renewal are universal themes of spring. COVID is a heavy stone that still hasnt been completely rolled away, but every vaccination brings us closer to freedom from the tomb of a stolen year.

I called Peter Syrylo on Thursday to confirm some details and tell him how much I enjoyed meeting him. It was a brief chat, but a blessing nonetheless. And how was the banana bread?

Delicious, he said. I had it with my coffee this morning. It was like eating cake.

I wished him a happy Easter. He wished the same for me. The stone rolled a little further away.

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, wishes you and yours a happy Easter and an abundant, joyous spring.
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State Engineer John DAntonio has restricted new groundwater permits in three basins of far southeastern New Mexico to study the impact of more wells on regional aquifers.

The temporary constraints cover new commercial appropriations in about 2,000 square miles of the Lea, Capitan and Carlsbad underground water basins.

State hydrologists need this strategic pause, DAntonio said, to collect data and calibrate a model that can accurately predict how pumping affects the aquifer system.

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There is a degree of what we call hydrologic connection, and the formations that are underground are pretty complex, he said. Its not yet well understood or quantified on how that aquifer interacts with other aquifers around it and with surface water, so right now the effects of any diversion from the formation cant be accurately predicted.

More than 80 commercial groundwater applications have been filed with the Office of the State Engineers Roswell District in the past three years.

About 60 applications are pending because of protests and OSE hearing proceedings.

The office has permitted a total of 1,500 acre-feet, or 488 million gallons, of groundwater in the affected basins since 2019.

But the pending permits seek a total of 23,000 acre-feet per year, or about 7.5 billion gallons.

This really affects all applications for commercial wells, but most for the Roswell District Office have been for frack water, DAntonio said. The main concern down there is how this could affect the city of Jals drinking water.

Jal protested a groundwater pumping application last year by Intrepid Potash and NGL Energy Partners.

The order does not apply to new domestic wells, livestock wells, water right transfers within the basins, or drilling into certain deep brackish aquifers.

The State Engineer issued a similar order earlier this year for the East Mountains because of documented aquifer decline.

When surface water dries up, groundwater doesnt typically replenish as quickly, DAntonio said. We have to pay attention to groundwater pumping and the sustainability of that, because more and more often groundwater is being used to supplement the lack of surface water.

Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal.
 Flash

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.
Turmoil in Jordan

The Jordanian government has arrested high-profile figures, including Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, and Bassem Awadallah, a former chief of the royal court, an unusual development in the normally stable Arab kingdom. Officials cited the security and stability of Jordan as reasons for the moves.

According to an Israeli official, Jordanian officials said 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.

But it remains unclear if Hamzah bin Hussein, the former crown prince, is detained. In a dramatic video, he said he had no security or phone access, that the satellite internet service he was using was about to be cut and that he was under house arrest. The Jordanian Army and security services denied reports that he had been arrested.

The deputy prime minister said Prince Hamzah had worked with foreign entities to destabilize the state, the BBC reported. He accused Prince Hamzah of attempting to recruit clan leaders against the government after the prince had recent meetings with tribal leaders. Prince Hamzah also said the military leader had chastised him for being present at meetings where there had been criticism of the king or the government.
BILLED as a celebration of people, landscape and belonging, a new TV road trip starting on RTE next week has an intriguing twist  our guide is an ex-Taoiseach.

In the six-part series Iarnrod Enda, Enda Kenny searches for pointers to the future among the echoes of the past, as he sets out in search of the long-abandoned railway routes of Ireland.

The first episode on RTE1 on Monday at 8.30pm sees Enda meander from Waterford to Dungarvan.

His journey takes him along the Waterford Greenway, which has brought a new lease of life to this beautiful region.

Yet before the railway line closed, it helped encourage a vibrant commercial and farming environment, as well as making a strong contribution at the end of the 19th century to growth and the development of the newly formed GAA.

This episode has contributions from historian Donnchadh OCeallachain, Tom Hartery, Mary Crowley, PJ Maher  the last station master before the line closed  and renowned chef Paul Flynn, rustles up for a barbecue for Enda.

In the second episode, Enda travels from Westport to Achill in his home county of Mayo, discovering the ancient prophecy of Brian Rua UChearbhain who foretold two major losses of groups of immigrants who had left Achill island for Scotland.

Future episodes see the former Fine Gael TD, who was Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, travel from Ennis to Kilkee in Clare, where he takes a trip on a renovated steam train, and head from Derry to Ailt a Chorrain.

He then heads north to the stunning coastline from Portrush to Giants Causeway, before, in the fina episode, he journeys from Dundalk to Newry.

In the series, Enda explores the story of a once modern transport system, the railway routes that became engraved into the countryside, transformed the landscape and shaped the evolution of the entire island. Railway expanded the way we saw ourselves in the world, influencing the course of subsequent historical, social and political events.

Discovering riches along the way, human and cultural, Enda marvels at the shoots of new growth emerging as sections of old lines regenerate as small, narrow-gauge tourist trains bring the magic and romance of steam to life.

If you thought you knew all about Enda Kenny after his 45 years in Dail Eireann  be prepared to be surprised. This reveals a man happy on his bike, relaxed in himself and comfortable in the company of those he encounters along the way. A good listener, hes at his happiest meeting new people or old friends, and is never slow to call in for a chat or a story, a tune or a song.
https://www.aish.com/ho/p/Hiding-in-a-Vegetable-Bin-Saved-Their-Lives.html

Lila Millen and her sister endured two years of terror and starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto, and were saved by a righteous gentile.

Lucky Doll. She was the only toy Lila Millen knew during her childhood in Poland during World War II. A gift from her father, the doll helped comfort Lila after the war when she turned 8 and learned she was a Jewish girl and not Catholic. She had to give up Easter baskets, rosary beads and a way of life that was a smokescreen so her family wouldnt be turned in to the Nazis.

Lucky Doll was a gift from her father, in exchange for giving up rosary beads and Easter baskets.

Born Nov. 15, 1937, in Lodz, Lila doesnt have too many vivid memories of the Nazis occupying Poland in September 1939. However, one became seared in her brain as a toddler: She saw Germans taking the prayer shawls and prayer books out of the synagogue and piling them up to torch.

With her older sister, Anne, and parents, Mark and Ruth Skorecki, she endured two years of terror and starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto. When their parents went to work, the girls hid in a vegetable bin her father had fashioned out of wood. Covered with rags, onions, carrots and potatoes on top, it was empty in the back and had two little seats and a potty.

The Lost Childhood Years: No Toys, No Noise

We just sat there the whole day. We didnt have food, we didnt have books, we couldnt talk. We were trained to be very quiet, recalls Lila, now 82 and a longtime resident of New Orleans, La.

Lila remembers how sometimes the girls would hear the sound of Germans coming up the stairs and talking, but she and Anne were not found. I think the Almighty was looking out for us.

The girls also sometimes hid under the floorboards of the shoe factory where their parents worked.

Children were especially vulnerable during the Holocaust. The Nazis killed as many as 1.5 million across Europe, most of them Jewish. Some non-Jews hid Jewish children and their family members as well.

A Polish Army officer helped Lilas family avoid deportation to a concentration camp by smuggling them out of the ghetto in a garbage truck to the Aryan side of Warsaw. Righteous gentiles awaited them: a woman named Katarzyana Piotrowska and her 27-year-old daughter, Natalia.

The elder woman knew her boarders were Jewish, but shielded her daughter from the secret. The Nazi penalty for knowingly helping Jews was death. Instead, Katarzyana Piotrowska claimed the family were relatives who had come for a visit.

Passing as a Polish Catholic

Lila, with her blond hair and blue eyes, easily passed as a Polish Catholic and went on church outings with the Piotrowskas, while her sister, Anne, couldnt risk being seen with her dark hair and Semitic looks.

After 1 years of hiding with the Poles, the war ended in 1945. Lila, her parents and sister were lucky not only to be alive, but also to have their little family intact.

Lilas father had to cajole her into giving up the vestiges of her life as a Catholic. He said throw all those out and Ill buy you a doll, she relates. I brought Lucky Doll with me to America. She was saved for all these years. Weve been here since 1949.

Adam, Lila and Anne

The family, along with baby Adam, who was born in the displaced persons camp where they had waited, made their way to New Orleans. The transition, although a happy one, proved challenging. I didnt know the language, Lila explains. I didnt know the customs. I didnt go to school all that time beforehand, so I had a lot of catching up to do for my age. I had wonderful teachers who helped me a lot. Thats who I credit for my first education.

Starting Life Over in New Orleans

She attended business school as a young woman and met her husband-to-be, Norman Millen, at a dance at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center. They reared two daughters in the Crescent City. Lila wanted them to have the childhood she and Anne never had, so chose not to burden them with information about the terrible years of the Holocaust.

Sisters Anne Levy, left, and Lila Millen survived the Holocaust as

hidden children in a wooden cabinet their father made.

Expanded family includes six grandchildren and Anne Levy, Lilas sister and best friend who is known for standing up to neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier David Duke in the Louisiana State Capitol.

Granddaughter Meets Lucky Doll

Lilas granddaughter Rebecca Brown first met Lucky Doll in 2018. As an 18-year-old senior at the Goldie Margolin School for Girls in Memphis, Rebecca was interviewing her grandmother for Names, Not Numbers, a student Holocaust memorial film.

I learned how significant the doll was. I saw her holding it and get so emotional while she had it in her hands, Rebecca recalls.

She had always known Lila was a Holocaust survivor but hadnt understood how young she had been in the war years. My grandmothers pretty quiet. That was the first time Id ever heard her speak about the war.

Lilas message to young people is that they should learn a lesson from the Holocaust and never forget that evil stain on history. As she says, Sometimes its not what you do that you get punished for, but who you are. The Holocaust happened because we were Jewish.
The Bachelorette's Bill Goldsmith is the latest reality star to join OnlyFans.

And it appears the 34-year-old is doing everything he can for his 40,800 Instagram followers to join him on the platform, including having a 30 per cent off flash sale.

Bill is currently offering fans a discount on his OnlyFans content if they sign up before April 10.

Cashing in! The Bachelorette star Bill Goldsmith, 34, (pictured) becomes the latest reality star to join OnlyFans

OnlyFans is a subscription-based adult website where content can range from something as innocent as a suggestive selfie, all the way to hardcore pornography.

The reality star shot to fame as an early frontrunner on Ali Oetjen's season of The Bachelorette in 2018.

His OnlyFans profile reads: 'Exploring this crazy world.'

Bill's first post was shared on the private account on March 25.

Naughty: OnlyFans is a subscription-based adult website where content can range from something as innocent as a suggestive selfie, all the way to hardcore pornography

Flash sale: Bill is currently offering fans a discount on his content if they sign up before April 10

While OnlyFans has made a name for itself because of its adult content focus, there are creators on the platform that use it for other forms of content, including fitness and cooking videos.

The post comes just weeks after Too Hot To Handle's Harry Jowsey joined the subscription service.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Bill for comment.

Trend: Bill's decision to join the platform comes just weeks after Netflix's Too Hot To Handle Aussie star Harry Jowsey (pictured) joined the adult website

Outspoken: Bill last made headlines after he lashed out at his fellow reality stars for not having a 'proper job'

Bill last made headlines after he lashed out at his fellow reality stars for not having a 'proper job'.

Taking to Instagram, the online influencer shared a bizarre rant which began: 'To all you fake a**e reality TV stars! Instead of trying to sell stories and information to the media, why don't you get a proper job?'

He continued: 'I mean where's the job satisfaction in all that dishonest bulls**t? 'Reality TV' isn't a career, like your going to put that on your resume are you?'

Despite being a reality TV star himself, Bill added: 'Haha. Grow up, work hard, head down a**e up and make something of yourself.

Stop trying to be relevant, you are all the flavour of the month and when the next lot come through, no one cares about you anymore,' he went on.

He concluded: 'That industry is run on lies and egotistic bulls**t.'
New Delhi, April 4 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday addressed the 3rd kisan Mahapanchayat at Jind district of Haryana in support of the farmers protesting against the three farm laws.

During his address, the Delhi CM didn't asked the AAP leaders and volunteers to get ready for the upcoming panchayat polls in the state but the kisan mahapanchayat at Jind organised by the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Haryana unit is seen as a move to reach out to Jat community as the district is the Jat dominated area as Kejriwal even extended support to the farmer leader Rakesh Tikait. He said, "I couldn't see Tikaitji (Rakesh Tikait) crying on camera after violence on Republic Day. I called him immediately. During our discussion, he said that the BJP is trying to derail the farm protest. I assured him of support against the farm laws." The Delhi government is provided all the basic facilities including water, generators, sanitation facilities etc. two days after the January 26 incident," Kejriwal added.

The CM also accused the BJP-led Union government of conspiring against the protesting farmers for shifting them in nine stadiums from the three borders. "When you (farmers) had reached Delhi to protest against the farm bills, the Centre sent police and asked to oust you all from nine stadiums in Delhi. I rejected Delhi police's file because your fight is genuine. BJP wanted to convert those stadiums into jails to subdue the intensifying protest," Kejriwal said.
Back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I loved my algebra teacher but hated the subject. She was a wonderful lady who would always remind me that 2 plus 2 equals 4 whenever I would try to say something confusing. She would say there is no confusion in math because the numbers add up or they don't.

Well, my guess is that my old teacher is retired and wondering what the left is doing with her favorite subject.

This is the latest from the madness at our universities:

An Oregon Department of Education newsletter from February promoted an online course designed to "dismantle" instances of "white supremacy culture in the mathematics classroom." One example of "white supremacy" highlighted by the course was "the concept of mathematics being purely objective," an idea which the resource stated is "is unequivocally false." The program, known as "A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction," describes itself as "an integrated approach to mathematics that centers Black, Latinx, and Multilingual students" that provides "opportunities for ongoing self-reflection as they seek to develop an anti-racist math practice."

Did you get that? That's the most confusing thing I've heard since trying to figure out the lyrics to Don McLean's "American Pie." I'm talking about "the father son and the holy ghost catching the last train for the coast." Didn't Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper die in a plane crash? What train is he talking about? Maybe I need to hear it again, all nine minutes of it!

It appears that math is now racist, too. Who knew that? I didn't.

According to the wokes, math instruction should be built on an "equitable foundation." What does that mean?

I would have gotten an A in every math class by simply answering with my feelings rather than sweating calculations and crazy algebra. Where were these wokes when I needed them in ninth-grade algebra?

In all seriousness, these "woke" professors should be locked up for poisoning young minds with this garbage. Sooner, rather than later, these young minds will learn that you can't make a budget with feelings, but rather with correct math answers.

In the real world, 2 plus 2 does equal 4, and these students are being sold a bunch of lies by state employees funded by taxpayers who had better get their numbers right on their tax returns.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Image via Needpix.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
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'.
Amman, April 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2021 ) :Jordan's Prince Hamzah, who says he is under house arrest in a dispute with the government, was once the crown prince but lost that title to the son of his half-brother King Abdullah II.

British and US-educated Hamzah bin Hussein, 41, is the youngest son of the late King Hussein and his fourth and last wife, the American-born Queen Noor.

In a video released by the BBC on Saturday, Hamzah says he has been confined to his home after several senior figures were detained in a security sweep amid reports of a coup plot.

He denied being part of "any conspiracy or nefarious organisation" but charged that the Hashemite kingdom had "become stymied in corruption, in nepotism, and in misrule".

Joint Chiefs of Staff head Major General Yousef Huneiti denied the prince had been detained but said he was "asked to stop some activities that could be used to shake the stability and security of Jordan".

A Jordanian analyst who did not want to be named for security reasons said Hamzah had recently "stepped up his criticism of what he described as corruption within the government in front of his circle of friends".

According to the same source, "there is certainly resentment on his part, because he has never digested losing his title of crown prince".

- Soldier, pilot - Hamzah was born on March 29, 1980 to Hussein's fourth and last wife, Queen Noor.

Queen Noor, born Lisa Halaby, was only 24 when she arrived in Jordan in 1976.

She was married to Hussein within two years and widowed after two decades.

On Sunday, in the wake of the security sweep, she tweeted that she was "praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander. God bless and keep them safe." Prince Hamzah attended school in London before studying at the British Royal Military academy Sandhurst, where he excelled, similarly to Abdullah, who is 18 years his senior.

He embraced a military career and served in the former Yugoslavia in a Jordanian-Emirati unit before studying at Harvard.

An accomplished sportsman, he also became a skilled pilot, like his father.

- 'Sidelined, not jailed' - Hamzah has been popular among Jordanians in part because he looks and sounds like his late father.

At the time of the king's premature death from illness in February 1999, Hamzah was very young and Abdullah, the eldest son of Princess Muna, Hussein's second wife, acceded the throne.

In line with his father's dying wishes, Abdullah named Hamzah crown prince.

But Hamzah didn't hold that position long. Just five years later, in 2004, Abdullah stripped Hamzah of the succession in favour of his own son, Hussein.

In a letter to his half-brother at the time, the king said that the symbolic position of heir "has restricted your freedom and prevented us from entrusting you with certain responsibilities that you are fully qualified to assume".

But Hamzah did not appear to see his disinheritance in the same way.

"The chance to become king escaped him twice: when his father died prematurely -- he was too young -- and when his brother withdrew his title" of heir, the Jordanian analyst said.

On July 2, 2009, Abdullah confirmed his eldest son Hussein as his successor.

Hamzah, a father of five daughters and a son, distanced himself gradually from the top circles of power.

Nevertheless, on Saturday, "his royal blood may have saved him from prison", the analyst said.

"Because in the royal family, you don't imprison a prince, you sideline him."sk/gk/sw/fz
Review going on into blood clot cases among AstraZeneca vaccine recipients: UK regulator

Xinhua) 10:33, April 04, 2021

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.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
PA school is a lesson in growing our comfort zones. From the first didactic examination to the last patient encounter, students regularly are stretched beyond what we thought possible to become competent and confident medical providers. On my first day seeing patients on clinical rotations, I think I actually saw the line of my comfort zone on the ground as I took my first step outside that familiar boundary.

As I near graduation and the beginning of my career as a PA, I have begun reflecting on how large my comfort zone has grown over these past 2 years. I remember driving home from my general surgery rotation in February 2020, reminiscing on how far away this time felt 1 year ago. In February 2019, I was color-coding my notes and wondering if my chronic neck pain from hunching over textbooks would ever go away. Fast-forwarding a year to that day in February 2020, I was finding myself bouncing between the OR and hospital floors, and I had successfully first-assisted on an open hemicolectomy. Relishing the wave of relief and satisfaction that realization broughtthat maybe the hardest part (for now) was overI envisioned the rest of the semester and my upcoming graduation as smooth sailing. (Of course, the PANCE loomed, but a student can dream.)

Then, on the evening of March 17, 2020, my university pulled its students from all medical rotations indefinitely in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many programs had already begun to do this, and many more would soon follow. The smooth waters that represented my last months of PA school quickly became a whirlpool, as news clips of government officials urging social distancing and reports of rising infection rates overwhelmed my television and social media feeds. In the following days, students and faculty across the nation prepared and braced for the storm that this global event was bringing our way. Numbers of hours spent on rotations were calculated and recalculated, assignments and examinations were discussed over emails and phone calls, and more questions were asked than were able to be answered.

After the initial turmoil receded, I again began reflecting, this time on how COVID-19 and its consequences have affected PA students and what it could mean for us moving forward. I don't have answers to pressing questions such as when students will return to rotations, if this will delay graduation and employment, and how our healthcare as a nation will be affected by this, and I so fiercely wish that I did. But I do know that for all of us, COVID-19 is another lesson in growing our comfort zones. In an address to my class, my program director eloquently stated that during this time we must become comfortable [with] and accepting of uncertainty, ambiguity, and the unknown. As soon-to-be PAs, we will be faced with uncertainty, ambiguity, and the unknown countless times in our careers. It is our responsibility and within our capabilities as students to face COVID-19 with the same fortitude and perseverance that got us to where we are today. The future of medicine depends on it.
A Burger King customer opened fire on staff through the drive-thru window after police say she became annoyed about the long wait time.

In stills from security footage taken at the fast food joint in Memphis, Tennessee, the woman can be seen leaning in through the window with her gun drawn.

Police posted to Facebook about the incident on Friday. They said the shooting happened last Tuesday at the Burger King on Winchester Road.

The workers are said to have fled the gunfire through the back door of the business and were uninjured. Police are now hunting the suspect.

In stills from security footage taken at the fast food joint in Memphis, Tennessee, the woman can be seen leaning in through the window with her gun drawn

Police said the suspect got out the front passenger seat of this four-door, gray sedan

In a statement officers said: 'Upon arriving on the scene, officers were advised that a female customer got angry regarding the wait time to be served at the drive-thru window.

'The female got out of the front passenger seat of a mid-sized, four-door, gray sedan and approached the drive-thru window.

'A verbal altercation ensued between the female patron and the workers.

'Video surveillance shows the suspect retrieve a black handgun from the vehicle, extend her upper body through the drive-thru window, and fire several shots at the Burger King workers.

'The workers fled from the gunfire through the rear door of the business and were unharmed. The suspect was accompanied by a male who was the driver of the gray sedan.'

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.

Police posted to Facebook about the incident on Friday. They said incident happened last Tuesday at the Burger King on Winchester Road. The workers are said to have fled the gunfire through the back door of the business and were uninjured. Police are now hunting the suspect

Burger King told Fox13 in a statement: 'We do not tolerate or condone violence of any kind at our restaurants because the safety of our team members and guests is our top priority.

'Fortunately, no one in the restaurant was injured during this incident. The restaurant operator is fully cooperating with authorities on their ongoing investigation.'

Police ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 528-CASH. They say called will be given a secret ID number with their identification anonymous.

You can also submit your tip at http://www.crimestopmem.org for a cash reward of up to $1000.
Every investor in Belvoir Group PLC (LON:BLV) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Dont tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.

Belvoir Group is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of UK72m, which means it wouldn't have the attention of many institutional investors. Taking a look at our data on the ownership groups (below), it seems that institutional investors have bought into the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Belvoir Group.

Check out our latest analysis for Belvoir Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Belvoir Group?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Belvoir Group does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Belvoir Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Belvoir Group. Gresham House Asset Management Limited is currently the company's largest shareholder with 8.2% of shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 6.5% and 5.8%, of the shares outstanding, respectively. In addition, we found that Dorian Gonsalves, the CEO has 1.4% of the shares allocated to their name.

Story continues

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 12 have the combined ownership of 51% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Belvoir Group

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Belvoir Group PLC. As individuals, the insiders collectively own UK6.4m worth of the UK72m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though I generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, with a 17% stake in the company, will not easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 8.2%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Belvoir Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Belvoir Group that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
Mia Fevola was viciously trolled last month after sharing a romantic image of herself cuddling up with the Western Bulldogs' number one draft pick, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.

Now the 21-year-old has defiantly shared more couple photos of the pair in a tribute for her new boyfriend's 19th birthday on Sunday.

Mia shared a number of photos to Instagram of the pair on nights out as well as enjoying sunny days at the beach.

Milestone: Mia Fevola defiantly wished new boyfriend Jamarra Ugle-Hagan a happy birthday by sharing intimate photos of the pair following a high-profile trolling incident last month

Clearly crazy about each other, Mia wrote: 'Happy birthday to you Jamarra. Appreciate you more than words can describe x'

Jamarra was quick to return the affection: 'Love ya x'

It comes after Mia was inundated with abusive comments after she shared a photo with her new boyfriend last month.

Together: Clearly crazy about each other, Mia wrote: 'Happy birthday to you Jamarra. Appreciate you more than words can describe x'

The innocent photo, which was captioned with a simple heart emoji, was swamped with vile abuse from trolls.

In response, Mia shared a comment, made by a fan, condemning the 's**t shaming' from fans condemning it from men and women.

The Instagram Stories post read: 'Wow we're s**t shaming now, today of all days where hundreds and thousands of women across the nation marched for the right to be safe wherever they are and with whomever they are with, be it on a social scale or professional.'

Strength-to-strength: Jamarra was quick to return the affection: 'Love ya x' with it clear the couple are getting closer and closer

'This is precisely the toxic masculinity and culture we're up against, you should be [ashamed] of yourself for this comment.'

Mia confirmed her romance with Jamarra last month, with the model cuddling up to her new man in a photo shared to his Instagram profile.

Key forward Jamarra has been dubbed 'Buddy Franklin 2.0'.

Couple: It comes after Mia was inundated with abusive comments after she shared a photo with her new boyfriend last month. Pictured: Here on the beach

In December 2020, Jamarra told The Age that he tried to model himself on the Sydney Swans star: 'I just use him as a person that sets goals for me... Everyone has that person you want to become, or even do better [than].'

He is the first Indigenous player to be taken at pick one since Des Headland in 1998, and becomes the first Bulldog to top the AFL draft since Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney had his name called out first in 2003.

Mia, who is the stepdaughter of Carlton great Brendan Fevola, 40, will no doubt become a WAG to watch in Jamarra's upcoming season.

Sweet: The 21-year-old posted this romantic black and white image of herself cuddling up with Jamarra, then 18, in March. The innocent photo, which was captioned with a simple heart emoji, was soon swamped with vile abuse from trolls

They were previously spotted together for Mia's 21st birthday celebrations, but Mia told the Herald Sun at the time that the pair were 'just friends' and in the same social circle.

Mia split from Richmond Tigers star Daniel Rioli, 23, in February 2020 after two years of dating.

'Daniel and I are no longer together; however, we still love and care for each other very much and remain the best of friends,' she wrote on Instagram.

Rising star: Jamarra is the Western Bulldogs' number one draft pick and has been dubbed 'Buddy Franklin 2.0'

Mia is the eldest child of Brendan's longtime partner, Alex.

The former footy star adopted Mia as his own daughter after he married Alex in 2005, and they have remained close even during times when the couple were separated.

Aside from Mia, Brendan and Alex share three daughters, Leni, Lulu, and Tobi.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

On a 2,566-acre slice of the scenic Saddleback Ranch wedged in the Galisteo Basin between Lamy and Galisteo, a new way of thinking and learning will soon be taking place.

The populations growth of people aged 45 and above presents an opportunity to meet the needs of a vastly underserved segment of society, entrepreneur Chip Conley, said of his brainchild, the Modern Elder Academy.

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I found out there was a real need for people to re-imagine their midlife, and how to live life and re-purpose themselves, he said.

Three years ago, he began bringing experts on various subjects to a beachfront property north of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for weeklong workshops. And folks came in droves as some 1,200 people from 24 countries are counted as alums. The average age of attendees is 54 and 75% are between the ages 45-65.

Theres certainly a need for it, Conley said. Were living longer, work is changing faster, power is moving younger and it has a lot of people in midlife confused. The suicide rate for people 45-65 is 50% higher than it had been. People are asking themselves, How can I stay relevant? How can I change at age 50? These are things people need to learn.

Conley got the idea for the Modern Elder Academy while at an Airbnb four years ago. Conley, 52 at the time, was still twice as old as the average Airbnb host and was known as the modern elder.

Building on the success, Conley and three partners checked into 20 different U.S. markets for the expansion home of the academy before deciding the outskirts of Santa Fe was just the spot.

New Mexico has a long history of Native American and Hispanic elders that have had a profound impact on the state, Conley added. We look forward to working with them and including their wisdom in our programs.

The group in January acquired the land, which includes four homes, for $8.5 million.

Santa Fes iconic culture and sense of place, enchanting natural environment, and intergenerational and diverse population make for an ideal setting for MEA, said MEA partner and chief development officer Skylar Skikos. We are working closely with the community to design the project to best serve the local area. We are particularly excited about extending our educational programs to the local community, and adopting regenerative agriculture and other sustainability best practices that will introduce a new standard for the region.

On tap, the group plans to build a clubhouse and a small number of homes.

People can come there, do a workshop for a week, Conley said. They can come live as a primary resident or take a sabbatical session for one or two months, working on a special project and enjoying the outdoors.

The academy will likely open in June 2023, he said, with construction planned to begin in the first quarter of 2022.

And we will grow from there, Conley added, noting the residential aspect of the project isnt expected to be completed until 2024.

We will have two workshops at a time of 18-20 people for each workshop, he said. Well use existing homes, utilizing some and buildings staged for the academy. The maximum well have is 40 people on campus at the same time.

More than 75% of the property will be put into a long-term conservation easement as permanent open space so it cannot be built upon, Conley said, and it will include a trail system with public access.

The partners also plan to introduce regenerative agriculture, and principals and practices to the land to help climate change by restoring the lands organic matter and rejuvenating degraded soil biodiversity.

We hope to be a catalyst for a new kind of inclusive, intentional community that helps mainstream the idea that wisdom isnt taught, its shared, Conley said. And its often shared across generations, in both directions, as a modern elder may have as much to learn from a young person as vice versa.
One person died and two others were injured Sunday morning when a car crashed and rolled over on S.W. Loop 410, officials said.

The car was headed west in the inside lane around 11 a.m. when it flipped and crashed into a support beam for highway signage near Somerset Road, said Michael Davis, a supervisor with the Police Department South Substation.
Covid-19: With Big Vaccine Push, Navajo Nation Has Tamed Virus Although U.S. vaccinations are at a record high, experts are warning of a fourth wave. In his Easter address, Pope Francis called on world leaders to expand access to vaccines. Follow our latest coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. is giving out over 3 million vaccine doses daily, while experts disagree whether a fourth wave is coming. Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines were given out at New Hope Baptist Church last month in Newark. Credit... James Estrin/The New York Times Vaccinations against Covid-19 may be accelerating in the United States, but the Biden administrations intervention at a troubled plant that ruined millions of vaccine doses, along with the continuing threat of dangerous variants of the coronavirus, suggest that the road to defeating the virus is likely to take many unpredictable twists and turns. Saturday marked the first time the country reported more than four million vaccine doses in a single day, bringing the average to higher than three million people for the first time, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On the same day, the fallout continued over a debacle at a Baltimore contract plant that ruined 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The Biden administration put Johnson & Johnson in charge of the facility and moved to stop the facility from making another vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca, senior federal health officials said. Workers at the facility accidentally mixed up ingredients from the two vaccines, contaminating the doses. The move comes as Mr. Biden has aggressively pushed to produce enough vaccine doses to cover every American adult by the end of May. Johnson & Johnson confirmed the changes, saying it was assuming full responsibility for the vaccine made by Emergent BioSolutions, its manufacturing partner. Emergent said late Sunday that it continues to own and operate the facility, but the company acknowledged that Johnson & Johnson will in effect run its own vaccine manufacturing operation there. Federal officials are worried that the mix-up will erode public confidence in the vaccines, just as theres been a steady increase in the capacity of states to deliver shots into arms. In early March, the nation surpassed an average of two million doses administered each day, up from around 800,000 doses a day in mid-January. Nearly a third of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as more states expand eligibility and production ramps up. And while new virus cases, deaths and hospitalizations are far below their January peak, the average number of new reported cases has risen 19 percent over the past two weeks. Cases are increasing significantly in many states, particularly in the Midwest and the Northeast, as variants spread. On the Sunday morning news shows, experts disagreed about whether regional spikes over the past two weeks amounted to a fourth wave of the virus. On the NBC program Meet the Press, Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist who is a member of the Biden administrations Covid-19 advisory board, predicted that the next two weeks would bring the highest number of cases reported globally since the beginning of the pandemic. But on the CBS program Face the Nation, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration under President Donald J. Trump and who now is on the board of Pfizer, said he did not foresee a fourth wave. What were seeing is pockets of infection around the country, he said, particularly in younger people who havent been vaccinated and also in school-age children. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Apoorva Mandavilli, Ron DePasquale and

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Pope Franciss Easter message urges world leaders to ensure universal access to vaccines. Video Francis on Sunday called on world leaders to ensure access to coronavirus vaccines for all. The remarks, part of his annual Easter message, were delivered in front of a small group of worshipers inside St. Peters Basilica. Credit Credit... Pool photo by Filippo Monteforte Pope Francis delivered his annual Urbi et Orbi (To the City and to the World) Easter message to a small group of the faithful inside St. Peters Basilica on Sunday, while coronavirus pandemic prohibitions kept the usual audience of about 70,000 pilgrims away from St. Peters Square for a second year. The pope delivered the message after presiding over Easter Mass in the presence of about 200 worshipers. Francis spoke of the economic and social hardships that many people, and especially the poor, are experiencing because of the pandemic, which has worsened recently in Italy and much of Europe. He also addressed the continuing armed conflicts, unrest and increased military spending in Myanmar, Nigeria, Syria, Yemen and other regions and nations. As he has in the past, the leader of the worlds 1.3 billion Catholics called on the international community in a spirit of global responsibility to ensure that everyone has access to vaccines, which he called an essential tool in the fight against the pandemic. Delivery delays have to be overcome to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries, Francis said. He called on all governments to look after the many people who have lost jobs and experienced economic hardship because of the pandemic, as well as those who lack adequate social protection. The pandemic has, unfortunately, dramatically increased the number of the poor and the desperation of thousands of people, he said. The pope also noted the difficulties of the young, forced to go long periods without attending school or university or spending time with their friends. He acknowledged the children who had written meditations for the torchlit Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday, held this year in front of the Basilica instead of the Colosseum, that spoke of loneliness and grief stemming from the pandemic. The risen Christ is hope for all who continue to suffer from the pandemic, both the sick and those who have lost a loved one, Francis said. See How Vaccinations Are Going in Your County and State See where doses have gone, and who is eligible for a shot in each state.

A biotech company says changes are coming after vaccine mix-up at its Baltimore plant. Robert Kramer, chief executive of Emergent BioSolutions. The company said on Sunday that it welcomed additional oversight and support at its Baltimore plant, where millions of doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were ruined. Credit... Advertising Week New York, via Shutterstock The Maryland biotech firm at the center of a mix-up that ruined up to 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine declared late Sunday that it continues to own and operate the Baltimore plant where the problems occurred, even though the Biden administration has put Johnson & Johnson in charge of manufacturing there. In an apparent bid to reassure its shareholders, Emergent BioSolutions, a contract manufacturer that was making vaccines for both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, said it was on track with its manufacturing agreements related to Covid-19 vaccines and that there are no changes to its financial guidance for 2021. Yet even as the company sought to defend its reputation, it acknowledged that there would be changes in the way its plant, known as Bayview, was managed  and that Johnson & Johnson would in effect run its own vaccine manufacturing operation there. Emergents top priority continues to be the strengthening of the supply chain for Johnson & Johnsons vitally needed Covid-19 vaccine, Robert Kramer, the companys chief executive, said in the statement. We have been working closely with Johnson & Johnson and welcome the additional oversight and support at our Bayview facility. On Saturday, days after the disclosure that workers at the Baltimore facility had mixed up ingredients from the two vaccines it was making, the Department of Health and Human Services stepped in, instructing Johnson & Johnson to take control of the plant. The department also ordered Emergent to stop making the AstraZeneca vaccine to avoid future mistakes. Emergent said on Sunday that it would work with the government on a mutually agreed ramp-down of AstraZeneca manufacturing. The administration has said that it will look for another site to make that vaccine, which unlike the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not have emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The error in Baltimore has delayed future shipments of Johnson & Johnson doses in the United States while the F.D.A. investigates what happened. It has also created a public relations headache for the Biden administration, which is trying to increase production of coronavirus vaccines and assure skeptics that they are safe. Emergent is well known in Washington; last month The New York Times published an investigation into the companys aggressive lobbying for federal contracts, particularly for the Strategic National Stockpile, the nations emergency medical reserve. After the article appeared, President Biden canceled a visit to the Baltimore facility. The Baltimore plant is one of two federally designated Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing that work with the government and are supposed to stand ready to help in a public health emergency. In June, the government awarded Emergent a contract valued at up to $628 million to reserve manufacturing space for coronavirus vaccines and upgrade the Baltimore facility. The government recently increased the contract by $23 million to allow Emergent to purchase manufacturing equipment specific to Johnson & Johnsons vaccine  an award the company highlighted in its statement on Sunday. The increase was awarded on March 23, two days before the government learned about the mix-up at the Baltimore facility.

Mississippis governor joins the conservative pushback against vaccine passports. Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi in January. Credit... Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi added his voice on Sunday to a chorus of conservative opposition to vaccine passports, the proposed credentials showing a persons vaccination status for purposes like traveling and attending indoor public events. I dont think its necessary, and I dont think its a good thing to do in America, Governor Reeves said on the CNN program State of the Union. He echoed the sentiments of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who issued an executive order on Friday banning private businesses in the state from requiring vaccine documentation. Both governors are Republicans. Governor DeSantis said requiring such a credential would create two classes of citizens based on vaccinations. A number of proposed vaccine passports are being developed in the United States and abroad  New York State has already introduced its version  and many businesses in the travel, hospitality and entertainment industries are eager to see them introduced, to help speed full reopening. Even so, Republican lawmakers in several states, including Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Montana, are introducing bills to ban their use. Mr. Reeves emphasized in his CNN appearance that the vaccine is our path to normalcy, and he called on fellow Republicans to advocate getting the vaccine and help overcome vaccine hesitancy, which he said was a problem in Mississippi. I am hopeful that as we move forward, more of my constituents will recognize the importance of it, he said. Still, he said, proof of vaccination should not be required by businesses. Only about 26 percent of Mississippis population has received at least one dose of vaccine so far, among the lowest rates in the country, according to a New York Times analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But Mr. Reeves said that nearly 75 percent of the states senior citizens have been vaccinated, and that was why he has been relaxing restrictions on gatherings and businesses in the state, even though public health experts are warning about rising case counts across the country. Were protecting those most vulnerable, he said. But at some point we have to let Americans make the decisions they think are best for them and their family.

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The pandemic hit the working class hard. The colleges that serve them are hurting, too. Many of our students come to college with challenges, Tracy D. Hall, the president of Southwest Tennessee Community College, said. Now you add a pandemic to that, it just exacerbates it. Credit... Whitten Sabbatini for The New York Times Colleges of all types are struggling under the shadow of the pandemic, but the nations community college system has been disproportionately hurt, with tens of thousands of students being forced to delay school or drop out because of the pandemic and the economic crisis it has created. Enrollment is down by 9.5 percent at the more than 1,000 two-year colleges in the United States, compared with numbers from last spring, according to figures from the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit organization that found a similar drop last fall. That is more than double the loss experienced by four-year schools. Community college enrollment among Black and Hispanic students has declined even more sharply, with a 19 percent drop from fall 2019 to fall 2020 among Black students and a 16 percent drop among Hispanic students. Many community college students are adults  the average age is 28  and for those students, the pandemic upset an already difficult balancing act, leaving many just plain exhausted. For Corey Ray Baranowski  a 33-year-old father of five  the breaking point came last year. Before the health crisis, Mr. Baranowski and his wife juggled their large family, several jobs and studies at Jackson State Community College, another school that was hit hard by the pandemic, in Jackson, Tenn., 90 miles northeast of Memphis. The dominoes started tumbling last spring, when the pandemic reached his small community of Lexington, Tenn. First, the school system where both Mr. Baranowski and his wife, a photographer, had worked as substitute teachers shut down. Then, that same day, their three school-age children were sent home to learn remotely. Their community college also suspended in-person classes. It was unsettling, Mr. Baranowski recalled. He and his wife, then expecting their fifth child, struggled to keep up their own schoolwork while making sure the children did theirs, overloading the familys home computer capacity  and their multitasking skills. There were some bologna sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly going on, trying to manage money, Mr. Baranowski said. Overwhelmed, he dropped two classes last spring and decided not to re-enroll this year. But in August, Mr. Baranowski found a job at a juvenile correctional center. The couple hopes to return to college next fall. My goal is to graduate and become a teacher, he said.

For some, the pandemic has made nomadic #vanlife more appealing. Christian Schaffer bought a brand-new Ram ProMaster in April 2019 for $36,000 and hired a team to help her build it into a livable space. Credit... Sandy Huffaker for The New York Times The nomadic movement loosely known as van life was already a growing trend before the pandemic, but over the past year, life on the open road has appealed to even more people. Christian Schaffer is a photographer whose Instagram page and YouTube channel chronicle the nuts and bolts of life on the road. Viewers turn to her videos for straightforward advice on things like Toilet, Shower & Laundry and How to Get Internet. Its grown from all angles, Ms. Schaffer said. Traveling full time may sound like a luxurious lifestyle reserved for the wealthy, but the cohort of people living out of their vehicles includes some who were displaced by rising rents and young couples priced out of the housing market, she said, as well as remote workers with nothing tying them to any one ZIP code. As people realize the need for more space and fresh air during the pandemic, Ms. Schaffer said, the community is growing exponentially. Parker and Jessica Caskey, a Denver-based couple who bought their van in January 2019, eloped to Loveland Pass in Colorado, snowshoeing in their wedding attire from their van to a mountaintop. They estimated that they had seen more than double or triple the number of vans on highways compared with last year. Its picked up a lot since Covid, Mr. Caskey said. The phenomenon has manifested physically, too: An array of Sprinter vans towered over the Land Rovers and Teslas parked near the town square in Jackson, Wyo., this winter, and the winding streets of Taos, N.M., were buzzing with the converted vehicles. Residential neighborhoods in Denver are lined with vans, which are now a common sight in the parking lots of ski resorts, national parks and trailheads across the country. For longtime vanlifers, that means fewer parking spaces and more trash, but the potential for positive changes.

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At a D.C. nursing home, vaccinating wary staff requires persistence and flexibility. Tina Sandri, chief executive of Forest Hills Nursing Home in Washington, with a display of staff members who have received the Covid-19 vaccine. Credit... Kenny Holston for The New York Times More than three months after the nations health care workers were among the first Americans to be eligible for the lifesaving vaccines, long-term-care facilities across the country continue to face the daunting challenge of getting their staff members inoculated. The federal program that sent vaccinators from Walgreens and CVS into tens of thousands of nursing homes and assisted living residences has by one measure been strikingly successful, inoculating nearly all of the vulnerable residents of the facilities. Deaths in nursing homes have plummeted since the program began in late December. But reaching the mostly low-wage employees of the facilities has proved far more difficult. A poll by The Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation conducted from Feb. 11 to March 7 found that half of the workers at nursing homes had yet to get even a first shot, and only 15 percent of that group said they definitely planned to. At Forest Hills of D.C., a nursing home in a prosperous neighborhood of the nations capital, the workers who turned down the vaccine during the centers first vaccination event in early January included nurses, certified nursing assistants, members of the kitchen and activities staffs, and a security officer. Most were Black, reflecting the overall makeup of the homes work force; many were immigrants from African countries, such as Nigeria, Liberia and Cameroon. Across the country, vaccine hesitancy has been receding  a Pew poll conducted in late February found that 30 percent of Americans said they would probably or definitely not get vaccinated, down from the 39 percent who said the same in November. The poll also found that far more Black Americans were willing to get the vaccine than they were before. Still, the challenges remain. The Times took a closer look at Forest Hills and its efforts to vaccinate the employees over the first three months of this year.

Vaccine selfies mark yet another key moment of the pandemic The designer Marc Jacobs taking a selfie as he received a Covid-19 vaccine. Credit... via Marc Jacobs Someday, when the history of the pandemic is written, it may be a narrative told partly in images: the despair of crowded hospitals and body bags, the fear and isolation of the masks. And then the balm of a smiling individual, one sleeve rolled up practically to the collarbone, with a medical worker poised to jab a needle into their upper arm. Log in to any social platform, and the picture  not to mention The Pose  is almost impossible to miss. The vaccine selfie has gone viral. I started seeing vaccine selfies almost as soon as the vaccines were available, said David Broniatowski, an associate professor of engineering and applied science at George Washington University. It was an almost immediate meme. And rather than petering out, it seems only to be picking up steam. Indeed, said Jeanine D. Guidry, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University focusing on public health and health communications, it may end up being one of the iconic images of this time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it has incited its own bizarre sub-trend: the topless (or partially topless) vaccine selfie, as most often modeled by European politicians, but also the occasional celebrity. The designer Marc Jacobs posed in pink sparkling shorts with his pink shirt entirely off half of his torso, leopard coat, and some pearls. Its a look, and a moment, worth celebrating, Vogue chortled. As Ms. Guidry pointed out, the vaccine selfie is both a new phenomenon  and a very, very old one. Before there was either the vaccine selfie or the topless vaccine selfie, there was the vaccine photo op. And before that, the vaccine engraving.

Virus variants are spreading in the U.S., threatening to prolong the pandemic. Lab technicians preparing to sequence positive coronavirus samples in Durham, N.C., in February. Credit... Pete Kiehart for The New York Times For weeks, the mood in much of the United States has been buoyant. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus have fallen steeply from their highs, and millions of people are being newly vaccinated every day. Restaurants, shops and schools have reopened. Some states, like Texas and Florida, have abandoned precautions altogether. But it is increasingly clear that the next few months will be painful. Concerning variants of the virus are spreading, carrying mutations that make the virus both more contagious and in some cases more deadly. Even as vaccines were authorized late last year, variants were trouncing Britain, South Africa and Brazil. New variants have continued to pop up  in California one week, in New York and Oregon the next. And as they take root, they threaten to postpone an end to the pandemic. At the moment, most vaccines appear to be effective against the variants. But public health officials are deeply worried that future iterations of the virus may be more resistant, requiring Americans to line up for regular rounds of booster shots or even new vaccines. We dont have evolution on our side, said Devi Sridhar, a professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. This pathogen seems to always be changing in a way that makes it harder for us to suppress. Health officials see an urgent need to expand vaccinations, which reduce transmission and therefore the viruss opportunities to mutate. They also acknowledge the importance of tracking the variants. Already, B.1.1.7, the highly contagious variant that walloped Britain and is wreaking havoc in continental Europe, is rising exponentially in the United States. The variant is about 60 percent more contagious and 67 percent more deadly than the original form of the virus, according to the most recent estimates. Infected people seem to carry more of the B.1.1.7 virus and for longer, said Katrina Lythgoe, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford. Youre more infectious for more days, she said. Limited genetic testing has turned up more than 12,500 U.S. cases, many in Florida and Michigan. As of March 13, the variant accounted for about 27 percent of new cases nationwide, up from just 1 percent in early February. The best way to think about B.1.1.7 and other variants is to treat them as separate epidemics, said Sebastian Funk, a professor of infectious disease dynamics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Were really kind of obscuring the view by adding them all up to give an overall number of cases. Other variants identified in South Africa and Brazil, as well as some virus versions first seen in the United States, have been slower to spread. But they, too, are worrisome, because they contain a mutation that diminishes the vaccines effectiveness. Just this week, an outbreak of P.1, the variant that crushed Brazil, forced a shutdown of the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort in British Columbia. Apoorva Mandavilli and

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Elena Malagodi, who dedicated her last years to Senegal, died of Covid-19. Elena Malagodi escaped the Nazis, married a famous Cuban sculptor and an Italian politician, then devoted her life to helping children and mothers in Senegal. Credit... Yefim Natis Elena Malagodis life unfolded like the pages of a novel. She was born in Rome, the daughter of a Jewish actress from Latvia and an Italian military officer. She and her mother fled the Nazis in Riga during World War II and found shelter in the Uzbek city of Tashkent. She returned to Western Europe after the war; married a Cuban sculptor in Paris and then an Italian politician in Rome; curated art exhibitions by Surrealists; and founded two philanthropic organizations in Senegal, where she spent the last two decades of her life. Elena Iannotta was born on Aug. 16, 1936, to Mita Kaplan, who arrived in Rome from Riga in 1934 to study acting. Her father was Capt. Antonio Iannotta. Ms. Malagodi said that she began visiting Africa regularly after her husband died as a way to help overcome her loss, but that her grief was nothing compared to what I saw  poverty, illness, illiteracy, and religious and ethnic conflict. She was particularly distressed by the sight of a legless boy on horseback on the beach. And that, she said, was why she kept coming back to help. On her trips, she said, she would always seek out an old marabout, a Muslim holy teacher, who would give her a ritual bath. She would feel reborn, she said in an interview with La Repubblica: Its as though Marabout can read my thoughts. He says, You are the only white woman who always returns. Its true. If Africa needs us, I also need this land. Ms. Malagodi died on March 17 in the coastal city of Mbour, Senegal. She was 84. The cause was Covid-19, said Larson Holt, the operations director and Senegal project manager for Moms Against Poverty, a partner of one of Ms. Malagodis organizations, Natangue-Senegal.

An Alabama basketball superfan dies from complications of Covid-19 at 23. Luke Ratliff, a University of Alabama student and superfan known as Fluffopotamus. Credit... Pamela Ratliff A beloved superfan of the University of Alabamas mens basketball team died from complications of Covid-19, his mother said Saturday. Luke Ratliff rarely missed a game and was known by the Crimson Tide community as Fluffopotamus. He died Friday evening, his mother, Pamela Ratliff, said. A senior at the University of Alabama, Mr. Ratliff was set to graduate in August. He was 23. He had a personality that was bigger than this world, never met a stranger, Ms. Ratliff said on Saturday. Mr. Ratliff traveled to the mens N.C.A.A. basketball tournament in Indianapolis to cheer on the Crimson Tide until they lost to U.C.L.A. last weekend. He had recently gone through rapid coronavirus testing multiple times, Ms. Ratliff said, and the tests had come back negative. He didnt have any of the typical symptoms until the cough set in this week, she said. Mr. Ratliff was eventually treated for bronchitis and it was later discovered he had contracted Covid-19. Fans were allowed to fill venues for the tournament up to 25 percent of their normal capacity. In response to Mr. Ratliffs death, the Marion County Public Health Department said in a statement that it would be investigating to determine if anyone in Indianapolis may have been exposed to Covid-19 by any Alabama resident who visited Indianapolis in recent days. We continue to encourage residents and visitors to practice the simple and important habits that keep us all safe: wearing a mask, washing hands, and social distancing, the department said. There has been an outpouring of tributes from the Crimson Tide community celebrating Mr. Ratliff. We will forever remember our #1 fan, Alabama Mens Basketball said on Twitter. We love you. Nate Oats, Alabamas coach, said Mr. Ratliffs death doesnt seem real. Fluff has been our biggest supporter since day one, Oats said on Twitter. Put all he had into our program. Loved sharing this ride with him. Youll be missed dearly my man! Wish we had one more victory cigar and hug together. Roll Tide Forever. Mr. Ratliff described his love for college basketball to The Tuscaloosa News earlier this year. College basketball is different because its literally right in front of you: You can see it, you can touch it, you can go to it 16 home games a year. Its tangible, thats whats endeared me to it, Mr. Ratliff told the outlet, discussing his preference for the game over football. On March 31, Mr. Ratliff chronicled the Alabama mens basketball season on Twitter, posting his own personal highlights from the season. I will finish college having attended 44 of the tides past 45 conference and postseason games, including 42 in a row, Mr. Ratliff wrote. What a freaking ride its been. Mr. Ratliff is survived by his parents and two brothers.

India records over 100,000 new cases in one day for the first time. In Mumbai, India, on Monday. India is the second country after the United States to cross the 100,000-case threshold in a single day. Credit... Niharika Kulkarni/Reuters More than a year into the pandemic, India recorded its highest tally of new coronavirus infections on Monday as officials in the hardest-hit state reimposed lockdowns and warned that hospitals even in smaller cities were running out of beds. The worrisome developments were reminiscent of earlier waves in the pandemic, yet they came even as India continues to vaccinate more than three million people every day, one of the largest efforts in the world. Officials announced Monday morning that they had recorded 103,558 new cases in 24 hours, making India the second country after the United States to cross the 100,000-case threshold in a single day. After several months of declines, daily infections have surged tenfold since the second week of February. More than half of the new infections were traced to the western state of Maharashtra, which includes Mumbai, Indias financial capital. The state government ordered all shops, movie theaters, markets and restaurants to close starting Monday evening and imposed a nighttime curfew, exempting only essential services. With 12.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases, according to a New York Times database, Indias caseload is the worlds third highest after the United States and Brazil. Officials have attributed the recent spike to a relaxed attitude among Indians when it comes to wearing masks and maintaining social distance. But critics say Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has sent mixed signals. Officials have allowed large crowds to gather for a major Hindu religious festival  where hundreds of coronavirus infections have been reported  while Mr. Modis party has held crowded rallies in several states where local elections have begun. In the early days of the pandemic, Mr. Modi enacted one of the worlds severest and most abrupt lockdowns, leaving hundreds of thousands of migrant workers instantly unemployed and forcing many to return to their villages on foot. As Indias already ailing economy contracted even further, Mr. Modi began lifting restrictions last May, and infections started to explode. The new restrictions in Mumbai have been met with resistance by opposition politicians and business leaders. Representatives of the hotel industry appealed to the Maharashtra state government for financial support and tax waivers, saying the latest lockdown moves would bring economic doom. Indias vaccination drive has been a rare bright spot domestically, but at a cost to other nations: The government has curtailed exports of vaccines manufactured by its mammoth pharmaceutical industry, dealing a setback to poorer countries that had been relying on India for their doses.

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WASHINGTON  Pete Buttigieg was a few weeks into his job as transportation secretary, buried in meetings and preparing for the launch of President Joe Biden's $2.3 trillion public works plan, when evening arrived along with a time to try something new in Washington.

Instead of climbing into the back seat of a black SUV like most Cabinet secretaries, he headed to a bike-share rack. Helmet on, and with a couple of Secret Service agents flanking him, he pedaled the mile-long trip to his home in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

It wasn't a one-time stunt. On Thursday, Buttigieg arrived at the White House for a Cabinet meeting on his two-wheeler. And that wasn't his only "regular guy" moment. Dog park devotees in the District of Columbia have also seen him there, chatting up anyone from children to members of Congress such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Buttigieg first had his eye on the job of the man who is now his boss, Biden. Buttigieg's presidential campaign was surprisingly successful  he essentially tied for first with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses and finished a close second to him in the New Hampshire primary  and he made a strong impression as someone who represented the future of the Democratic Party.

Now the man known during his campaign as "Mayor Pete"  he was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana  faces the first test of that potential in his first job in Washington: leading a Cabinet department with a $75 billion annual budget and a mandate to help spur an infrastructure program that Biden has likened to the the building of the interstate highway system in the 1950s.

He will have to navigate the complicated politics of both an entrenched bureaucracy at the Transportation Department and the fraught politics of a bitterly divided Washington.

He may have found a way by just riding a bike, which has gained fans from even skeptics in Congress.

"You've got to keep your head up," Buttigieg told The Associated Press, explaining the path and potential dangers posed from unaccustomed drivers, but he said it can be a much quicker journey from point A to B.

Biden on Thursday tasked Buttigieg and four other Cabinet members  the "Jobs Cabinet"  with selling the administration's infrastructure and climate plan, a flood of money for roads, bridges, airports, broadband communications, water systems and electric cars.

But the plan has already hit a wall with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who objects to the corporate tax increases Biden says will pay for the plan and pledges to oppose it "every step of the way." On the other side, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, says the package should be significantly larger.

Daunting as it may seem, the challenge of helping build consensus fits the ambition of the man who had the audacity to run for president from the perch of being mayor of a midsize town in Indiana. When Biden selected the smooth-talking Naval reserve veteran for the transportation post, he praised him as offering "a new voice with new ideas determined to move past old politics."

In an interview, Buttigieg said he believes that bipartisan consensus is attainable.

Joining Buttigieg in selling the plan are Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

"I've had enough conversations, especially the one-on-one conversations away from the cameras with members from both sides of the aisle, to know there really is a sincere interest in getting this done," Buttigieg told the AP. "Now politics can get in the way of that of course. But I think unlike a lot of other issues where there is just deep passionately felt profound disagreement about what to do, here there's a really healthy overlap in terms of our ideas about what has to happen, even if there is a lot of difference on how to get there."

Translation? Republicans like smooth roads and fast internet for their constituents, too. But so far, there is no indication Republicans share his position.

The proposal offers big stakes for Buttigieg at the department, where he pledges to promote public transit and other green alternatives to gas-guzzling cars and apply an "equity lens" to infrastructure projects.

"Black and brown neighborhoods have been disproportionately divided by highway projects or left isolated by the lack of adequate transit and transportation resources," Buttigieg tweeted in December. Under Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, he said, "we will make righting these wrongs an imperative."

Just two months into the job, Buttigieg has met with two dozen House members and 13 senators and in recent days has upped that pace, talking to lawmakers both parties every day.

Republicans describe the former McKinsey consultant as likable and open-minded, even if they wonder at times about his actual level of sway on legislation.

Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on a key panel overseeing highways, said he's talked with Buttigieg twice, once at a meeting with Biden and a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the White House. He called the conversations "really good."

"I'm very excited to be able to work with him," said Davis, a cyclist back home in his rural district, who thinks the former mayor can bring a valuable street-level perspective to filling potholes and easing congested streets.

"If he wants to go for a ride to discuss bike lanes and public transit, I'd welcome that," he said.

Though the youngest Cabinet member at age 39, Buttigieg possesses a star power matched by few others in the group. He's displayed an ability to command media attention and use those moments  including during a series of memorable Fox News hits around the election  to sway the public, including those not always apt to vote Democratic.

He's spoken at the popular SXSW conference in Texas, joined Gov. Ralph Northam, D-Va., to promote expanded passenger rail, and tweets at a frequency to a wider public that comes close to rivaling Donald Trump when he was president. Buttigieg promotes transit policy both on his official and personal account, where he also expresses devotion to his husband, Chasten.

Buttigieg, who owns two dogs, has even been seen at a neighborhood park with Ocasio-Cortez. A chance meeting, he said.

The new transportation secretary had one recent stumble: He had to quickly walk back a plan to charge drivers per mile they drove. It's a proposal that has some support among Republicans but could violate Biden's campaign pledge not to raise taxes on people earning less than $400,000.

Buttigieg has impressed West Wing aides with his work ethic and willingness to learn, and he was quickly granted approval to pursue a robust engagement with the media.

The president's advisers also hold warm feelings toward the former mayor for his decision last spring to quickly endorse Biden after abandoning his own campaign, helping accelerate the end of the Democratic primary contest. And Biden has compared Buttigieg to his late son Beau, a powerful evocation that helped cement his importance to the president.

Now bound to Biden's agenda and performance, Buttigieg begins a phase likely to enhance his public service portfolio  and life experience.

This phase accomplishes what some allies have said Buttigieg needed, a next chapter, beyond the underdog story of the boy wonder from the small Midwestern city. Friends and advisers had long suggested that he get out of South Bend and see more of the world than his seven-month deployment to Afghanistan in 2014 allowed.

Buttigieg was also busy taking steps toward running for president when he got married in June 2018 and when his father died six months later. During the campaign, he said he and Chasten had hopes of becoming parents.

Asked about his desire to be a father, Buttigieg told the AP "we're still working at that," before adding with a smile, "Stay tuned."

As quickly as he rose, Buttigieg swiftly suspended his campaign in March 2020, before Biden's ascension in the primary was clear. He knew when to get out. He'll probably know when to get back in, too, if he does.

"He has incredible political talent and skill," said Mayor Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio, a longtime friend and 2020 campaign supporter. "But part of that talent and skill is having really great political timing."

On that front, she sees his work on infrastructure not as "part of this grand plan on his next move," but rather as a demonstration of his ability to focus on the task at hand.

Buttigieg and his husband have been spotted walking around their new neighborhood, Capitol Hill, where they live in a one-bedroom apartment, meandering the artisanal stalls at Eastern Market to smiles from residents. Last weekend, they wandered along the brick row houses and blooming magnolia cherry blossom trees, greeting neighbors with waves and allowing young children to pet their dogs. Their one-eyed puggle named "Buddy," adopted in late 2018, has become something of an Instagram star.

Buddy lingered as a blond-haired little girl ran up and sat to snuggle him while the other lab mix, Truman, stood nearby.

"He loves the attention," Chasten Buttigieg explained to the girl, a trait Buddy picked up during the campaign.

Pete Buttigieg smiled as the girl gave the dog a goodbye scratch on the head, and the couple slowly made the way back on a path toward the Capitol.

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Calvin Woodward contributed to this report.
said it uncovered a plot to destabilise the kingdom that involved King Abdullah IIs half-brother and extended beyond the countrys borders.

The sibling, former Crown Prince Hamza Bin Hussein (pictured), worked in concert with foreign entities, Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi said on Sunday, in a first official explanation of a string of arrests a day earlier. More than 16 people, including at least one other royal, were taken into custody, he said at a news conference in the capital, Amman.

There was an effort to target Jordans security and stability, this effort was foiled, he said, giving no evidence to back up his claims. He declined to say whether the unidentified foreign entities were people or governments, and if any money was paid to those involved in the plot.

The crackdown comes as struggles with a worsening squeeze on its finances and a resurgence of Covid-19 cases that has prompted the government to renew restrictions on movement. The U.S. most recently provided the Middle East kingdom with $700 million in August.

We are closely following the reports and in touch with Jordanian officials, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support.

Jordans stability is crucial to the region as it sits at the crossroads of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its home to as many as 2 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants, and chaos there could endanger the security of Israel, with which it shares a frontier and made peace in 1994. Bordering both Syria and Iraq, the kingdom has also fashioned itself as a force for moderation in a turbulent neighbourhood.

Security personnel and armoured vehicles were seen parked outside royal palaces and patrolling the Dabouq neighborhood of the capital, Amman, on Saturday. The Washington Post said earlier that Hamza, the eldest son of the late King Hussein and his fourth wife Queen Noor, was under house arrest at his palace in Amman. It cited a senior West Asia intelligence official briefed on the events as saying there was an ongoing investigation into an alleged plot to unseat King Abdullah, Hamzas older half-brother.

Hamza was the crown prince for four years before the title was transferred in 2004 to the current kings eldest son, Hussein.
A couple of days ago, the first song Chali Chali (Mazhai Mazhai in Tamil and Ilaa ilaa in Telugu) from Thalaivi was launched. The song, featuring Kangana Ranaut making some elegant dance moves, has since been trending.

But not many know of the pain the actress had to endure while shooting the now-hit song. Now heres an interesting back story to the number. The song was shot last October after Kangana returned to the sets of film eight months after the pandemic.

Apparently, the actress got drenched in the rain for sixteen hours over the three days of shooting for the song. Interestingly, the actress wasnt even feeling well but shed turned up for the shooting through those three days, insisting that she completed that shoot.

Vishnu Induri, one of the producers of the biopic, confirms the report. With so many restrictions it was difficult shooting for the song. But wed asked Kangana to rest till she got better, but she insisted that she shoots, he remarks.

For the song, the makers built a huge waterfall set over two floors at a private studio in Hyderabad, for which they had to bring in water via tankers.

Then adding that it takes a lot for any actor to work under bad health conditions, Vishnu praises her levels of commitment.

In spite of not feeling well, she was in water throughout the songs shoot. It just goes to show her commitment levels, which is truly admirable, explains the producer. Kangana never complained of anything and kept insisting on working even during those tough times.

A homage to Jayalalithaa

The Chali Chali song is fashioned after Ammamma Kaatru, the introduction song from the former and late Chief Minister Jayalalithaas 1965-debut film Vennira Aadai. Chali Chali endeavours to replicate the iconic looks of Jayalalithaa to perfection, with Kangana embodying the persona of the legendary superstar of yesteryears.

Jayalalithaa was sixteen years old when she shot for the number. And as Vennira Aadai was an A certified film, even Jayalalithaa couldnt watch the film in theatres back then, Vishnu says. The song, which has been trending on social media since it was released online, was choreographed by Brinda Gopal.
Ship-to-shore cranes line the first phase of the Leatherman Terminal scheduled to open this month in North Charleston. The State Ports Authority is in a labor dispute with the International Longshoremen's Association about who will operate the cranes. Walter Lagarenne/State Ports Authority/Provided
Their damage control is embarrassing.



I have never owned a Che shirt

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Srsly. Not them trying to still pull this narrative.

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barf

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they are so, so very bad at this.

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come on now lmao

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It's hilarious that the Royal Family is rebranding themselves as The Firm in these trying times.

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theyve always been called that

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But have they always talked about it publically like they're employees of a company? I don't remember ever seeing them refer to The Firm as though they're all disgruntled employees until maybe the past year or so? I don't follow them at all, whatever I know, I know from ONTD, lol

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I also had no idea that is how they called themselves and I hate it, very fitting tho.

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Nnnnnnnn lol whew

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damn they really are working overtime to present these people as having redeeming qualities, huh?

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You mean the same Kate who Scotland Yard confirmed was "working" at the Sarah Everard vigil, and that's why she won't face any charges for attending maskless? That Kate?

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The illegal vigil? I dont know how it goes both ways. Kate was okay and working but then people got arrested because they werent supposed to gather? idk. Maybe Im mixing up events. Its all very strange

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The event itself was deemed illegal and people were arrested for it later that night when the police came in. Not the masklessness.

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LoL, they won't charge Andrew for sex trafficking but you really think they would/should charge Kate for a vigil they only decided was illegal because it made the police look bad?

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She was definitely there for the PR. Public tragedies have long been used by politicians for PR. IDK why anyone thought royal racist family would be any different. Their whole existence depends on PR

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LMAO people need to stop trying to paint this 1000+ years old racist, colonizing institution as progressive. That includes henry. It never will be and has overstayed its welcome.

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The last point ... jfc.

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CACKLING.



Hire me to do your PR, @BRF, please. Even I, with no training, would do a better job. (This is even funnier because three years ago, there was a similar headline with Meghan edited with a red star, screaming that she was a dirty Marxist and how it was going to destroy the royal family or whatever).



In just the last two days, the British Media have also linked Meghan to the Uighur genocide and claimed that a "Meghan Markle-style cult of truth" is responsible for the decolonisation of British museums (which is apparently a "bad" thing).

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So MM responsible for illegal deforestation, the Uyghur genocide, and also the decolonisation of museums. What next? Covid-19? pic.twitter.com/fWJfECjgmJ  Monisha Rajesh (@monisha_rajesh) April 4, 2021



England, you unhinged I hadnt heard theseEngland, you unhinged

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There is such a weird cottage industry around slandering her at this point that it's disturbing. She obviously brings clicks and high participation from all the people who hate her. But there's also an insidious political agenda with the establishment using her to deflect from actually important shit like the UK government's egregious corruption throughout the pandemic etc. and stuff the royal family itself should be accountable for like Prince Andrew, Kate's opportunistic mess at Sarah Everard's funeral, the queen's interference in laws for her own benefit and much more.

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Oh that museum piece has me heated. I feel very strongly about museum ethics and about the rights of original ownership (returning artifacts to the peoples they were taken from). I love museums but the fact is that a lot of them benefitted from colonization.

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The entire royal family (Harry included) need better PR.

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She spent five years developing a survey on early chilldhood development that included landmark, never before asked questions such as "nature or nuture?"



lol one year for every question, too!

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The High Court has directed an inquiry into the detention of two mothers who refused to enter mandatory hotel quarantine after arriving into Dublin Airport following their return from a trip to Dubai.

On Easter Sunday Mr Justice Paul Burns directed the inquiry, under Article 40.4.2 of the constitution, the legality of the detention of friends Niamh Mulreany and Kirstie McGrath at Mountjoy woman's prison.

The inquiry has been directed against the Governor of the prison, where the two are currently being held.

Both women were arrested and charged with breaching Section 38 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 by refusing to be detained in quarantine following their alleged refusal to go the designated hotel on Friday.

Those found guilty of the offence could face maximum sentence of one month in jail and or a fine of 2000.

The court heard that they had travelled to the UAE, where they were due - but ultimately did not undergo -cosmetic procedures.

The court also heard that the trips and procedures were birthday presents funded by the women's respective families and friends.

The pair were granted bail by the District Court on Saturday, on terms including that they remain in the hotel, and that they provide their own bond of 800, of which 500 must be lodged.

They must also provide an independent surety of 2000, 1800 must be lodged. They were also to reside at the designated hotel, surrender their passports and not leave the jurisdiction.

However, the High Court heard that neither woman was able to take up bail resulting in their detention at the prison.

At the High Court John Fitzgerald SC, appearing with Keith Spencer Bl, instructed by solicitor Michael French for the two women said that their detention is not lawful and have sought an inquiry aimed at securing their release.

Counsel said that the focus of the inquiry relates to his clients' dissatisfaction with the bail hearing and the "draconian and disproportionate" conditions imposed on them by the district court.

Counsel said that the bail conditions were imposed on two persons with no previous convictions, where no inquiry into their means was made, and who had tested negative for Covid19 following three recent tests.

The state's objections to bail arouse out of concerns over the covid19 pandemic and not for any of the usual grounds, counsel said.

The mandatory quarantine, which his clients were not aware of before they left for Dubai, amount to a form of preventative detention which he said has no lawful basis.

The amount sought to be lodged as part of the bail conditions were beyond his clients' means, counsel said adding that Ireland "had abolished debtors' prisons" some time ago.

Counsel said that the bail conditions were onerous and made no sense given they could not afford the cost of the hotel.

Out of concern for their children his clients had offered to isolate at their own homes, rather than at the hotel, but this offer was not accepted.

In reply to the judge counsel accepted that a constitutional challenge may be brought against the provisions in the Health Act under which his two clients were charged.

Counsel said Ms McGrath of St Anthony's Road, Rialto Dublin 7 is the mother of children aged 10 and 8 years, and is the recipient of lone parents' allowance.

Her trip to Dubai was a 30th birthday present funded by family and friends.

She was due to undergo a cosmetic medical procedure, which she believed would assist her in addressing some personal matters

Counsel said that Ms McGrath's mother, who has taken leave from her job, has been looking after her two children. However, her mother must return to work in the coming days.

Mother of one Niamh Mulreany, who also celebrated her 25th birthday in March, also had her trip funded by a family member as a gift.

Ms Mulreany of Scarlett Row, Essex Street West, Dublin 2, who previously had breast enhancement surgery. had travelled with the intention of undergoing a corrective procedure carried out in Dubai.

She too did not go ahead with the procedure. She is also in receipt of the lone parent allowance.

Counsel said that when they attempted to return to Ireland from Dubai on March 31st last, they were informed that she must pay 1,850 in order to quarantine at a hotel upon arrival in Dublin.

They were not able to pay that sum, and was told in Dubai that if they did not pre-book the hotel and pay, she would be denied passage to Dublin.

They were not allowed board flights to Dublin for two days. Following presentations from a public representative and the Irish consulate UAE after they agreed to make deferred payments for the hotel.

They had also believed that their children could stay with them in the hotel. However, when they returned to Ireland, they were told they would have to pay the fee and that their children could not stay with them.

Arising out of that they refused to travel to the designated hotel because they could not afford the fee, and over concerns for their children.

Counsel said that neither were aware of the new quarantining requirements before they departed to Dubai.

The inquiry into their detention has been made returnable to later this afternoon.
Mumbai, April 4 : IL&FS has received Rs 693 crore worth of settlement claims for two road projects from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

With the latest development, NHAI and MoRTH have settled aggregate IL&FS claims of over Rs 1,804 crore across 6 road projects.

In a statement, IL&FS said that its subsidiary IL&FS Transportation Networks India Limited (ITNL), on March 31, 2021, duly received settlement amount of Rs 673 crore for Kiratpur Ner Chowk Expressway Limited (KNCEL) and Rs 20 crore towards claims for Chenani Nashri Tunnelway Limited (CNTL) from NHAI.

KNCEL project was foreclosed under the MoRTH guidelines of March 2019 for incomplete or stalled projects. CNTL is a completed project which is earning annuities.

Earlier, Fagne Songadh Expressway Ltd (FSEL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of ITNL, completed its settlement with NHAI receiving an amount of Rs 707 crore.

Other IL&FS projects settled under claims and compensation by NHAI with the new board till date include Jorabat Shillong Expressway (JSEL) (Rs 252 crore), Baleshwar Kharagpur Expressway (Rs 8 crore) and ITNL Road Infrastructure Development Company (Rs 144 crore) that was settled by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

Further, there is a pending settlement of Rs 902 crore for the Khed Sinnar Expressway project and Rs 171 crore for Amravati Chikli Expressway from NHAI.

FSEL, KNCEL and IRIDCL have been handed over to the authorities post settlement of claims. BKEL will form part of the InVIT that will include 11 road projects in two phases.

Further the settlement of claims in terms of FSEL, KNCEL, IRIDCL, IL&FS would address an aggregate debt of Rs 3,500 crore through NHAI and MoRTH settlements.

IL&FS Group, as part of its debt resolution framework approved by NCLAT, is following a multi-pronged strategy for its road assets to address debt. The group has plans to form InvIT for 12 road projects, settle incomplete projects under MoRTH guidelines and monetize balance road assets to the highest bidder.

The company has got approval from Justice Jain to sell JSEL, an amber company, to Sekura Roads Limited (backed by Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus) that has put forward a bid of Rs 916 crore for 100 per cent stake addressing Rs 1,600 crore debt. JSEL is a four-lane highway from Jorabat to Shillong on NH-40, which connects Shillong, Mizoram and Tripura with Guwahati.

Similarly, Cube Highways & Infrastructure II PTE Limited emerged as the highest bidder, with bid of Rs 3,900 crore for 100 per cent stake in CNTL that would address Rs 4,910 crore of aggregate debt on completion.
Teachers say they must be prioritised for Covid-19 vaccines to limit disruption to the Leaving Cert in June and prevent uncertainty over the start of the next academic year in September.

It comes as the Department of Education considers implementing a pilot antigen testing scheme aimed at minimising the spread of Covid-19 in schools.

Education Minister Norma Foley is seeking a meeting with her Northern counterpart Peter Weir to learn about the use of the tests there. Pupils and teachers in Northern Ireland have been urged to consider taking two tests a week to reduce the risk of transmission.

National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) president Michael Cregan said the tests would complement measures already in place.

"It is another tool in the kit. We realise it is not perfect but it will catch cases and gives assurances to staff and students," he said.

Rapid antigen tests can be used to detect Covid-19 within minutes but they are not as reliable as PCR tests where nasal and throat swabs are analysed in a laboratory.

Last week an expert rapid testing group chaired by the Government's chief scientific adviser Mark Ferguson recommended the roll-out of rapid antigen testing to complement mask-wearing, social distancing and other public health measures.

Teaching unions said the tests could benefit schools, but their priority is securing vaccines for members.

Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) general secretary Michael Gillespie said the use of antigen tests must be supported by rapid access to PCR tests to protect against the impact of false-positive antigen results forcing teachers and pupils out of school unnecessarily.

The ASTI said the Department of Education "must ensure there are effective arrangements for rapid testing where cases emerge in school communities".

A government source told the Sunday Independent officials are in the early stages of planning a pilot antigen test regime for schools, similar to an initiative being run at third level.

This will also involve examining how antigen testing is carried out in schools abroad.

The TUI and ASTI met deputy chief medical officer Ronan Glynn, National Immunisation Advisory Committee member Kevin Kelleher and education officials last Thursday to discuss changes to the vaccine roll-out plan.

Teachers had been assured they would be among the first third of the population to receive the vaccine, but changes mean they will no longer be a priority group.

Mr Gillespie told the Sunday Independent he expected the promise of an early vaccine to be honoured.

He suggested teachers could receive their first jabs across a four-day period, given the number the HSE can administer daily depending on supply.

"We did not want to displace anybody - the elderly and the vulnerable should go ahead of us - but after that we deem ourselves frontline workers.

"Realistically, next September we are going to be in workplaces where everyone won't be vaccinated, and under-18s won't be vaccinated. The sustainability of keeping schools open is keeping teachers there. If we are vaccinated, sustainable opening is guaranteed for the Leaving Cert and next September."

ASTI general secretary Kieran Christie said the union will press for teachers to be prioritised. "Many countries have vaccinated teachers or included teachers in their prioritisation categories," he said.

Both unions expect the matter to be discussed at their annual congress events this week. The TUI expects an emergency motion to be brought forward on the vaccine issue.

Unesco data on 150 countries shows most roll-outs prioritise teachers for vaccines. In a report last week it said many countries prioritise teachers differently but only 54 nations either do not prioritise teachers or are still developing roll-out plans. Another 19 countries, including Germany, Spain and Malta, have teachers in their second priority group after healthcare workers and vulnerable patients.

Meanwhile, Mr Christie has called for extra funding allocated to schools during the pandemic to be retained once the crisis ends. He said the money could be used to cut class sizes.
In what seems like a concern straight from 2019, there is a new food at Disneyland that has completely overtaken the internet: a pickle dog that is part corn dog, part hot dog, part peanut butter (more on this later), and all fried. It is, in short, the kind of frankenfood that sparks intense debate between the people who must eat it at all costs, and the people who are absolutely horrified it exists in the first place.

Obviously, I had to try it.

The pickle dog in question is available at Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs in Downtown Disney, and is accessible to the public. Its a hot dog on a stick, inside a hollowed-out pickle, which is then dipped in cornbread batter, coated in panko breadcrumbs, and deep fried. The pickle dog comes with a side of peanut butter for dipping and a bag of chips for $13.

Each is made to order, and let me tell you, the woman making them was working hard, fighting a battle against a long line that just grew as the day went on.

There are those who cant understand why someone would invent this food, but to me, this treat makes total sense. Disneylands giant $3 pickles and its $10 corn dogs are two of the parks most beloved foods. Under the Joey Tribbiani Principle that I just invented  take Custard, good. Jam, good. Beef, good. and substitute food variables as needed  this offering, before I tried it, seemed like it was absolutely going to work.

Did it work? I dont know, youre just going to have to keep reading.

By Jessica Torres

People averse to the pickle dog tend to fall into two camps: those who detest pickles, and those who cant understand why peanut butter needs to be part of this deep-fried conundrum. Both of those were non-issues for me. I love sour pickles, especially fried. I didnt have any hesitation about the peanut butter, either. For starters, its an optional dipping sauce. But mainly, Ive eaten enough weird theme park food to know that if something sticks out as especially odd in a combination like this, its usually there for a reason.

There are very, very few meals where peanut butter doesnt belong, Marnie Shure wrote in her pickle dog hot take for The Takeout. I would never have thought a peanut butter and bacon sandwich was life-altering until I gave it a whirl, or that a peanut butter burger was such a must-order. But that silky, savory, just-this-side-of-sweet spread has proven itself as such a culinary Swiss army knife that no matter where I see it pop up, I trust it. And now I need the Panko Crusted Pickle Dog.

For me, the main issue with the whole pickle dog situation was the hot dog itself. If there were a whole table of hot dogs and nothing else, even if I hadnt eaten all day, I would turn one down. I have, actually. Thats how much I dont like them. But I am nothing if not devoted to my craft.

So I ordered one. Watched it get made on the spot from dog to pickle to panko to fryer. Took it to a place where I could sit and safely take off my mask according to Disneys rules. Took many selfies. Then took a bite.

Honestly? Not terrible. Actually pretty good. The cornbread to pickle to hot dog ratio somehow works to perfectly balance out the three strong flavors into one relatively mild, salty-sweet bite.

By Jessica Torres

Im not mad at it, Jessica Torres said. She was there with me to take photos for this story, but if I was going down, we were going down together. We both liked it enough to eat a lot more than we expected to, but even together, we couldnt finish it. That thing is huge.

Where we parted ways was the peanut butter. She didnt like it, but I did. The addition of a tiny bit wasnt great, but when I tried the next bite with a little more, the texture of the peanut butter added to the whole experience. Then again, I like dipping sauces in all forms. We both felt like the breaded panko coating was overkill, and we would have liked it better without. We also skipped the chips. There was enough frying oil in the equation already.

By Jessica Torres

Just like it is online, the pickle dog is an attention-getter in real life. People stopped me several times to ask me what it was, and where they could get it. Ok, a nice older man said once I explained what it was. On the way out, thats my lunch. A dubious woman who had seen it trending on the internet asked me how I liked it. I was thinking about trying it, she said, but they lost me at peanut butter. I love pickles and hot dogs, but Im not sure about the peanut butter.

I also spotted some influencers in the wild who were there trying the pickle dog for journalism, just like me. I loved it, said Kitra Remick, half of theme park vlogger duo Ordinary Adventures with partner Peter Sciretta. I give it a five out of five. Even if you don't love pickles, don't be scared of it because it's not too pickle-y. It just has that nice pickle crunch.

Though the pickle dog is available at Disneyland, it isnt made by Disney. Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs is a kiosk operated by Working to Give, a company that operates under what they call a 50/50 principle of reinvesting 50 percent of profits into the business and giving 50 percent away to charity. Its a win-win, Sciretta said. I dont feel as bad about spending $13 on a corn dog.

By Jessica Torres

Its also worth noting that Knotts Berry Farm had something called the Dilly Dilly Dog as part of their Peanuts Celebration in early 2020, which was a corn dog that had a pickle around the hot dog. It was part of their Peanuts Celebration of Charlie Brown and company, which also had peanut butter foods all over the park, like a deep-fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which must have been an absolute nightmare for parents of kids with nut allergies. It also explains why Disneylands pickle dog has the panko breading and the peanut butter on the side, as additional elements to make this offering substantially different. (Am I going down a rabbit hole of legalities right now? I am. It distracts me from thinking about my arteries.)

So all things considered, I give the pickle dog a thumbs up, not because I want to eat another one, but because Im glad it exists. An internet obsession with a frankenfood like this feels very pre-pandemic. It harkens to a time when we could freely go do things. As Disneylands reopening nears, if some of us can spare brain space to care about a hot dog shoved in a pickle and dipped in goo, then breaded, fried and covered with some other goo, then nature is healing.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 04th Apr, 2021) The United Arab Emirates has ranked 15th globally in Kearneys 2021 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index, up from 19th place in 2020. The UAE business environment demonstrated continued strengths in factors most important to investors, including government incentives for investors.

The countrys strong enabling environment, featuring advanced technological infrastructure and high innovation levels, is also central to its FDI attractiveness. The UAE is one of only five countries globally that achieved a higher ranking this year in an increasingly competitive global FDI attraction environment.

Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, affirmed that UAE's first place in the Arab world and 15th globally on Kearneys 2021 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index is a new achievement that is added to the multiple and successive achievements of the UAE.

"This global ranking confirms the efficiency of the approach that the UAE adopts, in line with the vision and directives of the wise leadership, regarding the development of the national business environment and the attractiveness of the state to investments and various commercial activities to achieve country's strategic objectives and the UAE Centennial 2071 by diversifying the sources of the national economy to enhance Non-oil GDP growth," Al Zeyoudi indicated.

He went on to say that progress made by the UAE in this vital and important indicator confirms the positive sentiment among investors, which is based on the government's strong commitment to economic diversity, innovation, infrastructure and ease of doing business, and it is new evidence of the strength and durability of the country's economy and its ability to overcome the challenges that permeate the global economic scene today. It also shows the country's efficiency in coping with and facing emergencies, crises and global changes and achieving rapid response by adopting modern technology to explore the future economy.

According to the new report from the global strategy and management consulting firm, investors say they are more cautious regarding FDI globally as they gear up for a long-haul economic recovery. The ranking reveals a significant fall in overall optimism about the global economy since pre- and early-pandemic levels last year; however, investor optimism about the middle East & North Africa generally remained stable. Optimism levels regarding the economic outlook for the UAE scored higher in relative terms than those documented last year, placing it among the top 5 countries in terms of net optimism.

"The UAEs striking rise in the rankings again this year speaks to the power of consistency and momentum. Specifically, the score is likely related to its continued investment in advanced technological infrastructure, high levels of innovation, and to the intensity and discipline of its response to the pandemic," said Rudolph Lohmeyer, Partner, National Transformations Institute, Kearney Middle East.

"The UAE was among the first countries to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, and it has embarked on an extremely ambitious campaign to vaccinate its whole population by the end of 2021. Behind only Israel and the Seychelles, the UAE has vaccinated the highest portion of their population (per 100 people), which can be expected to boost economic and investment prospects further.

In addition, the UAE continued to engage beyond its borders this year  with the signing of the Abraham Accords in August signaling the UAEs commitment to regional stability and economic integration. Expo 2020, which was postponed to October 2021, should further contribute to the resurgence in tourism, including from Israel, in the latter part of the year."

Commenting on the 2021 FDI Confidence Index, Paul A. Laudicina, founder of the index and Kearneys Global Business Policy Council said, "A year into the pandemic and its severe disruption to the global economy, investors understandably appear chastened. In last years survey, investors displayed a strong level of optimism about the global economy and their investment outlook, and many were caught flat-footed by the COVID-19 disruption that brought the world to an economic standstill."

This years rankings point to continued apprehension and uncertainty about how quickly the global economy will recover post-COVID. In addition to the fall in confidence about the economy, most of the overall scores for the top-25 countries have fallen compared with previous years. Only 57 percent of investors are optimistic about the three-year global economic outlook, which is much lower than the corresponding figure last year of 72 percent (prior to and at the onset of the pandemic).

Reflecting investors increased caution this year, developed economies account for the lions share of the top-25 list for two Primary reasons. "First, established markets represent more safety and stability to business leaders whose strategies and bottom lines have been shaken by the pandemic," said Erik Peterson, managing director of the Global Business Policy Council and co-author of the study. "And, second, investors continue to prioritise destinations with strong infrastructure, strong governance, investment in technology and innovation, and macroeconomic stability natural strengths of most developed markets."

Only three emerging markets are on this years Index: China, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil. China remains the highest-ranked emerging market, a distinction the country has held consistently since 1999. However, concern over escalating USChina trade tensions and a more general corporate rethink of international supply chains could explain its drop to 12th place.

"Beyond these findings, the biggest risk that international investors will continue to face will be the pandemic itself," Peterson added. "Overcoming COVID-19 will be key to global economic recovery and the improvement in FDI flows as the two go hand in hand. And economic growth in the near term will be determined in large part by the duration of the global pandemic, the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary responses, and the success of vaccination efforts."

Laudicina added, "Despite persistent macroeconomic challenges, investors continue to perceive FDI as vital to corporate profitability and competitiveness over the next three years. And even with investors increased caution this year, the FDI plunge in 2020 will likely not become a permanent feature of the global economy."
In a major push to provide very high end ultra-luxury products to the travellers in the region and beyond, two major brands  ATS Travel and Luxury Connoisseurs - have come together to offer unique products and services to be launched in UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to begin with.

Within the next two quarters, these will be extended to other GCC countries as well, informed Saleem Sharif, the Deputy Managing Director of ATS Travel.

ATS Travel is a leading Travel Management Company with offices in UAE and KSA, offering comprehensive travel solutions both to corporate and leisure travellers for more than 44 years. Sharif said: ATS Travel has been supporting high-end clients with bespoke luxury travels in GCC Region and worldwide destinations with hotel bookings, air ticketing, meetings & events, educational trips and 24hours concierge services in the past. This partnership with Luxury Connoisseurs will further enhance our product portfolio by offering a wide range of ultra-luxury properties for our discerning customers to choose from."

"During these days of pandemic, we are able to offer Private Charters and accommodation in high end properties in places like Maldives, Seychelles, Tanzania, Greece, Turkey and Kenya. This portfolio will be expanded to cover exotic locations worldwide once the situation improves," added Sharif.

Luxury Connoisseurs is a Concierge & Lifestyle Platform with a mission to deliver the highest level of service to an exclusive network of leisure and corporate clients worldwide. Loredana Pettinati, Founder and CEO said: With over 15 years experience in the luxury travel sector, we have built and we continue to build an extensive global network of partners, which allows us to offer to our clients completely customised luxury journeys to inspiring destinations worldwide both for leisure and corporate purposes.

We are sure that through this partnership both the two companies will enjoy a successful growth in luxury travel industry, Pettinati added. - TradeArabia News Service
Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, the General Overseer and Presiding Bishop of Action Chapel International Ministry, says the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of resurrection, which brought Jesus out of the grave.



He noted that without the Holy Spirit, Jesus wouldnt have come out of the grave.



He said Christians must, therefore, be conscious of the person of the Holy Spirit on daily basis, saying, It was the Holy Spirit who brought him (Jesus) back from the dead, so without the Holy Spirit you and I cant survive.



We are sealed with (the Holy Spirit) against the day of redemption, it means you and I, our resurrection is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit; we are marked for resurrection on that glorious day of the first resurrection, and if we are not caught up in the rapture, then it will take the Holy Spirit to bring us back.



Archbishop Duncan-Williams said this when he delivered his 2021 Easter Sunday sermon on the theme: Keep Being Filled by the Holy Spirit, to his congregation at the Church's Headquarters in Accra.



So, this (the Holy Spirit) is a personality among the heavenly body of the trinity that we cant ignore or take for granted.



The Archbishop underscored the need to be filled by the Spirit, noting that, many Christians were not spirit-led because they were spiritually weak, and not filled by the Holy Spirit.



We are not maturing because we are not paying attention to the Holy Spirit, and not allowing him to guide us.

Archbishop Duncan-Williams said being filled with the Spirit would give Christians the authority to override everything, adding that nothing offends you when you are filled with the Spirit.



He said, to forgive and forget was an act of the Holy Spirit, and without him (the Holy Spirit), it was impossible to do so, saying, we cant serve God by reasoning and emotions; the love of Christ surpasses all knowledge.

Source: GNA









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New York, April 4 : A plant in the US which ruined 15 million potential doses of Johnson and Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine has been asked to stop producing doses for AstraZeneca, the media reported.

The facility at Baltimore, Emergent Biosolutions, was earlier picked as a manufacturing partner for both AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson.

In a statement on Saturday, Johnson and Johnson said it was "assuming full responsibility" regarding the manufacturing of drug substance for its Covid-19 vaccine at the Emergent BioSolutions.

The development, first reported by The New York Times, could be a setback for AstraZeneca which is yet to receive approval for its Covid-19 vaccines in the US.

According to a report in The New York Times last week, a mix-up at the Baltimore manufacturing plant ruined 15 million potential doses of the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine.

Johnson and Johnson then said that the "quality control process identified one batch of drug substance that did not meet quality standards at Emergent Biosolutions, a site not yet authorised to manufacture drug substance for our Covid-19 vaccine".

After taking charge of manufacturing its drug substance at the facility, the company said it was adding dedicated leaders for operations and quality, and significantly increasing the number of manufacturing, quality and technical operations personnel to work with the specialists already at Emergent.

Johnson and Johnson said that all of its Covid-19 vaccine doses distributed to date have met rigorous regulatory quality standards.
Tonight, Taurangas own Village Radio will be featured on Good Sorts, a TV1 News segment that has for ten years celebrated ordinary Kiwis doing something extraordinary.

The station at Tauranga Historic Village was visited by Haydn Jones from Good Sorts and Fair Go on Tuesday.

We only learned two days ago that it will be on TV1 tonight, says Tauranga Village Radio Museum Inc Chairperson Brian Williams.

Weve been caught up with the jazz festival at the village. I wanted to let family know, went through my address book, saw SunLive and thought I must tell them too were going to be on TV.

Haydn Jones talking to the listeners of Village Radio 1XT on Tuesday. Video: Tauranga Village Radio Facebook group.

Village Radio 1XT is on 1368AM and broadcasts from the second floor of the historic Town Board Building, at Tauranga Historic Village, 17th Avenue West, playing the nostalgic music of the 40s to 90s.

Our role is to be a companion to people who are isolated in their homes whether they are old or have disabilities. We play music that suits people, says Brian.

There are about 120,000 tracks of music  LPs,45s,78s and CDs  some 50,000 titles and 10,000 artists - plenty to suit every type of musical preference.

Haydn Jones was in touch with one of our staff about a year ago. Then about a week ago he got in touch to say hed be here to see us. He was here at the radio station on Tuesday and its going straight on TV tonight. He must have used up all his stock of stories.

Village Radio technician and announcer George Stewart and chairman Steve Lambie in 2014 with the Collins High Fidelity Broadcast Transmitter built in 1936. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

Brian doesnt know if hell be in the Good Sorts segment.

We had two volunteers rostered on that day - Peter Donnelly and Kate Pollock - and they are very good for filming. I was only filmed for about a minute.

Brian says Haydn filmed six other people and was at the studio for three hours, during which time he auditioned to be an announcer for the station.

Were always on the lookout for new announcers, says Brian. Village Radio is always keen to bring in new people. We have enough announcers but not all the time  some become unwell and others go away on holiday in the motorhomes so it depletes our numbers.

When Haydn finished interviewing he sat down and did a spiel through the microphone saying that its Haydn Jones from Good Sorts and Fair Go, being auditioned for a job for Village Radio.

Brian thinks Hayden probably cut the mustard.

These days we are fortunate that most people we get as volunteers have a good musical knowledge.

On the day that Haydn spent time at the station, Brian was busy interviewing the Tauranga Jazz Festival manager Marc Anderson about the upcoming jazz weekend.

Peter Donnelly and Kate Pollock were volunteering that day. Peter was the announcer, and Kate was looking after the control panel. We have a very ancient studio where very often an announcer will have someone there to move all the dials.

Then their shift ended and Graeme Millow came in. Graeme can do it all himself because he plugs his laptop in. Our secretary Sheila Lacey was also interviewed. I think she told a bit of our history.

Our station manager George Stewart told them a bit about the ancient Collins transmitter we have.

Station manager George Stewart outside the Village Radio.

Some of the equipment the Village Radio has was originally from Radio 1ZD, Tauranga, where it became surplus when they moved to a new location. The transmitter, loaned to the station from Radio New Zealand was the original 1ZB transmitter when it broadcasted from Waterview in Auckland. On January 5 2013 the 75-year-old Collins Transmitter went on air without a hitch.

The transmitter is only the second known to be operating in the world and was restored by Russ Bain, George Stewart and Neil Walsh, technicians at Village Radio. It has been out of action for over 13 years but has been painstakingly restored by the technicians and a grant from the Lotteries Commission. Village Radio continue to rely on it's more modern 1960s Toshiba value transmitter, leaving the Collins as a back-up and for special occasions.

George Stewart may fire up our oldest transmitter, which is the oldest in the world, on April 13, our 37th birthday, says Brian. It was built in the 1930s, in the USA. It still operates.

After chatting with George on Tuesday, Haydn interviewed Brian.

Very briefly. He called me one-shot Brian. I may be on tonight, I dont know. I was just there putting gear together. I sat in the other studio because I was broadcasting in the afternoon for the jazz festival and doing interviews.

It was done very quickly and we didnt expect it to be on for ages. But its on tonight.

George Stewart and Brian Williams outside Village Radio in March 2020, just as the radio station was being closed during lockdown. Photo: John Borren.

Brian says when he joined the station about eight years ago, he thought he was there to help with the library.

They sat me down at a desk and I was told to make up a list of music I could play.

Hes been one of the station announcers ever since.

All the announcers, technicians and support staff at Village Radio are volunteers. The technical members maintain the equipment and operate the turntables and mixing panel whilst the announcers compile and present their own programmes based on the easy listening format of the 20s to the 90s, from recordings stored at Village Radio.

Each announcer compiles their own unique programme.

Peter was probably playing a range of music from the 50s to the 70s that day Haydn was here, says Brian. Hes very good at alternating the music between different decades and genres. We play music for older listeners and Peter plays a very good range of various decades. He does a good programme.

Tauranga Village Radio Museum Inc is keen to hear from anyone who would like to help with announcing, panel work, technical support and the general running of the station.

The Good Sorts programme airs on TV One at approximately 6.55pm just before Country Calendar.

To learn more about Tauranga Village Radio Museum Inc visit the website www.villageradio.co.nz or email info@villageradio.co.nz
Dhaka, April 5 : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday warned all Hefazat-e-Islam militant involved in the long spell of violence since last month following the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of legal action as she stressed her government's zero tolerance strategy against social menaces like militancy.

"You, the Hefazat leaders and workers, don't you go to study at Deoband (in India)? So, how dare you to protest against the Prime Minister of India's visit?" "I have managed all opportunities for you people to go abroad... I'm surprised...," she said.

Speaking in Parliament, she questioned Hefazat leaders' ethics and honesty, especially its Joint Secretary General Mamunul Haque.

"Hefazat leader Mamunul set vehicles on fire and attacked people... after then he went to spend holidays with a beautician in a resort, whom he claimed as his second wife..., she said, questioning the source of Mamunul's money.

People will never spare these militants, those who only destroy Islam, she said.

"I want to ask... Islam is a religion of peace, how did these Hefazat militants attack public!" Hasina questioned.

"It is a secular country, no one should be attacked in the name of Islam. Who uses children in massacres, set vehicles and homes of Awami League leaders on fire, attacked Awami league workers only, destroyed all the establishments of the government... These militants are a shame to the Muslims. Those militants will never be spared," she said in her 44 minutes speech ending the parliament session.

Earlier on Sunday morning, Hasina asked officials of National Security Intelligence (NSI), the government's intelligence agency, to work towards eradicating terrorism.

Referring to the government's zero tolerance stance against militancy, terrorism, drug and corruption, she said the NSI will have to do whatever is required to protect the people's lives, livelihoods, properties and interests as well as ensure peace in society.

She was speaking after inaugurating the NSI's newly-constructed 20-storey head office, virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

Asking the NSI to remain alert always, she said Bangladesh has attained the status of a developing nation and would be a developed country by 2041 if "you people perform your responsibilities perfectly".

Hasina also directed all authorities concerned to perform their duties properly to ensure the government's directives are implemented appropriately to battle the fresh wave of the Covid-19 in the country.

She said her government is conscious about keeping the economic activities running, but saving the lives of the people is the first priority.

Sheikh Hasina said various countries across the world witnessed an economic slowdown due to the coronavirus situation, but Bangladesh has been able to keep the economic pace running and its economic growth rate is higher than other South Asian countries. "We will have to maintain the trend of growth." Extending her thanks to NSI members for playing a role in fighting the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, she asked them to play a more significant role this time around too.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Whats Working, a series exploring solutions for New Hampshires workforce needs, is sponsored by the New Hampshire Solutions Journalism Lab at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications and is funded by Eversource, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the New Hampshire College & University Council, Northeast Delta Dental and the New Hampshire Coalition for Business and Education. Contact reporter Michael Cousineau at mcousineau@unionleader.com. To read stories in the series, visit unionleader.com/whatsworking.
The African-American liberator, Fredrick Douglass was deeply moved by the songs he heard during his tour of Ireland in 1845. In his memoirs he wrote: I heard the same wailing notes, and was much affected by them. It was during the famine. Nowhere outside of dear old Ireland, in the days of want and famine, have I heard sounds so mournful. He was referring to the the Great Hunger which drove so many from Ireland to America, many of whom ended up in western and central Massachusetts. But his words also speak to our shared experience of the past twelve months  it was a week before St. Patricks Day in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared and when, on both sides of the Atlantic, we began to realize how devastating its impact would be.

The year since has been, perhaps, one of the most challenging in recent memory. At the same time, it has reminded us of what matter most in our lives  family, community and compassion  and what we need from our leaders  expertise, integrity and trust. I remain hopeful that next year will not be a socially distant St. Patricks Day and that we can come together to celebrate the patron Saint of Ireland appropriately. Personally, I hope to return to the City of Holyoke to run the road race and march in the parade that brings so much pride and joy to people in the region. It is a local tradition that, due to the pandemic, many people have missed.

To overcome COVID-19 and, in President Bidens words, build back better, we must draw back lessons from the past year. From the Berkshire Mountains to the Dingle Peninsula, no one has been immune to the scourge of the virus. That is why I was pleased that the President and Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin made ending the pandemic their top priority during a virtual bilateral meeting at the White House this week. Through a remarkable collective effort, we have slowed the spread of COVID. While challenging at times, international cooperation on testing, trade and travel has reinforced those efforts, while scientific collaboration on vaccine development now provides an encouraging path forward.

During times of heartbreak and peril, the partnership between our two great nations has always grown stronger. And during the late 1980s, at the height of the Troubles, Ireland needed more support from America. As a result, a group of bipartisan lawmakers established the Friends of Ireland Caucus in the United States Congress to promote peace, prosperity and reconciliation on the island of Ireland. It was one of the first organizations on Capitol Hill that I joined after being elected to Congress. Through hard work and relentless effort, we began to see the promise of a new agreed upon Ireland.

That vision was delivered just over a quarter of a century later with the Good Friday Agreement, brokered by another founding member of the Caucus, my friend Senator George Mitchell. However, in the past five years the integrity of that historic peace accord has been threatened by the effects of the United Kingdoms decision to leave the European Union. In 2019, I travelled to London and Dublin with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to send a strong message to the British government that there would be no U.S.-U.K trade deal if there was a return to a hard border on the island of Ireland. Just this past week, I reiterated that position suggesting that Britains recent decision to unilaterally delay the implementation of a critical part of the Brexit deal was arbitrary and capricious. In an interview with the Irish Times, I said there can be no disruption to the Good Friday Agreement, period. We see that agreement as a template that should be a model for the rest of the world. Both President Biden and Speaker Pelosi enthusiastically and unequivocally support my position.

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the Friends of Ireland Caucus and I am proud to serve as Co-Chairman. When our group meets in the United States Capitol Building, it is never lost on me that the Statue of Freedom, which sits atop the Dome, was designed by Thomas Crawford, son of Irish immigrants. Our organization continues to reaffirm the extraordinary friendship and shared values, past and present, between the United States and Ireland. And it is my intention to strengthen the emerald thread that binds us together going forward.

Today, more than 40 million people in America claim to have Irish heritage. And the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, of which America is a guarantor, is the only blueprint for lasting peace and stability. As we observe this virtual season of St. Patrick in 2021, the enduring bonds between the United States and Ireland that trace back generations, remain as durable as ever. And a portrait of Fredrick Douglass now hangs in the Irish Ambassadors residence in Washington, D.C.

Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, is the congressman from the 1st Congressional District of Massachusetts and chairs the House Ways & Means Committee. You can learn more about the congressman and his work online at neal.house.gov. His district office in Springfield is located at 300 State St., Suite 200, 413-785-0325.
A 14-month-old baby has died after she fell from the fifth-floor window of a building in the Carlos Haya area of Malaga city.

Sources have told SUR that, apparently, the little girl fell after the security bars of the kitchen window of the flat 'gave way' and her mother was unable to hold onto her.

The incident happened on Friday, 2 April at around 10.20pm when several calls alerted the 112 emergency control centre that a child had fallen from the fifth floor of the building in Pasaje Mexia Davila. Local and National Police, as well as health workers, were sent to the scene.

But when they arrived at the scene, the little girl was no longer there.

After the fall, the mother  who lived alone with the child - picked the infant up and carried her to nearby police offices. She was accompanied by some friends and they asked for help. The officers who were on duty put them in a patrol car and rushed them to the accident and emergency department of the nearby Regional Hospital.

SUR sources say that the little girl was admitted in a very serious condition but health workers managed to stabilise her. Later, it was decided to transfer her to the Materno Infantil Hospital, where she remained in critical condition until she died on Saturday morning (3 April).

The National Police force has opened an investigation to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident but, according to initial investigations, everything point to it being an accident.

That afternoon, the woman had received a visit from friends. As she explained at the hospital, it happened when she was preparing some tea for her guests. She said that she usually put the baby in the kitchen looking out the window, which is equipped with security bars, as the little girl liked to look at a park in the area.

According to the mothers version of events offered at the hospital, with her daughter in her arms, the little girl leaned on the safety bars but it gave way, and the baby plummeted from the fifth floor to the ground.
Boris Johnson reportedly text mistress Jennifer Arcuri 'B******s, I'm your No1 supporter' after being accused of 'blowing her off'.

The US entrepreneur is said to have rebuked the-then Mayor of London for failing to attend an event in the capital that she was involved in.

It comes after the 36-year-old admitted having a four year affair with Mr Johnson - beginning in 2012.

According to the Sunday Mirror, Ms Arcuri was upset at having received support from then Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne, but seemingly not from Mr Johnson.

In a text from October 2015, seen by the paper, she told Mr Johnson: 'Osborne gives me a building. PM confirms my event... And you?

'And you? U ignore me (again). And blow me off for the 8th.'

But Johnson replied: 'Bollocks. I am your number one supporter and have been for years.'

MailOnline has contacted a No10 spokesperson for comment.

The latest revelations come after extraordinary emails showed how Mr Johnsons lover clashed with his officials over his appearances at her business events.

Boris Johnson reportedly text mistress Jennifer Arcuri 'B******s, I'm your No1 supporter' after being accused of 'blowing her off'

The US entrepreneur (pictured) is said to have rebuked the-then Mayor of London for failing to attend an event in the capital that she was involved in

Official messages reveal how Jennifer Arcuri (right) signed up the then London mayor Boris Johnson (left) to speak at tech summits without his City Hall staff knowing. Pictured: Boris Johnson Mayor of London with Jennifer Arcuri of Innotech Live on October 30, 2013

Official messages reveal how Ms Arcuri signed up Mr Johnson to speak at tech summits without his City Hall staff knowing.

Lovers messages that annoyed officials February 26, 2013 Jennifer Arcuri to City Hall Do need to get moving on promotion ... we have all of Los Angeles and San Fran tuning in. Any question about the validity of this event please talk to Boris himself as he has been my point of contact. March 26, 2013 City Hall to Jennifer Arcuri I have got this now confirmed in his diary. The Mayor is incredibly busy and we would appreciate any requests for the Mayor to speak, coming through the Private Office. The Mayor does not have sight of his diary at times and I have had to rearrange the diary significantly to accommodate this event. Please can you refrain from going via the Mayor direct. October 21, 2013 UK Trade & Investment to City Hall UKTI is supporting a web-enabled discussion on Why London can help accelerate young companies from the Muslim world. [Redacted] and Jennifer Arcuri have been circulating a concept note for this saying it will be hosted by Boris so slightly surprised if this is news to you. July 13, 2015 Jennifer Arcuri to City Hall Dearest [redacted], Can I apply to go on this mission trip in October? I really really need to go visit this Hacker house!!! Come with me when we go;-) ??!!!!! Xxx Advertisement

The US entrepreneur had to be told by exasperated officials: Please can you refrain from going via the Mayor direct?

In one message Miss Arcuri appeared to address Mr Johnson as dearest and asked: Can I apply to go on this mission trip in October? Come with me when we go;-) ??!!!!

The 240 pages of emails and documents are likely to be studied by the Greater London Assemblys oversight committee when it investigates whether or not the then-mayor gave preferential treatment to Miss Arcuri and her firms InnoTech, Playbox and Hacker House.

It comes after the 36-year-old admitted she had a four-year affair with Mr Johnson, which included claims of sex on the sofa of his family home while his wife was at work.

The emails date back to early 2013, the year after she claims the couple began seeing each other, when Miss Arcuri wanted Mr Johnson to do his first Google Hangout video meeting at her InnoTech Summit in Canary Wharf. She was already promoting him as the main attraction of the event before his staff were told.

In a message to an unnamed official she wrote: I dont want to do anything that put anyone off at the Mayors Office but do need to get moving on promotion. As you know we have all of Los Angeles and San Fran tuning in and for this event so must work logistics with them as well.

Any question about the validity of this event please talk to Boris himself as he has been my point of contact.

A senior official replied: As per our conversation, the Mayor is incredibly busy and we would appreciate any requests for the Mayor to speak, coming through the Private Office. The Mayor does not have sight of his diary at times and I have had to rearrange the diary significantly to accommodate this event.

'Please can you refrain from going via the Mayor direct. Also as discussed, please feel free to list the Mayor as a speaker on the website but please can you remove him as a partner or sponsor.

Ms Arcuri later drafted a press release including a quote from the Mayor but it was amended by City Hall to make it much less odd.

In autumn that year, Ms Arcuri told people that Mr Johnson would take part in an event of hers at the World Islamic Economic Forum at the ExCel Centre in London.

She told one staffer that his appearance had been confirmed, but they replied: Sadly the Mayor is unable to attend.

Jennifer Arcuri has claimed that she and Boris Johnson (together in 2014) had four-year affair where she sent him 'arty' topless pictures - but insists they had an 'intellectual attraction'

One intriguing email included in the freedom of information release, dated July 2015, was sent by Ms Arcuri to a person in City Hall whose name was removed, and appeared to refer to a trade mission to Israel that she and Mr Johnson both attended.

What are the key issues officials are investigating? The Greater London Authority probe will examine whether Mr Johnson breached the Nolan Principles of Public Life over his affair with Miss Arcuri. These require officials to behave with 'honesty and integrity'. The key lines of inquiry are: If Mr Johnson breached the Nolan Principles by failing to report the relationship; If the future PM gave Miss Arcuri 'preferential treatment' over 126,000 in taxpayer' money she received in event sponsorship and grants. The majority 100,000, came in a government grant in 2019; Mr Johnson's decision to speak at her technology events;

The privileged access she gained to three official overseas trade missions led by him. Advertisement

It read: Dearest [redacted], Can I apply to go on this mission trip in October? I really really need to go visit this Hacker house!!! Come with me when we go;-) ??!!!!! Xxx

Downing Street declined to comment but on Monday, Mr Johnsons Press Secretary Allegra Stratton insisted: He does believe in the wider principles of integrity and honesty.

She pointed out that he had been cleared of any impropriety last year by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The London Assembly's oversight committee has already been investigating whether Mr Johnson breached the mayoral code of conduct by failing to declare the relationship, or abused his position to benefit his mistress.

In 2019, it emerged that Ms Arcuri had been given 126,000 of public money and privileged access to three official overseas trade missions led by him, leading to claims he had abused his position to benefit her.

Last month a City Hall source said the committee would now investigate the new evidence presented by Miss Arcuri.

The source told MailOnline that the new revelations in Ms Arcuri's interview with the Mirror were significant because it suggested there had been a 'substantial relationship' over a long period of time.

The source also noted that Miss Arcuri had said she believed Mr Johnson should have declared their relationship and said officials would be interested in this.

Last year the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) decided not to open a criminal investigation into the allegations, although officials said he should have reported the relationship.

The committee probe will take place after the May 6 elections.

A spokesman for No 10 previously told MailOnline it had 'nothing to add' to the claims.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister said on Sunday that his trip to Vienna for nuclear negotiations would not involve talks with the United States "either directly or indirectly."

Abbas Araghchi said Iran's demand was for all sanctions to be lifted before it returned to fully complying with the accord.

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Chennai, April 4 : The CPI-ML candidate S. Subramani from the Kumarapalyalm Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu campaigns during the day time and at night turns a weaver for his living and to fund his own election campaign.

Subramani after his day's campaign enters a weaving unit in the night shift and earns Rs 500 per day. This money is used for his living as well as campaign expenses for the next day.

The CPI-ML candidate is of the opinion that the AIADMK government at the state and the BJP government at the centre has not done anything for the weavers and workers. He is also the Namakkal district secretary of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions and he wants the government to provide free homes to people in the handloom, construction and other unorganized sectors.

Subramani while speaking to IANS said, "Kumarapalayam is notorious for Kidney rackets and surrogacy scams, and I will put an end to all this once I am elected from here. The party has already appealed to the Central government to include Kumarapalayam in the Smart City project but nothing happened. If elected, I promise to include Kumarapalayam in the Smart City project".

The CPI-ML leader also appealed to the people of Kumarapalayam, a textile town to vote for him instead of big parties like the AIADMK and DMK. Subramanai while speaking to IANS said, "I will be always with the people of Kumarapalayam and will be the people's voice of this constituency." The CPI-ML has already demanded the government to fix a monthly salary of Rs 26,000 for workers from unorganized sectors and a monthly pension of Rs 5,000 per month for aged and retired workers.
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US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, who used 5,000 personnel last week to crackdown on Islamic State (IS) sleeper cells in Syrias al-Hol camp, say the Islamist group has killed 47 camp residents since January
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.'
This week, some police and city officials took to the streets of Madina, to punish pedestrians who refused to use the pedestrian footbridges but instead resorted to crossing the road at unauthorised areas which has been causing a heavy vehicular traffic especially at Zongo junction.

Culprits were made to sweep the streets amidst educating them on the need to use pedestrian footbridges.

A pedestrian is made to sweep the Madina Zongo Juntion intersection

Greater Accra Regional Minister's initiative

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr. Henry Quartey, has set out to tackle the issues that have become a drawback to the regions development.



A beginning intervention, he said, was to ease the traffic congestion at some locations, particularly at the Madina Zongo Junction, by getting pedestrians to use the footbridges provided while commercial vehicles which contribute largely to the situation are moved away from the trouble spots.



This initial action is part of an audacious plan which the minister has named, Make Accra work project, by which he seeks to address the myriad of challenges the region was facing.



Mr Quartey has said that under his leadership, the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) would strive to provide lasting solutions to developmental challenges in the region and ensure its swift transformation into a national capital of repute.



Sanity is restored to the main Madina road



The Greater Accra Regional Minister also said he would be made to put an end to trading along major streets in Accra as the activity occasioned a lot of filth and cited the Graphic Road as a noted example.



Traffic congestion



Mr. Quartey observed that some principal streets and lorry stations in Accra had been turned into markets while commercial drivers had also turned streets into mini-transport stations drawing large crowds that spilled onto the streets and blocked traffic.



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He said he was going to engage with the appropriate authorities to control the situation for the free flow of traffic in the city.



Another pedestrian grabs the broom to sweep at Madina



All onboard

While admitting that the situation at hand was arduous, Mr. Quartey said with the support and commitment of all who were willing to do the right thing, it was doable.



We intend to get all the metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies to enforce their bye-laws and hopefully get people to do the right thing.



We are not going to embark on a Rambo-style or abaa eii kind of check, but we will go out and enforce the laws and will need the support and cooperation of all, he said.



He urged the media to lend its support to the Make Accra work project and also help to educate the public on the need to comply with the laws of the local assemblies.



Let me conclude by saying this is a call to action and action is indeed now. Action to make Accra work, to be clean, devoid of filth, and with a healthy and disciplined people.



The challenge is huge but with the support and cooperation of all, we can do it, Mr. Quartey stressed.

Source: Graphiconline.com









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A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced five leaders of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) to nine years of imprisonment each in a terror financing case.

Three of them -- Umar Bahadar, Nasarullah and Samiullah -- have been convicted for the first time since the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore pronounced its verdict some time ago in the terror financing cases registered by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab police.

The other two -- JuD spokesperson Yahya Mujahid and senior leader Prof Zafar Iqbal -- had already been convicted for many years in other terror financing cases.

ATC Lahore Judge Ejaz Ahmad Buttar on Saturday handed down nine-year imprisonment to each five of them. The judge also ordered a six-month jail term to Saeed's brother-in-law Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki in the same case.

The court found the JuD/LeT leaders guilty of offence of terrorism financing. They had been collecting funds and unlawfully financing the proscribed organisation, LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba). The court has also ordered confiscation of assets made from funds collected through terrorism financing, the CTD said.

The JuD leaders were presented in the court amid high security and the media was not allowed to cover the proceedings.

The CTD of Punjab Police had registered 41 FIRs against the JuD leaders, including 70-year-old Saeed, in terror financing cases. The trial courts have so far decided 37 of them.

The ATC had sentenced the LeT founder, Saeed, for a collective imprisonment of 36 years on terror finance charges under sections 11-N of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 in five cases so far. Saeed's jail terms will run concurrently. That means he will not stay in jail for many years. He is serving his term in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail along with other convicted JuD leaders.

Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

Saeed, a UN designated terrorist whom the US has placed a USD 10 million bounty on, was arrested on July 17, 2019 last year in the terror financing cases.

The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. He was listed under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in December 2008.

The ATC Lahore had also sentenced LeT operation commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi for a collective imprisonment of 15 years on three counts in a terror financing case. He will have to serve in jail for five years as his sentence in three counts (five years each) will run concurrently.

The global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is instrumental in pushing Islamabad to take measures against terrorists roaming freely in Pakistan and using its territory to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere.

The Paris-based FATF placed Pakistan on the Grey List in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action to curb money laundering and terror financing by the end of 2019 but the deadline was extended later on due to COVID-19 pandemic. In February, the FATF retained Pakistan on its Grey List until June.

With Pakistan's continuation in the 'grey list', the country may find it difficult to get financial aid from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, thus further enhancing problems for the cash-strapped nation.

Also Read: Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed sentenced to 10 years in prison
Humans, a single species, have now altered and destabilized Earth's climate system, which renders the 'climate crisis' as the greatest existential threat and challenge ever to be faced by civilization.

CO2 concentrations in Earth's atmosphere have now reached a shocking 50% above the highest ever reached over the past 800,000years, where 50% of this increase occurred in the past 30-40years. Earth's mean surface temperature has already increased by over +1.1C within the past hundred years.

With the current rate of our greenhouse gas projections, it places our planet on a trajectory for 'Global Heating' on an ominous and devastating +3.5C to +5C increase in global mean surface temperature within this century. This bodes perilously to reach a thousand times the impact of Covid-19 and lead to an 'abrupt' and 'runaway climate system', that would prove hostile and inhospitable to most species, including us humans.

The scientific evidence is unequivocal! So, unless we rapidly wean off fossil fuel, our young generation, which includes all 40 and even 50year-olds, will face massive destabilizing impacts, ever-increasing throughout this century, that will greatly undermine their future lives and prospects.

Read also: FREE WEBINARS FOR THE PEOPLE OF LAOIS

This requires all governments, county councils, citizens and businesses, in all nations, to work together and expeditiously, to dramatically reduce greenhouse gases, especially CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuel (oil, gas, coal and peat) in all our energy-related activities, such as for transport, heat and power generation.

All 200 global nations signed the UN Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, but scientific evidence since then, warns of little real signs of the required level of mitigation, where our emissions have also increased rapidly. The EU and other western European nations have together managed to collectively reduce their GHG emissions by 25% by 2020 from the 1990 baseline. However, Ireland's total GHG emissions increased by 10% since 1990. To make things worse, Ireland's GHG emissions are shamefully 50% above the EU average per capita.

The EU has now ratcheted up its GHG targets to a 55% reduction by 2030 from its 1990 baseline, to be achieved collectively by all Member States. This places Ireland as the 'laggards', in a very precarious predicament to have to play catch-up with the rest of Europe. Greta Thunberg and our school students are campaigning and pleading to our society to rescue their future, which our adult society seem to currently ignore, or hide in denial, but we are clearly stealing their future lives.

The 'zero-carbon' principles of the European Green Deal will fundamentally influence and under-pin all future investments in Ireland. So, communities that engage and lead by achieving real tangible actions, will surely flourish with new innovative green enterprises over the coming decades. This offers County Laois massive opportunities if their citizens and businesses grasp this opportunity.

Ireland's Energy-related CO2 emissions (for use in Transport, Heat & Power) comprise 60% of our total GHG emissions, where Agriculture generates 33%, cement manufacture 5% and waste decay 2%.

Ireland has recently revised its greenhouse gas (GHG) target to a 7% year-on-year reduction of 48% by 2030. However, this falls well-short of the EU target, where Ireland by 2020 was 10% above our 1990 baseline, and we are also 50% above the EU average, per person. But, even much more shocking, Irelands Transport emissions increased by a whopping and shameful 153%, or by 2.5fold since 1990

Providing heat and power by fossil fuel for our homes generates 25% of Ireland's total energy-related CO2 emissions. But only 2% of home heating is provided by renewable sources, where 98% is supplied by fossil fuel, oil gas, peat & coal.

Drainage of our peatlands generates an additional 11% of Ireland's greenhouse gas, but so far this does not require to be added to our 'accounted' emissions in Ireland's annual inventories to the UN.

Our forests, on the other hand, store carbon that is sequestered from the atmosphere, which helps reduce our emissions. But Ireland's forest cover area is the lowest in Europe, at 11% where the EU average is 35%, so much more planting of trees, woodlands and forest are also required.

I believe, that if Laois citizens engage collectively in their local communities, along with farmers and businesses and if led wisely by Laois County Council, with the visionary CEO John Mulholland, along with Laois Partnership and people like Mark Clancy in Abbeyleix, Noel Gavigan of IrBia and Damien Nee of EcoEd4All in Portlaoise, where they collectively embrace the 'greening' of their county in real actions, that would dramatically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, especially by decarbonizing all energy uses in Transport, Heat & Power, while fostering the growing opportunities for harnessing Renewable Energy and District Heating, I am convinced, that this county and its people, would surely be guaranteed to prosper and set a good example for all other counties over the coming decade and beyond.
(Newser)  Last month, Arab News ran a profile of 29-year-old Marwa Elselehdar, who just happens to be Egypt's first female sea captain. The attention might have backfired. Days later, when a ship became stuck in the Suez Canal, fake stories began circulating online accusing Elselehdar of being the captain involved, reports the BBC. They often were doctored versions of the Arab News profile. "I was shocked," says Elselehdar, who was nowhere near the canal when the Ever Given got hopelessly stuck. Instead, she was commanding a ship hundreds of miles away in Alexandria. The bogus news stories often were in English, and they spread far and wide.

story continues below

"I felt that I might be targeted maybe because I'm a successful female in this field or because I'm Egyptian, but I'm not sure," she tells the BBC. "I tried so hard to negate what was in the article because it was affecting my reputation and all the efforts I exerted to be where I am now." The sexist slams, however, also were mixed with expressions of support from around the world for Elselehdar's feat of achieving success in a field dominated by men. The International Maritime Organization estimates that 98% of those working at sea are males. Elselehdar, who was honored on Women's Day in 2017 by Egypt's president, plans to pursue her master's degree and a doctorate next. (Read more Suez canal stories.)
As India recorded over 93,000 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day increase since mid-September 2020, Prime Minister asked states to take stringent measures, with comprehensive restrictions in places. Modi was addressing a high-level meeting on Sunday to take stock of the alarming rise in Covid cases and the progress of the vaccination drive in India.



The Prime Minister also asked states reporting high cases to continue with the mission-mode approach so that the collective gains of Covid-19 management in the last 15 months are not squandered.



Modi has directed that central teams consisting of public health specialists and clinicians be sent to Maharashtra in view of the high case load and deaths, and also to Punjab and Chhattisgarh because of the disproportionate number of deaths being reported there.



The Prime Minister said that the five-pronged strategy of testing, tracing, treatment, Covid-appropriate behaviour and vaccination, if implemented with utmost seriousness and commitment, would be effective in curbing the spread of the pandemic.





Top government officials, including Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Niti Aayog member V K Paul and Pramod Kumar Mishra, principal secretary to the prime minister, discussed the Covid situation and the response to it at the meeting.

India had hit the Covid peak in September 2020, with the highest single-day cases recorded at over 97,000 on September 17.

Now, around 81 per cent of the new cases have come from eight states alone: Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.



Maharashtra has accounted for 57 per cent of the total cases in the country in the last 14 days and 47 per cent of the deaths during the same period. In Maharashtra, the total number of new cases per day has touched 47,913, which is more than double its earlier peak.



While Punjab has accounted for 4.5 per cent of the total number of cases in India in the last 14 days, it has made for 16.3 per cent of the total deaths.



During the meeting, a brief presentation was also made about the vaccination drive in the country, Indias performance with respect to other countries and an analysis of the vaccination programme in all states. The government has said that vaccine manufacturers were ramping up their production capacity and were also in discussion with other domestic and offshore companies to augment production.



All efforts are underway to secure adequate quantities of vaccines to meet the rising domestic requirements as well as to meet the genuine needs of other countries in the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), a government said in a press statement.



The 10 high-burden states and Union Territories are contributing 91.4 per cent of total cases and 90.9 per cent of total deaths in the country.



The government will organise a special campaign for Covid appropriate behaviour with emphasis on 100 per cent mask usage, personal hygiene and sanitation at public and workplaces as well as health facilities from April 6 to April 14.



A press statement issued by the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) said: It was emphasised that the reasons for the sharper rise in cases could be mainly attributed to the severe decline in compliance of Covid-appropriate behaviour primarily in terms of use of masks and maintaining 2 gaj ki doori, pandemic fatigue and lack of effective implementation of containment measures at the field level.
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.'
The Defence Forces commander in charge of the joint taskforce handling Ireland's Covid-19 response has defended the controversial mandatory hotel quarantine scheme. He insisted it is now "working well", but admitted he was "not surprised" about three men leaving the quarantine system last weekend.

In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Brigadier General Brendan McGuinness said greater "clarity" for air passengers obliged to stay at mandatory quarantine hotels has been instrumental in no one else fleeing their accommodation since dramatic scenes last Saturday saw three men bolting from the Crowne Plaza in Dublin.

The Defence Forces' role in mandatory hotel quarantine is to co-ordinate the State response and support the lead agencies - the HSE and Department of Health.

"We do not have a security role and we do not have powers to detain people [at quarantine hotels]. We provide the co-ordination oversight. What happened last Saturday, it would be better if it did not happen," said Brig Gen McGuinness.

"Am I surprised? Perhaps not. In the first few days, some people didn't realise what the scheme entails. It was not a surprise that some people were unhappy to go through mandatory quarantine.

"We absolutely do not have powers to detain people. These are not detention centres. I would be of the view that the more information that has flowed out, passengers are now clearer about what mandatory quarantine entails.

"In the initial days, there was some uncertainty and a lack of clarity. It's been cleared up. The operation of the scheme is becoming more efficient on a daily basis.

"I personally didn't feel embarrassed about what happened. Everyone was doing their best."

The Defence Forces have been designated as the State Liaison Officer (SLO) to support mandatory hotel quarantine.

"The HSE and the Department of Health are the lead agencies. The Defences Forces SLO role is to co-ordinate so that all the services are delivered to the right people at the right time," said Brig Gen McGuinness.

"It's a complex task. It's tremendously important to remember that these passengers are guests of Ireland. They have arrived in Ireland and are paying for the service. They deserve a quality service that is safe, efficient and gives them a positive experience. We've all read about what happened at the weekend. But the scheme is working well. The system is improving all the time."

The commander of Operation Fortitude, which is the Defence Forces joint taskforce response to Covid-19, explained the process for those arriving in Dublin airport obliged to enter mandatory hotel quarantine.

"The passenger pathway begins when the passenger arrives into Dublin airport. They go through security and immigration, then through Customs, which is when they legally enter Ireland. They are then notified that they are going into the mandatory quarantine scheme.

"The passengers are then taken by the Defence Forces to the private hire bus. There is civilian security on the bus. The Defence Forces provide an escort behind the bus."

Once at the hotel, staff there take over the care of the passengers, he added.

"We have a small team at the hotels. Our role is to co-ordinate between hotel staff, security staff, Department of Health officials. There are a large amount of stakeholders. If required, like last weekend, we co-ordinate with An Garda Siochana."

He said the Defence Forces had no powers to stop any person from leaving mandatory quarantine. Under the emergency laws brought in, the only agencies that possess powers to stop people from leaving quarantine hotels are An Garda Siochana, who are not stationed at the hotels, and public health officials.

"Obviously, the mandatory quarantine scheme is part of very important measures brought in by Government. These passengers are required to stay in mandatory quarantine hotels under public health laws. We will deal with what comes up in front of us. Already, we've learned quite a lot."

Last weekend An Garda Siochana located one of the three hotel quarantine 'runners' in Waterford on Saturday evening and returned him to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dublin. A second man returned voluntarily within minutes of disappearing from the hotel. The third man, from Northern Ireland, has not yet been returned and it is suspected he crossed the Border.

While its involvement in mandatory hotel quarantine has taken centre stage this past week, the Defence Forces' role in the fight to contain Covid-19 has been ongoing for more than 12 months.

Alongside the Army, the Air Corps and Naval Service have played key roles in Operation Fortitude.

"At the start of March last year, no one knew what was coming down the road. It's been a tremendously busy year for the Defence Forces. When the joint taskforce was set up, there was a catastrophic number of cases," Brig Gen McGuinness said.

"The Government took swift and decisive action to protect the people. A primary issue for the country was securing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)."

Under Operation Fortitude, the Defence Forces established the Four Ts in order to assist the HSE and Department of Health: Transporting PPE; providing Tentage at Covid testing sites and assisting in swab Testing and contact Tracing.

At the outset of the pandemic, the Defence Forces ran the testing centre at the Aviva stadium and oversaw more than 60,000 people being swabbed. Later, the Army's cadet class were reassigned early to form part of the HSE's contact tracing programme. During the country's third wave over Christmas, another 100 Defence Forces personnel were assigned to bolster contact tracing efforts.

Operation Fortitude also assists the National Ambulance Service. In recent months, the Defence Forces ambulance crews have responded to over 1,000 Covid call-outs.

The Air Corps has also played an important role. When Irish labs were overstretched, it flew Covid samples to laboratories in Germany. Its planes are now also being used to supply vaccines to those living on islands around the country, as it is the fastest method of transportation.

Since Christmas, Defence Forces staff have been drafted in to help in care homes. In nine facilities for the elderly, it took over non-clinical duties - such as admin and cleaning - freeing up healthcare workers to tend to the elderly and infirm when Covid was at its worst.

"One reason the Defence Forces have been able to offer so much help, is because of our experience with dealing with crises overseas, from Ebola in Africa to our work with the UN and EU. We, in the Defence Forces, are strong in our efforts to protect our own people," Brig Gen McGuinness said.

On average, 200 members of the Defence Forces are deployed daily on Covid-19 duties. At the moment, it is supporting the HSE at nine of its 30 large vaccination centres.

Its other main priority right now is its role in mandatory hotel quarantine, with 60 members assigned on a daily basis. Members of the Defence Forces directly engaged in Covid-related work have already been vaccinated.

"What the Defence Forces has provided during this pandemic is about far more than assisting mandatory quarantine. All Defence Forces personnel are real people. Men and women who go out every day and provided an important service to this State. They have provided a resilient and empathic service.

"I would like to thank them all," Brig Gen McGuinness added.
Carrie Lam expects more prosperous Hong Kong with improved electoral system

Xinhua) 10:06, April 04, 2021

-- 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."

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
The ban, imposed in accord with Spain, does not prevent Portuguese citizens and residents from returning home, or foreign nationals from leaving the country.

Portugal has decided to extend its land border closure for tourists until April 15 because of a surge in Covid-19 cases, the interior ministry said Sunday.

The measure, imposed in late January when new daily cases peaked at around 16,500, affects road and river border crossings with Spain.



The crossings are open for the movement of goods, cross-border workers and emergency services.



The ban, imposed in accord with Spain, does not prevent Portuguese citizens and residents from returning home, or foreign nationals from leaving the country, the ministry said.



Since mid-March, hard-hit Portugal has gradually eased a general lockdown launched two months ago, with the reopening of museums, middle schools and cafe terraces.



The daily new caseload in the country of a little over 10 million was down to 193 on Sunday, with four deaths overnight.
A noisy pooch has put Scott Morrison in the doghouse with his neighbours.

The Prime Minister's beloved black schnoodle Buddy has been making a nuisance of himself at Kirribilli House, barking non-stop all hours of the day and night after being cooped up due to the recent rain.

The noise hasn't gone down well with residents near the harbourside residence on Sydney's lower north shore.

One neighbour described the dog's constant barking as 'really annoying'.

The Prime Minister's beloved pooch Buddy has been upsetting the neighbours at Kirribilli House. He's pictured with his owner at his parliamentary office Canberra

'I hear the dog barking at all hours and he's often standing at the gates and peering out by himself, looking bored,' the unnamed neighbour told the Sunday Telegraph.

'He's just standing there hoping someone will interact with him. I feel bad when I go out for a walk and he can't come with me.'

Another irate neighbour added the dog is often seen wandering back and forth along the gates of the sprawling home.

Since becoming aware of the complaints, the Prime Minister's 'kind' wife Jenny has sent flowers to one of complaining neighbours and 'called in to say hello'.

It's also been reveled Mrs Morrison is the one who usually takes Buddy on his regular walks.

Jenny Morrison (pictured with family dog Buddy) has sent flowers to one of the neighbours who complained

Mr Morrison's office has admitted Buddy often gets 'a bit excited' by the ferries along Sydney Harbour and bush turkeys roaming around.

'Hes a very happy dog and goes for regular walks,' a spokesperson added.

North Sydney Mayor Jilly Gibson, who lives within 100 metres of Kirribilli House, said she was unaware of any noise complaints.

She has offered to walk Buddy if the Morrisons need a dog walker.

Buddy (pictured with Jenny and Scott Morrison in the Prime Minister's Easter message) has been a much-loved member of the family long before they moved to Kirribilli House

The dog became a much-loved member of Mr Morrison's family long before he became Prime Minister in 2018.

The pooch spends much of his time at Kirribilli House alongside Charlie the family cat.

Buddy is often pictured with his owner at the Prime Minister's parliament office in Canberra.

He also makes regular appearances in the Prime Minister 's Christmas and Easter messages alongside Ms Morrison and their two daughters Abbey and Lily.
BEMIDJI  Fifteen years ago, American Legion Auxiliary members Shirley Simmerman and Ardell Nadesan began knitting slippers for U.S. military troops and veterans.

Now thousands of pairs later, the two friends remain dedicated to keeping warm the feet of those who have served  and continue to serve  their country.

Since beginning their needlework in 2006, Simmerman, 93, has made about 2,000 pairs of slippers, and Nadesan, 87, has made 2,959 pairs. They said it takes four-ply yarn and a little less than an eight-ounce skein to make one pair.

Nadesan said she's timed herself and found that it takes about 10 hours to create a pair. Simmerman, on the other hand, guessed that it probably takes her a bit longer, as her eyesight has declined over the years.

"I knit just about every day. It's my relaxing time," Simmerman said. "Every time I go to sit down I think, 'Well I've got to do something.' So I'll knit a few rows, and I eventually get a slipper."

But with close ties to the military, both women said their knitting work holds special and personal meaning to them.

Simmerman has been an American Legion Auxiliary member for 65 years and was a former president of the Ralph Gracie Post No. 14. She has two daughters who are veterans, with one, Vickie, having served in the Army, and the other, Hollie, having served in the Navy. Her late husband Jimmy also served in the Air Force.

"So I have three branches represented," Simmerman said.

Nadesan, an American Legion Auxiliary member since 2004, has a son who is a veteran and an extensive family tree full of those who served in past wars.

"In my family history, veterans go all the way back to the War of 1812. My great-great grandfather was in that war," Nadesan said. "(Someone was in) every one but the Spanish-American War."

When their knitting project began, there was another knitter named Mary Pierce involved in helping coordinate the distribution of the slippers. Although she relocated to New Prague, Minn., a few years ago, she continues to help Simmerman and Nadesan with the distribution side of things.

In February 2018, Pierce submitted a Letter to the Editor to the Pioneer, thanking those in the American Legions and VFW Auxiliaries who have had a hand in creating the slippers.

"Years ago a knitting group started in Laporte, of which I was a member. Out of that group came contacts with Bemidji women who had knitted slippers for soldiers . . . I have a son, now deployed, who had 170 pairs of slippers sent by request to his fellow airmen and airwomen deployed out of Colorado Springs, Colo.," Pierce wrote. "Before that he had been at Minneapolis-St. Paul Air Base and these same ladies sent slippers for those deployed out of that site.

"Now in deployment, he is starting to make wellness visits to the people at his base. He takes slippers with (him) on those visits. Faces light up when the person sees what has been made for them by our Minnesota people."

Nadesan also works to distribute slippers, particularly at VA Stand Down events in the state. These events work to provide supplies and services to homeless veterans. She said she usually distributes 75 to 80 pairs there and plans to possibly do more this fall in St. Cloud.

"With Stand Down, veterans come back the next year and say how much they enjoyed the slippers, and I tell them to take another pair," Nadesan said.

Neither of the ladies has plans to retire from knitting slippers anytime soon.

"I expect I'll do it until I can't see anymore," Simmerman said. "We just want to help the veterans and also the troops because their feet must get really cold over there at night."

And their dedication to bringing comfort and a little piece of home to U.S. service people around the world hasn't gone unnoticed by the slipper wearers themselves.

In a 2008 letter to the Pioneer, Rob Haas, who was stationed at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea at the time, wrote: "I am a Bemidji native and recently moved to Korea . . . With all the negativity about what is going on in the world, it is awesome to know that there are people who still care about the military."

This article is written by Bria Barton from The Bemidji Pioneer and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
Third, with their newfound autonomy, the states should radically expand their distribution channels. GPs of course need to be adequately compensated for being at the front line of the vaccination campaign. Its the falsest of false economies to try to ensure no doctor makes a cent from delivering COVID-19 vaccines. We should err on the side of speed rather than penny-pinching. The cost of delay is massive, dwarfing any windfall to GPs.

But distribution must extend well beyond GPs. If we were to roll out our COVID-19 vaccine at the rate we administer flu vaccines each year, wed be well on our way to vaccinating at the rate of 200,000 a day we need to finish by the end of the year. Just as we do with the flu vaccine, we should roll out COVID-19 vaccines through pharmacies with extreme urgency. And we should also utilise large public venues like the SCG and MCG to deliver vaccines at an industrial scale, as in the US.

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Last, the part of the process the federal government is squarely responsible for  vaccine procurement  needs to be radically ramped up, no matter the cost. We need more doses of the high-efficacy vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna, and the relatively high-efficacy and single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. While Europe has blocked exports of some vaccines, production in the US is beginning to outstrip its domestic consumption and it has been exporting doses to Canada. Given our special relationship with the US, we should be aggressively pursuing vaccines from this market as well. The government must get more doses of the vaccines now, from wherever it can, and pay whatever price the producers demand. Thats the price we pay for being inadequately prepared  but its nevertheless well worth paying.

Australias vaccine rollout has been an abject failure, largely because the roles and responsibilities of the feds and states have been imperfectly and opaquely defined. The quickest way to end the blame game is to make it clear to the public exactly who is to blame and for what. Both the feds and states have an incentive to clear that up. The sooner they do so, the sooner the pace of our rollout can increase ten-fold, as it desperately needs to.
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.
The first shooting happened at 2:52 a.m. Sunday on the eastbound Eisenhower Expressway, west of Kostner Avenue, state police said. The driver of the vehicle, a 34-year old man from Westchester, was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, state police said.
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers are trying to balance openness with safety after Fridays attack within steps of the Capitol, a challenge for Congress, nearly three months after a mob stormed the seat of American democracy, to make it as secure as it needs to be but as free as we could possibly make it, as one senator said Sunday.

U.S. Capitol Police officers near a car that crashed into a barrier on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 2, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers are trying to balance openness with safety after Fridays attack within steps of the Capitol, a challenge for Congress, nearly three months after a mob stormed the seat of American democracy, to "make it as secure as it needs to be but as free as we could possibly make it," as one senator said Sunday.

The sprawling complex has been ringed by security fencing and National Guard troops since the deadly Jan. 6 riot, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump breached the Capitol as members of Congress were certifying Joe Biden's election victory.

Fridays attack, now believed to be an isolated incident by a disturbed man, came just weeks after the outermost layer of fencing was removed and the militarys footprint was reduced at the Capitol. The man rammed a car into two officers at a barricade outside the Capitol, killing one of them before he was shot to death by police.

It quickly underscored the persistence and the range of threats to Congress and the officers charged with protecting the legislative branch.

"I think the Capitol has always been a target. ... We need to be aware of that," said Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, the top Republican on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which oversees that chamber's side of the Capitol.

He told ABC's "This Week" that the Capitol is "an important element of who we are. Its an important symbol of who we are. And we need to keep that in mind with every decision we make."

Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who was tapped by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to undertake a security review of the Capitol following the insurrection in January, said it was clear the building had become a greater target.

His task force recommended steps to Congress to bolster the complexs physical security, including hiring hundreds more police officers, hardening entrances, enhancing its surveillance system and developing plans for quickly deployable fencing. But he indicated on Sunday that large-scale permanent fencing was unlikely.

"From inside the Capitol, talking to many members of Congress on both the Senate and the House side, both parties, they all left us with the impression their number one mission is to secure the Capitol, but make sure it has 100% public access," Honore said on ABC.

He said that after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, 250 National Guard "stayed at the Capitol for two years. And we may look forward to seeing that happen again."

Blunt said the permanent fencing should come down. "I dont think it does the job. In fact, the fencing was right there when the car drove through," he said. "I think it would be a mistake for fencing to be a permanent part of the Capitol."

Police identified the slain officer as William "Billy" Evans, an 18-year veteran who was a member of the departments first responders unit. That was the same unit to which officer Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries suffered during the Jan. 6 insurrection, belonged. Dozens of officers were injured in the riot, many seriously, and another officer died by suicide later.

Federal prosecutors, in court documents, have argued that the riot was planned in advance, with Trump supporters, militia groups and others plotting in advance to disrupt the counting of Electoral College votes. Chatter of a follow-on attack in March kept thousands of guard troops in Washington for months.

Fridays attacker, identified by police as 25-year-old Noah Green, rammed a vehicle into Evans and another officer at a barricade just 100 yards from the Capitol building. He exited the car with a knife before he was shot to death by police, officials said. He had been suffering from delusions, paranoia and suicidal thoughts, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

Investigators are increasingly focused on Greens mental health as they work to identify any motive for the attack, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation. The official said investigators had talked to Greens family, who spoke of his increasingly delusional thoughts.

Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant in Houston and Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
A Fine Gael TD has described the recent death threats levelled at his party leader as unnerving but praised the Tanaiste for getting on with it.

A fortnight ago, the Sunday Independent revealed that several death threats have been levelled against the Tanaiste in recent weeks, leading to him now requiring round-the-clock armed garda protection.

Senior sources say the deaths threats are being taken extremely seriously and gardai are responding appropriately in terms of providing protection for Mr Varadkar.

In an interview this weekend in the Sunday Independent, Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond said he was aware of the threats made against the Tanaiste.

The threats are unnerving. You know, if you want to go for a run within your 5k and have to ask Special Branch to come with you, it has a huge impact on your life.

And Leo, in fairness, has had a slew of threats over the years.

"Hes had homophobic death threats; hes had racist death threats; hes had politically charged death threats; hes had loyalists putting up his home address on walls.

"And hes also getting a lot from the anti-lockdown far right.

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The TD for Dublin Rathdown added that he believed Mr Varadkar had full faith in An Garda Siochana.

Its not nice for him or his partner Matt, Mr Richmond said. But hes getting on with it and has great faith in the guards.

While is it not unusual for members of government to receive threats, each threat is evaluated separately to determine whether it is credible.

A full evaluation of every threat received is carried out.

"Some of the threats against the Tanaiste are coming from people who are already on Garda radar, because of their involvement in extremism linked to some of the recent anti-lockdown protests, added a source.

It is the responsibility of the Special Detective Unit (SDU) to provide armed protection in the form of a full-time SDU driver to the Tanaiste of the day.

However, due to a slew of recent threats, including some of a homophobic nature, Mr Varadkar now warrants a full-time close protection detail from the SDU.

This entails a 24/7 armed garda detail, in addition to his garda driver.

It is understood the recent death threats were particularly nasty and came from a number of different individuals.

Some people who made the threats have been identified as having the potential to attempt to cause the Tanaiste physical harm.

Some of those involved are believed to be far-right extremists who hold homophobic views, as well as being anti-lockdown and anti-facemask advocates.

Not all of the death threats are from the far right, a source added  and while many of the threats have been made online, this is not the only way the threats have been issued.

One security source explained: For obvious reasons, not much can be divulged  as this is a security issue of national importance.

"But it is fair to say gardai do not ramp up any member of governments armed security to this level unless there is good reason. This is being taken extremely seriously.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin also has a close protection detail from the SDU. But it is understood that the Tanaistes level of protection is currently higher than the Taoiseachs, because of the threat level against him.

Meanwhile the PSNI has made contact with the Garda about threats levelled by loyalist paramilitaries against senior politicians in the south including Mr Varadkar, Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.




SMOTHER actor Lochlann O Mearain today reveals his distress at his character Rory Dwyer having to violently hit his son Callum in the RTE show.

And Lochlann believes such incidents have exploded in real life due to cabin fever tensions in lockdown homes.

"We tried to make it as real as possible," he explains about the assault. "It was quite a heavy backhanded slap in a public place, it's difficult. It's really hard to apologise for something like that, it's really not acceptable.

"I know it's a coming-of-age thing for a lot of young boys, that tension builds up between a son and a father, it's a natural enough thing, of the boy turning into a man."

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Lochlann believes domestic violence in Irish homes has increased due to lockdown.

"Lockdown was really good for me, but not for everyone. We will probably learn of some of the abuses that people lived with," he points out.

"But it happens in families. It's a lot less acceptable now, but no doubt it can happen. Not to say that Rory was an abusive person but it is a thing that happens."

Lochlann also had to research cancer and brain tumours as his character has a terminal illness from the deadly disease.

"I don't think any family in Ireland has escaped cancer in any whatever shape or form it takes," he reflects.

"I did a lot of research on it. You have to have a really planned out level of deterioration.

"Obviously one of the first symptoms was the change in behaviour caused by constant migraines. So Rory's decline is pretty rapid."

James O'Donoghue (17), who plays Callum, admits he has encountered bullying and abusive teenagers in real life.

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"I think Callum is definitely similar to what you might get in certain places, there are definitely people out there that are troubled and do have problems."

James is currently studying in CBC Monkstown, Co. Dublin.

"We are a rugby school and I do play a bit of rugby," he explains."I'm juggling my education and filming. "I found it quite hard."

He is already planning for life after school.

"I would love to head over to the States," he reflects."I was actually born there. I'd like to go to college there. Paul Mescal has been a huge inspiration for me and Normal People has been a big thing."

Asked if he's attracted a lot of attention since appearing on Smother, he replies with a smile: "I wouldn't say inundated but there definitely has been a mixed feed."

Dubliner Lochlann lives in Co. Mayo and has had some funny feedback to his role.

"I was down in the hardware and a fellow was calling me names, saying 'you're an awful fellow altogether'," he chuckles.

 Smother is on RTE1 tonight at 9.30pm.
On April 14, 2020, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took time out of one of his regular coronavirus news conferences to castigate President Donald Trump for politicizing the crisis.

"This is too important for politics," the governor said, citing mounting death rates and hospitalizations in New York. "It's a no-politics zone, right? . . . This is no time for politics, and this is no time to fight."

A few hours later, an administration aide was instructed to print a list of poll questions for the governor to approve before they went into the field the next day, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

The survey would quiz New Yorkers on whether they supported sending emergency medical equipment downstate, when schools and businesses should reopen and whether Cuomo had been "too cooperative, too hostile, or just about right" in dealing with Trump on the pandemic, among other topics, according to a copy obtained by The Post.

The poll also sought to measure how voters assessed Cuomo's handling of the coronavirus four weeks into the public health emergency compared with the handling by Trump, infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci, Democratic New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., among others, the documents show.

The poll was among a number of moves Cuomo made to assess and bolster his political standing, even as his state was engulfed in the first deadly wave of the pandemic, according to documents and people familiar with the governor's office, underscoring how consumed he was with burnishing his image amid one of the most acute moments of the crisis.

Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesman, said in a statement that understanding public opinion was "very important in managing COVID because success would be determined by the public's understanding of the severity of the crisis and their willingness to change behavior."

The New York governor, a third-term Democrat, rose to stardom last spring with his fierce denunciations of Trump, his no-nonsense approach at his news briefings and his occasional criticisms of other politicians who were not following public health guidance. He was embraced as a liberal hero and regularly railed against political interference by others in the response to the pandemic, holding New York as a beacon of medical light during a time of national darkness.

Cuomo's approval ratings surged to 66% by July, according to the Marist College poll in New York. "He had record-breaking numbers in New York because he was filling a void that you had in Washington," said Lee Miringoff, the head of the poll.

In recent weeks, that record has been shadowed by allegations that his administration withheld the number of deaths in nursing homes linked to the coronavirus - a matter now under federal investigation - and revelations that Cuomo's family members benefited from preferential coronavirus testing.

Cuomo's poll numbers have also dropped, though he remains around 50% approval in New York among all voters, according to a recent survey by Marist.

"You see some of it eroding away," Miringoff said. "It's really a one-two punch."

Azzopardi dismissed what he called a "retrospective kerfuffle" about the administration's coronavirus response.

"New York's COVID performance is indisputable as we went from one of the highest infection rates to one of the lowest, facing a much worse problem than any state and successfully managed it," his statement said. "There is no question that the Governor's daily briefings served New Yorkers and other Americans very well during the pandemic and that has been recognized internationally."

- - -

As Cuomo was touting the state's response publicly, behind the scenes, the governor at times blurred political tasks with state resources, as did some key staffers in his office, according to documents reviewed by The Post and people with knowledge of the situation. They and others interviewed for this report spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

The governor asked a number of advisers, including top state officials, to spend scores of hours to help write a book about his leadership during the pandemic as the coronavirus raged through the state, according to four people.

The New York Times reported that Cuomo was offered more than $4 million for the book, titled "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic," which was released in October. A person familiar with the book proposal said one offer exceeded that.

The governor's office declined to comment on how much he received for the book, adding that he annually releases a financial disclosure form and tax returns.

A number of his aides disagreed with the decision to write a book during the pandemic, saying it could be viewed as inappropriately timed and political, two people said.

One person who was key to the project was top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa, who regularly appeared at coronavirus briefings with the governor. She was most involved in writing the book with him while running the governor's office, people familiar with the matter said.

Other aides who worked in the governor's office were asked to print drafts of the book on government computers, according to the people with knowledge of the situation.

Azzopardi said Cuomo decided to write the book because "the governor believed it was important to chronicle the first 111 days of the pandemic when the numbers had gone down but we were facing a potential second wave in order to reflect on past challenges and improve upon our response moving forward."

He said it was "not true" that aides said at the time that the project was not a good idea.

"To the extent that any state officials advised the Governor on the book it was voluntary, in compliance with state ethics laws and done on their personal time," Azzopardi said, adding: "Every effort was made to ensure that no state resources were used in connection with this project - to the extent an aide printed out a document, it appears incidental."

Cuomo sought to buttress his image at key moments of the crisis with unorthodox ideas, such as having a whimsical poster titled "NEW YORK TOUGH" released last summer that depicted the state's response.

Azzopardi said the governor's campaign paid for the poster, which featured drawings of Cuomo's family members, medical charts, a large mountain and the command: "Forget the Politics, Get Smart!"

Stephanie Benton, director of the governor's office, was involved in helping shepherd the project, documents show.

Using her Gmail account, Benton emailed herself a draft version of the poster in June, then asked another person to print it on a state computer and deliver it to the governor. She sent the artist who drew the poster a number of requests from the governor, including that it prominently feature him, the documents show.

"He also wants to add himself in a dodge charger on right side," the email from Benton said, adding: "Thank you so much! He's pumped :)."

Azzopardi said the poster was "designed by the governor, working with an artist" and was another way to communicate the message about the pandemic.

Other documents that aides to the governor were asked to print included detailed biographies on allies and donors - including how much money they'd given to the governor - and a range of polls, according to people familiar with the materials. Cuomo commissioned polls frequently, gauging public opinion on topics such as whether New Yorkers believe the governor or mayor controls the region's transportation system, whether marijuana should be legalized or whether Democrats would support primary challengers for leftist candidates, documents show.

Azzopardi said the governor's office is permitted to "maintain an integrated schedule and briefing binder that has the governor's official as well as political events" and that Cuomo benefits from understanding public opinion.

State law generally bars public officials from using their position to "secure unwarranted privileges" for themselves, including the misappropriation to themselves of the "services or other resources of the state for private business or other compensated nongovernmental purposes."

In a training document for state employees, the state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics lists examples of prohibited behavior, including "using the computer in your office after work to produce a brochure in support of a candidate's campaign." Another example: using state Internet connections to "forward e-mail messages received from a partisan campaign or someone supporting a partisan candidate."

"In general, it would be improper for a public official to require a public employee on their own time and using public resources to aid a public official's private venture," said Richard Briffault, a Columbia University law school professor.

- - -

Cuomo was determined that other New York politicians - particularly his rival de Blasio, the New York mayor - not receive positive headlines for the virus response, according to five people familiar with the matter.

During one point early in the pandemic, state workers were told to spend the weekend hastily arranging an antibody testing program because the governor wanted to announce it on a Sunday.

The impetus, two of these people said, was that state officials had learned that New York City was going to announce a program of its own.

Azzopardi said the state was "standing up testing in every corner of the state."

"What a locality was doing is irrelevant," he added.

At another point early in the pandemic, after de Blasio announced that the federal government had deployed ambulances to help an overwhelmed New York City, Cuomo angrily told federal officials to share resources with the city, not the state, people familiar with the calls said.

Azzopardi said he was not aware of the episode.

An early draft of Cuomo's book included a jeremiad against the New York mayor. "He is like Trump in many ways that it is politics all the time, facts be damned," Cuomo wrote, according to a copy obtained by The Post. He was ultimately dissuaded by aides from including it in the final version, people familiar with the matter said.

Several City Hall officials said they stopped telling Cuomo's team what they were planning to do in advance, because he would often try to preempt or squash the announcement.

"Andrew Cuomo's obsession with optics has consistently gotten in the way of the fight against COVID," Bill Neidhardt, a de Blasio spokesman, said in a statement. "It's disturbing to think of all the staff time and taxpayer money wasted on a book of petty insults just so he could declare victory midway through the second quarter."

Azzopardi said the governor "went to great lengths to work cooperatively with the mayor," adding: "As everyone knows, the relationship has not been ideal."

Current and former administration officials said Cuomo was intensely focused on how much attention his coronavirus briefings were drawing, asking aides about when national TV networks were cutting away and discussing how he could keep them tuned in longer and improve his ratings.

"Monitoring how the press is carrying a government official's announcements - particularly during a pandemic when messaging was crucial to the state's response - is a key function of any press office," Azzopardi said.

Meanwhile, key health department officials who complained that they were sidelined from decisions joked grimly among themselves that they needed to watch the daily news conferences to learn what policies they were going to have to implement, former officials said.

After the briefings, health officials scrambled to draft guidance on issues such as reopening certain industries, high school graduation protocols and mask-wearing to try to match what the governor had already announced, according to people familiar with the matter. Many of the decisions were made with little public health guidance, they said.

"We would watch the press conference so we could see what we were going to have to do next," a person with direct knowledge of the effort said. "We would see the metrics, Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4, this industry, that industry, and we'd have no input in it. Then we'd try to execute whatever it said. We learned when the public learned."

A second person with knowledge of the operation said: "We would listen to find out what the policy was on schools, on microclusters, mask-wearing, on everything, and then we would retrofit any kind of guidance that was needed."

Over the course of a year, more than a dozen senior health officials, including many who worked on key parts of the pandemic, had quit rather than continue dealing with Cuomo and his staff, four people familiar with the matter said.

One former official said the governor and his aides would regularly berate department staffers if they pushed back against the direction Cuomo wanted to take: "It was all about making him look good."

In a statement, Azzopardi said "managing COVID was highly stressful for all, time was of the essence, and many people in many health departments across the country either left or were fired due to the stress and demands of the pandemic."

"To the extent that DOH officials needed to watch the presser to understand policy, that is correct," he added. "The health commissioner was involved in day-to-day policy decisions in a morning meeting that was publicly announced later that morning. Policy shifts did happen on a daily basis as the facts on the ground about the pandemic changed on a daily basis."

One decision the Cuomo administration made in early April 2020 - to relocate medical equipment from upstate facilities for use in New York City hospitals - drew backlash from some officials and hospitals upstate, who accused Cuomo of leaving residents "without protection." Within days, the governor backed away from the idea, saying the need had diminished.

In the aftermath, Cuomo's political team sought to gauge public support for such a move through the poll it commissioned from Global Strategy Group, a Democratic firm, documents show.

The draft survey obtained by The Post asked whether New Yorkers would support "moving medical equipment, like ventilators, from upstate hospitals and health care facilities to the epicenter of the pandemic downstate with the promise of returning them upstate if and when they are needed?"

The poll also sought to measure public opinion on a range of policy positions, including where hospital relief money should go, whether social distancing was a good concept, how economic aid should be spent and what businesses should open before others.

And it included several questions aimed to assess Cuomo's standing.

"In a few words, what positive things have you seen, read or heard recently about Andrew Cuomo? In a few words, what negative things have you seen, read or heard recently about Andrew Cuomo?" one question read.

The governor's office and the polling firm declined to comment on the findings.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. emerged from Room 306 on the second floor of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.

The civil rights leader and Nobel Prize winner talked with Jesse Jackson and musician Ben Branch while leaning on the green railing.

Branch was going to play for a meeting that King was holding later in the evening.

King asked Branch to play Precious Lord, Take My Hand.

I really want you to play that tonight, King said.

Their conversation was interrupted by a gunshot that hit King around 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968.

According to a New York Times Wire Service story, King was rushed to St. Josephs Hospital.

Holloman, director of Memphis Police and Fire Departments, said, I and all the citizens of Memphis regret the murder of Dr. King and all resources at our and the states command will be used to apprehend the person or persons responsible.

The story goes on to say, Dr. King had been bleeding profusely from what appeared to be a huge wound in the right jaw or neck area as he lay face up on the concrete walkway before he was taken away in a fire department ambulance.

His eyes appeared first half-closed then open and staring. One of his closest aides, James Bevel, grief-stricken, said after Dr. King was removed, I think hes gone. King was pronounced dead a little more than an hour after the shooting.

After the shooting, the wire service reported, police poured into the area around the Lorraine Motel on Milberry Street where Dr. King was shot. They carried shotguns and rifles and sealed off the block, refusing to allow entry to newsmen and others.

King, 39, was killed by a single shot to the face fired by James Earl Ray from a rooming house across the street. King was in Memphis with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which he founded, to support a sanitation workers strike.

Outrage over his killing resulted in rioting, looting and arson in more than 100 cities in the United States  Detroit, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Newark, N.J., Baltimore, Chicago.

According to the newspaper report, 4,000 National Guard troops were ordered into Memphis by Gov. Buford Ellington immediately after the shooting and a curfew was imposed on the city.

Branch said the shot came from the hill on the other side of the street. He added: When I looked up, the police and sheriffs deputies were running all around. The bullet exploded in his face.

Clergyman and civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy presides over the funeral of slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., April 9, 1968, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, sits with their children near his casket in the front row. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)Getty Images

Kings funeral was held April 9 in Atlanta, his hometown, at Ebenezer Baptist Church. A second service followed at Morehouse College.

After the shooting, Ray hid for a month in Toronto, Ontario, and acquired a Canadian passport under the false name of Ramon George Sneyd.

He was captured on June 8, 1968, at Londons Heathrow Airport. On March 10, 1969, Ray pleaded guilty to killing King. Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison but later recanted his confession and tried to get a new trial.

He escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tenn., on June 10, 1977, with seven other inmates. They were recaptured three days later. A year was added to Rays sentence. Ray died in prison on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70.

On Aug. 28, 1963, King had delivered his historic I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

The march and rally drew about 260,000 people, according to the NAACP. The event was organized by civil rights leaders aimed at outrage over racial inequities.

Marchers wanted passage of the Civil Rights Act that was stalled in Congress.

King said, I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

King received the Nobel Peace Prize on Dec. 10, 1964, for his nonviolent campaign against racism. The ceremony took place in Oslo, Norway. King was 35 at the time and the youngest man to ever receive the prize.

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 1963 file photo, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, speaks to thousands during his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, in Washington. A new documentary MLK/FBI, shows how FBI director J. Edgar Hoover used the full force of his federal law enforcement agency to attack King and his progressive, nonviolent cause. That included wiretaps, blackmail and informers, trying to find dirt on King. (AP Photo/File)AP

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The United States currently has around 3,500 troops in the country, alongside thousands of contractors and international forces still on the ground. Withdrawing those forces and all their equipment by May 1 is, at this point, almost logistically impossible, experts and officials said.

The United States unilateral negotiations with the Taliban have drawn ire from Afghan negotiators, who see the side discussions as a distraction from the broader peace talks. Even if the United States and the Taliban reach a deal to reduce violence, it is not likely to result in a full cease-fire, said one of the Afghan government negotiators, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Specifically, the United States is pushing for three months of reduced violence and has been for some time  though U.S. diplomats hope that timeline could be extended.

But in recent months, the Taliban submitted their own proposal, first reported by Voice of America, with requests that were not fully accepted by the U.S. negotiators and included severe restrictions on U.S. air power.

Many of the delays in securing a new deal to reduce violence stem from the original February 2020 agreement.

That deal loosely called for the Taliban to stop suicide attacks and large-scale offensives in exchange for the Americans forces scaling back drone strikes and raids, among other types of military assaults. But both sides interpreted those terms differently, officials said, and both have accused one another of violating the deal. The Taliban is also supposed to cut ties with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, but the U.S. intelligence community has seen little movement toward that goal.
ANN ARBOR, MI - A man stabbed three woman early Sunday morning in Ann Arbor, placing one Ypsilanti woman in critical condition, police said.

Officers responded to a stabbing report at 1:31 a.m., April 4 to the Sonesta Suites, 800 Victors Way in Ann Arbor near the Pittsfield Township border, according to a Ann Arbor Police Department news release.

Police arrived to find three women with stab wounds and discovered the incident occurred inside a hotel room which one of the victims was renting at the time.

The victim in critical condition is a 27-year-old Ypsilanti resident who suffered multiple stab wounds, police said. An officer packed the victims wounds and applied a tourniquet before paramedics transported her to the University of Michigan Hospital, police said.

The other two victims are a 36-year-old woman and a 33-year-old woman who were staying in the rental room, police said. Both are currently recovering in stable condition at UM Hospital, police said.

Police identified a 47-year-old man as a suspect, and noted his last known address is in Ypsilanti. They are currently attempting to locate him in relation to this incident, police said. A motive is unknown at this time, police said.

The Ann Arbor Police Department asks anyone with information about this incident to contact Det. Renee Bondy at 734-794-6930, Ext. 49329. People may also contact the Ann Arbor Police Department TIP line at 734-996-3199 or the duty command desk at 734-794-6921.

Huron Valley Ambulance assisted at the scene.

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Japan has finally launched formal discussions on how to secure a stable succession to the chrysanthemum throne amid a shrinking number of heirs, with options including allowing women or emperors from the maternal line to reign.

A six-member government panel held its first meeting on March 23, with its chairman, Atsushi Seike, a former Keio University president, vowing to hold "careful discussions" without haste as the government seeks to secure a stable future for the world's oldest hereditary monarchy.

But the clock is ticking for the family, which is now left with just three male heirs, as women marrying commoners have to abandon their imperial status under current rules.

A former senior government official warned that the unbroken line of emperors, which is traditionally said to stretch back more than 2,600 years although some of the earliest figures are viewed as legendary, could very well end in the not-so-distant future unless the government acts swiftly.

Currently, the three heirs in line to succeed 61-year-old Emperor Naruhito are his brother Crown Prince Akishino, 55, his nephew Prince Hisahito, 14, and his uncle Prince Hitachi, 85.

The imperial family has been shrinking under the 1947 Imperial Household Law, which limits heirs to a male descendant of an emperor on his paternal side. The emperor and Empress Masako's only child is a daughter, Princess Aiko, 19.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged people to choose a better future for all, rather than live in a society that only benefits the rich and powerful.

In his Easter Sunday service, Justin Welby said society had a choice to make over the coming years as it emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic.

And he encouraged people to take inspiration from the overwhelming generosity of God to ensure acts of love, charity, and international aid are maintained.

The archbishop said: In this country, in this world, we have a choice over the next few years.

We can go on as before Covid, where the most powerful and the richest gain and so many fall behind.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby during the Easter Day Choral Eucharist service at Canterbury Cathedral (Gareth Fuller/PA)

We have seen where that left us.

Or we can go with the flooding life and purpose of the resurrection of Jesus, which changes all things, and choose a better future for all.

The overwhelming generosity of God to us should inspire the same by us, in everything from private acts of love and charity to international aid generously maintained.

We have received overwhelmingly, so let us give generously.

The archbishops message also touched heavily on the topic of death, with reference to all those who had died since the start of the pandemic.

He described the past 12 months as yet another cruel period of history taking from us those we loved, ending lives cruelly and tragically.
April 4, 1936

Woman makes first phone call at 80

Wilhelmina Krause Konizni experienced something new the evening of April 3 at her home in Taylor. Konizni used a telephone for the first time.

For her first phone call she called her daughter, Mrs. Wesley Moss, who lived in Johnstown.

She also spoke to her granddaughter, Mrs. Minnie Rose, and her great-granddaughter, Wilhelmina.

Konizni, a native of Berlin, Germany, had lived in Taylor for the past 43 years.

She told a reporter that until recently she had no desire to use the telephone. She said she wanted to use one before she died.

After the call she said it was wonderful and it was a miracle that the wires could carry their voices so many miles.

Maj. Adair laid to rest

Maj. Gerwin D. Adair was laid to rest with military honors the afternoon of April 4.

Some 400 officers and servicemen of the First Battalion of the 109th Infantry gathered and marched to Adairs home at 525 Arthur Ave. from the Watres Armory. As Adairs casket was removed from the home, the officers and servicemen presented arms.

When the procession left his home the regimental band led the funeral procession, playing funeral dirges until they reached the Harrison Avenue Bridge. The firing squad and buglers continued on with the funeral procession to the Moscow Cemetery.

At the cemetery, a brief graveside service was held that included the playing of taps and a 16-gun salute.

Adair died at his Arthur Avenue home on April 1. He was 44 years old.

Adair joined the old 13th Regiment and served with the group when it was deployed to the U.S./Mexico border in 1916. In 1917, he was commissioned a first lieutenant and was immediately sent to Europe to join the First Division. He served with a machine gun battalion and the Army of Occupation.

He was promoted to major in June 1924 and for years served as the training officer for the 109th Infantry.

He was survived by his wife, Irene; his son, Teddy; five brothers and one sister.

At the time of death, Adair worked with two of his brothers at Adair Motor Co. on Wyoming Avenue. He was the companys vice president.
Guwahati, April 5 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government will be formed in West Bengal and the party would retain power for the second time in Asam.

Addressing a public gathering in Sarbhog in Barpeta district of western Assam on Sunday, Shah said that the BJP will win more than 200 Assembly seats in West Bengal.

"In the first two phases of election in Assam (on March 27 and April 1) the BJP has secured people's mandate to form the government once again in the state. After five years of the BJP rule we can now proudly say that in Assam there is neither terrorism nor there is agitation and protests, no illegal immigration, there is only peace, all-round development, progress and prosperity," he said.

The former BJP national president said that after formation of the BJP government once again in Assam two lakh jobs would be created in the government sector and eight lakh jobs in private sector, thus a total of 10 lakh jobs would be created in the state in a year.

The Home Minister in his speech on the last day of the election campaign ahead of the third and final phase of Assam assembly elections on Tuesday, said that it was decided to create Guwahati as the 'Start-up Capital' of the entire northeast region and also the South East Asia.

Lambasting the opposition parties, Shah said that the Congress party aligning with AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) led by Badruddin Ajmal would never be able to stop illegal immigrations in Assam and they would not be able to protect Assam and its people.

"Had there been the Congress government in Assam, not a single rhinoceros would be alive today. It was Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal whose strong governance and strict policy led to complete elimination of poachers of rhinoceros from Assam," he observed.

The Home Minister cut short his campaigning in Assam and returned to Delhi in wake of the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh that left at least 22 security personnel dead.

Ahead of the third and final phase of the Assam Assembly election on Tuesday, Shah was supposed to address three election rallies in Sarbhog, Bhabanipur and Jalukbari but only spoke at Sarbhog, before returning to the national capital.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Penny Stocks Hit $2 Trillion - The Real Story Behind This "Road to Riches" Scheme

By Steven Hochberg : Penny stocks are an investment vehicle that really has garnered the attention and speculation of investors in early 2021. They're plunging headlong into off-exchange shares.

I remember back when I started in the early 1980s at Merrill Lynch, there was a guy that walked in the office and he had pieces of paper that were pink, and I didn't know what they were.

I was 23 years old, just starting out. I went over to him and said, "What are you looking at?" And he turned to me and he said, "Son, this is your road to riches right here." And then he was looking at the OTC bulletin board pink sheets of these off-penny stocks.

He was partly right, because when they fired him, about three months later, they wound up giving me his books. So it was my road to riches originally, but I didn't quite understand what he was talking about.

Bulletin board or penny stocks are the most speculative shares you can get. They're often the most liquid shares. They're a hotbed of pump and dump stock manipulation schemes. And they're an area best avoided by all investors.

Unbelievably, penny stock trading volume through the month of February hit $2 trillion. That's trillion with a T.

What you're looking at here is the daily penny stock trading volume, which is well over a hundred billion by the middle of February. And by the end of February, it hit a total for the month of two trillion. This is an area of speculation that we see that investors are just throwing caution to the wind and going full steam ahead into the market.

This article is excerpted from a video presentation done by Steven Hochberg, Chief Market Analyst at Elliott Wave International. The full 25-minute video is of "aha" moments and charts that you won't see anywhere else. Sign up for a FREE Club EWI account now to watch the full video.

This article was syndicated by Elliott Wave International and was originally published under the headline . EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts led by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




Press Release

April 4, 2021 Use legislated P20B in Bayanihan 1, 2 and 2021 national budget for free mass testing, tracing: Pangilinan WITH at least 20 billion pesos in funds, the government should roll out a more aggressive testing and contact tracing program for the coronavirus to locate as many carriers of the infection and curb its spread, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said Sunday. The senator made the call as public and private hospitals in Metro Manila and nearby provinces are swamped with Covid patients, many with dozens of patients on queue and running at critical capacity. The government's Philippine Orthopedic Center has shut down due to Covid infections of close to 66 percent of its hospital staff. Pangilinan said testing and tracing would complement the lockdown measures in place touted as one of the strictest and longest in Asia. "Ikamamatay natin kung kulang ang testing at contact tracing. Walang kwenta ang pag-lockdown kung hindi mapipigil ang mga bagong pagpupugaran ng virus (It would be fatal to drop the ball on testing and contact tracing. The people's hardships while under lockdown will be for naught if we will not be able to arrest the new breeding grounds of the virus)," he said. "Gusto nating magtiwala na ginagamit nang maayos ang pondo sa pakikipagkarera para ma-contain ang Covid-19 (We trust that the funds are being utilized efficiently and expeditiously as we race in containing Covid-19)," he stressed. From the Bayanihan 1 Law, a total of 1.91 billion pesos has been released to the Department of Health (DOH) for the procurement of testing kits. A separate amount of P53 million went to the Department of Science and Technology to produce testing kits for 26,000 tests. From the Bayanihan 2 Law, 10 billion pesos has been earmarked as standby fund for testing and procurement of medicines and vaccines under the DOH. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) was also given 5 billion pesos for the hiring of 50,000 contact tracers. From the 2021 General Appropriations Act, the DILG got another 1.9 billion pesos for contact tracing, while the DOH was released 1 billion pesos for RT-PCR cartridges. "May pondo tayo, walang hadlang para hindi gawin ang sinasabi ng batas tungkol sa testing at contact tracing (The funds are available. There is no excuse for the government not to do what the law says on testing and contact tracing)," Pangilinan said, adding that concerned agencies must be able to show to the people how the resources are being used to move the country closer to overcoming the pandemic. At the onset of the pandemic, public health experts have emphasized the importance of contact tracing, a decades-old strategy aimed at interrupting infectious disease transmission. "Mahirap ang trabaho, pero walang excuse para hindi gawin ang testing at contact tracing. Hindi ito ang mga tanging lunas sa virus, pero ang maayos na pagpapatupad nito ang magpapadali sa pagsugpo sa Covid-19 (The task may be challenging, but there's no excuse not to do testing and contact tracing. These are not the panacea to the virus, but doing them effectively will make the battle against Covid-19 more manageable)," Pangilinan said. On Friday, April 2, the Philippines recorded 15,310 new confirmed Covid-19 cases -- the country's highest single-day tally so far as an upsurge of the disease has been noted over the last couple of weeks. On Saturday, April 3, new Covid infections in the country numbered 12,576.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 18:59:05|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

TALUQAN, Afghanistan, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Five militants including a Taliban key commander have been killed in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province on Sunday, provincial police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir said.

The clash flared up after a group of Taliban militants attacked security checkpoints in Bandkasha village of Eshkamish district Sunday morning.

As a result of the clash, six people including a police constable and five insurgents including Taliban key commander Mullah Abdullah Nasiri, alias Abu Abida, have been killed, the spokesman said.

Five more militants and two security personnel have been injured, he added.

The security forces would continue to pursue the militants in Eshkamish and its vicinity.

Taliban militants are yet to make comment on the clash. Enditem
https://www.aish.com/atr/The-Ceremony-of-Mount-Gerizim-and-Mount-Ebal.html

Ask the Rabbi

Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal are two nearly-adjacent mountains in the Biblical territory of the tribe of Ephraim, an area today known as Shomron (Samaria). Today, the city of Nablus (Shechem) resides in the valley between Gerizim to the south and Ebal to the north.

These mountains were the site of a significant ceremony shortly after the Jews entered the Land of Israel. To give an outline of the ceremony, Ill begin with the commandments to observe it which appear in the Torah.

In Deuteronomy 11:29 Moshe instructs the nation that when God brings them to the Land of Israel, you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Elsewhere (Deut. 27:11-26) the Torah goes into further detail. It states that six tribes would stand to bless the nation on Mt. Gerizim  Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin, while the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali would stand on the curse on Mt. Ebal. According to the Mishna (Sotah 7:5), this means that six tribes would ascend Mt. Gerizim as representatives of the nation to receive blessings, while the other six would ascend Mt. Ebal to receive curses.

The Torah then proceeds to list eleven curses which the Levites would call out to the entire nation. The first ten of them curse those who transgress specific sins, for example, Cursed be he who moves back the border of his fellow (v. 17). (This refers to a person who moves back the marker dividing between his land and his neighbors.) The eleventh curse is general: Cursed be he who does not fulfill the words of this Torah to do them. To each curse, the entire nation  the tribes on both mountains  would respond amen.

The Talmud (Sotah 37) describes the process in greater detail. The Levites stood between the mountains, carrying the Ark of the Covenant. For each curse, they would first turn their gaze to the good tribes on Mt. Gerizim and utter a corresponding blessing  e.g., Blessed is he who does not move back the border of his fellow. They would then turn to face Mt. Ebal and say the same statement as a curse  as the verse quotes it. After each blessing and curse, both sets of tribes would respond amen. Thus, although the Levites would turn toward one set of tribes for the blessings and the other for the curses, both were actually intended for everyone. (The division into groups apparently reflects that for some positive reinforcement is most effective while others require sterner treatment.)

The Torah (Deut. 27:2-8) also instructs the nation to take large stones, plaster them over, and write on them the entire Torah explained well (v. 8)  which the Mishna (ibid.) explains to mean in all seventy of the primary languages. They were also to take unhewn stones (according to the Mishna, the same stones on which they would afterwards write the Torah) and fashion an altar from them, upon which they offered sacrifices. The Talmud (Sotah 35b) explains that the stones used here were the same twelve stones taken from the Jordan River when the nation passed through it (Joshua 4). They were carried here and used to build the altar. Afterwards, the altar was dismantled, the Torah was written on its stones, and the stones were carried to Gilgal where they were erected as an eternal symbol.

Joshua 8:30-35 describes the actual ceremony briefly. It describes the building of the altar, the offering of sacrifices, the writing of the Torah, and the division of the nation onto the two mountains for the blessings and curses. Some of the commentators understand that Joshua additionally read the curses and blessing of Deut. 28 as well as all the Torahs commandments (Radak and Malbim, based on vv. 34-35).

The simple reading of Joshua is that this event occurred somewhat after the nations entry into the Land. It is recorded right after the victory over the city of Ai. The Talmud (Sotah 36a), however, has a tradition that it occurred the same day they crossed the Jordan River  and that the nation miraculously covered the distance to the mountains in a single day and still had time for the celebration and the ceremony. (One of the commentators explains that the episode was recorded at this later point since it occurred near Ai, although it had already happened much earlier (see Meam Loez).) Most of the commentators follow the Talmud, while some understand the verses here more literally.

One surface issue which requires clarification is where the Levites stood. Deut. 27:12 lists them as among the tribes which ascended Mt. Gerizim. Yet v. 14 there, as well as Joshua 8:33, describes the Levites (and Priests) as standing in the middle, holding the Ark and reciting the blessings and curses. The Talmud (Sotah 37a) offers two answers  either that the younger Levites ascended the mountain while the elderly ones stood in the center to administer the blessings and curses, or that the Levites of the age to perform the Tabernacle service (30-50) stood below while the others ascended.

The curses listed are actually an unusual selection of laws  several are sexual offenses while the rest are more generic, such as giving harmful advice to the unsuspecting, belittling a parent, perverting justice for the underprivileged, and gossiping (v. 24; lit., he who hits his fellow secretly). Several of the commentators explain that these sins can all easily be committed in private or without the awareness of the authorities. Thus, since a person may feel he can get away with them, the Torah placed these additional curses and blessings on them to discourage their transgression (Ibn Ezra, Daas Zekainim, Rashbam, Chizkuni).

The Talmud (Sotah 37b) explains the great significance of this ceremony. With this communal gathering and reacceptance of the Torah, the Jews became spiritually responsible for one another  meaning, each Jew became obligated to see to it that his fellow Jew properly observes the Torah. Our acceptance of the Torah was no longer a personal matter between ourselves and God, but a communal one, in which each member of the whole pledged to mind his fellows religious observance. This concept is known as arvut, which literally refers to the collateral or pledge one gives as guarantee for a loan. Every Jew serves as collateral for his fellow, providing his personal guarantee to look after his fellow Jew and his spiritual standing. For only if every other Jew is properly committed to God is my own service complete.
Govt. guards churches as Cardinal demands an answer By Chrishanthi Christopher View(s): View(s):

The police have been on high alert at Catholic and Christian churches leading up to Easter Sunday celebrations today.

Under a special security programme instructed by the Inspector-General of Police, churches around the country are being guarded by the police and army.

The government has a duty to look after its citizens. We have nothing to do with it, Rev. Deninton Subasinghe, Secretary to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said, explaining that Archbishops House had not been consulted on the security measures. Nothing verbally or in writing was discussed, he said.

He said the government had not responded yet to the ultimatum issued by Cardinal Ranjith two weeks ago over the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.

If the government continues to ignore the ultimatum, the church would be driven to intensify the protest campaign demanding justice for the victims, Rev. Subasinghe said.

Archbishops house last week demanded justice for the victims who died in the Easter Sunday chain bomb blasts, a deeper investigation into the bombings and for those responsible for the bombings to be punished.

Around 260 people were killed in six bomb blasts in 2019 that shook the nation, damaging three churches and three prominent hotels.

The church has warned a massive protest would be carried out on April 21, the anniversary of the bombings.

Rev. Subasinghe said the protests would intensify if the government continued to ignore the Churchs demands. Our future course of action will be taken after discussion with the Council of Priests, he said.

The church in the past several weeks has been agitating over the delay in investigating and bringing perpetrators of the bomb blasts to justice.

Cardinal Ranjith has several times voiced frustration over the inaction of the government.

A copy of the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) appointed by the then government of Ranil Wickramasinghe, nearly two years ago, was handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa only two weeks ago.

The report blames key officials and then president Maithripala Sirisena for the disaster but stopped short of naming those responsible for the blasts.

The Catholic Church said the recommendations only point fingers at the inaction of officials but fail to investigate the extremist movement and the bombers.

To mark its displeasure at the inordinate delay in giving justice to the blast victims, the church declared March 7 as Black Sunday, with all congregration members marching into churches in solidarity, wearing black as a show of mourning for the victims.

Church bells tolled at 8.45am, the time the bombs went off that day.

April 21 is a deadline and we are awaiting a response from the government, Rev. Subasinghe said.

The threat was resounding this week with banners on church premises calling for justice for the bombing victims and details of the perpetrators of the heinous crimes.
Customs and supply chains (72%), tax and VAT (70%) and regulation (68%), are the three most common areas where companies have seen disruption. Photo: Ben Stansall / AFP via Getty Images

The majority of British companies have experienced some form of trade disruption with the European Union (EU) following Brexit, and many firms expect these issues to have long-term consequences.

Research from EY and London First, found 75% of businesses have experienced some Brexit trade disruption, while 49% say they expect some sort of disruption to continue in the long-term.

Despite that, 71% said they had felt prepared for the changes. Nearly a third (29%) said they had stopped trading with the EU and nations not covered by rollover deals.

Customs and supply chains (72%), tax and VAT (70%) and regulation (68%), are the three most common areas where companies have seen disruption.

Businesses highlighted delays to getting goods to destinations (43%), having to re-register with regulatory bodies in the UK and EU (37%) and dealing with changes in contracts (38%) and data (34%), as some of the key challenges.

London has been particularly hard hit by Brexit. The capital  which has a high proportion of regulated sectors such as telecoms, finance, accounting, legal, and IT  saw 85% of businesses report some form of disruption.

Meanwhile, 53% of London businesses expect the disruption to continue for the long-term.

READ MORE: Brexit: Quarter of small exporters give up on EU due to red tape

Previously, prime minister Boris Johnson had said that Brexit disruptions were mainly due to "teething problems" which would decline as companies grew more confident with the new system.

But, John Dickie, acting chief executive of London First, said that "Its clear that the disruptions to UK trade with the EU go beyond teething problems with the new regime."

"If the government is to champion Global Britain successfully, it must redouble its efforts to fix our trading relationship with the EU. That includes tackling border delays, ensuring the free flow of data and providing adequate guidance for businesses navigating changes," Dickie added.

Story continues

Great Britain officially left the EU's single market and customs union on 1 January and this has meant that companies from both sides have had to cope with a lot of red tape and bureaucracy due to new paperwork.

From 1 July, all firms exporting to the UK will be required to fill out full customs declarations and goods could be subjected to physical checks at new UK customs centres.

WATCH: More than half of UK firms have faced disruption due to Brexit

The findings echo similar research and worries from leading business groups in the UK.

The majority (70%) of UK importers and exporters surveyed said they have suffered shipment delays when moving goods around the EU in recent weeks. 32% have lost goods in transit and 34% have had goods held indefinitely at EU border crossings, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said.

According to the FSB one in five (23%) exporters have temporarily paused sales to European Union (EU) customers and a further 4% have decided to stop selling into the bloc permanently amid Brexit red tape.

The analysis of over 1,400 small firms also showed 11% of exporters are considering halting sales to Europe permanently. The same proportion have established, or are considering establishing, a presence within a country in the EU to ease their exporting processes.

Additionally, 9% of respondents said they were thinking about securing, or are already using, warehousing space in the EU or Northern Ireland (NI) for the same purpose.

Similarly, trade research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) from January 2021 showed that 49% of UK exporters reported difficulties in adapting to changes in the trade or movement of goods.

In February, a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) survey, revealed that 68% of manufacturers have experienced delays at borders with 60% also reporting additional customs costs and admin.

While analysis from the Institute of Directors (IoD) from March 2021 showed that since 31 December, almost 20% of directors whose organisations had previously traded with the EU, have stopped.

A Make UK survey from March 2021 showed that 74% of UK manufacturers have encountered delays at ports this year, with over half facing increased costs and a third losing revenue.

WATCH: 10 ways to Brexit proof your finances
New York City police are searching for a crew of robbers who have been wreaking havoc in Manhattan's Central Park.

According to the New York Daily News, the group has been stealing Citi Bikes, cash and cellphones from victims on the Upper West Side and in Central Park.

In some instances, the suspects have used force or wielded weapons like knives.

While New York City has seen an uptick in crime throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, this particular group appears to have started plaguing Manhattan on March 13 when they attacked a 13-year-old boy and stole his LA Dodgers hat.

New York City police are searching for a crew of robbers who have been wreaking havoc in Manhattan's Central Park

Police told the Daily News that the suspects struck again four days later when they brandished a knife at two men who were riding Citi Bikes in Central Park.

This particular incident occurred in broad daylight around 3.30pm on March 17. The victims weren't harmed in the ordeal, but the suspects stole the bikes.

Last Tuesday, the pack of robbers stole from two teens on Riverside Drive around 9pm.

The teens, ages 14 and 15, told police that the group flashed a gun and stole the teen's cellphones and a sweatshirt.

About two hours later, they managed to get into a residential building on Riverside Drive and stole an electric scooter.

According to the Daily News, about an hour later, the thieves stole a 27-year-old man's cellphone and wallet containing $375.

Authorities said the crew of robbers stole at least two Citi Bikes (file image)

While he wasn't hurt, the group threatened to stab him. This incident occurred around Central Park West.

Authorities have released surveillance footage of the suspect with hopes the public can help track them down.

Police are asking that anyone with information about the robberies to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

New York City has seen an uptick in crime and even more so against Asian Americans.

On Saturday, police said they're searching for a man wanted for yelling anti-Asian slurs at a 44-year-old woman and her three children, spitting at her and kicking her cellphone off a subway train.

Police are calling the incident a hate crime. Authorities described the suspect as a dark-skinned man who is 50 to 55 years old, about 6 feet tall and about 150 pounds.

He was last seen wearing a dark camouflage sweater, dark sweatpants and black sandals. Police said he was wearing a black sock on his left foot and a white sock on his right foot.

The woman was riding a southbound No. 5 train headed to Times Square with her three children at about 2.30pm.

The attack was among the latest in a national spike in anti-Asian hate crimes.

Also near Times Square last week, a 65-year-old Filipina American woman was viciously assaulted while walking to church.

A parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago was charged with assault and attempted assault as hate crimes.
OneWeb, a new space agency in the United Kingdom, now wants to go toe-to-toe with Elon Musk's Starlink program. The new company says that the plan of Starlink is not a responsible way for the next generations.

According to Business Insider's latest report, the British-owned satellite broadband operator previously suffered from bankruptcy in November and was almost shut down because of financial issues. However, it was able to bounce back, allowing it to compete against one of the biggest private space agencies.

The new space agency also wants to widen its internet service by launching hundreds of satellites in orbit across the world.

OneWeb's chief of regulation, engagement, and government, Chris McLaughlin, said that launching thousands of internet satellites is not a good way to help the next generations of people.

OneWeb's plan

OneWeb's plan is similar to SpaceX. However, the company confirmed that it only wants to send around 648 satellites at 1,200 kilometers in orbit to provide the places that badly need internet service.

Also Read: SpaceX Starship Prototype SN11 that was Successfully Launched Last Week was Destroyed During Landing

On the other hand, SpaceX now has a total of more than 1,300 Starlink satellites at 550 kilometers in orbit. Elon Musk's space agency wants to improve this and launch 42,000 by mid-2027.

However, there are some critics and analysts that are saying that Elon Musk's Starlink satellites could lead to space pollution since there are already thousands of them in space.

Unlike SpaceX, OneWeb seems to not focus on the number of internet satellites.



"We're beginning to think less is more," said Chris McLaughlin. "[Musk and Bezos] both want to put them up in the same place at 550 km and have nobody else in their way," he added.

OneWeb already released 36 satellites

As of the moment, OneWeb was able to send 36 broadband internet satellites in orbit. BBC News confirmed on Mar. 25 that the U.K. space agency was able to raise more than $400 million budget from various tech firms, such as Hughes Network Systems and Softbank.

If you want to know more details, all you need to do is click here.

For more news updates about Starlink's new rival and other upcoming space agencies, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: SpaceX Reveals Panoramic Glass Dome-Topped Spacecraft for Upcoming All-Civilian Spaceflight

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Written by: Giuliano de Leon

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NSB steadies COVID-19 ship with firm 2020 results View(s):

The performance of National Savings Bank (NSB) in 2020 has been characterised by strength and resilience, recording its highest ever profit.

Despite the heightened uncertainty due to the impact of COVID-19 which has triggered a wide range of shocks on the bank, employees, customers and economy, its continued focus on financial resilience enabled the bank to remain strong and achieve a solid performance.

In a media release, the bank said it recorded its highest ever Profit Before Tax (PBT) and Profit After Tax (PAT) in 2020, both of which were aided by the Governments stimulus initiatives introduced in late 2019.

Against the backdrop of COVID-19 impact on the economic activities, the PBT was Rs. 15.6 billion, a 49.5 per cent increase from Rs. 10.5 billion in 2019 while the PAT of Rs. 10.1 billion is a 58.4 per cent increase from Rs. 6.4 billion in 2019. A dividend of Rs. 1.0 billion was paid for the financial year under review.

As one of the biggest lenders in the housing market in Sri Lanka, the NSB facilitates the growth in national home ownership, opening a pathway towards economic security and mobility for hundreds of thousands of customers. Beyond contributing to the General Treasury by way of taxes, levies, fees and dividends, and being the second largest holder of Government securities, the bank is one of the biggest lenders to the government and is an enthusiastic partner in the Governments long-term infrastructure and socioeconomic development projects, the release said.

Commenting on the performance, NSB Chairperson, Keasila Jayawardena said: While the figures demonstrate the solid performance of the bank, a deeper dive into the numbers must consider the context of the year. During the first wave of COVID-19 infection in late March 2020, the banking service was declared an essential service during the crisis and ensuing lockdowns. All the banks branches across the country were kept open to offer an uninterrupted service to our customers. The bank also allocated three mobile units to provide its customers with service at their doorstep.

NSB General Manager / CEO, Ajith Peiris said the total asset base of the bank grew by 17.8 per cent to Rs. 1.4 trillion as at end December 2020 from Rs. 1.2 trillion as at end December 2019.

The bank reported a Gross Income of Rs. 127.5 billion for 2020, achieving a growth of 4.6 per cent mainly driven by the 3.2 per cent rise in Interest Income, the largest component, to Rs. 122.5 billion as well as Fee and Commission Income which has increased by 114.9 per cent to Rs. 2.7 billion compared to last year.

The banks profitability was further enhanced by the removal of the Nation Building Tax (NBT) and Debt Repayment Levy (DRL) on financial services and favourable changes to the deposit mix with the savings deposits to total deposits ratio increasing to 22.6 per cent in 2020 from 21.5 per cent in 2019, providing the bank with a source of low-cost funding.

The statement said that during the year under review, the bank disbursed Rs. 31.4 billion in loans for infrastructure projects to State Owned Enterprises and the bank also positioned itself to finance further long-term projects in future through diversifying the banks sources of funding. The bank raised Rs. 5 billion through the issuance of a perpetual debenture. The bank recorded its highest ever mobilisation of deposits by mobilising Rs. 221.9 billion during the year.
During my career, I have seen many people die and I know there are some ways I could simply not bear.

There are certain conditions that, if I was diagnosed with them, I would choose to take my own life rather than suffer what I consider torture. The idea of slowly choking to death because I am losing the ability to swallow, for example.

And the thought of being unable to move chills me  and many others, I think  to the core. Every doctor has stories of patients that make you question whether doctors should be able to step in and end people's lives when they really want it.

Now Henry Marsh, leading brain surgeon and bestselling author, is calling for an urgent inquiry into assisted dying.

He has revealed that, age 71, he has advanced prostate cancer and argues that the law insists he must suffer and that politicians have 'shown a striking lack of compassion by ducking this issue for too long'.

Dr Max Pemberton said he has seen many people die during his career and was once asked to see a woman in her 40s after she had expressed her wish to die (stock image)

There's no doubt the issue is complex, but I agree politicians and doctors have dodged the issue.

We point to the fact people can travel to Dignitas in Switzerland, but that is a fudge  it's ethical Nimbyism and fails to take into account that many people who would want to use it are too disabled to go.

For years I worked in an inner-city hospital, and as a psychiatrist I was often called by my medical or surgical colleagues to patients they had who were suicidal or asking to die.

My job was to assess if they had a mental illness. But many of the patients I saw had terminal illnesses and wanted a quick, painless death rather than the slow, drawn-out death they knew they faced.

I remember being called to see a patient in her late 40s. Fourteen years ago she had been in a car crash and had horrific injuries.

She had a bleed into her brain which left her paralysed and unable to care for herself and was now reliant on carers for even the most basic tasks.

Because of her difficulties swallowing, she experienced choking fits and the damage to her brain had meant she had frequent seizures.

Overnight, she went from being a graphic designer with a social life, independent and free, to being cocooned inside a body which refused to move or function properly.

Dr Max (pictured) admitted that under certain conditions he would choose to take his own life, and said politicians and doctors have been dodging the issue of assisted dying

She had come into hospital after developing a chest infection, but had repeatedly expressed the wish to die, so I was asked to see her.

Her speech was slurred, but she was eloquent in saying why she wanted to die. If she was able to, she'd have killed herself a long time ago as, for her, life was intolerable and had ceased to have any meaning.

Of course, there will be people who argue that she can find meaning and worth in her life, that she can still contribute to society; that life is a gift in whatever form it takes and she should learn to celebrate this rather than wish to obliterate it.

Those that oppose assisted dying often claim that, with advances in medicine, we are better at pain management, while palliative care means patients do not have to suffer.

But to say pain control is the determining factor in someone's quality of life is wrong. This reduces and belittles the hu-man condition.

The fact that controlling pain is not always straight forward, especially without overdosing the patient, is a moot point here. It is the emotional pain, for which no analgesia exists, that is often the deciding factor in people wishing to die in medical cases.

I feel uneasy about Covid passports. A version of the app which would allow users to prove they had been vaccinated is to be trialled. It all sounds Orwellian. While I understand the reasons for restrictions, its vital some things, such as GP surgeries, are banned from refusing those without Covid passports.

Antidepressants won't make you walk again. Talking therapies can't bring back your old life. There is no analgesia that can deaden the sense of loss, of powerlessness and helplessness; the frustration, the indignity.

Certainly many people with debilitating and terminal conditions lead fulfilling and meaningful lives but, equally, there are those who do not and wish to take control of their life by ending it.

Who am I to say that this woman's life is worth living? That the psychological pain she experiences as a result of her present situation is tolerable?

By all means argue that assisted suicides are open to abuse. But do not propose to know what it feels like to lie in a bed, staring at the ceiling day in and day out, being turned by carers as they wash you and change your sheets, longing for the life you had but which now is out of reach.

Don't tell me that doesn't hurt. Don't tell me doctors can control that sort of pain.

With my head, I know there are serious risks to assisted dying; that it could be misused or people may feel pressured and coerced into it.

But with my heart, I think of all the countless patients I have seen, where I have stood and thought how, if this were me, I'd be longing for someone to help me end my life.

I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't at least acknowledge this.

SMILE! IT'S WORTH THE EFFORT

Natural England has made the first update to the Countryside Code in more than a decade and included the suggestion visitors should smile. Well, this got me beaming for sure.

What a wonderful thing to encourage people to do while on their country walk.

Because of the need to wear masks, the pandemic has robbed us of a stranger's smile. It's one of life's little pleasures. As we cannot do this in shops, it's all the more important to make the effort when we're outside. Smiling is the first expression we learn to recognise as babies.

Before anger or fear, we notice happiness. It's hardwired into our brains to seek it out.

It boosts us when someone smiles at us and the person smiling gets a boost, too  it's one human reaching out to another, which is what we need in these times.

DR MAX PRESCRIBES...

The Arrigo Programme

Dr Max has recommended The Arrigo Programme, which is run by psychotherapist Fiona Arrigo (pictured) and was designed with the psychological pressure of the past year in mind

This programme of life-affirming retreats in rural Somerset, run by psychotherapist Fiona Arrigo, was designed with the psychological pressure of the past year in mind.

It includes a retreat focused on grief for those who have lost someone, as well as helping those who have struggled with the isolation and emotional stresses of lockdown.

thearrigoprogramme.com

In the wake of the revelations around 'rape culture' in schools, it's been suggested that these institutions should be responsible for how boys behave. Of course not.

We can't allow the focus to be taken off the real issue by blaming schools or teachers.

We need to face one fact: is it any surprise some boys behave like this when they are bombarded with pornography?

My issue is not the sex  after all, people have watched others get intimate since the dawn of time  but the violence.

This is what no one talks about. Many parents are unaware of what their children are exposed to. I think every parent should see the porn available to their children.

We need to challenge the extreme and misogynistic images and talk frankly with young boys. But the first step is parents educating themselves.
PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2021) Paris has reached an agreement in principle with the European Commission on a financial support package for the Air France flag carrier, hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, French Minister of the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire announced on Sunday.

"We have an agreement in principle with European Commissioner [for Competition] Margrethe Vestager on new financial support for Air France," the minister told the RTL broadcaster.

Le Maire added the Air France-KLM board of Directors would meet on Monday to discuss the amount of the financial aid tranche and approve the bailout deal.

According to the minister, in exchange for financial assistance, the European Commission has been asking the airline to give up 24 take-off and landing slots at Paris Orly Airport.

"My position has been the same from the very beginning; I believe that there are too many [slots asked to be given up] and that there is no sense in supporting Air France and at the same time boosting competition by requesting 24 slots in Orly," the minister said, adding that Air France would give up some slots, but not 24.

The Air France-KLM Group, a merger of French and Dutch airlines, has reported a 7.1 billion euro ($8.3 billion) loss last year as a result of the pandemic impact. The company received 7 billion Euros from the French government, which owns a 14 percent stake in it, and 3.4 billion euros from the Netherlands in state assistance to deal with the post-coronavirus shocks.
Vatican City, April 4 : Pope Francis celebrated Easter Mass for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and offered the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing from St Peter's Basilica on Sunday.

The services will take place in a smaller circle because of the anti-coronavirus restrictions in place and as a preventative measure against infection, dpa news agency reported.

Before the pandemic, Easter Mass was usually held in St Peter's Square in front of tens of thousands of pilgrims.

With the morning Mass on Sunday at 10 a.m., Francis is scheduled to again have to celebrate in St Peter's Basilica, as he did last year.

Easter is the most important feast of the year for devout Christians.

The week leading up to Easter Sunday includes many different services that mark the final days of Jesus' life before his crucifixion.

Already on the previous days, only between 100 and 200 faithful were admitted to the services.

With the "Urbi et Orbi" (To the city and the world) blessing, the Pope remits for the faithful the punishment for their sins if they have already redeemed them beforehand, for example in confession or through prayer.

The blessing is usually given at Easter and Christmas and when a new Pope is elected.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 23:42:12|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN top envoy in Somalia on Sunday condemned Saturday's foiled attacks against the Somali National Army (SNA) bases in Barire and Awdhigle towns in the southern region in which the army killed more than 115 militants.

"We strongly condemn these attacks that targeted Somali forces. This is a vivid reminder of the sacrifices being made by Somali soldiers every day as they fight bravely to keep Somalia and its people safe," James Swan, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.

Swan said such attacks were aimed at undermining efforts to rebuild Somalia. "We extend our condolences for the loss of life, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured," he added.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the simultaneous dawn attacks in which the group sustained heavy losses in the face of strong action by the SNA forces.

However, Hassan Haji, Minister of Defense said Sunday the SNA killed more than 115 militants and captured 15 others during the attack on Saturday.

Haji, who visited the hospital in Mogadishu where soldiers who were wounded in terrorist attacks on army bases in the Lower Shabelle region are being treated, lauded the SNA for their bravery and sacrifices, saying their quick response in repulsing the attack saved many lives.

The Saturday incident comes amid sustained operations by Somali army against al-Shabab extremists in the southern regions where the militants hold swathes of rural areas, conducting ambushes and planting landmines. Enditem
In this weeks roundup, the CDC eases up on its warnings against air travel for fully vaccinated individuals; Southwest Airlines now offers pre-departure verification of Hawaiis travel requirements; major carriers extend expiration dates for use of travel credits and for basic economy change fee waivers; Delta offers new enticements for SkyMiles members; Alaska and American introduce reciprocal upgrade privileges for elite-level frequent flyers; new study rates the best airline loyalty programs; JetBlue gains access to London Heathrow; and route news from Spirit, American, Emirates and Korean.

As the number of Americans vaccinated against COVID continues to rise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday finally issued an update to its advice about traveling  something that airlines have been eagerly anticipating for weeks. In its update, CDC eased up on its recommendation that everyone just stay home  but only for those who are fully vaccinated, i.e., have completed the required number of shots and have waited two weeks after the last one.

For domestic trips, CDC said fully vaccinated individuals can now travel safely within the United States, do not need to take a COVID test before or after travel unless their destination requires it, and do not need to self-quarantine. The same revised guidance applies to those who have recovered from COVID-19 in the past three months. Vaccinated individuals who travel should still wear a mask during air travel and in airports, maintain social distancing, and wash hands often or use hand sanitizer, the CDC said.

On international trips, fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to get tested before they leave the U.S. unless your destination requires it, the CDC said, nor do they need to self-quarantine after arriving back in the U.S. But the CDC said international travelers should still get tested three to five days after travel  and the U.S. still requires all passengers coming into the U.S., including those who are fully vaccinated, to get a negative COVID test result no more than three days before they board their flight. They should also get a viral test three to five days after travel, the CDC said.

As for unvaccinated individuals, the CDCs earlier guidelines still apply  i.e., dont fly anywhere unless its essential. In a press briefing earlier last week, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said coronavirus case numbers, which had been on a long decline, have increased by about 10% across the country in recent days  a trend that she said is giving her a recurring feelingof impending doom. Dr. Walensky said a similar recent uptick in cases preceded new surges of the pandemic in Germany, France and Italy, and she worries the U.S. could be next. What were seeing now is more travel than we saw throughout the pandemic, including the Christmas and New Years holidays, she said. I think people have taken advantage of what they perceived as a relative paucity of cases, a relative lull in where we were, to take advantage of their time of spring break, of holiday travel. She said that increases in travel over previous holiday periods were all followed by an increase in COVID cases. Unvaccinated travelers should have a pre-travel test, quarantine for seven days, have a post-travel test, and then monitor for symptoms between 7 and 14 days, the agency recommends.

Southwest Airlines is finally catching up with its competitors in offering passengers to Hawaii a pre-departure process for verifying their COVID testing status and other data required by the island state. By pre-clearing these requirements at the departure airport, passengers can avoid standing in line after arrival in Hawaii for the same purpose. Customers who have uploaded an approved negative COVID-19 test result, required travel information, and completed a health questionnaire before departing the mainland may be eligible to bypass airport screening when arriving in Honolulu (Oahu) and Kahului (Maui), Southwest said. Those are the components of the states Hawaii Safe Travels program, which allows compliant visitors to avoid a 10-day quarantine after arrival.

The airline said its customer service agents will be available starting 90 minutes before departure to verify that passengers have completed all the required steps; the pre-clear program is available at all of Southwests airports with Hawaii flights, including San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and Long Beach. The carrier currently operates 14 flights a day to the islands from those five airports and plans to revive flights from Oakland and San Jose to Lihue, Kauai on June 6. The airline has a web page at Southwest.com/coronavirus/Hawaii with details on the states requirements and pre-departure COVID testing options.

Delta has continued to keep middle seats empty long after its rivals gave up on that small social-distancing promise, citing customer surveys that showed a strong preference for the practice. But even Delta couldnt keep flying all those empty seats forever, so the airline said last week that it will discontinue the practice effective May 1. Consumer behavior and vaccination rates have been the baseline for Deltas decision to remove or extend the block throughout the pandemic, Delta said, noting that it now feels confident in ending the empty-middle-seat policy because almost 65% of customers who flew on Delta in 2019 now expect to have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by May 1.

As millions of consumers canceled their flight bookings last year in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, major U.S. airlines created some controversy by asking their customers to accept a credit good for future travel instead of an outright refund. Those credits were mostly due to expire at the end of March 2021, putting customers in a use-it-or-lose-it position. However, that deadline has crumbled as carriers are granting extensions into next year. Southwest decided last year it would extend to Sept. 7, 2022 any travel credits that were due to expire between March 1- Sept. 7 of this year. United and American are now giving customers until March 31 of 2022 to book a flight using credit from a canceled trip. And Delta, which last year extended through the end of 2022 the value of tickets bought before April 17, 2020, is now offering the same extension to all tickets purchased in 2021 or due to expire in 2021.

Although major airlines have largely eliminated fees for changing or canceling flights for the indefinite future, that general policy didnt apply to basic economy fares  the cheapest ones available. Carriers had set an April 1 termination for their waivers of basic economy change fees, but that deadline got some revisions last week. Delta, United, Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines have now extended their change fee waiver for basic economy to tickets purchased through the end of April. At this writing, JetBlue just did the same for its Basic Blue tickets bought through May 31, but American had not revised its policy, making its basic economy tickets now non-changeable and non-refundable.

In other news last week, Delta unveiled new benefits for members of its SkyMiles loyalty program  especially frequent flyers who aspire to Medallion elite status. The airline said that for the rest of this year, members can earn up to 75% more credit toward Medallion status on almost every flight, including award travel (whether bought with miles or Miles + Cash). In general, the airline said, All SkyMiles members will earn at least 50% more on Delta tickets, plus another 25% on all premium fare tickets and on upgrades bought after the ticket purchase, whether with cash or miles. All bonuses will be automatically credited to the members account.

In other frequent flyer news, effective April 5, elite-level members of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program and Americans AAdvantage will be able to take advantage of reciprocal upgrade privileges. Alaskas MVP, MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K members will be able to upgrade to extra-legroom Main Cabin Extra seats on AA flights, while MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K members will also be eligible for upgrades to first class. AAdvantage Gold, Platinum, Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum members will be able to upgrade to Alaskas Premium Class seats, and Executive Platinums are also eligible for first class upgrades on Alaska flights.

Speaking of airline loyalty programs, a company called Wallethub has issued its latest annual study of them and concluded that the best one in the country for 2021 is Uniteds MileagePlus. Deltas SkyMiles, which had occupied the top spot in the study for the past five years, fell to third place, with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan in second place. The company evaluated the frequent flyer plans of the nations 10 largest carriers, using 21 different metrics ranging from the value of a rewards point or mile to blackout-date policies. Although Delta ranked third overall this year, it was number one in having the most additional features for program members, Wallethub.com said.

And the study showed how airlines have been trying to hang onto their best customers during the pandemic by offering new loyalty plan incentives: Five of the 10 largest airlines are offering more rewards value in 2021 than in 2020, sweetening the pot by an average of 30%, the study found. Wallethub.com also offers an online calculator that individuals can use to determine the best loyalty program for them based on how much they spend annually on airline travel.

Spirit Airlines has unveiled plans for a service expansion at Los Angeles International with new domestic and international routes. The airline said it will begin new daily flights from LAX to Los Cabos starting May 5 and to Puerto Vallarta beginning July 1. In addition to its recently announced Saturday-only flights from LAX to New York LaGuardia starting June 12, Spirit said it will introduce daily service from LAX to St. Louis and Louisville May 27, to Columbus June 9 and to Milwaukee June 24. The flights from LAX to Milwaukee, Columbus and Louisville will be the only non-stops in those markets, Spirit said.

Until last week, JetBlues planned new transatlantic service to London from New York JFK and Boston looked like it would have to fly into Gatwick Airport or the more remote Stansted Airport, but last week JetBlue learned it could have access to London Heathrow. U.K. airport officials said JetBlue could use 270 landing and takeoff slots at LHR from Aug. 2 through the end of the summer season in October, starting with 14 a week, but JetBlue said it is still deciding which of the three London airports it will use and what its London schedule will look like. JetBlue recently unveiled a redesign for the Airbus A321LRs it will use across the Atlantic, including an improved Mint premium cabin with more generous lie-flat seats and even a couple of privacy suites. JetBlue has promised that it will attract business travelers to the busy London routes by offering much lower fares than its competitors for the premium front cabin.

In other international route developments, American Airlines last week launched new service between Seattle and London Heathrow as part of its growing partnership with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines. The new route took off just as Alaska become a full member of Americans global Oneworld alliance. American will share the SEA-LHR route with its transatlantic joint venture partner British Airways. Dubai-based Emirates said it will resume its Dubai-Milan-New York JFK route on June 1; that route has so-called Fifth Freedom rights, which means travelers can take only the JFK-Milan segment if they want. And Korean Air said its upcoming merger with rival Asiana will be delayed by legal and other complications, pushing it back from 2022 to 2024.

Jim Glab is a freelance travel writer.
Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer, still luminous at 62) doesnt have a filter and lives in a world where bitterness and money can be best friends all the time. If you invited her to a party with good intentions, she would say something to hurt your feelings inside 60 seconds. But somehow, her loyal son, Malcolm (Lucas Hedges), forgives her for all the bumpy faults  even though Frances keeps the mysterious circumstances of his fathers (Tracy Letts) death guarded from him. A troubled kid who bypassed the end of innocence at an early age for early onset alcoholism, hes an adult lost in a world that is much harsher outside his mothers realm.

Often feeling a relentless need to break other people down, she is woefully ignorant about her lavish lifestyle and finds her rich inheritance now depleted. When told by her accountant that she is broke, Frances agrees to illegally sell all her pricey belongings for a bag of cash. Imagine giving someone the house and everything in it for a leather bag of Franklins  and moving to Paris.

French Exit, directed by Jewish director Azazel Jacobs and adapted by Patrick DeWitts book (by the author himself), explores the final days of Frances, who flirts with the idea of taking her own life when she is not mercilessly insulting and judging everyone around her. The audience doesnt get to know her too well until the films second act, which sees mother and son seek pity at a friends apartment. All the while, young Malcolm seeks romance in his own life with Susan (Imogen Potts), but cant break away from bitter old Frances.

Heres the thing: You will spend most of this 112 minute film trying to find a way to like Pfeiffers irrefutable old queen and come up empty in the end. Played to the hilt and back by the actress, the movie gets weird halfway through and its not even funny. The humor here is a Wes Anderson steak cooked so dry that the flavor just disappears from the jokes once they leave the screen.

It is a thrill to see the actress at the top of her game after a period away from cinema. Frances is a role center-cut for someone who knows how to load up a line of dialogue like a dealer would a deck of cards on a table full of millions. The only worth in seeing this film to the end is wondering if her venomous widow will actually go through with it. Pfeiffer keeps you invested somehow.

Hedges, one of the movies brightest young stars, has literally nothing to do here yet look perplexed  like a lost puppy overworking the pout muscle. Hes not miscast here; the versatile actor just doesnt do much with the material given. If he had, the movie would have been a lot different. Maybe not.

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After all, this is DeWitts world, where the eccentricity and overall quirkiness is cranked up to a 12 for the entire film. That can eat some actors up and it can alienate an audience without the right tone. French Exit suffers a disconnect with its audience, and the tedious pacing is among the worst I have seen over at least five years. I wanted to get out of my couch car and help push this car down the road to a nearby gas station. Change the oil, air up the tires, and splash some paint on there maybe. Not too much though.

Jacobs film already has a lot of colorful characters, like a Robert Altman movie cued up on a Woody Allen set, which would crack the nuance levels in half. I didnt find this particular world inviting, even if Jacobs is a thoughtful director who likes to pull from his own childhood life  one that included not a sense of morality. The son of a director, he may know a life of leisure to be an often unpleasant one-or he just wanted to flip the coin on its other side. Maybe next time he captures it more clearly and finds a way to build that bridge to more viewers.

This all comes off as a please care about the rich and their feelings, even if they wasted all their money on nothing party. I was invited but didnt care for the evening.

Michelle Pfeiffer makes this one passablebarely. She holds your attention until the end, keeping it from Rottenville.

French Exit opened in theaters Friday in St. Louis, including the Hi-Pointe and Landmark Plaza Frontenac.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 10:43:40|Editor: huaxia

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NANJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Eleven have been confirmed dead and multiple injured after a truck collided with a passenger bus on the Shenyang-Haikou expressway in east China's Jiangsu Province early Sunday morning.

The accident happened at around 1 a.m. Sunday, as the truck crossed the fence along the middle of the road and crashed into the passenger bus, causing the latter to overturn as well as the rear-end collision of another two trucks in line.

The injured have been sent to hospital and the exact number is to be confirmed.

Preliminary investigation shows that the passenger bus was shuttling between Shanghai and Guanyun County, the city of Lianyungang, Jiangsu. When the accident occurred, the truck was not overloaded and further investigation is underway. Enditem
The Future is keyless thanks to the Igloohome Smart Padlock By Mahesh De Andrado View(s): View(s):

Padlocks are a tried and tested method of keeping something safe. Be it a postbox, a safe or even a cargo container, a padlock will in most cases, protect your belongings from theft. But somewhere along the line, someone had an idea to make a padlock more intelligent. Thus, we have the Igloohome Smart Padlock.

If youre not familiar with Igloohome, they are a company based in Singapore, that manufactures and provides smart locks and infrastructure for both home and industrial use. Founded by Anthony Chow and Kelvin Ho, the companys products are sold in over 100 countries globally. The reasoning for the duo to create a lineup of Smartlocks is due to the popularity of AirBnB.

When Kelvin and I started the company, we simply wanted to offer a solution for Airbnb hosts who were inconvenienced by key handovers at awkward hours. As rental hosts ourselves then, we thought life could be made easier if access was never an issue. We wanted to unlock freedom for people to make the most out of every moment, shares Anthony on the igloohome website. With these words in mind, I was ready to see what the igloohome Smart Padlock had to offer.

Time to throw away your keys

I held the padlock in my hand, and my first thought was wow this thing is heavy!. My second thought was to not drop it on my toe or my phone. The padlock weighs in at 450g and has a matte black body. The device itself is made up of industrial Most of the body is taken up by a number pad (1-0), a Back key and an Unlock key. An indicator light on top of the number pad lights up to show if the padlock is locked or not. Enter the correct key, and the padlock beeps and the indicator flashes green. Enter an incorrect key and the padlock beeps with a red indicator light.

But wait, theres more

If you thought that this padlock is just a fancy padlock with a number pad on it, youre missing a lot more in the picture. The padlock also has built in Bluetooth to pair with your smartphone or tablet via the igloohome app. Once the padlock is paired to the app, you can also use the app to unlock the padlock without having to enter the code via the number pad. Depending on how much of a hurry youre in, you can decide between loading the app to unlock the padlock or keying in the code.

The setting up of the app includes creating an account with igloohome, connecting the app to your smart padlock, checking for any firmware updates, setting an initial PIN code and finalizing the setup. The app can also be locked for additional security via a PIN or biometric authentication (aka your fingerprint). Once set up, the app is quite straightforward to use, a large padlock icon sits on the homescreen of the app. Pressing the padlock loads a small animation and the padlock is unlocked in a few seconds. Once unlocked, the status of the padlock on the app changes to show that the padlock is unlocked. It would have been cool if the app could also lock the padlock in the same manner, but unfortunately, it doesnt work that way.

The Access tab allows you control access to all your igloohome devices, in my case, the Smart Padlock. As such, the Master PIN of the padlock can be changed from the existing one, if the combination doesnt work for you. If you want to keep track of who/when the padlock was unlocked, you can do that via the Logs tab.

You might think that because the igloohome smart padlock lacks Wi-Fi connectivity, its functionality would be hampered. But that is not the case. Igloohome claims that because their devices work offline, they offer greater security and reliability. If you need to let someone access your smart padlocked space, you can do so by sending them a One Time Password (OTP). This also ensures that once the password is used, it cannot be used again to unlock the smart padlock. In case youre wondering how the OTP is generated, its all in the app. Once the smart padlock is paired to your igloohome account, your smartphone will sync the unique PIN token to igloohomes secure servers (no information is stored locally).

From there, igloohomes proprietary algorithms come into play, generating unique PIN codes that have a specific validity duration. If the duration exceeds the limit, the code will not be accepted. Once generated, the PIN can be shared via Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger or SMS. What I found really helpful in all this is that the guest user doesnt need to download any app or fill out any details. They get the pin, then enter the pin, and thats all there is to it.

The padlock runs off a CR2 Lithium Battery that will last upto one year. In case you are unfortunate and the padlock runs out of juice faster, you can hook up a 9V Alkaline Battery as emergency power.

Priced at LRK 28,000, the igloohomes Smart Padlock is not exactly cheap. But it has a lot of things going for it. Its IP66 rated, and made up of Zinc, stainless steel and hardened steel. It should be noted that the igloohome smart padlock is not suitable for heat sensitive environments.

If youre looking for a way to step up your security with a versatile solution, you can give the igloohome Smart Padlock a shot. Its available at Digital Ear (Pvt) Ltd and you can visit their showroom at No. 21, Josephs Lane, Colombo 04.
Recently, the Gazette published a column where the author shared his analysis on policing, specifically bringing forward his desire to have Co
Afghan Interior Minister Masoud Andarabi speaks during an interview to the Associated Press at the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul, Afghanistan. He warned the U.S. against withdrawing troops, predicting a withdrawal would yield quick territorial gains to the Taliban.
(Newser)  About a decade ago, the province of Ontario, Canada, set up a monitoring system to prevent bogus opioid prescriptions, a system designed to flag shady doctors or pharmacists. "But what happens when a bad doctor meets a bad pharmacist?" writes Brett Popplewell in Toronto Life. "The system wasnt prepared for a scenario where the two collaborate to pump narcotics onto the street." And thus begins the story of Dr. George Otto, a Ugandan immigrant and a once-respected family physician in Toronto, where he lived a plush lifestyle with his wife and four children. As the story details, one way Otto funded that lifestyle was by writing bogus prescriptions for fentanyl in a scheme that netted him about $9,000 a week. He teamed with pharmacist Shereen El-Azrak in a lucrative plot that sounds like a Hollywood script.

story continues below

The pair enlisted the help of low-level drug dealers Liridon Imerovik and Sean Holmes. Imerovik would supply real names that Otto would use to write scripts for fentanyl patches, explains Popplewell. El-Azrak would fill the prescriptions, and Imerovik would then pass the drugs on to Holmes in exchange for cash. The patches' labels would be pulled off to erase the path back to Otto and El-Azrak, and Holmes would ferry the drugs to a local barber who sold them for about $350 a patch. Things began to unravel in 2015, when Imerovik got pulled over with patches, cash, and prescriptions receipts. Otto and El-Azrak were eventually convicted of trafficking (both are appealing) and sentenced to 12 and 13 years, respectively. (Read the full story, which fits the scheme into the wider opioid epidemic.)
By Park Jin





With President Moon Jae-in having less than a year left in office, Korea is faced with mounting challenges in the areas of diplomacy, security and economy.



The external challenges include discord in its alliance with the U.S., stagnating relations with Japan and the suspended trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. On the security front, the Moon administration has dogmatically pursued its "Peace Process on the Korean Peninsula."



Nevertheless, inter-Korean relations have only regressed and North Korea's nuclear and missile threats have been noticeably augmented. In the economic area, Korea has been increasingly caught between the U.S. and China in the global competition to obtain semiconductors, electric batteries and rare-earth materials as well as in the contest for superiority in artificial intelligence and 5G technologies.



In the meantime, the Quad, a quadrilateral consultative body made up of four democratic nations active in the Indo-Pacific region  the U.S., Japan, Australia and India  has been formed and upgraded. For the reasons of democracy, peace and prosperity, Korea should revitalize its estranged alliance with the U.S. and join the Quad to meet the challenges.



The Biden administration has prioritized alliances and multilateralism instead of Trump's "America first" approach. The first virtual Quad summit held in Tokyo on March 12 was a major step heralding this renewed U.S. foreign policy. The four Quad countries have created an informal coalition of democracies to establish a new regional order in the Indo-Pacific.



At the heart of the Quad is the "free and open Indo-Pacific" strategy to uphold democratic values and repudiate coercion. The rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, the peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values and territorial integrity are the key components of the proposed "Quad spirit." These are essential requirements for the national interests of South Korea.



The problem is that Korea is being alienated from these multilateral initiatives to reshape the regional order. Korea was initially regarded as a potential candidate to join the "Quad Plus" together with Vietnam and New Zealand. But this idea has not yet transpired due to the Moon government's apparent reservations.



The Moon administration has shown reluctance to joining the Quad, putting "transparency, openness and inclusiveness" as conditions. The fact that the Quad concept was originally contemplated by Japan and Korea's concerns about antagonizing China explain its reticence.



There are three compelling reasons for Korea's participation in the Quad coalition.



First, Korea should reinvigorate its blood-forged alliance with the U.S. by resolving dissonances and promoting shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights, and rule of law, which also reflect the "Quad spirit."



Key to protecting democracy is freedom and human rights. As a vibrant democracy in Asia, South Korea should advocate freedom of speech and speak out on human rights violations in Asia, such as in Myanmar, in tandem with the Quad nations.



Especially, it should not ignore the inhumane sufferings of the people in North Korea. Human rights are universal values, and North Korea should not be an exception using the excuse of inter-Korean detente. South Korea should also join hands with like-minded democracies to strengthen "democratic resilience" and counter coercive diplomacy in the region.



Second, South Korea should leverage the combined solidarity of the Quad to deal with the security threat on the Korean Peninsula and to effectively respond to regional security issues. The Quad member countries directly or indirectly participated in the Korean War, sacrificing for and contributing to freedom and peace in South Korea.



That very freedom and peace is now being seriously jeopardized by North Korea's nuclear proliferation. Denuclearizing the North requires a robust ROK-U.S. alliance and support from a regional multilateral cooperation framework.



The Quad has reaffirmed its commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea. South Korea also needs to protect strategic supplies, such as energy resources and rare materials, coming to Korea under the freedom of navigation.



The South China Sea is a vital strategic area for South Korea, as 30 percent to 40 percent of Korean exports and 90 percent of Korean energy imports flow through this crucial maritime zone. Escalation of military tension in the area will adversely impact its economy.



Third, South Korea should explore and expand new economic opportunities for the future in addition to producing semiconductors and electric batteries. The combined GDP of the four Quad economies amounts to $31 trillion, accounting for 35 percent of the global GDP.



South Korea's trade dependence on the Quad is around 25 percent, equivalent to that of China. The four Quad nations are, much like Korea, highly reliant on trade with China. Thus, the argument that Korea's high dependence on trade with China makes joining the Quad an impediment to its partnership with China is invalid.



South Korea and the U.S. have increased their mutual trade and investments through the successful ROK-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. Korea has also signed FTAs with Australia and India, and expects to enter indirect free trade relations with Japan through the recently signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). By facilitating regional trade, investments and services, the Quad will greatly contribute to economic growth and prosperity in the region.



Seoul should widen and deepen its cooperation with the Quad nations to develop core technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, clean energy, bio-health and cybersecurity. Collaboration for coronavirus vaccine production and equitable access and collective efforts to combat climate change are also important.



South Korea is a dynamic economic powerhouse located in the geopolitical pivot of Northeast Asia. The strategic choice that Korea makes between the U.S. and China will significantly affect the political, economic and security environment of the Indo-Pacific region. Korea joining the Quad is only common sense and an inevitable course of history.



It is only natural for a state that has shared values of liberal democracy and rule of law to join the Quad and make a "Penta," a group of five. Korea should not retract into being an outlier but take a leading role in the formulation of a new democratic order in the region.





Park Jin (parkjin916@naver.com) is a lawmaker of the opposition People Power Party. He chairs the party's special committee on diplomacy and security and previously served as president of the Korea-America Association. The views expressed in the above article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.
Many whale-hunting vessels have hit the waters from ports in Japan as the controversial whaling season begins. The target is to catch 120 minke whales as per an RT report.

4 ships are already on their way and another one is expected to join them soon.

AFP

The whaling season was relaunched after a ban and the minke whales are on the hunters' radar. Around 25,000 are estimated to be living in the Northwest Pacific Ocean.

Japan has previously pulled out of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), a body dedicated to the conservation of these mammals. This happened in 2019.

Getty

Now, the hunting season begins and these majestic beasts are once again in danger.




Twitter recently exploded with reactions from several netizens on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's preference to call the Easter weekend a "long weekend." Several netizens have posted their feelings on Trudeau's tweet that read Its the start of a long weekend, and I know that means youd normally be getting together with your entire family for a few days of fun. But with the number of COVID-19 cases rising across the country, were all going to have to do things differently again this year.

Its the start of a long weekend, and I know that means youd normally be getting together with your entire family for a few days of fun. But with the number of COVID-19 cases rising across the country, were all going to have to do things differently again this year.  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) April 2, 2021



It was a holiday message that Trudeau had intended to convey via his tweet, making people aware of the ongoing pandemic and the cases that are rising in Canada. However, he failed to connect with the sentiments of people in Canada as people called his expression of wishing a happy easter "a public health advisory."

Here's what the community has to say

Twitter is flooded with reactions that slammed the Canadian PM for his insensitive words on the eve of Easter. A Twitterati allegedly accused Trudeau of being "anti-Christian" as he tweeted "You may think its Easter. Justin Trudeau calls it a long weekend. Theres no holiday for other religions too obscure for him to mention by name. But hes always had an anti-Christian streak. Like his father."

You may think its Easter. Justin Trudeau calls it a long weekend. Theres no holiday for other religions too obscure for him to mention by name. But hes always had an anti-Christian streak. Like his father. https://t.co/MqSTJ8Pcqd  Ezra Levant  (@ezralevant) April 3, 2021



Another user slammed the 'wokeness' of Trudeau and wrote This is Easter, you preening woke. Acknowledge it for its religious meaning, as you do for all other religions. Or perhaps Christians do not deserve the same treatment?

This is Easter, you preening woke. Aknowledge it for its religious meaning, as you do for all other religions. Or perhaps Christians do not deserve the same treatment?  Richard Deschambault (@Captrjd) April 2, 2021



Trudeau was also accused of not being enough 'inclusive' as another Twiterrati, an entrepreneur wrote Thanks. For me, its about inclusion. Trudeau doesnt post messages about Christian holidays even though he posts about many others. And I think its okay to call it what it is  Easter. Thats appropriate, too.

Thanks. For me its about inclusion. Trudeau doesnt post messages about Christian holidays even though he posts about many others. And I think its okay to call it what it is  Easter. Thats appropriate, too.  Steve Kent (@stephenkent) April 3, 2021



One tweet where Trudeau wished Muslims on the eve of Ramazan festival also went viral on the social media platform for the screenshot attached with the tweet.

Trudeau's message for Ramadan vs Trudeau's message for Good Friday. pic.twitter.com/42uPpaRbSL  Dr. REIMERholics (@REIMERholics) April 2, 2021




SHIAWASSEE COUNTY - A man has launched a campaign to raise awareness, defend his neighbors property rights and prevent the construction of a possible new solar farm situated between Lennon and New Lothrop.

With work underway on one project, Ranger Power has taken interest in expanding its solar farms, exploring new areas north of the current construction site in Shiawassee County and toward the more populous area of New Lothrop.

I told them, take your great employees and your great company and go away, it aint going to happen here, OK? Rex Wheeler, founder and CEO of Wheeler Trucking, told MLive-The Flint Journal. Im very determined, but Im respectful.

In late 2018, representatives with Ranger Power - a New York based utility-scale solar developer - proposed the construction of a massive 1,800-acre solar farm in Hazelton and Venice Townships in Shiawassee County.

By January 2019, the solar development company met with the Shiawassee County Planning Commission to seek approval of the large-scale solar farm project.

Planning commission members approved the special use permit not long thereafter.

In late 2019, the construction of the $250 million solar project began.

Drew Veilbig, Ranger Powers development manager, said the Assembly Solar is being developed in three phases: Assembly Solar I is the current site being constructed but has been operating since December.

Assembly II and III are slated to begin operating later this year.

Once developed, the Ranger project would generate enough power to supply the energy for more than 35,000 typical homes in Michigan.

McCarthy Building, the company in charge of building the solar farm, hired over 250 local workers  from entry-level laborers to journeyman electricians for the construction of the Assembly Solar Project.

Over 70% of these jobs have been filled locally, Vielbig said.

The Assembly Solar project in Shiawassee County has been a model utility-scale solar project embraced by the local community for creating jobs, new opportunities for landowners, preserving farmland, and generating tax revenue, Vielbig said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal

Nearly five weeks ago, back in February, Vielbig visited Wheeler at his business office to talk to him about signing up his farmland on Easton Road to be a part of a new solar farm.

Wheeler said that Vielbig offered him $1,000 per acre to lease his farmland for a three- year contract while Ranger Power put together a deal with other property owners.

It was a lot of money and Wheeler thought about it, but ultimately refused.

His only response to Vielbig: What about my neighbors?

I mentioned to him that I see that solar farm being developed four miles south of New Lothrop and it looks terrible, Wheeler said. Theyre coming up to the road and wrapping around homes and Im concerned for the home values, Im concerned for my neighbors, Im concerned about what the environment might do from all these.

In an email to MLive-The Flint Journal, Vielbig said private property rights are a pillar to democracy.

Whether you want to put up a new barn, raise pigs or plant corn, landowners can choose to do what they want with their personal private property if it is consistent with local zoning, which includes leasing or selling land to be used as part of a utility-scale solar development, he said.

Wheeler wasnt particularly fond of the approach that was being taken so he began reaching out to the community and neighbors to get their input.

In doing so, he said not too many people knew about the new solar farm project, except the few farm landowners who had already signed up their land.

Theres an overwhelming consent that we dont want no more solar farms around here and we sure dont want the current development to grow any bigger, Wheeler said.

After hearing concerns from his neighbors and community, Wheeler began devoting his time to putting together a campaign to inform and raise awareness to what was happening in his hometown.

We put on a big campaign, Wheeler said, as Thursday, April 1 marked five weeks since he first met with Vielbig.

In less than one months time, Wheeler has put up 2,000 yard signs throughout Shiawassee County, Saginaw County, and Genesee County that read No Solar Farms, complete with his business number.

He has also mounted large-scale billboard signs on the bed of a couple trucks.

Within a week of launching his campaign, Wheeler also filmed a television ad that has now aired on multiple channels.

I think this is a very good thing coming out of this, said Justin Horvath, president and chief executive officer of the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership. People are paying attention to whats going on and understanding how their local government operates.

Horvath has been in discussions with Wheeler to try to figure out what solutions may be present to be able to remedy the situation. He has known Wheeler for almost a decade and knows how much the resident care for his community.

With the solar farm under construction, Horvath said, there was not as much public consternation. Public meetings were held, but Horvath said people did not show up, and so the process for the development of that first solar farm was approved.

Since the conception and development of the first phase to the solar farms, Horvath has noticed a change and difference in the way the community has responded to the proposed second solar farm.

Theres two differences on why this is generating more attention, Horvath said.

Number one is the leadership of Rex bringing it to the communitys attention, getting that engagement from the public. So, theres a lot more people that are involved, engaged, participating, talking.

The second difference, Horvath said, is the area being explored by Ranger Power being pushed a bit further north in the footprint area of New Lothrop, where theres a denser population.

So, I think obviously, any time you have a project like this and theres more people that live around it, thats naturally going to create more consternation, Horvath said.

Vielbig said Ranger Power has met with Wheeler to address his concerns on the solar farm development.

Ranger Power will continue to prioritize engaging community partners and residents about our projects and will make sure everyone in the community is heard, said Vielbig.

Working closely with residents is a key part of Ranger Powers community-first approach toward solar development, Vielbig said.

The company would need local government approvals to proceed with the development of a second solar farm.

No applications have been filed yet with the concerning municipalities as Ranger Power seems to only be in the scouting stage of its second solar farm, Horvath said.

The key takeaway as far as where things stand, as stated by Horvath, Shiawassee Township is looking at possibly crafting their own planning and zoning regulations for solar farms.

The solution to going forward is being open, honest, and transparent among all parties involved, Horvath said, adding communication amongst the community, along with the local government, is critical in finding a solution to the matter.

This is democracy in action, and I have hundreds and hundreds of supporters, Wheeler said.

Read more on MLive:

Michigans largest solar farm under review, could power 35,000 homes

Proposed Shiawassee solar farm would cover 1,200 acres in two townships

Shiawassee solar farm project still has 250 job openings starting at $15 an hour
The Centre asked states and union territories to not carry on fresh registrations of healthcare and frontline workers for COVID-19 vaccination. This decision was taken as some ineligible candidates were getting their names enlisted for coronavirus vaccination in violation of the rules, it said. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in a letter said that registration of candidates over 45 years of age will continue on Co-WIN portal. He also asked states to ensure universal vaccination of already registered healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) at the earliest.

In the letter, Bhushan said that the timeline for completion of vaccination for all in the priority group was fixed at February 25 for HCWs and March 6 for FLWs. He said that a month has passed since the deadlines and even after starting vaccination of the population of over 60 years, provisions were made to register and vaccinate all HCWs and FLWs.

"Various inputs have been received from different sources that in some of the COVID-19 vaccination centres (CVCs), some ineligible beneficiaries are being registered as HCWs and FLWs and are getting vaccinated in complete violation of the prescribed guidelines," Bhushan said. He added that there has been an increase of 24 per cent in the database for HCWs in the past few days.

"This issue was discussed with state representatives and domain knowledge experts in the NEGVAC meeting today, and as per the recommendation of National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC), it has been decided that no fresh registrations in categories of HCWs and FLWs will be allowed with immediate effect. Registrations of persons aged 45 years and above will continue to be permitted on CoWIN portal," he said in the letter.

Rajesh Bhushan said that universal vaccination of already registered HCWs and FLWs should be ensured.

The nationwide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with HCWs. Vaccination of FLWs started from February 2. The second phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified comorbidities. In the latest phase, everyone over 45 years of age can be vaccinated.

Also read: FICCI urges govt to open up vaccination for 18-45 years age group

Also read: COVID-19 phase 3 vaccination begins today for all above 45 years; key points
As restrictions start to ease across countries, Reed Exhibitions events globally are sharing their best practice and experience of running Covid-safe face-to-face and hybrid events, including with Arabian Travel Market (ATM).

ATM will take place in Dubai from May 16-19. Following the physical event, there will be a digital element to cater for those unable to travel, with ATM Virtual (May 24-26).

Reed Exhibitions continues to work closely with local and national governments and public health associations as part of their Global Covid-19 Safety Shows Health and Safety strategy, launched in January 2021.

Focused on: collaboration, risk management, planning, communications and safeguarding measures, the plan keeps pace with the evolving pandemic, operating best practice, emerging research and the global (public) health response, as the industry gradually adapts and reopens for business.

Asia Pacific was the first region to emerge from national restrictions and in China, Reed Huabo Exhibition Co Ltd held its major gifts and houseware fair in Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center in June 2020.

Reed Exhibitions Japan has been able to hold hybrid events since autumn 2020, catering for professionals in sectors such as fashion, gifts, electronics, construction, cars, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, IT, marketing and agriculture.

In September 2020, Lifestyle Week in Tokyo welcomed 16,817 on-site visitors to meet 283 exhibitors from across Japan for two days. The event also offered an exhibitor not-present package in order to engage beyond borders.

In Thailand, Reed Tradexs, machine tools event Metalex in Bangkok was held in November 2020.

In February 2021, Reed Exhibitions Russia held two face-to-face events:

Aquatherm Moscow  the largest exhibition for the household and industrial equipment sectors, welcoming 9,693 industry representatives during the four-day show with 113 participants and the National Aviation Infrastructure Forum and Show NAIS 2021, which hosted 2,933 industry representatives at the physical event and more than 80 exhibitors.

Reed Exhibitions events have also taken place in Turkey, Vietnam, India and Korea and in March 2021, Reed Exhibitions USA ran its first face-to-face event in Miami Beach  the JIS.

Anna Dycheva-Smirnova, CEO of Reed Exhibitions UK, Russia, Turkey, Middle East and India commented: Our commitment to the health and safety of all our customers, visitors and staff remains our number one priority. Our framework to reopen shows safely has meant that we can reopen in markets as soon as restrictions are lifted and our teams around the world are leading the way in producing excellent events that blend face to face with virtual in order to give our audiences the best possible experience."

The feedback from our customers is that face to face events are incredibly important to them and their businesses."

All attendees, whether physical or digital, have been keen to nurture existing business contacts and make fresh connections to put them in the best position for the post-pandemic recovery.

Dycheva-Smirnova continued: Our secure approach demonstrates that we are able to run Covid-19 safe and compliant shows in the countries where we are permitted and that we are fully prepared to do so in other countries as they carefully reopen."

We are committed to providing a stimulating and engaging experience for delegates at ATM as we know how important the show is for the travel trade to look for business connections and discover information about post-pandemic markets, to help prepare for the new normal.

There are more than 400 events in the Reed Exhibitions portfolio, and, despite restrictions caused by Covid-19, the company ran 103 face-to-face events in 2020 and has organised 18 in 2021  to date.

In addition, in 2020 Reed Exhibitions ran 71 online events which helped its customers find new products or suppliers and learn about their industry. - TradeArabia News Service
Right. Rev. Dr. Lt. Col. (RTD) Bliss Divine Agbeko, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, says God's promises still rule supreme in situations of hopelessness.



He, therefore, called on Christians not to be discouraged in such situations but hold fast to the promises of God.



Rt. Rev. Dr. Lt. Col. Agbeko said this in his Easter message released in Ho and copied to the Ghana News Agency.



"As we celebrate Easter joyfully, the resurrection of Jesus Christ should strengthen us," he said.



Rt. Rev. Dr. Agbeko said Jesus Christ had power over life and death and that whosoever had hope in Him had life in abundance.



He said as a nation, the Easter festivities should bring us hope "that we can overcome our problems, no matter the situation."



The Moderator reminded Ghanaians that the "death situation" the country was going through would pass, adding that it was just a matter of time.



He called on Christians to celebrate Easter with hope for a brighter future.



Rt. Rev. Dr. Agbeko said whatever appeared as an impossibility was possible with God.



He stressed that God would revive the nation because, in all adversities, the word of God still stood.



The Moderator said the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was a devastating and fearful experience to remember but his resurrection brought hope to a lost world.



He reminded Ghanaians of the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic and appealed to them to continue to observe all the safety protocols "even as they celebrate the victory Christ won for us."





Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The first-ever Extreme E race has come to an end. Rosberg X Racing's Johan Kristofferson and Molly Taylor (shown above) have won the Desert X Prix in AlUla, Saudi Arabia after fending off the two other teams that made it to the final, second-place Andretti United and the Lewis Hamilton-backed X44. There was a modest amount of drama involved  the Rosberg team faced a minute-long penalty for speeding in the driver switch zone, and the fan-based grid selection put Andretti United in a better starting position.

Other teams had their share of problems before the finals, including crashes for Abt Cupra and Veloce Racing during the qualifiers.

You'll have to wait a while for the next race. The Ocean X Prix is due to take place in Senegal's Lac Rose on May 29th and May 30th.

Extreme E's successful first competition is a big boost to the series after delays and cancelled races threw off its schedule. It's also a major milestone for off-road EV racing. While electric off-roaders have raced before, they haven't had a dedicated league with big-name teams and drivers (such as X44's Sebastien Loeb) before. The biggest challenge now might be to maintain that momentum  like Formula E in its early days, Extreme E still has to prove that it can keep viewers coming back.
In a new study, researchers identify three clinical COVID-19 phenotypes, reflecting patient populations with different comorbidities, complications and clinical outcomes. The three phenotypes are described in a paper published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE 1st authors Elizabeth Lusczek and Nicholas Ingraham of University of Minnesota Medical School, US, and colleagues.

COVID-19 has infected more than 18 million people and led to more than 700,000 deaths around the world. Emergency department presentation varies widely, suggesting that distinct clinical phenotypes exist and, importantly, that these distinct phenotypic presentations may respond differently to treatment.

In the new study, researchers analyzed electronic health records (EHRs) from 14 hospitals in the midwestern United States and from 60 primary care clinics in the state of Minnesota. Data were available for 7,538 patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 between March 7 and August 25, 2020; 1,022 of these patients required hospital admission and were included in the study. Data on each patient included comorbidities, medications, lab values, clinic visits, hospital admission information, and patient demographics.

Most patients included in the study (613 patients, or 60 percent) presented with what the researchers dubbed "phenotype II." 236 patients (23.1 percent) presented with "phenotype I," or the "Adverse phenotype," which was associated with the worst clinical outcomes; these patients had the highest level of hematologic, renal and cardiac comorbidities (all p<0.001) and were more likely to be non-White and non-English speaking. 173 patients (16.9 percent) presented with "phenotype III," or the "Favorable phenotype," which was associated with the best clinical outcomes; surprisingly, despite having the lowest complication rate and mortality, patients in this group had the highest rate of respiratory comorbidities (p=0.002) as well as a 10 percent greater risk of hospital readmission compared to the other phenotypes. Overall, phenotypes I and II were associated with 7.30-fold (95% CI 3.11-17.17, p<0.001) and 2.57-fold (95% CI 1.10-6.00, p=0.03) increases in hazard of death relative to phenotype III.

The authors conclude that phenotype-specific medical care could improve COVID-19 outcomes, and suggest that future research is needed to determine the utility of these findings in clinical practice.

The authors add: "Patients do not suffer from COVID-19 in a uniform matter. By identifying similarly affected groups, we not only improve our understanding of the disease process, but this enables us to precisely target future interventions to the highest risk patients."
Imperial Valley News Center

DeepDotWeb Administrator Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - An Israeli national pleaded guilty Wednesday for his role in operating DeepDotWeb (DDW), a website that connected internet users with Darknet marketplaces, where they purchased illegal firearms, malware and hacking tools, stolen financial data, heroin and fentanyl, and other contraband.

According to court documents, Tal Prihar, 37, an Israeli citizen residing in Brazil, owned and operated DDW along with co-defendant Michael Phan, 34, of Israel, beginning in October 2013. In addition to providing general information about the Darknet, DDW provided users with direct links to illegal Darknet marketplaces, which are not accessible through traditional search engines. For providing these links, Prihar and Phan received kickback payments from the marketplaces in the form of virtual currency, including approximately 8,155 bitcoins (worth approximately $8.4 million based on the bitcoin trading value at the time of the transactions). To conceal the nature and source of these illegal kickback payments, Prihar transferred the payments from his DDW bitcoin wallet to other bitcoin accounts and to bank accounts he controlled in the names of shell companies. DDW was seized by federal authorities in April 2019, and Prihar has agreed to forfeit $8,414,173.

Tal Prihar served as a broker for illegal Darknet marketplaces  helping such marketplaces find customers for fentanyl, firearms, and other dangerous contraband  and profited from the illegal business that ensued, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. This prosecution, seizure of the broker website, and forfeiture send a clear message that we are not only prosecuting the administrators of Darknet marketplaces offering illegal goods and services, but we will also bring to justice those that aim to facilitate and profit from them.

Tal Prihar today acknowledged his leadership role in operating a web site that served as a gateway to numerous dark web marketplaces selling fentanyl, heroin, firearms, hacking tools and other illegal goods, said Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Prihar and his codefendant extracted a fee from each customer routed to these illegal sites, profiting in the millions of dollars.

For six years, DeepDotWeb was a gateway to facilitate the illegal purchase of items to include dangerous drugs, weapons, and malicious software, said Acting Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples of the FBIs Pittsburgh Field Office. Prihar profited as a byproduct from other peoples dangerous transactions and todays guilty plea sends a message to other cyber actors across the globe who think the dark web is a safe haven. The FBI works with our local, state, federal and international partners regularly to dismantle illicit websites and go after those responsible for them.

Prihar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 2, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBIs Pittsburgh Field Office is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania and Trial Attorneys C. Alden Pelker of the Criminal Divisions Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Alexander Gottfried of the Criminal Divisions Organized Crime and Gang Section are prosecuting the case.

The department thanks the French authorities as well as its law enforcement colleagues at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS, Brazilian Federal Police Cyber Division, Israeli National Police, Dutch National Police, Europol Darkweb Team, Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany, and National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom. Significant assistance was provided by the Justice Departments Office of International Affairs.

This case was brought in conjunction with the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) Team. Established within the FBIs Hi-Tech Organized Crime Unit, J-CODE is a U.S. Government initiative announced in January 2018, aimed at targeting drug trafficking, especially fentanyl and other opioids, on the Darknet. The J-CODE team brings together agents, analysts and professional staff with expertise in drugs, gangs, health care fraud and more. J-CODE entities, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations, Department of Defense, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and Department of Justice focus on disrupting the sale of drugs via the Darknet and dismantling criminal enterprises that facilitate this trafficking.

This prosecution also is a result of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities throughout the United States. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
The Gulkana airport is seen sketched here with Mount Sanford in the background. In 1948 a Northwest Airlines plane, on a flight from Shanghai to New York City, crashed on the mountain, killing all aboard. From descriptions of the crash site, I think it is located near the top of the steeply-walled glacial cirque (in shadows) just to the left of the peak.
People in Dhaka, Bangladesh, rushed to markets after a week-long lockdown was announced amid a surge in the COVID-19 cases. The Bangladesh government decided to impose a week-long nationwide lockdown from Monday as COVID-19 cases and deaths surged across the country. Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader made the announcement at a media briefing in Dhaka on Saturday, April 3.

According to the reports by ANI, Kabir Hossain, a resident of Banasree told UNB, As the lockdown is going to begin again due to coronavirus so the prices of essential commodities can go up in the market so I purchased several items today.

As per the Dhaka Tribune, the price of coarse increased by 2.20 per cent compared to a week. Also, a five-litre bottled soybean rose by 0.79 per cent. The data said, The prices of each kg anchor pulses increased by 8.43 per cent, flour by 4.29 per cent, potato by 5.88 per cent, garlic by 9.09 per cent and local ginger by 17.65 per cent.

PM Modi 'won hearts and minds'

In another significant development, Bangladeshs foreign minister AK Abdul Momen said that PM Modi, with timely delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, has won the hearts and minds of Bangladeshi residents. His remarks came hours after the Indian leader addressed a crowd in Dhaka commemorating the countrys 50th Independence day from Pakistan. Earlier in January, India had supplied over two million doses of Covishield vaccines to Bangladesh under its Vaccine Maitri programme.

Furthermore, Momen revealed that apart from the already supplied jabs, PM Modi had offered 1.2 million additional doses of coronavirus vaccines as a gesture of goodwill to the country which has been accepted. The Bangladeshi leader revealed that the country had also inked a deal with India for 30 million doses of the vaccine. As a part of the contract, Bangladesh will now buy five million shots every month.

(Image Credits: ANI, representative image)
Asenior figure in the Health Service Executive said an analysis of the vaccine roll-out to health workers will be conducted, following weeks of controversy over some staff being vaccinated out of turn.

Speaking to the Sunday Independent this weekend, Dr Colm Henry, the chief clinical officer of the HSE, said: "Of course we will analyse each phase of the roll-out as we go along and apply the learning to the next phases and cohorts. In any exercise like this where we must work at speed and pace, learning is essential as we proceed."

The past month has proved one of the most testing times for the HSE's vaccination programme, which is already under pressure from a volatile supply chain.

The vaccine was rolled out on December 29, three days after the country's first delivery. As the Covid-19 cases surged in January, nursing home owners complained about slow delivery as outbreaks multiplied across care settings.

Perhaps the most potentially damaging controversies around the vaccine roll-out emerged in the last fortnight, just as mass inoculations are due to start later this month.

Reports of backroom staff, administration staff and others in non-patient-facing roles getting vaccinated ahead of those in medically vulnerable cohorts, multiplied across several media outlets.

Expand Close Master of the Coombe, Professor Michael OConnell / Facebook

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Last weekend, the controversy over the Beacon private hospital dominated. The chief executive, Michael Cullen, was revealed by the Irish Daily Mail to have offered surplus vaccines to teachers at his children's private school 13km away, St Gerard's in Bray.

On Thursday, a report on the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital revealed that vaccines were administered out of turn to 16 family members of eight of the hospital's staff. Not only that, but one consultant took doses out of the hospital to vaccinate family members at home.

Those vaccinated included two children of the Master of the Coombe, Professor Michael O'Connell.

Both the Beacon and the Coombe hospitals have apologised. The report on the Coombe, a voluntary hospital, is being considered by the Health Minister.

Expand Close Michael Cullen, CEO of the Beacon Hospital / Facebook

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Whatsapp Michael Cullen, CEO of the Beacon Hospital

It is also expected to be reviewed by the Medical Council, which is the regulator for the medical profession. One senior obstetrician colleague, Professor Chris Fitzpatrick, has already said Professor O'Connell should resign.

The Government has meanwhile heaped pressure on the board of the privately owned Beacon hospital to deal with Michael Cullen, who is also a director and shareholder. The board last week appointed a top lawyer, Eugene McCague, to carry out an independent review. Paul Reid, the chief executive of the HSE, said last week that such cases were in a minority and he also suggested the HSE monitor and audit the administration of vaccines. The HSE has been unable to disclose to this newspaper and others how many suspected or reported cases there have been of the vaccine being administered to people out of turn.

Outside of the high-profile hospital cases, both brought to light by the media, the HSE in the north west confirmed this weekend that an investigation "is under way" into the case of a staff member with the National Ambulance Service who administered the vaccine to "an immediate family member".

The incident took place in February at St Conal's Campus in Letterkenny when surplus vaccines were left over at the end of a clinic for frontline workers.

Meanwhile, more than 230,000 health care workers have been vaccinated in the second phase of the vaccine roll-out. The health service directly or indirectly employs over 100,000 of those workers and there are many private facilities. But questions have been raised as to whether there can be that many frontline health care workers in the State.

Dr Colm Henry said the numbers vaccinated in the second cohort of frontline healthcare workers seemed "high".

"That number does seem very big and there have been reports and instances of people being vaccinated out of sequence and people being done who are not frontline workers and that is wrong, that shouldn't have happened," he said. Dr Henry said the issues uncovered at the Beacon and the Coombe "annoyed the hell out of him". He said it was one thing giving surplus vaccines to people working in the backrooms of hospitals, but what happened there could not be excused.

The HSE is launching an investigation into the Beacon hospital in the coming week. The terms of reference are being finalised and an agreement will have to be reached with the Beacon hospital to allow staff to be interviewed.

The inquiry is expected to be led by a retired investigator, who has headed numerous significant serious incident investigations for the HSE. The report on the Coombe hospital is currently being examined by the Health Minister.

The HSE gave guidance to vaccination centres on how to allocate surplus vaccines, Dr Henry said.

"In a general sense, the great majority of vaccinators, of clinical leaders, of people, know the right thing to do when they come to the end of a vial," he said.

Last week, the Government announced a sudden change in vaccination policy, with inoculation allocated on the basis that age is the defining factor in Covid-19 disease.

A new registration portal is expected to come on stream later this month and although revised downwards from the expected one million, more than 800,000 doses of vaccine are due to be delivered this month. So far, Ireland has vaccinated 15.6pc of the adult population, with 800,000 people having received at least one dose up to March 28.

"I have no doubt there were some instances where healthcare workers who could not have been seen as frontline had vaccinations," Dr Henry said, but added it was important to remember the context from which the programme emerged.

"We were launching a vaccination programme in the middle of the worst surge of the pandemic and clearly we wanted to get the vaccination as quickly as possible because of the huge threat that the pandemic presented to patients, staff and services."
Jaimie Gardner unfortunately didn't find love on Married At First Sight Australia with TV 'husband' Chris Jensen.

And now the newly-single bride, 35, has decided to offload the $16,200 diamond ring FIFO worker Chris, 32, presented to her on Nine's controversial experiment.

Senior brand manager Jaimie shared a picture of the exquisite diamond ring on Saturday and told fans to keep an out for its listing in the coming weeks.

Need a ring? Married At First Sight's Jaimie Gardner, 35, [L] has announced she is planning on selling the $16,200 wedding ring 'husband' Chris Jensen [R] gave her on the show

She wrote: 'I have some pretty exciting news next week for all the ladies that wished Chris put this ring on their finger!'

The Pavection Duet diamond wedding band is an exclusive piece designed by Brisbane based Robert Bellamy.

It features D to F colour, internally flawless diamonds which are set in Robert Bellamy's signature, hand cut, fishtail setting.

This ring is the only one of its kind with the fishtail setting on the top of the band, and a row of diamonds featured on both sides of the ring - and is valued at $16,200.

For sale: Sharing a close up photo of her diamond ring to Instagram, Jaimie told fans to keep an eye out for the listing in the coming weeks

It comes as the newly-single Sydney socialite took to Instagram to share a sultry mirror selfie before heading out for night out with a bevy of reality stars.

'Babysitting done. Aunty J is going out,' she wrote.

In the photo, Jaimie is seen donning a full-face of makeup and, a black floral print mini dress and platform heels while on the floor of her bedroom.

Single life: It comes as the newly-single Sydney socialite took to Instagram to share a sultry mirror selfie before heading out for night out with a bevy of reality stars

Remember us? Jaimie later shared a photo of her posing alongside Bachelorette stars Pascal Wallace [L] and Sam Vescio [R], who also both failed to find love on TV

Jaimie later shared a photo of her posing alongside Bachelorette stars Pascal Wallace and Sam Vescio, who also both failed to find love on TV.

The pair were seen smirking while holding onto Jaimie's wedding ring.

Jaimie's announcement comes at no surprise, following the news fellow bride Beth Moore listed her Shona Joy La Lune wedding frock in the group Perth Buy And Sell Western Australia, asking for just $300.
Meghan McCain is one of the personalities on The View that take on Hot Topics every morning on ABC. The Republican pundit is generally surrounded by controversy as the only conservative voice on the panel. McCain has expressed the negativity has affected her state of mind, especially when she reads comments on Twitter. She recently confirmed she would be going offline until the show returns from its hiatus.

Meghan McCain | Lou Rocco/ABC via Getty Images

Meghan McCain apologizes for defending Donald Trump

One of the major controversies McCain was involved in during the past few weeks involved Donald Trump. Although McCain said she didnt support Trump for reelection, she often expressed her sensibility to the party that nominated him as a candidate. Despite Trumps rhetoric that was deemed racist, McCain defended his ideas and it all came back to bite her in her behind.

Following the horrible mass shootings in Atlanta where Asian Americans were seemingly the target, the #StopAsianHate hashtag was widely circulated. McCain was one of many celebrities that stood behind the cause. However, fans of The View remembered that exactly a year before she tweeted that, she was sympathizing with Trump.

When the coronavirus outbreak hit the United States, Trump tried to shift blame for his unpreparedness. He labeled COVID-19 the China virus, which at the same time saw an uptick in crimes against Asian Americans. McCain defended Trumps term for the virus and assured everyone thats how he was going to win reelection.

I think if the left wants to focus on PC labeling this virus, it is a great way to get Trump reelected, McCain said back on March 18, 2020. I dont have a problem with people calling it whatever they want. It is a deadly virus that did originate in Wuhan.

RELATED: The View: Meghan McCain Fires Back at John Oliver Indirectly After Getting Slammed by HBO Host

Whoopi Goldberg disagreed with her co-host and related Trumps rhetoric to when he said Mexican immigrants were rapists and murderers. McCain said Trumps strategy was effective as it got him to the White House.

Is Meghan McCain getting fired?

It wasnt long before The View fans were blasting ABC producers asking McCain to get fired from the show. Her words from the past were seen as insensitive being that they aided Trump in spreading his racist rhetoric. McCain ended up apologizing on Twitter for what she the year before.

I condemn the reprehensible violence and vitriol that has been targeted towards the Asian-American community, McCain tweeted. There is no doubt Donald Trumps racist rhetoric fueled many of these attacks and I apologize for any past comments that aided that agenda.

Furthermore, McCain has gotten into other controversies being that her job is to give her opinion. Although mans fans of the daytime talk show want her gone, that has not been announced. As a very vocal Twitter user, McCain didnt want to leave any room for speculation and advised her fans she was going offline.

Meghan McCain | Walt Disney Television via Getty Images/Lou Rocco

RELATED: Meghan McCain out of The View Monday After John Oliver Calls Her Out

Im going offline until after Easter to spend time with my family, McCain tweeted. Ill see you [on] The View Monday. Not cancelled, not fired, still triggering half the Internet.

McCain seemingly thrives in the drama surrounding her persona and opinions and reminded everyone she would be back on The View. The latter had been on hiatus the whole week leading up to the Easter holiday.

The View airs weekday mornings at 11 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. CT/PT on ABC.
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.
A priest blesses the Easter baskets that parishioners bring to St. Alexandra church in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday April 3, 2021. The blessing of the Easter baskets on Holy Saturday is a beloved tradition in Poland. This year it takes place amid pandemic restrictions limiting how many people can gather inside churches. AP-Yonhap



Millions of Christians around the world on Saturday faced another Easter weekend under restrictions because of coronavirus surges, but the hard-hit United States made good news as it crossed the milestone of 100 million people receiving at least one vaccine shot.



Worrying spikes in infections in many parts of the world, even as vaccine rollouts gather pace, have forced the reimposition of deeply unpopular restrictions.



Italy began a strict Easter lockdown on Saturday, with the entire country deemed a high-risk "red zone" during a time when families usually get together.



At Rome's normally bustling Piazza Navona, site of the famed Fountain of the Four Rivers, a scattering of dog-walkers and cyclists could be seen enjoying the spring weather.



Shops selling essentials were open in the nearby winding streets, but without the normal throng.



"It's getting annoying," a man who gave his name as Giovanni said of the restrictions, as he walked his dog.



New curbs were also coming into force Saturday in France, where authorities are scrambling to deal with a dramatic rise in cases that has overwhelmed hospitals in Paris.





Worshippers wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pray during the Easter vigil Mass at the St. Trinity Church in a small town Tverecius, some 135km (83.1 miles) northeast of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, on Saturday, April 3, 2021. AP



'Feel alive again'



Restrictions had been already stepped up in other European nations such as Belgium.



Germans protested in their thousands on Saturday amid heated debate throughout the country about tightening restrictions in the face of a third wave of Covid-19.



Marchers, few of whom wore face masks, carried banners with the slogan "End the dictatorship of Covid".



The government scrapped plans for a strict Easter lockdown, but Chancellor Angela Merkel urged people to limit their social contacts ahead of the break.



Across the Atlantic, fresh curbs were also imposed ahead of Easter in Ontario and Quebec, Canada's two most populous provinces.



And in the Philippines, a lockdown affecting more than 24 million people was being extended for another week as authorities deploy tents and health workers to overwhelmed hospitals.



But there was a step towards normalcy in Jerusalem's Old City, where a lockdown dampened Easter last year.



A modest crowd turned out this year as most major sites opened thanks to Israel's successful vaccine rollout.



"Last year, it was very hard. We felt like the city was dead," said Lina Sleibi, a Palestinian Christian who sings at church services in the nearby West Bank holy city of Bethlehem.



Now, "you feel alive again", she said.





Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil in a nearly empty St. Peter's Basilica as coronavirus pandemic restrictions stay in place for a second year running, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 3, 2021. AP



'Finish this job'



The pandemic has claimed more than 2.8 million lives worldwide.



But the United States, the hardest-hit nation, became the first country to administer at least one shot to more than 100 million people  around 40 percent of its adult population.



President Joe Biden has vowed that all adult Americans will be eligible to receive the vaccine by May 1.



But infections remain on the rise in parts of the country as well, and Biden urged Americans to keep wearing masks and taking other precautions.



"We need to finish this job," he said.



The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidance to say that fully vaccinated people can travel without observing quarantines, but should wear masks.



Vaccination campaigns have struggled to gain traction across much of Europe due to supply issues and questions over the AstraZeneca jab.



The Netherlands on Friday became the latest European country to halt AstraZeneca vaccinations for people under 60 over fears of links to rare blood clots.



Britain and the British-Swedish firm itself have defended the jab's safety, and the World Health Organisation and the EU drugs regulator have said that so far the benefits far outweigh the risk.



On Saturday, the UK medical regulator said that out of 30 people who suffered blood clots after receiving the shot in Britain, seven had died.



The 30 reports of thrombosis came after 18.1 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the country.



Paul Hunter, a medical microbiologist at Britain's University of East Anglia, told AFP he initially thought the link between vaccination and blood clots was likely a "random association".



But as evidence mounts of clusters in separate countries, "the weight of evidence is now looking towards Oxford-AstraZeneca actually being the cause of these adverse events", he said.



West Africa's Guinea-Bissau launched its vaccination campaign on Saturday with the AstraZeneca vaccine.





Christian devotees hold candles during a Easter vigil procession at Central Brooks Memorial Church, in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 4, 2021. AFP-Yonhap
GREEN Party councillor Sean Hartigan has denied claims he was driving during a council meeting  and said the mayor muzzled him.

During last weeks full council meeting, held virtually due to Covid-19 level 5 restrictions, it was noted by many members, including Mayor Michael Collins and Cllr Jerome Scanlan that Hartigan was in his car.

Ye must be driving home for Christmas, the Independent Feohanagh councillor quipped, while Mayor Collins said afterwards: If he was taking the meeting seriously, he wouldnt have been in his car at the time.

During the meeting, a row broke out between Cllr Hartigan and the first citizen over the county development plan.

The City East member was the only person to speak out against the idea of once-off rural houses.

When he tried to speak for a second time on the topic, he was not allowed by the mayor, with Cllr Hartigan visibly upset, gesturing and speaking without sound accompanying the scenes from his laptop camera.

This prompted him to put out a tweet after the meeting, in which he wrote: Mayor of Limerick Michael Collins grossly biased on discussion on one-off rural housing at today's council meeting, not allowing free discussion on the matter.

Mayor Collins turned fire on his council rival, describing his conduct as shabby.

I was fair to everyone at the meeting. I had said at the outset of the meeting everyone would be left speak as per Standing Orders. Its a bi-monthly meeting. Its the most important meeting of council where important decisions are taken, he said.

Cllr Scanlan said: Its unusual someone might attend a council meeting from behind the wheel of a car. It seems rather odd to me.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Cllr Hartigan hit back, saying: There is no evidence I was driving. You could clearly see in the meeting I was pulled in.

He accused Mayor Collins of trying to deflect from the matter of one-off homes.

The fact of the matter is I was muzzled. He was trying to muzzle anyone who was speaking for national policy, which is Fine Gael and Fianna Fail policy, not Green policy, that we move to a more realistic, sustainable model of housebuilding, instead of the haphazard housing situation driven by local councillors whereby people got planning permission in totally unsuitable locations.

He said this approach has caused immense problems with traffic, road maintenance and the provision of electricity and broadband.

What I wanted to say at the meeting was constructive, Cllr Hartigan insisted.
Taiwanese prosecutors seek warrant for truck driver

Taiwanese prosecutors seek warrant for truck driver

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.



The crash, Taiwan's worst rail accident in seven decades, occurred after an express train hit a truck that had slid down a bank next to the track from a construction site. The manager of the construction site is suspected of having failed to engage the brake properly.



The train was carrying almost 500 people on its way from Taiwan's capital, Taipei, to Taitung on the east coast, when it derailed in a tunnel just north of Hualien.



Yu Hsiu-duan, head of the Hualien prosecutors office, told reporters late on Friday an arrest warrant had been sought and that was now was being handled by the court system.



"To preserve relevant evidence, we have several groups of prosecutors at the scene and are searching the necessary places," she said.



Workers on Saturday began moving the back part of the train, which was relatively undamaged having come to a stop outside the tunnel, down the track and away from the site of the accident.



The more heavily damaged sections of the train are still mangled inside the tunnel.



President Tsai Ing-wen is due in Hualien on Saturday to visit survivors, her office said. The government has also declared flags should be flown at half mast for three days in a show of mourning.



The accident happened at the start of a long holiday weekend and the train was packed with tourists and people going home. (Reuters)
Evangelical Swiss missionary executed after terrorists held her hostage for 4 years

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Beatrice Stockli, an evangelical missionary from Switzerland who was held captive by Islamist extremists in Mali since January 2016, has reportedly been killed, Switzerlands Federal Department of Foreign Affairs announced. She was 59.

"It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of our fellow citizen," Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis said in a recent statement.

Information about Stocklis death came from recently released French hostage Sophie Petronin, a 75-year-old French charity worker who was abducted by jihadists in December 2016, BBC reported.

Petronin, who converted to Islam during her captivity, reported that the missionary was reportedly shot dead about a month ago after she refused 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.

"I condemn this cruel act and express my deepest sympathy to the relatives, Cassis said in his statement on her death.

Swiss authorities, according to the FDFA, are making every effort to find out more about the circumstances of the killing and the whereabouts of the remains of the missionary.

Switzerland will make every effort to preserve the remains of the Swiss hostage. To this end, the FDFA will also approach the transition government in Mali, the agency said.

Together with the relevant Malian authorities and with international partners, the Swiss authorities have worked over the past four years to ensure that the Swiss citizen is released and can return to her family. Members of the Federal Council have personally and repeatedly lobbied the relevant Malian authorities for her release.

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

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 fighters jailed 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 preaching Christianity.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-05 02:55:00|Editor: huaxia

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BRUSSELS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Countries in Europe are finding themselves caught between a rock and a hard place as they plan to reopen after the Easter holidays.

While many countries enforced stricter rules over Easter to prevent a surge in COVID-19 infections during the celebrations, a prevailing fatigue among the general public about months of restrictions has made it increasingly difficult for compliance, especially as the weather warms up.

PANDEMIC FATIGUE

In Brussels, the capital of Belgium, some 2,000 party-goers turned up on Thursday in the Bois de la Cambre, one of the city's biggest public parks, after a fake April Fool's Day festival event was advertised on social media. Police tried to disperse the crowds with water cannons and clashed with the revelers attending the unauthorized event despite COVID-19 restrictions.

Belgium, with a population of about 11 million, has recorded some 888,000 COVID-19 cases and over 23,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Latest statistics from the health authorities showed that the COVID-19 incidence of the last 14 days was 561.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Right now schools, cafes and restaurants are closed, a night-time curfew is in place and non-essential trips in and out of Belgium are prohibited. "Outdoor bubbles" are reduced to four people, not counting children under the age of 12.

Ironically, a Brussels court ruled on Wednesday that the Belgian state must lift "all coronavirus measures" within 30 days, as there is insufficient legal basis for them. The State is given 30 days to provide a sound legal basis, or face a penalty of 5,000 euros per day when the period expires, the Brussels Times reported.

In the UK, where close to half of its 67 million population have been given the first jab of a COVID-19 vaccine, with steadily falling numbers of new cases and deaths, the rallies on Saturday across the country against the government's new crime bill have become a cause for concern over rising infections thereafter.

"While we welcome the limited relaxation of rules, we don't want to become complacent ... After a long and difficult few months, let's not undo all of that hard work now," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jane Connors, who is leading the Metropolitan Police's strategic response to COVID-19, said in a statement.

DOUBTS ABOUT ASTRAZENECA VACCINE

But nothing is more frustrating than renewed reports on blood clot cases among AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine recipients, especially when Europe is scrambling to ramp up its vaccination campaign, albeit with some delay.

Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said on Thursday it had received 30 reports of blood clots out of a total of 18.1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine given by March 24. The cases include 22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) and eight reports of other thrombosis events with low platelets.

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 its ongoing review into these reports, the MHRA said 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 Netherlands also temporarily halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under the age of 60 after the Lareb side effects center said Friday that five reports had been received concerning women aged 25-65 who developed thrombosis in combination with a reduced platelet count, out of some 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered.

One of these five women died after developing an extensive pulmonary embolism within ten days of the vaccination.

On Tuesday evening, Germany decided to stop inoculating people under 60 with the AstraZeneca vaccine due to reports of 31 cases of cerebral vein thrombosis in connection with immunization.

European Medicines Agency, the drug regulator of the European Union (EU), said that based on currently available data, its safety committee PRAC is expected to issue an updated recommendation next week about the AstraZeneca vaccine.

"GREEN PASS" AND REOPENING

The third wave of the pandemic in Europe is alarmingly visible in many countries. In France, one of the worst-hit countries in the region, a total of 46,677 COVID-19 cases were reported on Friday. Thursday and Wednesday even witnessed over 50,000 daily cases. Since March, daily cases have spiraled, with an average of about 30,000.

"The third wave is here, and it's hitting us hard. ... The epidemic spreads quickly and everywhere. This acceleration is due to the virus variant detected in Britain by the end of last year," said Prime Minister Jean Castex after the country's third national lockdown announced.

Germany registered 24,300 new cases on Thursday, some 1,600 more than one week ago, according to the Robert Koch Institute, the federal government agency for disease control and prevention. Calling it a "really difficult phase of the pandemic," Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "With our behavior, we can again slow down, stop and then reverse the strong growth in the number of infections."

Indeed, the anxiety about a return to normalcy could be felt everywhere. Austria declared last week it would be a pioneer in the EU in introducing a digital "green pass" to enable safe travel during the pandemic.

Health Minister Rudolf Anschober confirmed to journalists that two-thirds of Austrians should have received at least the first COVID-19 vaccine shot by the beginning of July.

The "green pass" would cover test results and the status of recovery from COVID-19 by the end of April, and the data from the electronic vaccination certificate should then be added in June, he said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said that the government is considering COVID-19 vaccine certification but suggested it might only be implemented once all adults in Britain have been offered a vaccine by the end of July.

The European Commission proposed last month a Digital Green Certificate covering COVID-19 vaccination, testing and recovery, in a bid to reopen the bloc "in a safe, sustainable and predictable way."

Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, who is now responsible for the bloc's new vaccine production task force, revealed to RTL radio last Sunday that the certificate will be issued to EU citizens somewhere in mid-June ideally.

"By mid-July, we will be in capacity to deliver to Member States enough doses to reach collective immunity (around 70 percent of the adult population) -- provided of course the doses are injected," he tweeted on Wednesday. Enditem
Three men and a boy have been charged with more than 50 offences after allegedly drugging and raping three teenage girls in Brisbane.

Queensland Police launched an investigation in December, culminating in the arrests on Thursday.

It will be alleged the trio, aged 24, 21 and 20, and a 16-year-old boy invited three girls to a party in Toowong, where they were drugged and sexually assaulted multiple times.

The three men and the boy are facing over 50 charges over the alleged drugging and raping of three teenage girls

Each of the four faces a string of charges, including seven counts of rape, three of administering a stupefying drug to commit rape and two of sexual assault.

They are due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on April 3.

Police are appealing for anyone with further information or victims of similar incidents to come forward.
Indonesia has beefed up security at churches over Easter following a suicide bombing at a cathedral last week

Christians in Indonesia celebrated Good Friday under heavy security with forces on high alert following a suicide bomb attack at a cathedral last week.

Heavily armed police and military personnel were seen at churches during Easter celebrations across the vast Muslim-majority nation, where Christians form 10 percent of the population.

Indonesia has long struggled with attacks by Islamist militants, and has been on edge since two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a church in Makassar city on Sulawesi island, wounding 20 people.

"The enthusiasm of churchgoers today was still high despite the attack in Makassar," Indonesian Communion of Churches spokesman Philip Situmorang told AFP.

"The police coordinated... to provide security at churches."

Authorities alleged the Makassar bombers were members of a pro-Islamic State extremist group.

National Police spokesman Rusdi Hartono said Thursday that police across the country had been ordered to anticipate potential terror attacks against churches during Easter celebrations.

There was another attack on Wednesday when a 25-year-old woman wearing a face veil entered a police complex in downtown Jakarta and opened fire on officers before she was shot dead.

Police described her as a "lone wolf" Islamic State sympathiser.

hrl/qan
Eight of the top 10 most-valued companies added Rs 1,28,503.47 crore to their market valuation this week. IT bellwethers Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys led the pack during the week truncated by an extended weekend.

TCS was the biggest gainer among the 10 highest-valued companies, adding Rs 36,158.22 crore to its market valuation, which reached Rs 11,71,082.67 crore. Infosys added Rs 20,877.24 crore to take its market capitalisation (m-cap) to Rs 5,90,229.35 crore.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever saw its m-cap rise by Rs 19,842.83 crore to Rs 5,63,767.05 crore during the week. Meanwhile, oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries added Rs 17,401.77 crore, taking its market valuation to Rs 12,81,644.97 crore.

The biggest Indian lender State Bank of India added Rs 12,003.6 crore to its m-cap to Rs 3,30,701.48 crore. Meanwhile, private lender ICICI Bank gained Rs 10,681.76 crore, taking its m-cap to Rs 4,10,775.37 crore. Kotak Mahindra Bank's valuation grew by Rs 6,301.56 crore to Rs 3,57,573.74 crore. Bajaj Finance saw its market capitalisation rally Rs 5,236.49 crore to Rs 3,17,563.53 crore.

On the other hand, market capitalisation of HDFC bank slipped by Rs 3,142.29 crore to Rs 8,19,474.22 crore, while HDFC saw its valuation decline by Rs 171.38 crore to Rs 4,56,569.82 crore.

Reliance Industries continued to hold the top position among top-10 firms with the highest valuation, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever Limited, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank and Bajaj Finance.

Stock markets were closed on Friday this week on the occasion of Good Friday. Combined with the weekly off on Saturday and Sunday, this made for an extended weekend this week.

During the week, BSE Sensex gained 1,021.33 points or 2 per cent.

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ALSO READ: FPIs continue buying spree, invest Rs 17,304 cr in March
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Seven people in the United Kingdom have died from blood clots after getting the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to protect against the coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a report from the BBC.

Medicine regulators confirmed to the BBC that 30 people out of 18 million people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca shot, as of March 24, had blood clots. Seven died from blood clots after getting the vaccine.

According to the BBC, its still unclear if its a coincidence or a side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

However, medical experts say the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh the risk, including the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the European Medicines Agency, BBC reported.

A spokesperson for AstraZeneca told the media outlet that patient safety is the companys highest priority.

AstraZeneca has not been approved in the United States.

Due to the blood clot concern, some countries are administering the shot only to older residents, including Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, according to the BBC.

Data released last week by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency showed 22 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis  a type of blood clot in the brain. The cases, the BBC reported, were accompanied by low levels of platelets, which help form blood clots.

But Dr. June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, according to the BBC, said the benefits in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risk.

The benefits 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 Raine.

Investigations are underway to determine if the vaccine is causing the blood clots.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
Covid-19 rates have remained steady across the country, though rates are varying widely between different regions.

Last week, in the data issued by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) from Monday to Friday, some 2,670 cases of the virus were confirmed, an average of 534 a day.

But, within those daily reports, the county-by-county breakdown depicts a revealing picture.

Specifically, Dublin accounts for some 1199 of those cases - some 44.9% of the cases announced nationally. By contrast, there were just 110 cases in Cork and just 15 confirmed cases in Co Kerry, with the Kingdom showing fewer than five daily cases three times last week.

Both counties have managed to keep Covid-19 levels at bay in recent weeks but public health experts have warned there is no room for complacency.

Recent data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that the number of contacts per person in counties Cork and Kerry were below the national average during St Patricks week earlier this month.

National averages

Where the national average was 2.5 contacts per person, that stood at 2 contacts in Kerry and 2.2 contacts in Cork. That lower level of social contact may, in some part, be helping both counties to keep infection levels at bay.

Other local electoral area data shows that some areas were outperforming others in keeping their communities almost virus-free.

On March 22, Kanturk, Bandon-Kinsale, Bantry, Carrigaline, and the southwest part of Cork city, as well as Killarney in Kerry, had less than five cases confirmed in the previous fortnight, showing that these communities were doing well to keep infection levels low.

While the public is playing a role in reducing transmission, Cork-based public health doctor Mary OMahony said a more effective public health response had enabled staff to contain any new outbreaks.

Dr OMahony said this rigorous and very active follow-up of new outbreaks was only now possible because infection rates had fallen to manageable levels.

Were still encountering outbreaks and cases occurring in workplaces, schools, and in healthcare settings and they are all very actively followed up, Dr OMahony said.

Without all of this work in the background, you wouldnt be breaking the chains of transmission. It only takes one case to lead to a cluster and that can lead to multiple other outbreaks."

Dr OMahony stressed that the number of new cases reported each day was only the tip of the iceberg and that scores of other people, who were deemed close contacts, were likely to have contracted the virus.

She warned, however, that the situation could change rapidly and until the majority of the population is vaccinated, there was no cause for celebration yet - the rapid growth before Christmas took just 11 days, for instance.

UCC professor of public health Ivan Perry said the public health response, population density, and a randomness to the epidemic may be playing a role in the low Covid-19 numbers in Cork and Kerry.

Prof. Ivan Perry says: "Variants will continue to arise and some of them may be vaccine-resistant so it would be very risky to drop our guard on international travel."

A low population density in Kerry, he said, may be contributing to low case numbers there but this was less likely in Cork. Good compliance by the public was also a factor, although he doesnt feel that people in Cork and Kerry were necessarily behaving differently compared to other parts of the country.

The picture remains fragile, though, and it may not take much for infection rates to surge again, he warned.

It only takes a small number of events before the virus starts to increase again, Professor Perry said, adding that more public health doctors and surveillance scientists are needed to keep on top of the pandemic.

Professor Perry said that it was not the time to relax things in Cork and Kerry: We have to open things up very gradually.

There is a catastrophe unfolding with the P1 variant in Brazil. Variants will continue to arise and some of them may be vaccine-resistant so it would be very risky to drop our guard on international travel.

Nobody is safe until everybody is safe, he said, adding that it was likely to be well into 2022 before all countries are vaccinated.
Apr. 4A male victim was shot near the intersection of Wyoming Street and Alberta Street in Dayton, Montgomery County dispatchers reported. The victim was shot twice by his neighbor, emergency scanner traffic indicated.

The male victim was reportedly shot in the neck and arm around 5:50 p.m. Saturday. His current condition is unknown.

The suspect is reportedly a man who was last seen wearing black pajama pants. Dispatchers did not know what shirt the suspect was wearing. It is unclear if the suspect has been apprehended at this time.

We will update this story as we learn more information.
A group of Northern leaders led by Ahmed Gumi on Sunday visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo as part of continued efforts to find solutions to the general insecurity in the country and particularly for the menace of banditry, kidnapping and ransom payment.

Mr Gumi was accompanied by Usman Yusuf, Tukur Mamu, Umar Ardo, Ibrahim Abdullahi, Suleiman Gumi, Suleiman Yakubu and Buba Mohammed to the home of Mr Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.

The meeting was centred on causes, remote and immediate effects of insecurity as well as implications, actions and reactions by communities, local authorities, state governments, national government and governments of neghbouring countries and countries within West Africa.

Mr Gumi briefed Mr Obasanjo on the measures and steps he had taken and spearheaded to stem the tide of insecurity and menace of banditry, kidnapping and ransom payment in many parts of the North.

The meeting in a communique jointly signed by Messrs Obasanjo and Gumi also arrived on some points and appropriate recommendations made which has it that, it agreed to continue to work together for solutions for the security of Nigeria and to seek others to join us as we widely circulate the joint statement.

To this end, Sheik Gumi has extended an invitation to Chief Obasanjo to visit Kaduna with a view to continuing the discourse started today and Chief Obasanjo has graciously accepted, the meeting posited.

We conclude that to keep Nigeria safe and secure for all Nigerians and others living in Nigeriais a task that all well-meaning Nigerians must engage in, separately and collectively.

Both of us resolve that we would not relent in our efforts. The delegations on both sides acceded to this statement. We agree to meet again in due course to re-examine progress and situation of security in Nigeria, the statement added.

Mr Gumi thanked Mr Obasanjo for his past services emphasising the special unifying efforts and attributes to the nation and for the warm welcome accorded his delegation.

The meeting identified that the menace of banditry, kidnapping, other crimes and atrocities leading to general insecurity is a nationwide phenomenon, and also acknowledged that people from different parts of the country and outside the country are involved although some people are more predominantly involved than others.

We must not advertently or inadvertently, in words, action or inaction encourage or support criminality. We acknowledge that the security situation has gone beyond tolerance; hence Sheik Gumis coming to Abeokuta to confer with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

We identified the crisis as micro ethnic conflict between the Fulani and many host communities mainly in the North West. We identified the remote causes as educational and economic disparities, and the negative use of religion and ethnicity by unscrupulous politicians.

Solutions must be seen and provided on short-, medium-, and long-term bases and must be composed of stick and carrot for the offender and the vulnerable.

The meeting also posited that all well-meaning Nigerians have to be involved in finding solutions by: desisting from blame game;desisting from ethnicising these crimes; desisting from religionising these crimes; desisting from regionalising these crimes; respecting one another individually, community-wise, locally, ethnically, religiously and socially.

The meeting identified need in showing tolerance and accommodation where necessary; condemning criminal acts no matter where it is committed and by whom it is committed in Nigeria; encouraging more of carrot solution as may be found necessary; sharing information at all levels; not accepting criminality as a way of life for any individual or group in our nation;

The meeting noted that since the end of the civil war, the military is the strongest and most potent instrument and symbol of national unity that we have and we must keep them so.

State governments must have adequate means of providing security for their people and as chief executives and chief security officers of their states, they must have the means at their disposal to ensure security for all within their states.

Federal government must be proactive, secure necessary and updated intelligence to deal with organised crimes and have common policy for the nation. It is not solving the problem when one state goes for negotiation and molly-cuddling of criminals and another one goes for shooting them. Nor should one state go for ransom payment and another one going against.

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Education is one main key to solve the problem in the long run but it must start now. The 14million children that should be in school and are out of school must be put in school with local authorities, state governments and federal government working together.

Wean those who are ready to be weaned out of the bushes and crime, settle and rehabilitate them, give them skills, empower them and let them have employment. The hardened criminals must be hard hit with stick. Unlawful carrying of arms should be very seriously punished.

Federal government should take the issue up seriously within ECOWAS to work for a regional solution. Every community must be encouraged and empowered to stand firm and strong against criminals.

There should be protection and reward covertly for whistle blowers against criminals living in the community. Special courts should be created to deal promptly with cases of banditry, kidnapping, ransom demanding and unlawful carrying of weapons.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - It's been a problem for months in Southeastern Minnesota.

People stealing catalytic converters.

One auto shop and sheriff's office are trying to put an end to it.

KIMT News 3 spoke with the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office about how they hope to prevent this crime.

The Goodhue County Sheriff's Office is partnering with Bird's Auto Shop in Pine Island to mark catalytic converters in an event called Etch and Catch.

A catalytic converter is a part located underneath a car and can be cut from the exhaust system.

The event on Tuesday gives 30 people a chance to get their license plate number etched onto their vehicle's catalytic converter.

The slots opened for this event booked quickly.

KIMT News 3 spoke to a deputy who says this will give officials a way to track the converters if they are stolen.

"It's one of the reasons why catalytic converter thefts are so high right now is because even if we catch somebody with a bunch of them in their vehicle, if we can't trace back to an owner to prove it's stolen, we can't prove there was a crime," says Deputer Jen Hofschulte, Goodhue County Sheriff's Office.

Deputy Hofschulte says there will be many events like this in the future to get more catalytic converters marked.

Replacing a catalytic converter can cost more than $1,000.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said taking advantage of the Covid-19 vaccination portal is an abuse of trust and added that the system has been strengthened to avoid further similar incidents.

There has been increased concern surrounding incidents in which a number of people currently ineligible for a vaccine have received doses.

This comes after reports by the Irish Mail on Sunday that almost 70 employees at the Northside Family Resource Centre in Limerick falsely posed as frontline healthcare workers on the HSE's vaccination portal.

The paper reports that they were instructed to do so by the centres CEO, Ciara Kane.

It follows a separate incident involving the Beacon Hospital in Dublin in which leftover vaccines were offered to teachers and staff of St. Gerards School in Bray.

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Speaking to Gavan Reilly on Newstalks On The Record, chief executive of the HSE Paul Reid said that these breaches of the vaccine queue are frustrating and an abuse of trust.

The whole programme of vaccinations in this country, and indeed any country, is based on a high level of trust, he said.

It is very frustrating, its annoying and it breaches the basic tenet of what the programme is all about when incidents like that happen or other incidents that are high profile which we know have happened.

These breaches are serious... Ultimately there have been a number of instances and some are going through assessments, some are going through very public reports, some have had reports concluded on them, some are for private organisations to assess and make their own judgements, and we certainly do that through the HSE as well.

He continued: Its just completely wrong for someone who is not at risk or not exposed to healthcare settings to be vaccinated. And there have been some of those instances... It is an abuse of trust.

Mr Reid added that the HSE are working on improving the vaccination portal for when it opens to the public later this month by ensuring that the validation process is thorough.

He told listeners: What weve had to do is strengthen the validation process for when a person is coming to receive their vaccine that theyre well validated, they are who they are, they are in the category of people that were vaccinating on that day and theyre legitimate to be vaccinated.

He said that when the vaccination portal opens to the public, there will be a different process in place.

The Taoiseach previously stated that he expects the system to be open from the middle of April.

Mr Reid shared: As we go public and into more age groups and we start to reach out to the wider population, it is a different process for the portal. Its where the public will be registering a lot of their biographical details, age, date of birth, and indeed PPS number.

Wed be validating that and then when the person comes [to get their vaccine], we will be seeking ID... Were relying on a high level of trust.

The HSE boss said that the vaccination rollout has worked so far and has huge benefits, adding that Irelands millionth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine should be administered in the next few days.

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Syrian Christians gathered Sunday in a church in Damascus amidst a second Easter under coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

Church goers wore masks and attempted to social distance in one of the biggest Christian holidays of the year.

Jimmy Babek, a scout at Our Lady of Damascus, said that while the church took many precautions like enforcing mask wearing and the use of hand sanitisers and social distancing, it is still important to celebrate these events.

Syria is witnessing a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.

Last month, state media reported that intensive care units in state hospitals in the capital of Damascus were full, and that medical staff were told to prepare for a large influx of coronavirus patients.

The country has registered more than 19,000 COVID-19 infections, including 1,288 deaths, since the first case was registered in the country in March of last year.

According to the World Health Organization, there are nearly 21,000 cases in the last rebel stronghold in Syria's northwest along the border with Turkey, as well as some 9,000 cases in areas controlled by US-backed Kurdish-led fighters in the northeast.

The real numbers are believed to be much higher, however, as testing is limited, and most Syrians cannot afford tests due to the country's crushing economic crisis.

The pandemic, which has severely tested even developed countries, has been a major challenge for Syria's conflict-depleted health care sector.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
An arm of IL&FS has received Rs 1,804 crore as claim settlement from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). This will help the subsidiary address its Rs 3,500-crore debt.



The and ministry of road transport and highways have settled aggregate IL&FS claims of over Rs 1,804 crore across six road projects, said an official statement.



Networks (ITNL), a subsidiary of IL&FS, on March 31, 2021, received a settlement amount of Rs 673 crore for Kiratpur Ner Chowk Expressway (KNCEL) and around Rs 20 crore towards claims for Chenani Nashri Tunnelway (CNTL) from The KNCEL project was foreclosed under the ministry of road transport and highways guidelines of March 2019 for incomplete or stalled projects.



Chenani Nashri is a completed project, earning annuities, and the Rs 19.6 crore is the claim amount towards change of scope.

Earlier, Fagne Songadh Expressway (FSEL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of ITNL, completed its settlement with under the new road ministry policy on stuck up projects, receiving an amount of Rs 707 crore.



Other IL&FS projects settled under claims and compensation by the NHAI till date include: Jorabat Shillong Expressway (JSEL) Rs 252 crore; Baleshwar Kharagpur Expressway (BKEL) (Rs 8 crore); and ITNL Road Infrastructure Development Company (IRIDCL) (Rs 144 crore) that was settled by the road ministry.



There is a pending settlement of Rs 902 crore for the Khed Sinnar Expressway project and Rs 171 crore for Amravati Chikli Expressway from NHAI.



FSEL, KNCEL and IRIDCL have been handed over to the authorities after settlement of claims. Baleshwar Kharagpur will form a part of the Infrastructure Investment Trust that will include 11 road projects in two phases.



The statement said, among FSEL, KNCEL and IRIDCL, IL&FS would be addressing an aggregate debt of Rs 3,500 crore through the NHAI and ministry of road transport and highways settlements.



According to the ministrys guidelines in March 2019, for incomplete or stalled projects, authorities would be able to foreclose the projects concession agreement.
A chef, who was like a loaded gun shoplifting in Dublin knowing he had tested positive for coronavirus, has been jailed for four months.

Wesley Geraghty (43), with a hostel address at Marys Abbey, Dublin 7, was also given a 200 fine after he pleaded guilty to theft and leaving his residence in breach of the Health Act.

Garda Sergeant William Quirke told Judge Miriam Walsh that Geraghty, who had 97 prior criminal convictions, was arrested at Marks and Spencer on Grafton Street where a security guard stopped him taking 450 worth of cosmetics on Friday.

He admitted to gardai he had Covid-19 and was directed to return to his isolation hostel and told he would be dealt with at a later stage.

However, he went to Boots on Grafton Street that day and attempted to steal 320 worth of cosmetics but was caught again.

The store had to shut down for deep cleaning after it was established he had coronavirus.

Gardai carried out enquiries with the HSE and Geraghtys accommodation and he should have stayed in his hostel, the sergeant told the court.

He had been tested positive on Thursday evening.

The sergeant said Geraghty appeared to go out the following morning and his sole purpose, knowing he was Covid positive, was to commit thefts. It was accepted that he was easy to deal with on arrest.

The Health Act charge carried a possible six-month sentence and a 2,500 fine.

Pleading for leniency, the defence said Geraghty was a qualified chef who fell into drug addiction. He was remorseful and realised he was facing jail.

Sentencing, Judge Walsh said Geraghty was wandering around the streets when he was supposed to be in quarantine. He was a loaded gun basically in relation to the Health Act, she remarked.

The case was transferred from Dublin District Court in the Criminal Courts of Justice to a special weekend sitting of Tallaght District Court. It takes cases that require extra precautions for defendants with Covid-19, or who have been exposed to the virus, or have symptoms.
The battle that erupted at the Bahrain International Circuit between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen looks set to be a highlight of this year's season in Formula 1. Helmut Marko also feels the tension and analyzes the almost equal strengths of the two racers in a recent interview.

Looking back at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Marko again states that where Verstappen is the fastest driver on track, Hamilton remains the most complete. This can be explained by Hamilton's "wealth of experience", compared to the Dutchman.

Helmut Marko explains, in conversation with Formel1.de "What Hamilton still has ahead of Max is the incredible routine. I don't know how many races he has now, how many wins, but you could see that, how he did it tactically, how he changed lines. It was a very difficult race for Max."

Only a matter of time

Despite Hamilton still having an edge over the Red Bull star at the moment, according to Marko, it's only a matter of time before Max can also fall back on his experience more reliably. The Austrian explains: "They are more or less equal. Max will also be able to fall back on such a wealth of experience as Hamilton has at some point."
The Interior Ministry is developing a bill that will allow foreigners and persons without citizenship to legalize their stay in Russia, despite the existing violations, the ministrys press service said, TASS reports.

"The bill will determine the procedure and conditions for the stay of foreign citizens and persons without citizenship who find themselves in special circumstances," the ministrys spokesman said.

The initiative implies that all persons, who stay in Russia with violations of established rules for migrants on the date the new federal law comes into force will be given an opportunity to settle their legal status within a certain period of time, the ministrys official explained.

He added that administrative measures will not be applied to these citizens, and the measures taken earlier will be canceled.
A farmer in Hiep Duc District, Quang Nam Province, chops down his rubber trees to sell the logs. Photo by VnExpress/Dac Thanh.

After weathering repeated storms, central Vietnam latex farmers have lost out to market turbulence, and are chopping down their rubber trees.

Pham Thi Xuyen, a resident of Song Tra Commune in Quang Nam provinces Hiep Duc District, has been hiring people to chop down rubber trees, all over 10 years old, at her two-hectare (five-acre) farm.

It costs VND60,000 ($2.60) to cut down each tree, which is higher than the VND40,000 for each seeding, but Xuyen has decided she has no choice.

"After removing all the rubber trees, we might switch to cultivating wattle (also known as acacia) as this timber tree has lower investment costs and after five years, we can sell the timber at a higher price than latex," she said.

Many other rubber farmers in the district are also cutting down the trees, saying latest farming has become untenable in increasingly extreme weather, with intense storms and cyclones in the central region, and that even if they succeed in protecting their farms from repeated storms, latex prices are not enough for them to break even.

Quang Nam is home to more than 10,000 ha (24,700 acres) of rubber plantations grown individually and by corporates.

Rubber tree cultivation took off in the late nineties, with high hopes that locals, not just corporates, can earn high incomes from the venture.

For many years, local authorities handed over vacant land plots and barren hills totalling over 50,000 hectares to rubber growing businesses.

Accordingly, many households got into the business, following private firms, with each family growing rubber on several hectares.

In 2007, Xuyen invested almost VND100 million ($4,336) into cultivating two hectares of rubber. At that time, she understood that it would take five-seven years for the rubber trees to produce the latex, and that one hectare of rubber could yield two tons of latex and generate revenues of over VND200 million per year.

Six years later, when her trees had matured for producing latex, the entire plantation was destroyed by Storm Wutip.

Undeterred, she continued investing in the business. In 2018, her rubber trees were again ready to produce latex, though that year, the prices had fallen sharply, forcing Xuyen to postpone the harvest.

While she was still waiting for the right moment to harvest the latex for sale, storm Molvave approached central Vietnam last October as one of the most powerful ever to hit the country. It damaged more than one hectare of her farm.

A rubber field in Hiep Duc District, Quang Nam Province, is damaged by Storm Molave, October 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Dac Thanh.

Nguyen Nhu Cong, chairman of Hiep Duc, said the district is home to 5,700 hectares of rubber plantations, of which more than 1,600 was destroyed by Molvave.

"We would like the provincial administration to come up with other plans that are more suitable to local weather conditions. Rubber has proven to be a low-efficiency, high-risk crop," he said, suggesting that high-tech agriculture, large-scale cattle husbandry and timber plantations may be better options.

Le Minh Hung, deputy director of the Quang Nam Department of Agriculture and Development, said the province had originally planned to have 50,000 hectares of rubber. It has 14,000 hectares now.

"In the 2010-2012 period, one ton of latex fetched more than VND100 million, but after that, the market price kept falling."

Given its low value and durability, the province has decided to limit the rubber plantation area to less than 15,000 hectares, he said.

In 2009, after seeing many neighbors around joining the rubber business, Dong Huu Sang of Phong My Commune, Phong Dien District, Thua Thien-Hue Province, decided to step in with three hectares.

By 2018, he was earning VND1 million per day, which was enough to take care of his family and pay off the bank loan.

"But in the past two years, the price of latex has dropped significantly from VND50,000 per kilo to less than VND10,000 per kilo. Then last September, a storm came and damaged a significant number of trees, leaving me with no choice but to cut the rubber trunks into logs for sale."

Sang said he plans to cultivate orange, grapefruit or wattle on his farm instead of rubber.

Similar tales of woe

Farmers in Phong Dien District, Thua Thien Hue Province, collect logs of rubber trees they have chopped down for sale. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Thanh.

Ho Vang, deputy director of the Thua Thien Hue agriculture department, said the province used to have more than 10,000 hectares of rubber trees, but a string of storms during last year had destroyed 2,500 hectares.

Between mid-September and November last year, the central region was hit by as many as nine storms and two tropical depressions, causing a total economic loss of VND30 trillion.

"Now, with the latex price dropping, we expect that the rubber plantation area will keep shrinking, but we will not encourage local farmers to resume production because it no longer has the high economic efficiency it used to."

In Ha Tinh, the Vietnam Rubber Industry Corporation was allocated more than 25,000 hectares of land to grow rubber.

Of this, the Ha Tinh Rubber Co. Ltd was given 10,000 hectares and Huong Khe Rubber Co. Ltd got the rest.

Until now, Ha Tinh Rubber has returned more than 2,000 hectares of land to local authorities for other agricultural projects and on the the remaining 8,000 hectares, just 3,000 are used to grow rubber. The rest are dedicated to growing other trees.

Meanwhile, Huong Khe has used just 4,000 hectares for rubber and is expected to return 3,000 hectares to local authorities.

The two companies say they do not have any plan to extend the cultivation area, given the low latex prices.

Several local reports have blamed the low latex prices on falling global demand in major consumer countries. Some have said that domestic prices may rise in the near future, but for many rubber farmers in central Vietnam, it would be too little, too late.
Denton, TX (76205)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 80F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 65F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Williamson, WV (25661)

Today

Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable.
The UAE has ranked 15th globally in Kearneys2021 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index, up from 19thplace in 2020, with continued strengths in factors important to investors, including government incentives.



The countrys strong enabling environment, featuring advanced technological infrastructure and high innovation levels, is also central to its FDI attractiveness. The UAE is one of only five countries globally that achieved a higher ranking this year in an increasingly competitive global FDI attraction environment.



According to the new report from the global strategy and management consulting firm, investors say they are more cautious regarding FDI globally as they gear up for a long-haul economic recovery. The ranking reveals a significant fall in overall optimism about the global economy since pre- and early-pandemic levels last year; however, investor optimism about the Mena region generally remained stable. Optimism levels regarding the economic outlook for the UAE scored higher in relative terms than those documented last year, placing it among the top5 countries in terms of net optimism.



The UAEs striking rise in the rankings again this year speaks to the power of consistency and momentum. Specifically, the score is likely related to its continued investment in advanced technological infrastructure, high levels of innovation, and to the intensity and discipline of its response to the pandemic, said Rudolph Lohmeyer, Partner, National Transformations Institute, Kearney Middle East.



The UAE was among the first countries to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, and it has embarked on an extremely ambitious campaign to vaccinate its whole population by the end of 2021.Behind only Israel and the Seychelles, the UAE has vaccinated the highest portion of their population (per 100 people), which can be expected to boost economic and investment prospects further.



In addition, the UAE continued to engage beyond its borders this year  with the signing of the Abraham Accords in August signalling the UAEs commitment to regional stability and economic integration. Expo 2020, which was postponed to October 2021, should further contribute to the resurgence in tourism, including from Israel, in the latter part of the year, he added.



Commenting on the 2021 FDI Confidence Index, Paul A Laudicina, founder of the index and Kearneys Global Business Policy Council says: A year into the pandemic and its severe disruption to the global economy, investors understandably appear chastened. In last years survey, investors displayed a strong level of optimism about the global economy and their investment outlook, and many were caught flat-footed by the Covid-19 disruption that brought the world to an economic standstill.



This years rankings point to continued apprehension and uncertainty about how quickly the global economy will recover post-Covid. In addition to the fall in confidence about the economy, most of the overall scores for the top-25 countries have fallen compared with previous years. Only 57 percent of investors are optimistic about the three-year global economic outlook, which is much lower than the corresponding figure last year of 72 percent (prior to and at the onset of the pandemic).



Reflecting investors increased caution this year, developed economies account for the lions share of thetop-25 list for two primary reasons.



First, established markets represent more safety and stability to business leaders whose strategies and bottom lines have been shaken by the pandemic, said Erik Peterson, managing director of the Global Business Policy Council and co-author of the study. And, second, investors continue to prioritize destinations with strong infrastructure, strong governance, investment in technology and innovation, and macroeconomic stabilitynatural strengths of most developed markets.



Only three emerging markets are on this years Index: China, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil. China remains the highest-ranked emerging market, a distinction the country has held consistently since 1999. However, concern over escalating USChina trade tensions and a more general corporate rethink of international supply chains could explain its drop to 12thplace.



Beyond these findings, the biggest risk that international investors will continue to face will be the pandemic itself, Peterson added. Overcoming Covid-19 will be key to global economic recovery and the improvement in FDI flows as the two go hand in hand. And economic growth in the near term will be determined in large part by the duration of the global pandemic, the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary responses, and the success of vaccination efforts.



Laudicina said: Despite persistent macroeconomic challenges, investors continue to perceive FDI as vital to corporate profitability and competitiveness over the next three years. And even with investors increased caution this year, the FDI plunge in 2020 will likely not become a permanent feature of the global economy.  TradeArabia News Service
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Are you looking forward to venturing into the online world with a homebased business? If then, now is the time. Bahrain is all set to bring a boom into the economy by holding the hands of small and micro-enterprises.

Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan, the Labour and Social Development Minister and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Family Microfinance House, yesterday said that the ministry is open to receive applications to start small or micro-enterprises in cooperation with the Khatwa Programme.

The aim is to enable families, job seekers, widows and others to develop their skills and improve their living standards through ensuring a sustainable income, said Humaidan. And backing the move is none other than His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

The scheme provides two options to start selling online. First is Khatwa, which is offered free of charge to families registered with the Ministry of Labour and Social Development. Khatwa Project for Home Projects provides all needs and facilities required for families and individuals to start their business projects from home.

Those registered with the Labour Ministrys Khatwa programme for home-based projects are entitled to benefit from the Family Microfinance Houses services that provide finance to entrepreneurs and productive families to empower them economically and support them in establishing their productive projects.

The second is through virtual commercial registration via Sijili. The deal, as per the regulations of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, provides access to financial packages, the Business Continuity Programme of Tamkeen, and other competitive financial schemes.

The minister was chairing the first general assembly and board meeting of FMH in 2021, held remotely, with Deputy Chairman Dr Mustafa Al-Sayed, CEO, Dr Khalid Ateeq and board members.

Humaidan asserted that FMH would continue providing financial and non-financial services to entrepreneurs and micro productive families registered with the Khatwa programme for home-based businesses.

Established in 2009, the Family Microfinance House (previously the Family Bank) is a government-owned Islamic micro-finance bank in Bahrain.

It aims to provide microfinance to low-income individual and businesses in the kingdom.
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the national capital, Health Minister Satyendar Jain informed that the number of beds in private has been increased from 15 per cent to 25 per cent.

"With 87,505 testings, we are testing five times higher than other states. Delhi's positivity rate stands at 4.11 per cent. The number of beds in private has been increased from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. Every two out of three beds in are vacant," Jain said while addressing a press conference here on Saturday.

He said that those living in congested areas are more prone to COVID-19.

The Minister further urged people to follow all health protocols, including wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing to combat the virus.

The government has issued helpline number -- 87505 -- for COVID-19 testing.

Meanwhile, Delhi reported 3,567 new cases, 2,904 recoveries, and 10 deaths in the last 24 hours, said the Delhi government on Saturday. With this, the total cases escalated to 672,381 including 12,647 active cases and 6,48,674 total recoveries. The death toll, however, surged to 11,060 including the new deaths.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Guwahati, April 4 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah cut short his campaigning in Assam and returned to Delhi in wake of the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh that left at least 22 security personnel dead, BJP sources .

Ahead of the third and final phase of the Assam Assembly election on Tuesday, Shah was supposed to address three election rallies in Sarbhog, Bhabanipur and Jalukbari but only spoke at Sarbhog in Barpeta district before returning.

Union Development of North Eastern Region Minister and BJP's co-in charge for Assam polls, Jitendra Singh tweeted: "Today's first Assam rally by Home Minister at Sarbhog, before he cut short his visit as well as other two rallies and returned to Delhi in view of Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh. Crowds in thousands from all sections of society, thronged the jam-packed venue."
People wait for jabs at a vaccination centre in Cologne on Sunday April 4 - Marius Becker/ DPA

Germany has announced plans to allow people vaccinated against Covid-19 certain privileges over their unvaccinated peers, in a significant step towards introducing so-called "vaccine passports."

Jens Spahn, the country's health minister, said on Sunday that vaccinated people would be allowed to travel without quarantine, visit hairdressers and go shopping with minimal restrictions after new research indicated vaccinated people only pose a minimal risk of transmitting the virus.

Anyone who is vaccinated can go to the shop or the hairdresser without further testing. In addition, according to the Robert Koch Institute (Germanys peak health research agency), completely vaccinated people no longer have to be in quarantine, Spahn told Germanys Bild tabloid on Sunday.

He did not give an exact date upon which the rules would come into effect, although German media reported the measure would be introduced in the coming weeks.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce a Covid vaccine passport system this week. Currently, people arriving in Germany from risk areas are required to quarantine for ten days, while some states allow Germans to visit shops and hairdressers only with evidence of a recent negative test.

Under the plan, people who have received both vaccine doses will be free to shop, travel and visit hairdressers from 14 days after their final shot, when their risk of transmitting the disease becomes negligible.

According to the research, the risk of virus transmission by people who have been fully vaccinated from the 15th day after the second vaccination dose is lower than an asymptomatic person who has tested negative with a rapid antigen test, Mr Spahn said.

He added that the "current state of knowledge indicates that vaccinated persons probably no longer play a significant role in the epidemiology (i.e. transmission) of the disease".

Vaccinated people would still have to comply with social distancing, hygiene and mask requirements, however. The German government has come intense criticism for its laboured vaccine rollout, highlighted by continual policy changes on the AstraZeneca jab.

Story continues

By Sunday 12 percent of Germans, or 10 million people, had received one injection. About 4.3 million people, just over five percent of the population, had received both shots.

In the UK, 59.8 percent of the population, or 31.5 million people, have had one dose, with 10.2 percent, or 5.3 million people, receiving both doses.

Germany is expected to put in place a stricter, nationwide lockdown after the Easter break, which could include some of the toughest measures since the outbreak of the pandemic.

According to the German tabloid Bild, Chancellor Angela Merkels government has grown dissatisfied with regional approaches and wants a large nationwide lockdown to curb rising infection rates.

Measures on the table include nationwide stay at home orders imposed either at night or for a 24-hour period. It would be the first time such a measure has been put in place in Germany.

Schools would close, while companies would be required to regularly test their employees or force them to work from home.
No justice, no peace! roared a crowd of about 100 people who met at the Arch in downtown Athens on Saturday afternoon. The crowd gathered to join in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community after the mass shootings in Atlanta that occurred on March 16.

The event was organized jointly by the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, Economic Justice Coalition, Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition, Moms Demand Action and Justice for Black Lives Academy. The event was titled United Against Asian Hate.

AADM president and co-founder Mokah Jasmine Johnson served as the events master of ceremonies. Speakers drove up from Atlanta to speak to the Athens community, including Long Tran, Michelle Kang and Cam Ashling. Other speakers included Cole Knapper, Emma Jones, Anne Belocura, Aditya Krishnaswamy and Kyle Patel.

To bring attention to the recent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes, speakers touched on the underlying topics that shaped the events affecting the Asian community. Subjects included voter suppression, gun violence and Americas mainstream media perception of China.

All throughout Georgia, all throughout this nation, it is time for us to have each other's back, Johnson said.

Protesters called for unity among minority communities after a year of protests covering the Black Lives Matter movement and the #StopAsianHate movement. Another protest was held in Atlanta on Saturday as a gesture of unity.

Safety concerns

Community organizer Long Tran was one of the speakers who came from Atlanta. He began organizing in 1995, 13 years after the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin. The two men who were responsible for the murder were fined $3,000 each and didnt serve jail time.

So for $3,000, you could kill a Chinese man  that was the message in the 80s, Tran said.

Tran highlighted the white privilege involved in Chins murder and compared it to the March 16 mass shootings that took place at three spas in Atlanta. As Tran finalized his speech, he reminded the younger audience members to remember the power they hold as voting members of society.

Michelle Kang, Korean American Constituency Director of the Asian American Action Fund of Georgia, is a University of Georgia alumna, and so is one of her daughters. Her other daughter will be attending college this fall, and Kang said she is concerned for her safety.

My daughter went here. I was never concerned about her safety because she lived off campus. Now I have another daughter to go to college this year this August. I'm very concerned about her safety. Will she be safe? Kang said.

After Kangs speech, the crowd marched to City Hall from the Arch. A new set of speakers were introduced. Among them, Chair of the Georgia Advancing Progress Political Action Committee, Cam Ashling.

We have to vote out racism. If we don't, it will keep coming up. And the people who prop it up will stay in power to use it and pin our communities against each other, Ashling said.

Gun violence and reform

Ashling said one of the issues in the Atlanta spa shootings was gun control. Robert Aaron Long purchased a gun on the same day he used it to kill eight people, six of whom were Asian women.

With Georgias current gun laws, there is no waiting period to purchase a gun and private weapon sellers are not required to do a background check on licensed gun owners.

In Georgia, you cannot go register to vote and vote in the same day, but you can sure as heck go get a gun and just kill everybody in the same day, Ashling said.

Emma Jones is the leader for the local Moms Demand Action group that advocates for gun reform. Jones also spoke about the effects of gun violence.

We know that white supremacy racist and misogyny are a toxic mix, and they turn swiftly deadly when we add guns, Jones said.

China in the media

Anne Belocura is a member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation who spoke about how the medias depiction of China affects how Asian-Americans are viewed in society.

She said Trump weaponized the virus and didnt take action which resulted in 400,000 deaths due to COVID-19 under his administration. Since Bidens inauguration, approximately 155,000 deaths have occurred. Belocura suggested that mainstream medias coverage of China, while the U.S. government chose not to do anything about COVID-19, led to a rise of Anti-Asian sentiments.

Another issue brought forth by the Atlanta spa mass shooting is the hypersexualization of Asian women.

It's a form of racism that dehumanizes Black women, Asian women and ultimately, all women. It's the idea that the presence and existence of women is inherently sexual and deviant, Belocura said.

In an interview after the protest, Tran, Ashling and Kang spoke to The Red & Black about Asian cultural beliefs that need to be fought against. Staying quiet, being respectful and minimizing trouble are part of our culture, said Tran, who is Vietnamese.

Part of the fact that when immigrants come over, they don't want to have another reason for somebody else to target them, and speaking up politically puts another target on you in case somebody wants to hurt you, Ashling said.

The push for further unity, reform and awareness was heard at the Arch today as community members continue to organize rallies and marches.
Vatican City: Christianitys most joyous feast day was celebrated worldwide with the faithful spaced apart in pews and singing choruses of Hallelujah through masks on a second Easter Sunday marked by pandemic precautions.

From vast Roman Catholic cathedrals to Protestant churches, worshippers followed regulations on the coronavirus. In some European countries, citizens lined up on Easter for their turn to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

In Israel, travel restrictions and quarantine regulations prevented foreign pilgrims from flocking to religious sites in the contested Old City of Jerusalem during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter celebrations.

Deserted last year for the first time in six centuries after the pandemic hit, the Church of the Holy Sephulchre was attended by dozens of clergymen and worshippers, a turnout enabled by an Israeli vaccination campaign - the fastest in the world - that has driven down infections.
As rupee plunges, Govt. takes urgent measures to protect foreign reserves and stabilise rupee By Damith Wickremasekara View(s): View(s):

As the Sri Lanka rupee hit the 200-mark in relation to the US Dollar this week for the first time, urgent measures to protect foreign reserves and stabilise the rupee will include delays in payments due on Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs)  a debt denominated in US dollars by the government, until next year and to differ the repayment of foreign currency loans taken by local private banks, the Treasury and the Central Bank have decided.

A senior Treasury official said the moves would help the government to repay foreign loans and meet commitments for International Sovereign Bonds  debt securities issued by the government to raise capital for spending needs. For this year, the total repayments due account for about US$ 4.1 billion.

He said the government was planning to arrange for long-term flexible loans which would serve as another measure.

Among the repayments due is a government commitment to make US$ one billion as a Sovereign Bond payment.

Sri Lanka Development Bond Returns are totally tax free in Sri Lanka, enjoy higher returns than that of a standard deposit and do not involve exchange rate risk.

Those eligible to invest are citizens of foreign states whether resident in Sri Lanka or outside Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka citizens who have made their permanent abode outside Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka citizens who have gone overseas for employment or to set up business or in a profession and Sri Lanka citizens who have dual citizenship provided that those citizens substantiate that their permanent place of abode is outside Sri Lanka.

For Board of Investment companies, SLDB investment should be from their export income while companies registered under the Regulation of Insurance Industry Ac, investment should be from funds from their Special Foreign Currency Accounts.

The moves come in the wake of the countrys Foreign Reserves dropping to US$ 4.5 billion.

The SLDB auction raised USD 24.82 million. At the auction, maturities offered varied from 1 year 2 months to 4 years 2 months at a fixed rate of 6.69 percent to 6.82 percent.

Finance Ministry sources said the next few months were crucial in maintaining the foreign reserves and protecting the rupee deprecating even further against the US dollar.

The Sri Lankan rupee was last quoted at 199 against the US dollar on Friday.

In view of the depleting foreign reserves the Central Bank has refrained from intervening to stabilise the rupee. Instead, it will be looking at further improving exports and increasing remittance while awaiting investments through the Port City project. The Government gazetted the Colombo Port City as a Single Window Investment Facilitator last week and declared it as a Special Economic Zone.
Guwahati: Campaigning for the last phase of elections in Assam coming to an end on Sunday (April 4). Both BJP and Congress alliances are conducting massive campaigns to reach out to maximum voters.

For NDA, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is holding three election rallies, while incumbent Chief Minister Sarbanada Sonowal is scheduled to hold six rallies to cover as many constituencies as possible.

BJP leaders campaigning in the state claimed that they reached the magic number to form the government in the first two phases and with the voting in the last phase they will form the government in Assam with a thumping majority, according to news agency ANI.

The Mahajot has also intensified its efforts on the last day of campaigning. All India United Democratic Front chief Badruddin Ajmal`s son Abdur Rahim claimed that the next government in the state will be formed by the "dadhi, topi, lungiwallah" people.

In reply, BJPs Dilip Sakia called Rahim a Burbak (fool) and said, "He doesn`t know anything about Assam politics. We are going to form the NDA government. He also claimed that BJP and NDA have made significant gains in upper Assam and middle Assam elections in the first and second phases of voting".

The statistics and voting percentage of the last election show it is crucial for BJP-led NDA and also for Congress-led Mahajot, as in the 2016 assembly election, Congress and AIUDF fought separately.

While Congress got 30.9 per cent of the vote share, AIUDF got 13 per cent of the vote share, BJP had 29.5 per cent and its allies AGP and BPF got 8.1 and 3.9 per cent of the votes.

Total 337 candidates are in the fray in the last phase of elections in Assam. Polling for the third and final phase will be held on April 6 and the counting of votes will take place on May 2.

(With inputs from ANI)

Live TV
Louth student Darragh Cunningham was presented with a Memorial Scholarship award by Dublin City University at a virtual ceremony.

Darragh was among 22 students who received awards named in honour of 14 individuals who have played a key role in the life of DCU and in Irish society.

Darragh, a former student of Bush Post Primary School in Dundalk and a current first year Biomedical Engineering student at

DCU, was presented with the Ger McDonnell Memorial Scholarship.

This scholarship honours the memory of Ger McDonnell, a graduate of the DCU School of Engineering and the first Irish person to scale K2 when he reached the summit on August 1st 2008.

The Ger McDonnell Memorial Scholarship was created by Gers friends and family in his memory, and supports a student studying engineering at DCU.

DCU Educational Trust CEO Joe Quinsey, speaking at the event, said: This year we have awarded scholarships to 22 students whose talent and dedication are a tribute to those remembered through memorial scholarships at DCU.

"Ger McDonnell shone brightly in his own life and made a significant mark on society, so it is fitting that his legacy will be honoured and live on in a bright and gifted scholarship recipient like Darragh Cunningham.

Darragh and the other scholarship recipients were selected based on their talent and dedication but also according to specific criteria set by scholarship donors.


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NEW DELHI  At least 23 Indian security forces were killed in an ambush by Maoist militants in the central state of Chattisgarh, officials said on Sunday, reviving concerns around a decades-old insurgency that appeared to have been largely contained in recent years.

A large force of Indian security personnel had been carrying out a clearance operation in a densely forested area on the edges of the Bijapur district when they were ambushed by the insurgents on Saturday in a firefight that lasted four hours.

Avinash Mishra, the deputy superintendent of police in Bijapur, said an additional 31 security personnel had been wounded in the attack.

He said that the militants, often referred to as Naxalites, had also suffered heavy casualties, adding that one insurgents body remained at the site while the rest were cleared by tractors. Mr. Mishra said the insurgents had managed to seize the dead soldiers weapons.
The department does, however, need to institutionalize internal processes to ensure accountability and transparency with the public. She has instituted a routine use of force review process and is reviewing the departments policies and procedures.

The department also needs to embrace a mindfulness approach that helps officers deal with the stress and trauma of their jobs. The killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, she said, is a prime example of the dark places that police officers can go, losing empathy and respect for life. She expressed outrage at the conduct of former officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyds neck for more than 9 minutes while he begged for his life.

Police training and culture, she said, has traditionally not emphasized the kind of resiliency and mindfulness by officers that might head off such callous conduct. That must change.

The department must also become more diverse, embracing women and minorities in larger numbers.

On a more short-term level, she said it is clear that the department needs to rebuild its capability to do traffic enforcement. Although law enforcement is only a portion of a successful strategy to curb speeding and other bad behavior, she said, the department needs to rebuild its motorcycle unit, which is down to just one officer.
(Natural News) Watch out, as the joker argues with the fool over your life and livelihood. Senator Rand Paul is arguing with Fraudulent Fauci over whether Americans should be able to remove the masks once theyre vaccinated, but its all a big trick. Its coercion. Its compelling Americans to act in an involuntary manner by use of threats that involve enforcing actions that violate the free will of a populace. The desired response is that you get vaccinated with mRNA, a dirty vaccine series that has the ability to SHUT DOWN your immune system. Your body, with the flip of a switch (DNA modification mechanisms), will no longer be able to fight off cancer or mutated, more virulent versions of Covid-19.

Thats the end game folks, as you see politicians and their evil cohorts fight like fake wrestling professionals, laughing behind closed doors as everyone buys in and gets their ticket for the next show. Only the theme of the show isnt fake fighting in a ring for a gold-plated belt and Hollywood notoriety, but rather its depopulation by vaccination.

CDC data suggests vaccinated people do not carry Covid-19

Need we warn you of another trick? Smoke and mirrors folks. Can you guess which shell is the ball under? Care to wage your entire livelihood on the roulette wheel of health? Its more like Russian roulette when you get jabbed with the Bill Gates inoculation series. This is the billionaire who hates Blacks and tries to eradicate them from Earth, then brags about it at conventions where his rich White elitist cohorts decide how much they want to invest in his genocidal Ponzi scheme.

Heres Senator Rand Paul clashing with Fraudulent Fauci via social media. Youve been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show. You cant get it again. Then later, Dr. Fauci, great news! T-cell immunity after natural infection shown to include variants. Do we still need to wear multiple masks after weve recovered or been vaccinated?

Senator Paul continues on his coercion rant at a hearing, Theres virtually zero percent chance youre going to get it and youre telling people that have had the vaccine who have immunity  Youre defying everything we know about immunity by telling people to wear masks who have been vaccinated.

The goal is to brainwash all Americans that the Covid-19 vaccine series actually works for immunity

You see, this is called catch and release. Paul tricks everyone by making the assumption first that the vaccine actually works, then makes his point about masks, but wait a second. This is psychology at work. The vaccines havent been proven to work at all, were rushed to market without proper (or any) clinical trials, and are being manufactured by convicted crooks and felons in the Big Pharma Ring. See, the goal is to brainwash all Americans that the vaccine actually works, and your only concern now is whether you still have to wear your stupid, worthless, brain-damaging mask everywhere you go.

This is why Faucci always flip-flops on his advice. Its called cognitive dissonance. He gets Americans talking, a little disturbed, arguing, fussing over whether or not we need to social distance, mask up, stop hugging, close our businesses, and meanwhile, everyone gets injected with mRNA that can literally SHUT DOWN the human immune system entirely. Its the perfect evil formula for world population reduction. Thats why Pfizer is marketing the vaccine to female preteens and teens. Can you see it now?

Dont fall for the vaccine equals mask off trick

Use your common sense and judgment. Dont fall for the mask charade. Your real choice to be made is whether or not to get injected with dirty vaccines made by criminals who want to control your immune system. Remember, the vaccine court has already shelled out over $4 billion in damages for people (including children, infants and babies in the womb) who have been maimed for life or killed by vaccines, including jabs made by the criminals selling the Covid-19 jabs now.

Rand Paul is right about one thing  theres no reason to be walking around with a mask. Now whether or not Mr. Paul knows that the mRNA jabs are lethal and planned for depopulation and sterilization is irrelevant, because they are.

Bottom line: Telling Americans they can take their mask off once vaccinated is coercion, as the dirty mRNA vaccine series sets you up as victim of an insidious depopulation scheme. Stay tuned to the Pandemic.news frequency for updates on deaths from the Covid-19 vaccines. Weve already crossed the 2,000 person threshold, and Americans are dying every day from the very vehicle theyve been coerced into believing saves them.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

NaturalNews.com

pandemic.news
NEW YORK, April 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Butadiene market will register an incremental spend of about USD 7.79 Billion, growing at a CAGR of 2.88% during the five-year forecast period. A targeted strategic approach to Butadiene 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:

Butadiene 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 Butadiene market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Butadiene 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 Butadiene 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 Butadiene suppliers listed in this report:

This Butadiene procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc

DuPont de Nemours Inc.

LyondellBasell Industries Holdings B.V.

BASF SE

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.

Repsol SA

Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd.

China Petrochemical Corp. (SINOPEC)

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

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A man was arrested in downtown Portland after he threatened park rangers with a small axe and shot a random passerby with a paintball gun Saturday morning, according to police.

Park rangers were distributing flyers about some restoration work near Chapman Square Park around 9 a.m. when they approached the suspect, later identified as 32-year-old Randy Graves.

Rangers told police Graves threatened to kill them and followed them as they tried to disengage.

About 45 minutes later, a different group of park rangers were called about a fire in the park. When they got to the scene, police said Graves pulled out a small axe and threatened the rangers.

Around 10 a.m., a man walked into the downtown precinct and told officers that he had just just been shot with a paintball gun as he was riding a bicycle through the park, which the park rangers said they also witnessed.

Graves was located by police a short time later and officers took him into custody. He was found to be in possession of a paintball gun, an axe and a stun gun, police said.

Graves being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center on suspicion of menacing, assault and disorderly conduct, among other charges.

-- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale
A plane full of young people crashes violently against the snow-capped peaks of the Andes mountain range while one of them is heard praying the Hail Mary hoping to survive the accident. This is one of the most iconic scenes from the Live! Movie. by Franck Marshall ; a film that any Latin American has seen at least once and that he remembers as one of the most inspiring works on human resilience and the power of faith.

However, for Carlitos Paez , a proud lecturer who gives talks on motivation and teamwork all over the world, this scene portrays one of his hardest moments since in real life he was the young man who was praying while the flight 571 of the Uruguayan Air Force was rushing uncontrollably into the snowy desert of the mountains.

We star in a 70-day story. An enormity. It is enough time to get married, get married and get divorced, "says Carlitos smiling, who at 65 years old visited Mexico City to tell how the experience of the " Miracle of the Andes " - as many know his story and that of his companions- it was actually a constant struggle against "No".

Carlitios Paez in 1972 and now / Courtesy Viven.com.uy and Carlitos Paez

The odyssey went like this: on October 13, 1973, the Fairchild Hiller FH-227 military plane crossed the mountain range with 40 passengers and five crew members carrying the Old Christians rugby team. A navigation error by the pilot caused the aircraft to crash on one of the cliffs of the mountain range in Mendoza (Argentina). The plane was trapped in the so-called Tear Glacier after the impact of the collision, as well as the detachment of several seats, left only 27 survivors facing temperatures of up to 42  C below zero.

Marcelo Perez, the captain of the rugby team, took the role of leader to organize the young people to condition what was left of the plane's fuselage to function as a shelter and to ration the very little food they had while awaiting rescue. However, eight days after the accident, the survivors heard on a small radio that the Chilean and Uruguayan authorities had decided to suspend the search missions.

What little food they had soon ran out, and on the Glacier of Tears there were no animals or vegetation that could be served. It was then that, 10 days after having eaten, the group made the decision to feed on the bodies of the deceased that had been frozen by the perpetual snow of the mountains.

The process of making the decision to feed on our dead companions was much less lengthy than people think. We had lived 10 days without eating anything at all and we faced the sad reality of knowing that they were not looking for us anymore, says Paez.

Sixteen days after the plane crashed, an avalanche buried the survivors, claiming the lives of eight people, including that of Captain Marcelo Perez. During the following weeks, three more young men would die from infections in their wounds, while the strongest young people in the group (including Carlitos) would make several expedition attempts to find a way out of the mountains.

Finally, on December 12, 1972, Nando Parrado, Roberto Canessa and Antonio Vizintin would go out in the final search for the exit of the Andes. On the third day of the hike and after encountering a desolate landscape of kilometers and kilometers of mountains, Vizintin would return to the fuselage to allow Canessa and Parrado to continue with their supplies.

The two young men walked for 10 days until they were able to come down from the mountains and meet a muleteer named Sergio Catalan who would finally help them get help to rescue the rest of the survivors.

Outside the plane in the mountain range / Courtesy Viven.com.uy

Thus, on December 22, the 14 remaining survivors finally returned home after spending 72 days in the most frozen of hell.

These 16 resurrected people surprised the world by surviving for two months on little food. The explanations must be sought in a field other than medicine and science. We have no logical explanation and the answer to its survival escapes any existing criteria. And if I were not a doctor, I would have to be obliged to believe in a miracle, said Dr. Eduardo Arragada, the doctor who provided the first care to the survivors.

We talked with Carlitos about what it was like to live in the Andes for those three months, making brutal decisions to return home and the importance of leadership over oneself to work as a team.

On the importance of attitude in the face of adversity

Entrepreneur en Espanol (ENT): You often say that his story was a constant struggle against "No". Can you explain us a little more?

Carlitos Paez (CP): It is a story whose great merit was saying Yes to No, and that was thanks to a group attitude. We received big "No" in the Andes: the accident itself, receiving the news that they were no longer looking for us, making the decision to feed on our dead comrades, finding the tail of the plane and not being able to make the radio work ... In our history the The big constant was "No", but we always said "Yes." I think the big theme of our story was attitude.

On the importance of true teamwork

ENT: How difficult was it to get everyone to work at the same level?

CP: We didn't even know the concept of teamwork, but the human being is designed to do it and we put it into practice. Of course not everyone worked together and there were some who did nothing, but those who matter are the ones who did do something to get ahead.

On how to deal with crises

ENT: In the 1993 film they put a sequence where the actor who plays you prayed the Hail Mary, this to show how long the fall really was. What do you think at a time like that?

CP: All of us who get on a plane think it is going to fall, but when it falls we say 'This can't be happening to me'. It was a Hail Mary that I prayed as fast as I could, but you have to remember how long that prayer is and while I was praying, many things were happening: the plane broke in the middle, the cold began to get in, the shouting in a more absolute chaos and then fell into the most absolute silence when the engines were turned off and we began to slide through the snow.

ENT: How was that first moment that frozen hell? How did they decide that they should be activated?

CP: We come from a country (Uruguay) where there is no snow. The first thing we did was look for the pilot. We went to the cockpit and saw the dead captain and the copilot was dying. The mechanic was left, but he was a bit stunned, and with him we tried to get as much information as possible. However, in a short time we already knew more about mechanics than he did.

There began the fight to get out. First, because two planes passed above us that we thought had seen us and then when we heard the news on the radio that they were no longer looking for us. That was the most crucial moment of the odyssey because it gave us the strength to understand that from then on we depended on ourselves and not on outsiders to survive.

ENT: In your book you tell how a friend of yours was the one who precisely told you that now it was your turn to save yourselves ...

CP: Gustavo Nicolich - who later died in the avalanche - told me: 'Carlitos, I have good news to give you: I just heard on the Chilean radio that they are not looking for us anymore.' I said 'How good news, son of the great ...?!' and he replied: 'This is good news because now we depend on ourselves and not on outsiders.'

If I think about 47 years later, I realize that that was the moment when we realized where we were standing and that we had to call on our own resources to save ourselves. It was when we stopped waiting and started acting.

On tolerance for frustration

ENT: If you could say something to the young Carlitos from that Friday the 13th who is about to get on the Fairchild, what would you say to him?

CP: That Carlitos was transformed throughout history. The truth is that I was useless. I had a babysitter and breakfast in bed. I was transforming myself and, personally, I am grateful for having lived that story. I give 100 lectures a year and try to help companies understand teamwork, tolerance for frustration, and strength in the face of extreme change.

According to National Geographic , the "Miracle of the Andes" is the most impressive story of survival starring ordinary people of all time. For example, to climb Everest there is a waiting list. It's a matter of determination: I want to, I train, I do it. But in our case we couldn't prepare.

We did not know how to move in the snow or at the height of the mountain (the maximum height in Uruguay is 500 meters). Remember that we were dressed in jeans and loafers at almost 30 degrees below zero. Also, sinking into virgin snow that has never been stepped on. The truth was very difficult to live like this.

Before the accident / Courtesy Viven.com.uy

ENT: You just mention a very important point: tolerance for frustration. How do you do that in a circumstance like the one they lived in the Andes?

CP: It was a purely group issue. When you fell, the others lifted you up. It was my turn to be shown the way and it was my turn to show it to someone else. This is how groups work best. You are not always on top.

About making tough decisions

ENT: What is the decision-making process like in a crisis situation like this? Is there "paralysis by analysis"?

CP: We realized that we had the most sacred of rights, which was to return home to our family. A sacred right. The hunger you have in civilization is not the same as the one you feel in such a crisis.

ENT: That wasn't the only difficult decision they had to make in the mountain range, was it?

CP: No, we make thousands of decisions and many are wrong. But like I say, it doesn't matter if you make a wrong decision if you have passion and attitude. An error serves the same as a triumph.

ENT: Precisely, how do you move forward when you make a wrong decision?

CP: It happened to us. We made the decision to go the wrong route. We did not know that we were 10 kilometers from the Argentine side of the mountain range and we went to the opposite side, the Chilean.

On what is found in crises

ENT: Have you ever felt that what was lived in the mountain does not apply outside of it?

CP: For me, God was very present in the Andes. Later in civilization, no. They were moments of enormous purity that I would love to experience again. Years later I returned to the mountains convinced that I was going to experience them again, but it was not the same.

About motivation

ENT: How important was the family to get out of the mountain range?

CP: Very important. Our goal was never to have 20 movies made or 36 books written with our history. No, we fight over simpler things: to go home to Mom and Dad. The scale of values is put in its proper measure in extreme situations.

Survivors at the time of rescue / Courtesy Viven.com.uy

ENT: I have read the book that your father, the painter Carlos Paez Vilaro, wrote about how he lived those 70 days in which you were lost ( Between my son and I, the Moon ). He was one of the people who never stopped looking because he never believed you were dead.

CP: Yes, I spent more than two months without seeing my father, but I knew that the logical thing was that he was fine. The problem was for him and my mother because they didn't know what had happened to me. I felt him very close all the time.

The title was taken over by Dad because that link was with my mother. When I got home I told my mom that I always saw the moon from the mountain range because I thought she was probably looking at it too. And she told me that during that time, she would go out for a walk to the promenade to see the Moon thinking that I was seeing it.

ENT: You had your birthday in the Andes ...

CP: I turned 19 years old at an altitude of 4,200 meters under an avalanche. Curiously, my father is one day after me, on November 1. We were buried for three days to get out of the avalanche and that day we succeeded.

On true leadership

ENT: How important is leadership in this story?

CP: Those who do not lead are left alone, but you have to understand that there are times when you have to lead and others follow someone else. In our history it was like this: there were leaders for certain things. It was my turn to live this story that seems wonderful to me, remembering those who accompanied us and had to leave, but which shows the power of individual effort to make teamwork succeed.



Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
LGIM has said the initial focus would be on carbon-heavy sectors where changes are needed in order to hit targets set by the Paris Agreement. Aviation, cement, shipping and steel will be on the block. Photo: Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Legal & General's (LGEN.L) investment arm (LGIM) has said companies should give the City a say on their plans to tackle climate change.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, the financial services firm has said it wants advisory shareholder votes on proposals to reach net-zero. This would make carbon-friendly initiatives a hot topic at annual meetings.

LGIM has said the initial focus would be on carbon-heavy sectors where changes are needed in order to hit targets set by the Paris Agreement. Aviation, cement, shipping and steel will be on the block.

Only a handful of FTSE 100 (^FTSE) companies have volunteered to give investors a say in these initiatives  pressure from LGIM, one of the most powerful investors in the London market, could make a big difference.

Pressure is growing on big companies to do the right thing. Activist groups such as Follow This already champion shareholder action in terms of pressuring firms to make changes towards a greener future. Follow This is more geared towards putting pressure on oil and energy companies to change than FTSE companies in general.

LGIM named the National Grid (NG.L) as an example of a company that had embraced the idea, as it plans to put its climate change plan to a vote next year at its AGM. It has also said it will provide a yearly update on progress. The company is aiming to cut emissions by 80% by 2030 and 90% by 2040. Net-zero is planned for 2050.

READ MORE: DAVOS 2021: Carney hails 'tipping point' in fight against climate crisis

Governments and companies have been under fierce scrutiny in recent years to improve their position as the earth heats up.

A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) in November found that the UK government has not yet delivered the scale of investment needed to ensure a low-carbon future. The research showed that over the course of this parliament the government has committed to investing just 12% of what is needed to meet their net zero emissions target.

Story continues

The think tank estimated that 33bn ($43.4bn) a year in additional annual investment is needed to meet the net zero target, but only around 4bn annually has so far been committed.

Watch: What is inflation and why is it important?
China to work with ASEAN on promoting peace talks in Myanmar: Chinese FM

Xinhua) 11:04, April 04, 2021

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.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2021) The half-brother of King Abdullah II of Jordan, former crown prince Hamzah bin Al-Hussein, says he is under house arrest and has been forbidden to communicate with people outside of his home.

"I had a visit from the 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," Prince Hamzah said in a video recorded on Saturday and circulated by British and Arabic media.

Prince Hamzah said he was able to post the video, recorded in English, thanks to satellite internet which had not been cut off yet at his home where he is alone with his wife and young children.

"My security has been removed, and the internet and phone lines have been cut, this is my last form of communication, satellite internet, and I have been informed by the company that they had been instructed to cut it, so this may be the last time I am able to communicate," Prince Hamzah said.

He said a number of his friends, people he knows, have been arrested, but stressed that he himself was not being accused of making criticism against Jordan's ruling structures. Nonetheless, Prince Hamzah went on to accuse the government of corruption.

"I am making this recording to make it clear that I am not part of any conspiracy or an affairious organization or foreign pact group as is always the claim here for anyone who speaks out," he said, adding "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 by the year. And I am not responsible for the lack of faith people have in their institutions."

State media reported citing Jordan's armed forces on Saturday that former Jordanian crown prince Hamzah was told to halt actions undermining national security. Maj. Gen. Yousef Huneiti, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces, was quoted as saying by the Petra news agency that King Abdullah's half-brother was asked to cease "movements and activities that are used to target" the security and stability of Jordan.

Petra reported earlier that Hassan bin Zaid, another member of the royal family, and the king's confidant Basem Ibrahim Awadallah had been arrested for security reasons. However, Huneiti denied that Prince Hamzah had been arrested.

Hamzah was named crown prince of Jordan in 1999, but at the time of his father's, King Hussein's, death it was Hamzah's half-brother, King Abdullah, who took the throne. King Abdullah stripped Hamzah of the title of crown prince in 2004.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  In West Michigan and beyond, its an all-too-common occurrence: Patients suffering from depression or other mental health issues need to be hospitalized at an in-patient psychiatric unit, but there arent enough beds available.

Dr. Matthew Biersack, interim president and chief medical officer at Mercy Health Saint Marys, has seen the issue play out firsthand.

He said his hospitals 28-bed inpatient psychiatric unit is at or near capacity every day. The shortage means some patients experiencing a behavioral health crisis wind up at the emergency room, or have to be treated at a psychiatric hospital elsewhere in the state because theres not an open bed in Kent County.

Anyone whos involved in medical or behavioral health care knows all too well that theres an incredible need for behavioral health services and in-patient services in particular, Biersack said.

In an effort to meet that demand, Mercy is partnering with Havenwyck Hospital to build a 60-bed psychiatric hospital near Mercys southwest campus in Byron Township. The two health care providers plan to operate the hospital, expected to cost between $21 and $40 million, as a joint venture.

Last week, Mercy and Havenwyck announced that they had received initial approval for a state certificate of need, which is required to build the hospital. Once a final decision is made on the certificate of need, Mercy and Havenwyck would finalize their joint partnership agreement.

Pending final approval, construction of the new hospital would start yet this year, with the facility slated to open in spring 2023, according to a news release.

The proposed two-story hospital would provide another place to care for residents suffering from depression, anxiety, substance abuse issues, and who need to be hospitalized because they are a danger to themselves or others.

Officials with Mercy and Havenwyck and other behavioral health experts say theres long been a need for more in-patient psychiatric beds. However, demand has increased because of factors such as unemployment, isolation and economic distress related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Right now, given what were seeing related to stress and anxiety and peoples mental health, were hearing anecdotally that there is increased demand, said Dr. Debra Pinals, medical director of behavioral health and forensic programs at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).

Were hearing that the access has been somewhat limited for a variety of reasons partially related to some of the impacts of COVID. But also, just to try and address the demand for people with complex conditions has been hard.

Related: Families struggle as psych beds disappear from hospitals

The proposed Mercy and Havenwyck Hospital would have 60 adult inpatient beds, a 24-bed geriatric psychiatric unit, partial hospitalization services and crisis management services, according to a news release. While the facility was approved for 60 beds, it has capacity for up to 96 beds.

Havenwyck Hospital is an affiliate of Universal Health Services (UHS), a for-profit company that describes itself as one of the largest hospital and healthcare providers in the nation. The company operates Forest View Psychiatric Hospital, a 108-bed inpatient psychiatric hospital in Grand Rapids Township.

Diane Henneman, divisional vice president of behavioral health at UHS, said demand for behavioral health care and substance abuse treatments is at a higher level than we have probably seen in the past 10 years.

The number of patients were unable to serve because were at capacity is growing on a daily basis, she said.

There are 310 licensed in-patient adult psychiatric beds in Allegan, Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mason, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana and Ottawa counties, according to data compiled by MDHHS. That same data shows theres a need in the region for 60 additional beds, the same number the proposed Mercy and Havenwyck hospital would provide.

The shortage of in-patient psychiatric beds has been felt by Network 180, Kent Countys community mental health authority.

Bill Ward, the organizations executive director, said theres always a need for in-patient beds, and that his agency has to send patients all over the state because in-patient care was unavailable locally. He wasnt immediately able to say how many patients were in such a situation currently.

My philosophy is anytime I can keep a Kent County resident in Kent County, thats better for their care, their outcome and their placement back into the community, said Ward, whose agency provides care to residents who are on Medicaid or are uninsured.

Oftentimes the emergency room, and not a psychiatric hospital, is the first stop for a resident experiencing a mental health crisis.

Biersack, the interim president of at Mercy Health Saint Marys, said his hospital treats behavioral health emergencies in our emergency room on a daily basis.

Having more beds in the region will mean those individuals could bypass the emergency room altogether or more quickly be transferred to an open bed at a psychiatric hospital, he said.

Emergency rooms are designed to stabilize and make decisions about the next appropriate site of care, Biersack said. Theyre not designed to provide comprehensive behavioral health services. We would prefer the patients be treated at the site thats most specialized and has the most expertise.

Read more:

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Im grateful to have such helpful neighbors as Ysanne Edwards and her husband Mike. Nevertheless, neighbors like Ysanne fill me with a healthy fear of April Fools Day.

As the famed prank day neared, she texted to ask, Can we borrow your patio heater?

Sure, but since were in Honduras, youll need to call me so I can tell you how to unlock it.

What? she asked, surprised by the need to secure it in our gated community.

Quarantine has put these things in hot demand.

A few minutes later, her follow-up text caught me completely off guard.

Its not there. Your heater is missing.

My first thought was, If this is a joke, its not funny.

Im guessing those were very near the words of two women on that first Easter morning.

Luke records their names as Mary and Mary Magdalene, and they went to the cemetery carrying burial spices to anoint Jesus body.

They located Jesus tomb but were astounded to see the heavy stone sealing the entrance had been pushed aside like a ball of cotton.

Officials had earlier placed the stone to prevent Jesus supporters from stealing his body and claiming he was resurrected.

The women bravely ventured inside the tomb and found only the shell of his burial clothing.

Was this a sick prank? Mary may have thought. They have taken my Lord away, and I dont know where they have put him.

These two were practical women, not given to superstitions. Surely they calculated the odds of Jesus exhuming himself as nil, nonexistent.

If finding Jesus body missing wasnt bad enough, they must have been terrified to meet the intruders: two men cascaded in light.

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Why are you looking for the living among the dead? the men asked.

The women suddenly realized that Jesus was risen. They fell to the ground in reverence, now seeing the trick that was played against the evil that conspired to kill Jesus.

Then, as if gently scolding the women for pointlessly searching for the living in a dead zone, the two glowing guys reminded the women of Jesus promise to return three days after he died.

The women ran off to bring word to Jesus other followers, who also wondered if this was a prank.

Now, 2,000 years later, we all must consider the same question.

Was this some kind of prank?

I believe it to be true, of course. But why? you ask.

Like for many of you, the resurrection testifies to an afterlife where I will one day see my father, my brother, my best friend. Its a place I will resolve my wrongs and see my pains healed.

But my belief is also based on the practical observations of the here-and-now, more than it is on the by-and-by of someday.

For instance, while serving as a young pastor, I saw miracles of restoration. I celebrated the reunifying of broken families and saw marriages reborn. I was first-hand witness to the power of forgiveness offered by a congregation.

As a health care chaplain, I saw the miracle of a child resuscitated from the bottom of a pond. I sat with hospice patients as they described a world far beyond mine.

As a military chaplain, I saw resilience rebound when soldiers were pulled from the battlefield and returned to duty. I sat with many commanders who made selfless and brave decisions.

Resurrection power is all around us. Open your heart. Its no joke, no scam. The resurrection remains the ultimate prank played against evil in all of time.

As for my neighbor, Im hoping to have the last word.

When she finally admitted that she was pranking me, I waited 30 minutes and texted her. Too late. Ive called security and they are coming over to talk to you.

Two can play that game, even though my odds of winning her game are indeed nil, nonexistent.
Almighty God,

who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death

and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:

Grant that we,

who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection,

may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God,

now and for ever.

Amen.
Update, 3.15pm Power is not expected to be restored to 115 properties in Katikati until 5pm following a vehicle striking a power pole earlier today.

Power was restored to properties in Bowentown and Waihi Beach earlier this afternoon.

A car collided with a power pole at Ongare Point Rd, Tahawai at around 6.55am.

Police report that the occupant of the vehicle made their own way home following the crash and didn't require medical attention.

Update, 10am: There is a power outage at Katikati, Bowentown and Waihi Beach following a vehicle striking a power pole this morning.

Police report that emergency services were called to Ongare Point Rd, Tahawai following a car colliding with a power pole.

The collision occured at around 6.55am.

"It appears the occupant of the vehicle made their own way home, and did not require medical attention," says a Police spokesperson.

Power is expected to be restored by 12.30pm.

Earlier, 8.30am: Many properties at Katikati, Bowentown and Waihi Beach are experiencing a power outage.

Power was cut to 115 properties in Katikati at 7.17am due to a vehicle striking a power pole.

At 7.20am power was cut to 914 properties at Waihi Beach, including Bowentown. A site investigation is underway.

Power is expected to be restored by 12.30pm.
New Delhi:

The miscreants, who were planning to kidnap a mining trader for ransom, were arrested by police after an encounter in Uttar Pradeshs Ghazipur district on Sunday late night.

Ankit Gupta, who hails from Munshi Pulia in Lucknow, is a renowned mining trader. The miscreants motive was to kidnap the trader and demand for huge ransom.

But the police foiled their plan. The miscreants opened fire on them which left them with no other option instead of retaliating.

All the six miscreants were arrested by the police out of which one was seriously injured.

The police had recovered one revolver and five guns from them.

ALSO READ: Delhi Police arrests most wanted criminal Sonu Dariyapur from Narela
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
CSE to ease rules to attract SOE debentures on individual merit View(s):

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has set out guidelines to help state-owned enterprises (SOE) to go public with their debentures.

This will be adopted on a case by case basis to help SOEs to raise capital through debentures, Viraj Dayaratna, Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) told the Business Times on Friday. He explained that if an entity fails to meet certain requirements of the CSE when listing debentures, selected alternative criteria to meet them have been set through certain guidelines.

There are many SOEs interested in listing debentures after this tweak was made, according to industry sources.

At the onset the SEC and the CSE had thought of relaxing the rules to onboard SOE debentures but thought otherwise as those with bad records and irreparable situations can find loopholes to raise cash anyway.

The CSE has approved an application by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to issue Senior Unsecured Listed Redeemable Rated Debentures at an Issue Price of Rs. 100 amounting to a potential capital raising of up to Rs. 20 billion, a CSE media release said.

Commenting on the development, CSE CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike stated, We welcome other state institutions to strongly consider the

Sri Lankan stock market as a vehicle to finance growth and development. (DEC)
China's has told an Indian court that a government freeze on its bank accounts in a probe of possible tax evasion amounts to harassment and was done illegally, according to a filing seen by Reuters.

in January reduced its Indian workforce after New Delhi maintained a ban on its popular video app TikTok, imposed last year after a border clash between India and China. Beijing has repeatedly criticised India over that ban and those of other Chinese apps.

An Indian tax intelligence unit in mid-March ordered HSBC and Citibank in Mumbai to freeze bank accounts of India as it probed some of the unit's financial dealings. ByteDance has challenged the freeze on the four accounts in a Mumbai court.

None of ByteDance India's employees have been paid their March salaries due to the account freeze, said two people familiar with the matter. The company told the court it has a workforce of 1,335, including outsourced personnel.

In the 209-page court filing lodged on March 25, ByteDance told the High Court in Mumbai the authorities acted against the company without any material evidence and gave no prior notice, as required by Indian law, before such "drastic action".

Blocking accounts "during the process of investigation amounts (to) applying undue coercion," ByteDance argued. It is "intended, improperly, to harass the petitioner."

India's Directorate General of Goods & Services Tax Intelligence, and the finance ministry which oversees it, did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the weekend.

The details of the tax investigation have not previously been reported. The tax agency told ByteDance last year it had reasons to believe the company suppressed certain transactions and claimed excessive tax credits, the filing shows.

ByteDance declined to comment on its court filing but told Reuters on Tuesday it disagrees with the decision of the tax authority. HSBC declined to comment, while Citibank did not respond.

ADVERTISING, OTHER DEALS SCRUTINISED

The court declined to grant ByteDance immediate relief in a brief hearing on Wednesday. The next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

The investigation centres on potential evasion of taxes related to online advertising and other financial dealings between ByteDance India and its parent entity in Singapore, TikTok Pte Ltd. TikTok did not respond to an email seeking comment.

ByteDance told the court its India workforce includes 800 people working in its "trust and safety" team that supports activities like content moderation overseas.

The company has "robust business plans in India and is not contemplating winding up," it said, urging the court to lift the freeze on the accounts.

The tax agency started investigating the company in July. It inspected documents at the company's office and summoned and questioned at least three executives, the filing says. Authorities also asked ByteDance to submit documents, including invoices and agreements signed with some clients.

ByteDance representatives "appeared multiple times" before tax officers and provided documents, the filing says.

TikTok, one of India's most popular video apps before it was banned, has faced scrutiny around the world.

Under then-President Donald Trump, the United States alleged the app posed security concerns. The new administration of Joe Biden has paused a government lawsuit that could have resulted in a de facto ban on TikTok's use there.
Yan'an, a former revolutionary base of the Communist Party of China (CPC), located in northwest China's Shaanxi Province will be transformed into a "city of revolutionary museums," according to local authorities.

The National Cultural Heritage Administration has approved the revamp plan and the construction is slated to be completed in three years, said the Yan'an Revolutionary Commemoration Administration.

Yan'an hosted the then headquarters of the CPC and was the center of the Communist revolution from 1935 to 1948. The city is home to 445 former sites of the CPC's early revolutionary activities and boasts 30 revolution-themed museums.

Revolution-themed tourism has been booming in the city in recent years, with more than 800,000 people receiving "red education" in the past five years.

The city will enhance the protection and utilization of revolutionary relics in combination with urban and rural culture and the display of natural features, according to the plan.

"Museum is a bridge that connects history," said Xue Yaojun, with the management bureau of Yan'an Revolutionary Commemoration Administration. "We have adopted a raft of measures in recent years to enliven the red culture, which laid a solid foundation for the building of Yan'an into a city of revolutionary museums."

Yan'an will continue to develop its red tourism and cultivate the city into a "first-class" education and training base in China, Xue added.
MASON CITY, Iowa - The news of a homicide in a Mason City neighborhood has the community speaking out.

Officers responded to a report of a shooting around 10:30 Wednesday night at a residence near 3rd Street Northwest and North Jefferson Avenue. On scene, officers found a person shot; that person was taken to MercyOne North Iowa, where they later died from their injuries. The victim's name has not yet been released.

As of Monday morning, the suspect in the case, Benjamin Gonzalez, has not been arrested.

KIMT spoke with a friend of the deceased, who declined to go on camera. She describes her friend as a well-respected person who was doing good in the world.

"He was a very good guy, he was a Kansas City Chiefs fan, he was a rugby player at one time at River City Rugby. He was well involved in the community, he had children, he had a spouse, he had children and was a family man."

She's lived in the area for some time, and has noted an increase in drive-bys, fights and arguments, though law enforcement have acted quickly on each incident. With a daycare nearby, as well as kids that live in the neighborhood, she's fearful of what Wednesday's shooting could potentially lead to.

"A friend of mine lives in this building that has grandchildren over here all the time. They're always out here riding their bikes. For it to happen right here where they ride their bikes, and I've seen them out here playing, it's very scary. very scary. I don't have any young children, but I can imagine the fear that everyone has now of their kids being outside."

If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Gonzalez, you are urged to contact Mason City Police or your local law enforcement agency.
Former President Donald Trump benefited from a surge in Latino support during the November election, prompting fears among Democrats that Republicans are making inroads to this once-reliable voting bloc.

A new analysis released on Friday indicates that Latino voters flipped to Trump in a variety of geographic areas and not just in conservative-leaning districts.

Though Trump lost the election to President Joe Biden, he saw a sharp spike in support from Latino voters in places once thought to be solidly Democratic, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Clark County, Nevada; Paterson, New Jersey; and Maricopa County, Arizona.

The former president, who governed according to a nationalist platform that was hostile to illegal immigration, also saw a surge in Latino support in places like Miami and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

Former President Donald Trump (seen above at an October 10 rally in Minneapolis) received an unexpectedly high number of Latino votes in the November 3 election

A post-mortem analysis by a Democratic-aligned research firm found Trump's support among Latinos surge in several areas once thought to be reliably Democratic strongholds, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Miami-Dade County; Clark County, Nevada; and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas

The figures were released in a report issued by Equis Labs, a Democratic Party-aligned research firm. The firms findings were published first by The New York Times.

In 2020, a segment of Latino voters demonstrated that they are more swing than commonly assumed, the report stated.

In November, Trump received more Latino votes than he did in 2016, when he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton to capture the White House.

Researchers say Trump received just 18 per cent of the Latino vote in 2016.

Clinton received a record-high 79 per cent of support from Latinos, according to The Washington Post.

In 2020, however, Trump narrowed the gap significantly.

The analysis by Equis Labs found that Trump was able to siphon off Latino votes beyond the Cuban and Venezuelan expat communities who lean conservative. The image above shows an 'anticommunist caravan' in Miami on October 10

An estimated 17 million Latino voters - 30 per cent higher compared to 2016 - turned out in the general election. One in three - an unexpectedly high number - supported the former president, according to a New York Times exit poll.

Biden still took home some about two-thirds of the Latino vote in the election, but the Trump surge proved to be a wakeup call for Democrats who were banking on maintaining their dominance with this particular demographic sector.

The most dramatic shift in Latino voters came in Florida.

Biden won Miami-Dade, home to a large Cuban American community, by 7 percentage points compared with Clintons 30-point victory margin more than four years ago.

Republicans defeated two Miami-area congressional incumbents  Reps. Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

According to the Equis Labs study, a growing number of Latino voters were more concerned about economic issues - an area considered to be a Trump strength - than immigration.

The former president was widely criticized for his stance on immigration, particularly the crude language and terms which he used to describe those who are undocumented.

More Latino voters thought Trump, who had a reputation as a successful businessman, was well-equipped to guide the country through a difficult economic period, according to the researchers.

Supporters react as then-President Trump speaks at a Latinos for Trump Coalition roundtable in Phoenix, Arizona on September 14

Trump also received support from first-time voters and those who are thought of as inclined not to participate in the political process, or, as Equis Labs puts it, those with the lowest partisan formation.

Still, the data isnt conclusive enough to indicate that the GOP can comfortably rely on these voters to cast their ballots for its candidate the next time around.

We know enough to say these look like true swing voters, according to Equis Labs analysts.

Neither party should assume that a Hispanic voter who cast a ballot for Trump in 2020 is locked in as a Republican going forward.

Nor can we assume this shift was exclusive to Trump and will revert back on its own.

Election observers said older Latino voters tend to skew more conservative, meaning they oppose higher taxation, support gun rights, and also back business.

Trump also managed to siphon Latino votes from those beyond the Cuban and Venezuelan expat communities who are considered more conservative by default.

Carmen Pelaez, a Cuban-American filmmaker based in Miami who sought to drive voter turnout in favor of Biden, said that Latinos in South Florida were susceptible to disinformation and conspiracy theories that were spread online.

People love blaming the Cubans, but you cant just blame the Cubans, she told the Times.

There is a cancer in our community, and its disinformation, and its hitting all of us.

Pelaez also said that the Democratic Party took Latino voters for granted and wrongly assumed that Trumps harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric meant that they were firmly in the blue column.

While a plurality of Latino voters self-identify as Democrats, there is a sizable voting bloc that can be considered 'swing voters,' according to the analysis

It was assumed all Latinos would be pro-immigration or they were taken for granted because they were assumed to be a lost vote, she said.

Theres never a lost vote if you are really willing to engage. But willing to engage means setting aside your own prejudices.

Trump also made huge gains in heavily Latino areas along the South Texas border.

He won sparsely populated Zapata County, south of Laredo, after losing it by a 2-to-1 margin to Clinton four years ago.

And he closed the gap in larger counties that cover the border cities of Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville, adding tens of thousands of votes in parts of the state that have long been considered a Democratic stronghold.

McAllen and Brownsville are part of the Rio Grande Valley, a region that was ravaged last summer by COVID-19 with hospitals surging past capacity and requiring the airlifting of some patients to other parts of the state.

The Rio Grande Valley was also directly affected by Trump administration policies on immigration, including the construction of a border wall and a policy that separated migrant children from their parents in 2017 and 2018.

With the wall and bolstered Border Patrol staffing, Trump has helped expand employment in the area.
The North Atlantic Alliance strengthens Europe's unique and deep connection with North America, both continents united by democratic values and common security interests, and NATO has also played an important role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, reads a message sent on Sunday by President Klaus Iohannis on the occasion of NATO Day.

"As every year, we celebrate NATO Day in Romania on the first Sunday of April. We also mark the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a fundamental political-military alliance for international peace, international security and prosperity, the most successful collective defence Alliance in history. NATO strengthens Europe's unique and deep connection with North America, both continents united by democratic values and common security interests. Current developments at the international level remain dynamic and unpredictable, and security challenges multiply and diversify. The Alliance's power to deal with this context is based on the solidarity of the member states in carrying out collective defence," the President underscores in his message.

NATO's ability to achieve its major objective, that of defending all citizens and allied territories, is also due to the constant process of adaptation and transformation in which Romania has actively and substantially participated in recent years, adds the head of state in the message sent by Presidential Administration.

According to him, NATO also played an important role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, by providing its allies with its means and tools.

"Through its efforts so far, NATO has demonstrated the coherence and consistency of collective defence decisions, including through the implementation of deterrence and defence measures on the Eastern Flank, to which Romania's contribution is significant. NATO has also played an important role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing the transformation of the health crisis into a security crisis. By making its means and instruments available to the allies, by showing solidarity both among the allies and in relation to its partners, NATO has once again proved its effectiveness. Romania capitalized on these new opportunities, being the first allied state to use the Strategic Airlift Capability mechanism to bring in the country essential equipment to fight the pandemic", said Klaus Iohannis.

He states that Romania is deeply attached to Euro-Atlantic values and acts decisively in the spirit of consolidating the transatlantic relationship and promoting the profile and role of NATO.

"NATO is constantly adapting to become a stronger and more efficient organization. Thus, the 'NATO 2030' reflection process, launched in 2020 by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, creates the premises for a more ambitious role for the Alliance in the next phase, including from the perspective of drawing up a new Strategic Concept - an initiative that Romania fully supports. Romania is deeply attached to Euro-Atlantic values and acts decisively in the spirit of strengthening the transatlantic relationship and promoting the profile and role of NATO. Our country has a significant participation on several levels to allied operations and missions, including efforts to strengthen NATO's deterrent and defence stance," the head of state said.

According to the quoted source, the development and modernization of national military capabilities are crucial for the success of common allied objectives.

"I will continue to support the cross-party consensus in allocating 2% of GDP to the defence sector, this funding contributing to the consolidation of NATO, including through its presence in the Black Sea region. In order to respond to new security challenges and threats, increasing resilience becomes a priority. At the same time, I believe that it is very important to continue on the path of strengthening the strategic partnership between NATO and the EU, so as to streamline coordination in order to use the outstanding potential that the two essential organizations offer to the member states and their citizens, by ensuring security and prosperity. Only united will we be stronger," President Klaus Iohannis said in his message.
By Trudy Rubin





The ugly verbal spat between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and top Chinese officials who met March 18 in Anchorage, Alaska, laid bare the future of U.S.-China relations.



Most astonishing was that, propelled by Blinken, officials on both sides displayed their deep grievances against each other in public, in front of media cameras.



Ever since, American experts on the U.S.-China relationship have been arguing whether this exchange equaled diplomatic malpractice by Blinken or refreshing frankness.



What's not in question is this: The accusations in Alaska set the tone for a future relationship between an existing and a rising superpower unlike any we've seen in the modern era. The prospects for cooperation are low, and the challenge to keeping the competition in check will be high.



Which brings us back to the importance of the Alaska exchange.



Blinken quickly dispensed with welcoming remarks and made clear that the United States considered China a threat to "global stability," with its cyberattacks on the U.S., economic coercion of U.S. allies and repressive actions (toward the Uyghurs) in Xinjiang, and toward Hong Kong and Taiwan. He also stressed tight American ties with allies in Asia, including with South Korea and Japan, who were pleased that "the United States is back."



China's top Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi ignored the brief time limit on speeches and lashed back with a 16-minute diatribe (possibly meant to be delivered whatever tack Blinken pursued).



Yang rebuked the U.S. for causing "turmoil" by invading other countries, maintaining a "Cold War mentality," and trying to impose its "own democracy in the rest of the world." He added pointedly, "Many people in the U.S. have little confidence in the democracy of the U.S.," and cited "deep-seated" U.S. human rights challenges. He also bragged that Japan and South Korea were bound to China by trade.



The confrontation, augmented by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, made clear that Chinese leaders had a totally different vision of a new world order, in which their authoritarian regime would become the prime model.



"These kinds of punches and counterpunches have been taking place in private for a long time," I was told by Ryan Hass, author of "Stronger: Adapting America's China strategy in an Age of Competitive Interdependence." "What was different here was that it was visible for everyone to see."



So what was Blinken's purpose in coming on so strong before the cameras? Clearly, he wanted to demonstrate that Xi Jinping's assertions of American decline are false and the U.S. is strong enough to push back. And that, contrary to the Trump White House, the Biden team will respond to Chinese aggression in concert with its democratic allies, rather than ineffectively acting solo.



The question in my mind is whether delivering this message in public boxes in the Biden team by rousing more intense nationalist feelings in both countries. Yang returned to a hero's welcome. And in this country, rousing intense anti-China feelings may make it harder to find a manageable modus vivendi with Beijing (and may rouse further despicable prejudice against Asian Americans).



However, given the growing tensions between Beijing and Washington, perhaps this public verbal clash was unavoidable. And it lays down three vital markers if Blinken's rhetoric is going to signify more than mere words.



First, the Biden team's wooing of European and Asian allies has been wise but will require skillful diplomacy to continue. Neither EU countries nor Asian partners want to line up openly against Beijing but are willing to join with the U.S. in pushing back against Chinese government aggression, whether political, economic, or military.



For example, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada coordinated with Washington on sanctioning Beijing for enormous human rights abuses against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs.



Second, Americans must realize that this will not be your grandfather's Cold War. Unlike the Soviet Union, which was an economic basket case with nukes, the competition with China will be determined by economics and technology, and by which system  democracy or authoritarianism  better delivers the goods to its people.



The U.S. must get its domestic act together in order to convince the Chinese regime that this country is not on the downslide. Yang's knocks on American failures reflect realities in this country: A paralyzed Congress, a failure to invest in key technologies, along with failing infrastructure and education systems.



Not to mention an approach to immigration that may, in the future, discourage bright students abroad from studying here and enriching our society. And a benighted approach to gun control that has just brought on two more mass shootings, which give Beijing rich material to advertise as proof of America's flaws.



The Biden team recognizes all of the above, and is pushing legislation to address these ills, but faces fierce opposition from a Republican Party whose representatives in Congress almost all tried to undermine a free and fair election. Continue down this road, and Yang Jiechi's critique may be proven correct.





Trudy Rubin (trubin@phillynews.com.) is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. This article was distributed by Tribune Content Agency.


The (ED) on Sunday arrested Ashok Mishra, Inspector in-charge of Bankura in West Bengal, in connection with the coal smuggling scam.

According to the sources his name was first taken by Vikas Mishra, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Vinay Mishra's brother, who was arrested last month from Delhi by the ED in connection with the scam.

Ashok came under interrogation for being involved with Vinay and allegedly facilitating him in the smuggling, the sources informed.

Earlier on March 22, a Delhi court sent Vikas Mishra, to judicial custody for 14 days in connection with the coal mining scam till April 5.

(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.)
Vogue Williams has revealed that she tried to 'hide' her post-baby body for months after welcoming her daughter Gigi in July.

The Irish star, 34, explained that she 'didn't want to make anyone else feel bad' about how she'd lost the weight following the birth of her second child- and said focusing on mental health and pelvic floors as a new mum was more important.

Speaking with The Sun, the mother-of-two also discussed how she plans to have 'definitely four' children with husband Spencer Matthews, 34.

'I didn't want to make anyone else feel bad': Vogue Williams has revealed that she tried to 'hide' her post-baby body after welcoming her daughter Gigi (pictured six weeks after giving birth)

Vogue said: 'There is so much pressure put on women about this and I didn't want to add to that when, instead of worrying about losing the baby weight, we should be worrying about where our pelvic floor is at and how our mental health is doing.

'It's purely down to my body type that I went back to how I was before without too much effort, and I did find myself trying to hide that for the first few months.

'I just didn't want to make anyone else feel bad by being all, "hey, look at me after having a baby," because the last thing anyone wants to see is someone who's lost the weight quicker than you.'

Vogue added that it's impossible to win online as people will always comment on posts, whether it's saying she lost weight fast or carried the baby weight.

'There is so much pressure put on women': The star, 34, explained how she didn't want to upset anyone and added that she only bounced back from her pregnancies because of her body type

Vogue often shares snaps of her svelte physique online and had displayed her toned post-baby body for a tanning video on Instagram just six weeks after Gigi's birth.

She revealed that she'd bounced back at incredible speed as she donned a skimpy blue bikini and was joined by Spencer to apply the product.

Elsewhere in her interview, the doting mum-of-two chatted about how shes finding motherhood with her second child, admitting that shes more laid-back with Gigi.

Vogue, who also revealed she and Spencer would like definitely four children, praised her daughter saying the tot is very easy going and happily settles herself.

Although loving life with her new addition, Vogue said it has been hard at times having to see family members miss out on Gigis first year because of the pandemic.

Big family! The mother-of-two also discussed how she plans to have four children with husband Spencer Matthews, 34, and has been more laid-back with her second child

Careful to emphasise that other families have it much worse, the Irish star explained that her brother has never seen his niece and her mum has only met Gigi once.

Vogue, who controversially jetted to St Barts with her brood in December, added that shes not been home to Ireland in more than a year with many people there still waiting to meet her daughter.

Turning her attentions to lockdown, Vogue said the third lot of UK restrictions have been the toughest for her as it felt never-ending at times.

She also revealed that she went back to therapy as her anxiety was pretty bad and has been taking some medication to help.

Tough times: Vogue said it has been hard at times over the past year having to see family members miss out on Gigis first year because of the pandemic

Luckily for the family, the Rule Of Six came into force last Monday meaning family and friends can reunite in groups of no more than six outdoors.

The Jump star will no doubt be keen to take advantage of the rules and visit her niece after sister-in-law Pippa Middleton, 37, gave birth to a baby girl named Grace earlier this month.

Pippa  the sister of the Duchess of Cambridge  and her husband James Matthews, 45, are also parents to son Arthur, two.

James is brother to Vogue's husband Spencer, who she wed in the Scottish Highlands' Glen Affric in June 2018.

The couple welcomed son Theodore in September that year, while daughter Gigi, now eight months, was born in July 2020.
Should Every Worker Have Paid Sick Leave? The Ethics of Employee Benefits and Rights

The more restrictive the government is in how businesses can develop their benefits programs, the less flexible business owners can be. If it's paid sick leave, you're paying somebody who's not going to be there and you have to pay somebody to replace them. That has the potential to affect the bottom line for a lot of small businesses.  Molly Brogan, spokeswoman for the National Small Business Association

When my son was sick, I had to call in sick because he couldnt go to daycare. I had to take two days off, and I regretted it because I have bills to pay and now I am behind. ... I have gone into work sick, sneezing and coughing because I cant afford it. (My coworkers and I) are minimum-wage workers who cant afford to miss work.  Amber, food service worker without paid sick leave, Seattle

Paid sick leave is on the cutting edge of modern labor rights battles.

In June 2011, Connecticut became the first state to pass legislation requiring businesses (with 50 or more employees) to provide paid sick leave to their workers. The bill was highly contentious, and the legislation that narrowly passed was a milder version of previous proposals. The law will mandate that moderately sized and large businesses provide their workers with one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of five paid sick days annually. These days can be used to recover from illness or injury, care for a sick relative, or attend doctor visits.

Similar bills have passed in a small number of municipalities and progressed in other states, including Massachusetts. Paid sick leave has even been considered at the federal level, most recently with the Healthy Families Act of 2009. Nationally, 45% of private sector workers, the vast majority of whom are low-wage workers, do not have paid sick leave. (See U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Selected Paid Leave Benefits.)

In this installment of "Ethical Inquiry" we explore the ethical and logical implications of mandatory paid sick leave. In spring 2011, this was one of the issues students in the Brandeis University course "Advocacy for Policy Change" studied and worked on at the state level. This inquiry builds on research originally conducted for that course.

Historically, How Have We Defined Workers Rights?

The question of whether or not to institute paid sick leave mandates is essentially a question of workers rights versus workers benefits. How do we balance the two? Typically, benefits are provided to attract and maintain workers, while labor rights are considered inalienable and serve to level the playing field among employers. In considering the debates surrounding paid sick leave, it is worthwhile to look back on labor rights battles throughout history.

The 40-hour work week and job-protected (but unpaid) maternity leave are two provisions the United States now recognizes as basic worker rights. After decades of labor battles, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 instituted the 40-hour work week standard, among other regulations. Before the passage of this law, many employees were forced to work anywhere from 14 to 16 hours a day, six days a week. Unions, and even some employers, advocated for legislative reform in the name of fairness, public health, and better business.

The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 provides all employees with 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave to care for a new child or a seriously ill family member. The most prominent argument in favor of this legislation concerned fairness. President Clinton stated at the signing of this bill, family and medical leave is a matter of pure common sense and a matter of common decency. Throughout history, a benefit has become a right when members of society feel that business interests supersede fundamental human interests  most notably health and commitments to family members.

Arguments in Favor of Paid Sick Leave

Paid sick leave as a basic right

Paid sick leave has been cited as a basic labor standard for the 21st century, and legislative advocates often compare this issue to the historic battles for the 40-hour workweek and minimum wage (Paid Sick Days: A Basic Labor Standard of the 21st Century [PDF]). As Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro stated, Being a working parent should not mean a choice between taking care of your job, taking care of yourself, or taking care of your family. This is about the basic rights of families. This rhetoric responds to polls revealing that working parents, especially mothers, often need to choose between their health (or the health of a family member) and preserving their job or paying the bills (Paid Sick Days: Experiences and Attitudes [PDF]). According to advocates, this choice is unfair and highly harmful to workers and their families.

Public health and worker safety

Workers without paid sick leave are exceedingly likely to attend work while ill (or send a sick child to school), a phenomenon known as "presenteeism." As a result, these employees risk injuring themselves on the job, infecting their coworkers and clientele, and contributing to public health scares. During the H1N1 outbreak, many businesses struggled with presenteeism and were forced to pass emergency paid sick leave policies in order to incentivize sick workers to stay home. Additionally, research links stomach flu outbreaks to food service workers, 80% of whom lack a guaranteed paid sick day, according to the National Institute for Womens Policy Research. As an example,in Kent, Ohio, a 2008 stomach flu outbreak [PDF] was traced to an employee at a Chipotle restaurant. It affected more than 500 people and cost the Kent community between $130,000 and $300,000 in lost wages and health care costs, among other impacts.

Better for business

This is perhaps the most controversial argument in favor of paid sick leave, but growing research supports its validity. Advocates of this position argue that such legislation benefits businesses in the long-term by reducing worker turnover, both voluntary and involuntary, and by increasing productivity. Additionally, advocates cite studies showing that most workers with paid sick leave do not utilize the benefit unless absolutely necessary. (See Institute for Women's Policy Research: "San Francisco Paid Sick Leave Ordinance: Outcomes for Employers and Employees" [PDF].)

Levels the playing field

While most workers already have paid sick leave, a large minority of Americans (45 percent) do not. Most of these are low-wage laborers, who suffer most from the loss of a days wages. Paid sick leave, proponents say, is a basic standard that will level the playing field. Additionally, according to public opinion polls, an overwhelming majority of Americans believe employers should be required by law to provide paid sick leave. (See Public Welfare Foundation: Paid Sick Days: Attitudes and Experiences [PDF].)

Arguments Against Paid Sick Leave

High costs, particularly for small business owners

Opponents of paid sick leave legislation have come up with their own cost estimates, which reveal a much more perilous reality for businesses. (See "Impact of Paid Sick Leave on NYC Business: A Survey of New York City Employers" (pdf), conducted by the Partnership for New York City, data analysis by Ernst and Young [PDF].) These critics maintain that paid sick leave mandates put unfair pressure on business owners, particularly in todays economy. The senior vice president of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce argues Specific to small businesses, they are struggling to keep the lights on and their doors open in the most challenging economic period since the Great Depression. Now is not the time to mandate the costly and time consuming regulations as currently envisioned.

Job reduction and benefit cuts

Opponents argue that paid sick day mandates interfere with the compromises established between the employees and employers within individual businesses. In order to sustain their businesses, they argue, employers will need to lay-off workers or cut other benefits formerly promised to employees. Sick leave policies should be decided by individual business owners, who are familiar with the specific needs and desires of their employees. (See "Sick leave mandate would hit businesses hard", The Portland Press Herald.)

Eliminates healthy competition

Some argue that morally speaking, paid sick leave is not a right; rather, it should be a benefit that employers offer to attract and maintain workers. If sick leave is important to employees, this argument maintains, they have the right to find an employer that provides for this need. Critics worry that if paid sick leave becomes considered an inalienable right, employees will take advantage and use the provision unnecessarily; this is often referred to as "moral hazard."

Final Thoughts

When considering the ethical and logistical implications of paid sick leave legislation, there are many questions to resolve: What supports entrepreneurial interests and worker interests? What should be defined as worker "rights" and what should be defined as worker "benefits"? When is such legislation best enacted, if at all? Should the legislation be sensitive to business size, to attenuate the conflicting interests that helped make the paid sick day debate so explosive? We invite you to continue exploring the ethical issues that arise in this context.
Bangkok, April 4 : Five people were killed due to a blaze at a three-storey house in Bangkok, which led to the collapse of the structure, according to authorities in the Thai capital.

A firefighter, three rescue workers and a resident of the house were killed at the scene on Saturday and six others were seriously injured, according to Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang.

The bodies of the victims were dragged out by rescue workers from the debris of the fire-engulfed, caved-in house, reports Xinhua news agency.

Seven out of a group of eight people, who had lived in the house, managed to escape, the Governor said.

The cause of the blaze in under probe.
HAPPY EASTER KANSAS CITY!!!



Accordingly, we share more than a few items concerning community news, pop culture and top headlines.



Kansas City Easter Comeback

Easter reunites families after pandemic halted holiday celebrations last year KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Families around the Kansas City area will be able to sit around the dining room table on Easter Sunday, thanks to new guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Kelsey Pomeroy usually has family members over her house each year to celebrate the holiday.

Local Vaxx Delivery

Jackson County EMS crews bring vaccine to homebound community People who are homebound face challenges when it comes to getting the vaccine, but the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District is bringing shots right to their door.On Friday, Capt. Nathan Manley's office was mobile. Inside his blue bag was hope for the homebound.

Debate Down By The River

Parkville riverfront proposal draws criticism; city says part of master plan PARKVILLE, Mo. - A proposed community development project at Platte Landing Park on Parkville's riverfront is causing concern for some who live there. It includes four new ball diamonds and six new multi-purpose fields. This is part of Parkville's master plan created in 2016.

Demi Shares Feast

Demi Rose Peels Oranges In Stringy Easter Bikini DemiRose/Instagram Demi Rose is hanging around in an unbuttoned shirt and tiny stringy bikini to peel her Easter oranges. The 26-year-old model, fresh from celebrating her birthday at the end of March, was today right on time with her weekend update, posting for her 16.2 million Instagram followers and shouting out Easter.

Former Prez Trump Leads Alt-Right Fight Against Biz

Donald Trump has expanded his list of 'woke' companies to boycott, due to their opposition to Georgia's voting law Donald Trump has spoken out again about the companies that oppose Georgia's new voting law. He called for more boycotts, saying "don't go back to their products until they relent." Barack Obama, meanwhile, commended the MLB on its decision to move its All-Star Game from Atlanta. See more stories on Insider's business page.

Progressives Target Big Biz For Voting Rights Support

Major companies are suddenly denouncing GOP-led voting bills. Why now? Voting rights advocate Nse Ufot has been fighting for a week like this all year. For months, more than a half-dozen activist groups, including her own New Georgia Project, had urged business interests to denounce Republican-led efforts to restrict voting access in Georgia, she said.

El Papa Talks Plague Priorities

Pope at Easter Urbi et Orbi: 'Risen Christ is hope that does not disappoint' - Vatican News Throughout the world, the Church proclaims the joyous news that "Jesus, who was crucified, has risen as He said. Alleluia!", Pope Francis said at the start of his Easter message broadcast live around the world. He delivered his Urbi et Orbi message inside St. Peter's Basilica, just like last year, due to coronavirus safety measures.

Easter Cry For Freedom

Myanmar anti-coup protesters launch 'Easter egg strike' YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Anti-coup demonstrators in Myanmar, adept at finding themes to tie together protests nationwide, took to the streets holding painted eggs in a nod to the Easter holiday on Sunday. In the biggest city of Yangon, one group marched through the Insein district chanting and singing protest songs and cradling eggs bearing the slogan "Spring Revolution."

Joke Turnabout Is Fair Play

Pete Davidson, who once dated 18-year-old, mocked for Matt Gaetz portrayal on SNL NBC's "Saturday Night Live" chose Pete Davidson to portray embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz - despite the cast member dating an 18-year-old last year. Davidson, 27, appeared as Gaetz (R-Fl.) in the show's cold open, in which the 38-year-old lawmaker was featured as a guest on a Britney Spears-hosted talk show for "the social pariahs of the week."

Greatest Gen Endures

Kansas City neighborhood gets creative to celebrate 100-year-old WWII veteran's birthday KANSAS CITY, Mo. - People continue to be creative with how they celebrate birthday parties in the middle of a pandemic. "We were trying to get 100 cars and 100 good wishes," Ginger Stewart-Lyons, Kenneth Stewart Sr.'s daughter said. The goal wasn't hard for Kenneth Stewart Sr., who is a World War II veteran, and his family.

Kansas City Shares Treats

Swope Health adds Easter gifts to family essentials drive-thru event KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Swope Health has held First Saturday Family Essentials drive-thru events since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this weekend added an Easter treat for those in need. The event, in partnership with Sen. Barbara Washington and several community organizations, gives families an opportunity to pick up items such as laundry detergent and toiletries.

Sunday Sunshine Report

Warm and windy Easter Sunday, storms coming this week HUNTS LOOK GOOD BUT HANG ON TO YOUR BONNET. KATIE: TIE IT ON. IT IS GOING TO BE A BREEZY DAY TODAY. IT IS 52. WE'RE NOT AT OUR LOWEST TEMPERATURE YET. SUNRISE IS NOT UNTIL 6:58 THIS MORNING SO THE TEMPERATURE STILL HAS A WAY TO GO.

Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
Police are looking for any witnesses to a terrifying early morning sexual assault on a 60-year-old woman in Pakenham in Melbournes east last month.

Detectives say the woman was walking along a footpath off Toomuc Valley Road about 6.30am on Tuesday March 2 when a unknown male on a bike asked her for the time.

Police wish to speak to the male in this footage.

When the woman took out her phone to check the time, the male grabbed her by the neck and forced her to the ground.

He sat on her, demanding the password for the phone whilst sexually assaulting her as she was pinned down by her neck, a police spokeswoman said.
Addison Rae is a social media influencer and one of TikToks most popular celebrities, who is well known among pop culture fans for her friendship with Kourtney Kardashian. Rae first rose to prominence in 2019, and unlike many other young TikTok stars, she has been able to parlay her fame into a series of successful business opportunities. With the recent release of her debut single, many fans are digging deep to learn more about Rae, discovering her educational history and her future aspirations.

Addison Rae | Todd Williamson/Getty Images

How did Addison Rae become famous?

RELATED: Addison Rae Urges Fans Not to Believe Everything on the Internet After Her Fake Voter Registration Went Viral

Addison Rae was born in Louisiana in 2000. Raised alongside two brothers, Rae got involved in the world of competitive dance at a very early age. By the time she was six years old, Rae was attending competitions around the world and discovering what it meant to live life in the spotlight. All throughout her childhood years, Rae pursued an interest in creative arts, not limited to dance  and by the time she was 19 years old, Rae had become one of TikToks hottest influencers.

Rae first started uploading videos to TikTok in the summer of 2019 and quickly amassed a large following. In a matter of a few months, Rae had earned over a million followers on the social media platform, and fans all around the world were talking about her charming, catchy dance videos. These days, she is one of the biggest social media stars around, with fans on TikTok as well as Instagram. Reportedly, Raes net worth is around $5 million, which isnt all from her TikTok videos  the young star also works with top brands like Reebok.

Did Addison Rae ever go to college?

RELATED: TikTok Star Addison Rae Claps Back at Body Shamers

Addison Rae might be a hot topic, but it might surprise many of her fans to learn that she never graduated from college, although she did enroll in Louisiana State University after graduating from high school. Once Rae started becoming successful on TikTok, she dropped out of college in order to focus on her budding social media stardom. As reported by Distractify, Rae realized it was time to leave college after an eye-opening trip to Los Angeles.

I was only here for four days cause it was over the weekend and I obviously had college, Rae explained. She stated that she met with a fellow influencer at the infamous Hype House, who talked to her about the possibilities of social media. He was talking to me about what I wanna do and like where I wanna take this and I was kind of like what the heck like what do you mean where I wanna take this like I didnt think that that was a possibility to, like, make it anything more than when it was at the moment, Rae said. Not long after that trip, Rae left Louisiana State University for good.

Addison Rae is one of pop cultures hottest celebrities of the moment

RELATED: TikTok Star Addison Rae To Star in Remake of a Popular 1990s Film

Addison Rae has ambitions well beyond social media. In the future, I honestly think that Im gonna take this and bring it to like hosting, you know, I would love to do that. I would love to host things. I really want to get more active on YouTube and really just trying to establish myself on YouTube as well, she has said. Rae might also be dipping her toes in the world of reality television as well, as evidenced by her close friendship with Kourtney Kardashian and the rest of the Kardashian-Jenner family.
Two college students were fatally hit by a truck as they were traveling on a motorbike along a mountain pass in Vietnams Central Highlands on Friday night.

The Department of Public Security in Lam Dong Province confirmed on Saturday that the accident occurred on a section of Lam Dong Pass in Da Huoai District at around 10:00 pm on Friday.

N.T.C.G., 22, was carrying N.C.T.T., 19, on a motorbike as they traveled from Ho Chi Minh City to their hometown in Bao Loc City, Lam Dong Province.

The two girls were cousins and went to the same college in Ho Chi Minh City.

Meanwhile, Ho Van Thanh, 49, was driving a truck carrying scrap material in the opposite direction.

The truck was descending the mountain pass when it crashed into G.s motorcycle, before tipping over.

G. and T. were killed on the spot, and their motorbike was severely damaged.

Traffic jams occurred along the pass for multiple hours following the collision.

The Da Huoai District traffic safety committee has provided financial support to the victims family.

Bao Loc Pass is currently a traffic accident hotspot as at least three serious crashes have taken place along the route in the past two months.

The provincial Peoples Committee has required competent authorities to install traffic CCTV along the mountain pass to monitor the situation and reduce accidents.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
People have fun at a park in Wuhu, east China's Anhui Province, April 4, 2021. Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, is an important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors. Many also spent the three-day holiday on leisure travel. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)

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[ Editor: WXL ]
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
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Notion: Roaring good time For those of us planning to greet any lessening of restrictions with a sartorial bang, but also keen to cling tightly to our new need for clothes to be, above all else, comfortable, Brown Thomas has introduced London label Hayley Menzies for this season. You may have see this pink Roaring Tiger coatigan on Pippa OConnor Ormond. The label  which specialises in printed dresses, chunky knitwear, and printed T-shirts  has a strong (and we mean this as a compliment) clothes your gran might have worn energy. LH Roaring Tiger coatigan, 450, Hayley Menzies, Brown Thomas

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Necessity: Foot loose

Because, lets face it, WFH is going nowhere fast, we like this leopard-print version of the classic Mahabis slipper. The brand produces the ultimate almost shoes, but still slippers, so you can be bolstered by the fact you have in some way made an effort, rather than feeling you are just sitting about in pyjamas. LH

Curve animal print, 160, Mahabis, see mahabis.com

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Necessity: Reading room

Laurie Elizabeth Flynns new novel, The Girls Are All So Nice Here, published this week, is being described as akin to The Girls, The Virgin Suicides and My Dark Vanessa. So, expect an intense, compelling read, the gripping nature of which should provide a welcome break from our current reality. LH

The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, 12.99, HarperCollins

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Notion: Light up

After a difficult start in life, Carla Collins discovered at the age of 19 that positive affirmations helped her

feel safe in the world for the first time. Her Love Lights range of vegan affirmation candles are intended to inspire others who might need help or are struggling. LH

Love Lights scented candles, 32 each, See loveup.shop. Note: Items from the UK may incur extra charges

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Bedding in

Seasonally, were coming out of the hibernation stage and now is the time to put a bit of spring into your sleep environment. Australian brand Peri has fresh bed linen made in very soft finishes that give a gentle hug while lending a brighter mood to the bedroom. We particularly love this chenille-trimmed cotton line in pale pink. SC

Peri Home Bed Linen in Chenille Medallion, from 28-160, Arnotts,

see arnotts.ie

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Planet plant

When it comes to plant-based, even the most seasoned meat-eaters admit that some meat-free options give the originals a run for their money. Sausages and puddings are the obvious successes, and now, Rudds  Irish aficionados in this area  launch its versions. With good texture and flavour, they work as standalone breakfast items, or find recipes for nachos and pudding-and-potato cakes on rudds.ie. SC

Rudds meat-free and plant-based sausages, 3; puddings, 2.50 each, SuperValu, Tesco, Dunnes Stores

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Heat solution

Our social lives might remain limited  understatement  but that doesnt mean we cant expand the social life. By which I mean, its about time we took it outside again. This year, we advise you get in early with investing in the outdoor heating.

This chiminea is an affordable option in sturdy steel, with an optional cooking grill for the odd marshmallow. SC

La Hacienda Leon chiminea, 77.50, see oxendales.ie

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Salon a peel

Your hair might feel like a lost cause, but at-home help is at hand for your dull complexion. French organic-skincare brand Eminence has a box set designed for a radiance boost in between salon treatments, which makes a decent salon subsitute for now. In three steps, you get an enzyme exfoliant, a fruit-acid peel and a soothing, peptide-rich cream to finish. Theres enough of each product for several treatments and the trio give a noticeably brighter, tighter skin. And a decent distraction from your roots. SC

Eminence Arctic Berry Peel & Peptide Illuminating System, 130, see eminence.ie
New Delhi:

Myanmar Army have claimed that a mass grave of at least 28 Hindus killed by the Muslim Rohingya militants have been discovered in the violence wracked Rakhine state on Sunday.

A statement posted on the army chief's website said, Security members found and dug up 28 dead bodies of Hindus who were cruelly violently and killed by ARSA extremist Bengali terrorists in Rakhine State."

According the Myanmar Army the murders have been carried out by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). The groups attacks on army and police posts triggered an army backlash.

The army also said that they have recovered 20 dead women and eight men including six boys under the age of 10 in the graves.

Army officials further said the bodies have been recovered from Ye Baw Kya village.

Also read| Rohingya violence: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres restraint by Myanmar forces to avoid 'catastrophe'



Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay confirmed the discovery of the bodies.

According to United Nations 430,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh in the last few months.

According to Myanmar government around 30,000 Hindus and Buddhists have also been displaced due to the terror attacks by ARSA militants.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
So, it seems the church is shrinking.

The mosque and synagogue, too, for that matter. Not that this is breaking news. It has long been known that the numbers of Americans who belong to religious organizations are dwindling. But last week, that decline hit a milestone. For the first time since Gallup began tracking religious membership back in 1937, it has dropped below half. Back then, 73 percent of us belonged to some house of worship. Today, just 48 percent do.

Experts cite multiple reasons for the slippage, including the Catholic Churchs many sex scandals, growing distrust of institutions in general and a modern disinclination to be pigeonholed into any single theological tradition. While there is surely merit to all those observations, it seems likely that where Christianity  more specifically, the white, evangelical church  is concerned, there is also another explanation for the disappearance of the missing congregants:

They were driven away.

Consider it a byproduct of the rise, a little over 40 years ago, of the so-called religious right as a political force. Suddenly, Jesus of Nazareth, the itinerant rabbi whose life, death and life have inspired believers for two millennia, was adopted as a mascot of Republican conservatism.

Granted, the 1980s was hardly the first time  or the last  people allowed their politics to be informed by their faith. As the lives and ministries of Jim Wallis, Jeremiah Wright, William Barber II and Martin Luther King Jr. amply attest, the progressive left has often done the same thing.

No, the difference 40 years ago wasnt the fact of faith in politics but the substance of it. We went from feed my sheep to cutbacks in school lunch programs. From love ye one another to ignoring AIDS because it was only killing gays. From woe unto you who are rich to tax cuts for the wealthy and trickle-down leftovers for everyone else. From compassion for the least of these to condemnation of mythical welfare queens and other lazy and undeserving poor.

It was a faith less of joy than of perpetual outrage, less of hope than of abiding fear. Which means that, ultimately, it was not faith at all, only the degradation thereof. It reached its sorry nadir when the religious right made common cause with the 45th president. He broke commandments like glass, but they didnt care. He was a biblical illiterate, but they didnt notice. Indeed, this year at CPAC, when his people rolled him out in the form of a literal golden idol, they lined up to take pictures.

And really, if you were a person seeking God, seeking the comfort of faith, the solace and sustenance of faith, would you be drawn to that? Fat chance.

Small wonder the church is shrinking. And yet, even when they feel let down by the church, seekers dont stop seeking. Note that Gallup also reports that, depending upon how you word the question, as many as 87 percent of us still profess belief in God.

Thats a minor miracle. You might even call it good news. And it speaks to the challenge  and opportunity  facing every preacher watching a congregation dwindle.

Faith can shape politics, yes. But when politics start shaping faith, maybe youve lost your way. When you find yourself preaching exclusion and rejection in the name of Him who said, Come unto me, maybe its time to recalibrate. Or even repent. Maybe thats what the people who used to fill those pews are waiting for. Because, yes, the church is shrinking.

But they know that God is not.

Pitts is a columnist for the Miami Herald.
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Over the past four years, the Trump administrations fire sale of public lands to the oil and gas industry ignored established legal procedures and the science of climate change. In total, New Mexicans lost more than a quarter of a million acres of public land.

As a former governor of the Pueblo Acoma and former co-chair of the All Pueblo Council of Governors Natural Resources Committee, I have seen the damage to Native American ancestral lands in New Mexico and southeastern Utah, whose landscapes are held sacred by many tribal communities.

Recognized cultural sites and landscapes are not confined to the boundaries of reservations and national parks, such as in the greater Chaco region. The cultural history of Native ancestral people runs deep throughout the Americas  their settlements, religious pilgrimage trails, petroglyphs and other cultural resources that include minerals, flora and fauna deserve recognition and protection.

However, once lands are handed over to industry, Native Americans are prohibited from accessing these areas and development often goes unmonitored, destroying important sites and the landscape.

The existing process to permit parcels on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands works for the oil and gas industry but not for Native Americans or local communities. We are instead left to seek legal resolution for our concerns, and I have been involved in these struggles to have pueblo voices be heard.

In recent years, the BLM changed its process to move these sales as swiftly as possible, taking advantage of existing policies and modifying others to fast-track public land into private hands. Native Americans, whose ancestral homelands were impacted, were minimally consulted. These actions undermine the federal governments trust responsibility to Native America and ignore the recognition of tribal sovereignty long acknowledged by the United States.

This harm done to ancestral lands could have been avoided had Native Americans been invited to work with the BLM prior to parcel nomination. Consultation with affected pueblos, tribes, nations and communities requires time and patience, neither of which was a priority by the past administration. Land was offered to industries that have a history of polluting the air, land and water, threatening national parks and surrounding landscapes.

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With new Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nations first Native American in the role, we have a chance to reform this broken system together. As part of this, tribal communities should have the opportunity to work with the BLM to complete cultural surveys on federal land to form a register of sacred and traditional sites that should be protected before parcels are considered for lease.

Sacred ancestral lands and landscapes tell an important story of Native Americans. These sites are archeological wonders that are integral to the history of this nation. They should be places where all Americans can learn about the rich history of our country and the people who lived here centuries ago and stewarded this land prior to European contact, without the smell of methane, mechanical rigs overwhelming the sounds of nature and flaring lighting the night sky.

Kurt Riley is former chairman of the Ten Southern Pueblos Council and former co-chair of the All Pueblo Council of Governors Natural Resources Committee.
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

If the Santa Fe County jail had a Medically-assisted Treatment, or MAT, program, Susie Schmitt said she believes her son would still be alive today.

Her son, Rex Corcoran, was using methadone to help him with his addiction problem when he was taken to the jail.

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MAT is applied when a medical provider prescribes such drugs as methadone or Suboxone to help people overcome addiction.

The drugs can help people from going into withdrawal, which can have painful symptoms that could make it harder to quit the drug.

In November 2019, Corcoran was arrested for a court-ordered compliance violation resulting from a previous DWI arrest and taken to the Santa Fe County jail. About a week later, he was dead.

Corcoran was determined to have suffered a fatal heart infection while at the jail and Schmitt, his mother, didnt find out about it until he was already in an induced coma at Christus St. Vincent Hospital. She said when she called the jails warden to find out how her son was doing, she was told by the warden, Its not my problem. Schmitt says her son was never given the proper treatment for his addiction at the jail and died because of it.

She also claims the jail didnt even follow its own policies for contacting family members if an inmate is ill.

Unfortunately, Corcorans story isnt unique.

Carmela DeVargas was also taken to the Santa Fe County jail around the same time as Corcoran. She had suffered from opioid addiction since she was a teenager, due to medication she was put on after an accident. She was prescribed Suboxone by her doctor and, according to her father, Antonio Ikie DeVargas, she was getting better.

However, her condition changed after she was arrested and taken to the Santa Fe County jail for missing a probation meeting. She didnt have access to Suboxone there due to the jails lack of a MAT program.

DeVargas went into withdrawal and, out of desperation, ended up buying street Suboxone inside the jail. She ended up with an infection and died about a month after her arrest.

Now, the two families are working together to ensure that conditions at the Santa Fe County jail are properly investigated. On March 25, the two turned in a petition to County Manager Katherine Miller to get a grand jury investigation into the jail.

Were David fighting Goliath against these government officials, Schmitt said, crying.

She said shes not going to go away and wont let people forget her sons name, or what happened to him.

Policies and procedures

In New Mexico, the District Attorneys offices assist in grand jury investigations.

First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said that, if the petition submitted by Schmitt and DeVargas meets certain criteria, it goes to a district court judge who can then call in a citizens grand jury to consider a charge against a party.

If the petition gets all the signatures required and meets the constitutional requirements, the district attorneys office is on standby and will be assisting with the grand jurys investigation, Carmack-Altwies said.

Right now, because of the pandemic, grand juries arent being called, Carmack-Altwies said.

Carmelina Hart, a spokesperson for Santa Fe County, said the county cant comment on pending litigation, including the petition turned in by DeVargas and Schmitt.

Santa Fe County Commissioner Hank Hughes said he supports implementing a MAT program in the jail.

As executive director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, he has seen how addiction can spin someones life out of control. He said he knows that, sometimes, these treatments are the only things that work.

I think it allows people to function much better than if they were to continue on the bad drugs theyre on, or if they were to try to go off things cold turkey, Hughes said. It sort of allows a middle road that gives people a way to function without suffering too much.

Asked about substance abuse protocols at the jail, Hart said inmates are approved for Suboxone if they are pregnant and addicted to opiates or methadone, or have a current prescription for Suboxone and no other substances in their system.

The jail doesnt currently offer methadone.

Inmates who are identified as suffering from addiction on intake are placed in a withdrawal protocol depending on the drugs theyre addicted to, Hart said.

For alcohol addiction, a person may be given Librium, vitamin B or Phenergran.

For opiates, a person may be given palliative medications to help with side effects  Phenergan for nausea, Imodium for diarrhea, Robaxin for muscle cramps and others, depending on the symptoms, she said.

Inmates suffering from opioid addiction are also given naltrexone, a drug that blocks the pleasure sensors in the brain that are activated by opiate use, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Acamprosate is also given to people with alcohol addiction, helping to restore the neurotransmitters in the brain and reduce the urge to drink, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

When COVID restrictions are lifted, the County will once again offer the MATRIX Model in a Correctional Setting, which is a recognized Evidence Based Program for men and for women, Hart wrote in an email. It is a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment curriculum for offenders with substance use disorders.

She said the countys treatment programs use non-opiate-based treatments on a case-by-case basis.

Treatment in tandem

Dr. Troy Watson, a fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice and medical director of Railyard Urgent Care, said Suboxone programs help people overcome their opioid addiction.

Its usually in tandem with a behavioral health expert that works in addiction medicine because you need counseling. This isnt just a one and done, heres medicine, he said.

Suboxone is a drug used to treat opioid addiction. It works by relieving opioid withdrawal symptoms, but without the high people get from taking opioids recreationally.

If left untreated, opioid withdrawal can cause people to experience some of the worst flu-like symptoms of their life, Watson said. While its not fatal on its own, someone with co-morbidities going through opioid withdrawal can experience health complications.

However, alcohol withdrawal and withdrawal from such drugs as Valium can be fatal. For example, if someone is going through alcohol withdrawal, it can cause fatal seizures, Watson said.

Its important if someone is addicted to these substances that they quit under medical supervision, he said.

When it comes to opioids, if somebody were to die, it would be somebody that had profuse vomiting and diarrhea that wasnt addressed in a medical setting, Watson said. Some of these other drugs, you can have seizures, and theres a lot of different reasons for dying from benzodiazepine and alcohol withdrawal.
Hundreds of New Jersey tenants have been illegally locked out of their home during the coronavirus pandemic, despite the eviction moratorium that remains in place through mid-June.

Now, more than a year after Gov. Phil Murphy signed the executive order enacting the moratorium, the Attorney Generals office has released new guidelines for law enforcement agencies to help restore tenants to their homes.

The directive outlines clear and easy steps for law enforcement officers to follow. By issuing this directive and educating the public this evening, we can reduce the number of illegal evictions in this state, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said during a webinar Tuesday night attended by housing advocacy groups and housing lawyers.

After thousands of New Jerseyans suddenly lost their jobs and were unable to pay rent, evictions due to nonpayment were halted under Executive Order 106, which extends 60 days after the public health emergency expires  currently through mid-June. Eviction notices can still be filed to the courts, but no landlord-tenant trials are being held, except in emergent cases.

When tenants did find themselves locked out or their possessions removed from the home and called the police, there were many times law enforcement wasnt sure how to handle the situation, panelists at the webinar said.

I think sometimes theres confusion around civil and criminal issues. ... Confusion when law enforcement is involved is not a good thing. It leads, sometimes, to civil unrest and questioning, and deteriorating public trust, said State Police Superintendent Col. Pat Callahan, who noted evictions can be a civil matter, but not during a global pandemic.

The directive to the states 38,000 cops will clarify guidance on how to respond to illegal lockout calls. The confusion stems from a 2006 bill that then-Gov. Richard Codey signed making it a crime to remove tenants without a court order, and other enforcement guidelines issued in 2009, Grewal said.

Under the directive, law enforcement officers must determine if an illegal eviction is occurring, issue warnings to the landlord or property owners and ensure that the illegally evicted tenants are immediately restored to the premises. If the warnings are ignored, the officers should charge the landlord or property owner with a complaint-summons, which could be a fourth-degree crime.

Jessica Kiton, senior managing attorney at Newark-based nonprofit Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, said while police are often sympathetic after arriving on scene, there were times officers werent sure what steps to take.

We need it to be consistent for tenants  it cant be that its the luck of the draw for what response theyre getting, she said. Im really hopeful and grateful for this directive because I think thats where were headed.

She added that the uniform messaging will make tenants feel more comfortable about reaching out to local police, as well as send a clear message to landlords that illegal evictions will not be tolerated. She also noted aside the lockouts, theres been an uptick in shutting off utilities or harassing tenants to a point they self-evict.

The Attorney Generals office has received 17 written complaints regarding landlords illegally evicting tenants since April 2020, said spokesman Peter Aseltine, but stressed there are likely many, many more. The Volunteer Justice Lawyers say there have been hundreds across the state, with illegal evictions ramping up since the fall.

Since the coronavirus pandemic upended the economy and led to 1.8 million New Jersyans to seek unemployment insurance, the state has opened up two rounds of the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program for residents who are in arrears due to the public health emergency.

The first $100 million round opened in July, and was so highly anticipated the website crashed on the first day of applications. Lt. Gov. Shiela Oliver, who oversees the Department of Community Affairs, said it helped 15,000 families out of 60,000 who applied, and included paying rent forward for 12 months for some families.

Another $353 million round opened on March 22. More than 45,100 New Jersey tenants or landlords have applied for rental assistance as of Wednesday morning, said Department of Community Affairs spokeswoman Lisa Ryan. Applications remain open, and will stay open until the funds are depleted.

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Pope Francis swings a thurible of incense as he prepares to celebrate the Eucharist during Easter Mass at St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Sunday during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. AP-Yonhap



Pope Francis urged countries in his Easter message on Sunday to quicken distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly to the world's poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic "scandalous".



Coronavirus has meant this has been the second year in a row that Easter papal services have been attended by small gatherings at a secondary altar of St. Peter's Basilica, instead of by crowds in the church or in the square outside.



After saying Mass, Francis read his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message, in which he traditionally reviews world problems and appeals for peace.



"The pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor. Nonetheless  and this is scandalous  armed conflicts have not ended and military arsenals are being strengthened," he said.



Francis, who would normally have given the address to up to 100,000 people in St. Peter's Square, spoke to fewer than 200 in the church while the message was broadcast to tens of millions around the world.



The square was empty except for a few police officers enforcing a strict three-day national lockdown.



The pope asked God to comfort the sick, those who have lost a loved one, and the unemployed, urging authorities to give families in greatest need a "decent sustenance".



He praised medical workers, sympathised with young people unable to attend school, and said everyone was called to combat the pandemic.



"I urge the entire international community, in a spirit of global responsibility, to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries," he said.



Francis, who has often called for disarmament and a total ban on the possession of nuclear weapons, said: "There are still too many wars and too much violence in the world! May the Lord, who is our peace, help us to overcome the mindset of war."



Noting that it was International Awareness Day against anti-personnel landmines, he called such weapons "insidious and horrible devices ... how much better our world would be without these instruments of death!"



In mentioning conflict areas, he singled out for praise "the young people of Myanmar committed to supporting democracy and making their voices heard peacefully". More than 550 protesters have been killed since a Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar, which the pope visited in 2017.



Francis called for peace in several conflict areas in Africa, including the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia and the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. He said the crisis in Yemen has been "met with a deafening and scandalous silence".



He appealed to Israelis and Palestinians to "rediscover the power of dialogue" to reach a two-state solution where both can live side by side in peace and prosperity.



Francis said he realized many Christians were still persecuted and called for all restrictions on freedom of worship and religion worldwide to be lifted. (Reuters)




More than 2,000 Confederate monuments and symbols remain standing across the country largely due to legal protections in southern states after more than 160 were taken down nationwide in 2020.

The symbols - from monuments to building names - appear in public spaces nationwide, more than a century and a half after the Civil War ended slavery, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The movement to remove Confederate monuments and depictions of historical figures who mistreated Native Americans became part of the national reckoning over racial injustice following George Floyd's death last year in Minneapolis.

While many of the monuments, a majority of which went up in the early Jim Crow era, have been removed or torn down by protesters - it has proven difficult to remove those that remain.

The Texas State Capitol Confederate Monument stands on the south lawn in Austin, Texas

A statue of a Confederate soldier sits outside the Parker County Courthouse in Weatherford, Texas

At least six Southern states have policies protecting monuments, the law center said, while historical preservation boards and Republican legislative majorities have slowed the momentum, saying it's important to preserve America's past.

Texas boasted more than 180 public symbols of the Confederacy including monuments and school names, the Texas Tribune noted in 2017.

It remains unclear how many of them total are still standing in 2021 but The Dallas Morning News reported in 2018 that Texas had removed more Confederate symbols than any other state at the time.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Virginia led the US in removals in 2020 taking down 71 Confederate symbols in total.

The state was followed far behind by North Carolina with 24 and Alabama and Texas with 12 each. Thirty states didn't take down any symbols at all, according to SPLC's count.

Among the most frequent names on the list of removals were Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson.

The men are seen as top figures of the Lost Cause, a term referring to a belief that fighting on the side of slaveholders in the Civil War was just and heroic.

Davis, who served as president of the Confederate States of America before becoming a US senator from Mississippi, had his name and likeness removed 11 times.

Jackson, a top confederate general, was on the list eight times, with his name removed from five different schools.

But by far the most frequent was General Robert E. Lee, who showed up more than 15 times.

His removals included a statue which represented the state of Virginia as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol for 111 years.

Of the 168 symbols changed or removed from public spaces last year, all but one went down after Floyd was killed in Minneapolis on May 25. Pictured: An image of George Floyd is projected on a vandalized statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee in Richmond, Virginia, on January 20

More than 160 Confederate symbols were removed from public spaces last year after the death of George Floyd sparked a nationwide reckoning on race, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Pictured: Workers dismantle a statue of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, on July 7

Many of the statues had been vandalized before being removed. Pictured: A statue from the Richmond Howitzers Monument, erected in 1892 to commemorate a Confederate artillery unit, lies after being toppled by protesters on June 17

Texas Democrat Rep. Rafael Anchia has introduced a proposal in the Republican-controlled Legislature to remove Confederate depictions at the Statehouse.

'We are at a really important moment of reckoning and racial justice,' he said.

'This fits into that process of really racial truth and reconciliation.'

But he's up against Republican legislation to protect monuments. Anchia's measure is still waiting for a committee hearing, where attempts to remove Confederate monuments and holidays have died in previous sessions.

Some defenders of the statues have long argued that they monuments honor the dead relatives of their family members.

A Confederate monument in Georgetown, Texas has repeatedly sparked protests in the conservative Austin suburb.

'This is not a monument to the Confederacy. This is a monument to the soldiers in our families who died,' Shelby K. Little told the local Community Impact newspaper in 2017.

'It's worth remembering the tragedies of losing family just as it is worth remembering that slavery happened so it doesn't happen again.'

The 1935 statue of Robert E. Lee, by sculptor Alexander Phimister, sits in storage in 2018 after it had been removed

The statue in Dallas was removed from a park in September 2017 and put in storage

Workers prepare to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from Robert E. Lee Park in Dallas, Texas, in 2017

A 1933 statue of Confederate leader Jefferson Davis has been removed from University of Texas' South Mall

Houston city workers remove a statue of confederate soldier Dick Dowling from Hermann Park on June 17, 2020 in Houston, Texas

Groups like the Sons of Confederate Veterans claim to be direct descendants of the Confederate soldiers and seek to honor those who 'served in the War for Southern Independence,' according to the group's website.

Just past the gate at an entrance to the Texas Capitol, a large monument honoring the soldiers of the Confederacy looms, with towering statues and an inscription that reads, 'Died for state rights guaranteed under the Constitution.'

It is one of seven Confederate memorials on the Texas Capitol grounds alone.

The Texas Observer reported last month that the Texas Historical Commission, the state's agency for historic preservation, has permitted the removal of only one Confederate memorial after it strengthened protections for designated landmarks.

The 15-person commission has enacted a new rule requiring a majority vote of to 'retire' the landmarks, the Texas Observer reported.

The commission had allowed Denton County, a suburban area north of Dallas, to remove a statue of a Confederate soldier from its courthouse grounds last July if the county eventually displays it elsewhere.

While facing a tougher fight in Texas, Anchia still has hope for removing contentious icons at the Capitol after one of the state's largest Confederate monuments - in Dallas - became one of 168 Confederate symbols removed nationwide last year.

But his legislation is up against a monument protection bill from Republican state Sen. Brandon Creighton. It would create a process, with public input, for altering a state memorial to any historical figure - whether it's a monument or a street name.

'One opinion thinks that erasing that part of our past is healthy and is the best route Texas can take,' Creighton said.

'And then you have my opinion, and I believe many others here, that keeping that history in place is very important.'

Texas isn't the only place where the issue faces an uphill battle.

Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee have preservation laws meant to 'protect primarily monuments and memorials to the Confederacy,' said Lecia Brooks, chief of staff of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Brooks added: 'The truth of the matter is that most of these monuments and memorials dont offer any historical context at all,' Brooks said.

'It is just a way to venerate people who fought for the continuation of slavery.'

In Alabama, a 2017 law approved as some cities began taking down Confederate statues forbids the removal or alteration of monuments more than 40 years old.

Violations carry a $25,000 fine, but some cities have opted to pull them down and pay.

In March, Alabama lawmakers rejected revisions to the law that would have given cities and counties a way to take down Confederate monuments and relocate them for preservation.

In Pennsylvania, a bill from Senate Republicans would prevent removing public monuments without legislative approval, with penalties of up to a felony charge.

In a statement, GOP state Sen. Doug Mastriano said Pennsylvania is home to thousands of memorials and monuments 'that help tell Americas story to future generations.' He said his legislation came 'in response to high-profile cases in which public monuments were vandalized.'

Mastriano's measure also would withhold state support from local governments that refuse to uphold laws protecting public monuments and 'require the Pennsylvania Attorney General to prioritize the prosecution of any matters related to the vandalism of monuments within the states jurisdiction when a district attorney refuses to prosecute.'

A statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee in Richmond, Virginia is seen covered in graffiti on January 17

State workers prepare to remove a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis from the rotunda of the Capitol Building in Frankfort, Kentucky, on June 12

At the Ohio Capitol, the removal of a 9-foot-tall copper statue of Christopher Columbus has been delayed until at least 2025. It's stood on the Statehouse grounds in the city that bears his name since 1932.

Critics say monuments to the explorer ignore the mistreatment of Indigenous people as Europeans settled in North America.

Delaying the statue's removal came after a board of state lawmakers and city leaders decided in July that a formal removal process must be done by the agency managing the grounds.

According to a rule approved in February by the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, anyone can submit a proposal to remove 'commemorative works,' but final approval will take five years.

That came days after Mayor Andrew Ginther swiftly removed a similar Columbus statue from City Hall.

Board spokesman Mike Rupert said in a statement that the rule mirrors the process for erecting a 'commemorative work' at the Ohio Capitol. He said it was not targeting any monument.

In California, amid racial injustice protests last summer, icons were toppled of Junipero Serra, an 18th century Roman Catholic priest who founded nine of the state's 21 Spanish missions and is credited with bringing Roman Catholicism to the U.S. West.

Serra forced Native Americans to stay at the missions after they were converted or face punishment. His statues have been defaced for years by people who said he destroyed tribes and their culture.

California's first Native American assemblyman, James Ramos, wants to replace a statue of Serra at the Capitol. The Democrat said he worked with tribes on replacement options and to bring awareness to 'atrocities, genocide and forced labor' endured by Indigenous people during the Spanish missionary period.

'We are bringing that discussion and that voice that was left out of the equation when those monuments were put up to be able to have that voice now in 2021,' Ramos said.
Oaks  whether red, white, black or scarlet  are hardwood royalty in Connecticut forests.

No other tree sustains such a variety of wildlife  from birds to snakes, lizards to squirrels and deer, butterflies to black bears.

They can be Methuselahs, living for hundreds of years. The famed Connecticut charter oak  our state tree, the white oak  was nearing 1,000 years old when a storm finally took it down in 1856.

Their leaves sequester carbon dioxide and the dead leaves  leaf litter  replenishes the soil.

Which is why Doug Tallamy thinks people should think of them as trees that can grace front yards, as well as back-forty woodlots.

The oaks is at the top of the list of trees in our landscape, Tallamy said last week in a Zoom talk with the Aspetuck Land Trust.

Tallamy, who lives in Pennsylvania, is a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. He has increasingly turned his attention to the superiority of native trees and shrubs to promoting biodiversity, compared to ornamentals that sit and do nothing for the environment.

In his latest book is The Nature of Oaks, Tallamy studied a year in the life of an oak in his yard and all the benefits that ensue.

People who know oaks agree. Eugene Reelick, owner of the Hollandia Nursery in Bethel, said he sells seven or eight species of young oaks.

I love them, Reelick said. Theyre beautiful and they add so much to the environment.

Jeff Ward, a forester with the Connectiut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, said that oaks have always been a part of the states landscape.

Theyve been a predominant species since forever, Ward said

In todays forests, there are more red maples in Connecticut woods than any other species. But in terms of overall importance, the oak family blows away everybody else, Ward said, making up about 40 percent of the state forest biomass.

Oaks really took over in Connecticut around the turn of the last century, when clear-cutting for charcoal, forest fires and the demise of the American chestnut suddenly opened up the woods. Oak seedlings, which need a lot of sunlight to succeed, grew aplenty without a heavy forest canopy to stunt them.

You can see a lot of big oaks around, said Sean McNamara, owner of Redding Nursery. Theres a massive one near my parents house.

Oak seedlings do most of their early growing under the ground, establishing a good root system.

When theyre young, they grow a root the size of a carrot, said Ward of the agricultural experiment station..

But once established, they take off. Tallamy said the oak thats the subject of his book has grown to be 45 feet tall in 18 years.

And they give back. Tallamy said a mature oak will throw off 3 million acorns in its lifetime. Those acorns feed a host of creatures, from scurrying chipmunks to trotting turkeys to squawking blue jays to acorn weevils.

They even feed wood ducks, Tallamy said. Wood ducks will dive to eat the acorns that fall into the water.

Theyre also a tree that, in winter, holds onto its leaves longer than maples of hickories. Those dry leaves provide birds a sheltering screen from the wind.

Throughout the year, Tallamy said, there is insect life on oaks. Even in winter, chickadees and titmice hop along oak tree branches finding dormant caterpillars. On the ground, its leaf litter is home to thousands of nematodes, mites and springtails.

As the year progresses, beetles, spiders, and gall wasps and newly-hatched all call oaks their home. Migrant warblers time their arrivals to feast on them.

Tom Philbrick, professor of biology and environmental science at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, said wherever there are surfaces, insects gather.

Trees are a biosphere unto themselves, he said.

Tallamy said people dont think of oak trees as something they can plant  theyre too big, too slow-growing. If they fall on the house, theyll wreck it.

But Tallamy said, there are excellent smaller oak species that offer all the benefits without gigantic worries.

And with the world entering its sixth great period of extinction, he said, people have to think of their entire yards as living places supporting biodiversity rather than just lawns and azaleas.

I dont like the term backyard habitat, Tallamy said, because it doesnt speak of what you do with your front yard.

Contact Robert Miller at earthmattersrgm@gmail.com
Lacey Beaty and Tom Colett

Beaty is mayor of Beaverton. Colett is vice chair of the Beaverton School Board.

On Monday, Beaverton schools plan to welcome pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade students back into our buildings. Older students will follow, with a plan for all grade s levels to receive a mix of in-person instruction and distance learning by April 22.

We are elated to have students back in our halls after more than a year away from in-person instruction. While we are proud of the tremendous effort that parents, teachers, staff , and students have put into distance learning, nothing can replace the connections built in a physical classroom. With in-person instruction comes the opportunity to support students who are currently struggling with distance learning  a disproportionate number of whom come from historically underserved populations. Sports, clubs and other school-based activities offer opportunities for socializing  giving hope to students who have been isolated and experiencing increased mental health issues.

Returning our students to school has been a community-wide effort. We want to thank everyone who has been wearing a mask, social distancing, washing their hands, postponing gatherings, using curbside delivery, delaying travel and getting vaccinated. COVID-19 infection rates do not decrease on their own; they are the direct result of all our efforts. Each school that reopens can be traced back to the thousands of small decisions made by community members.

As we look to the future, we have much to celebrate: greater vaccine access, decreasing COVID-19 cases and infection rates and fewer deaths and hospitalizations. Opening our schools is a big step in rebooting our economy and returning parents to the workforce.

However, we want to sound a note of caution. Responsible behaviors have created a pathway to in-person learning, and these same behaviors must be continued to keep students in school. Sadly, we have witnessed school re-openings elsewhere that are quickly followed by COVID-19 cases when social activities like sleepovers, parties, birthday celebrations and other get-togethers also resume. Returning to school does not mean COVID-19 is over; only that we have found ways to effectively mitigate transmission risk in school when case counts are lower.

Returning our students to school is not enough. COVID-19 not only poses a danger to students and educators health, but it also disrupts students learning, often triggering quarantines which yo-yo students in and out of school.

The next few months are a critical time. Against a backdrop of increasing vaccination rates, multiple COVID-19 variants are circulating. In the Northeast, COVID-19 cases are rising, and many countries are experiencing a harrowing third wave of infections. The current moment has been aptly described as a race between the variants and the vaccine.

While we personally feel and empathize with the heartache of putting off another celebration or postponing visits with friends and family members, we strongly encourage the community to maintain the practices that have contributed to the decline in Washington County COVID-19 cases. Returning our students to campuses and keeping them there, re-opening our economy, and ultimately defeating the virus depends on the smallbut impactfulchoices we each make every day.

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Abdullah and Hamzah are both sons of the late King Hussein, who remains a beloved figure two decades after his death. Upon ascending to the throne in 1999, Abdullah named Hamzah as crown prince, only to revoke the title five years later. While the two are said to have generally good relations, Hamzah has at times spoken out against government policies, and more recently had forged ties with powerful tribal leaders in a move seen as a threat to the king.
Dubais Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has introduced an initiative for carrying out field inspections of heavy trucks using drones. The inspection teams of the Licensing Agency have been using drones for inspections of heavy vehicles since last year.

This initiative is compatible with the UAE Strategy for the 4th Industrial Revolution, launched by the Government in 2017.

The strategy aims to enhance the role and profile of the UAE as a global hub for the 4th Industrial Revolution and contribute to a competitive national economy driven by knowledge, innovation, and futuristic applications that integrate physical and digital technologies, said the statement from RTA.

This strategy reflects the government's drive to make the UAE a leading global model in proactively tackling future challenges, and harnessing 4th Industrial Revolution technologies to serve and bring happiness to community members, in line with RTAs vision to become, The world leader in seamless and sustainable mobility.

"We had identified all the various cases of heavy vehicles that can be inspected using drones. This creative national initiative utilises artificial intelligence technologies onboard drones to carry out inspections of trucks," said Mohammed Nabhan, Director of Licensing Activities Monitoring, Licensing Agency, RTA.

"RTA has trained nine officials, who were accredited by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, to act as Drone Operators," he stated.

"The drone inspection had improved the operational efficiency of field inspections of heavy vehicles and eased the difficulties encountered by inspectors when inspecting parts of heavy vehicles, which are normally difficult to access. Since we started using drones in heavy vehicle inspections last year, we have conducted more than 300 inspections, recording 580 flying minutes and resulting in reporting 48 offences," observed Nabhan.

"The use of drones in field inspections of heavy vehicles reduces the vulnerability of inspectors to incidents associated with the climbing onto the vehicle to inspect the upper areas and verify the technical faults and aspects related to shipping and loading instructions to detect any violations related to cargo stipulations," he added.

"The main offences listed in this regard are unlicensed protruding cargo, failure to cover the cargo as per the approved stipulations, use of the heavy vehicle in loading and transporting cargo not designated to that type of vehicles, failure to distribute the cargo properly, failure to secure the cargo or loading the cargo in a way that constitutes risks to others or damages the road, monitor trucks with technical faults (such as body erosion), and report trucks avoiding inspection points," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Lachlan Murdoch, his supermodel wife Sarah and their three children quietly arrived in Australia from Los Angeles last month.

And while no reason was given for the family's return Down Under, a new report has claimed that it was the political climate in the US that helped make the decision for the family to leave LA in favour of their Sydney home.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the family 'felt the cold winds of political change' when Joe Biden assumed power over Donald Trump, after the family-owned Fox News appeared to favour the Republican Party throughout the election campaign.

Back Down Under: Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, 49, and his supermodel wife Sarah, 48, arrived in Australia on a private jet last month

The publication also claims things 'got pretty rough' for their children Kalan Alexander, 16, Aidan Patrick, 14, and daughter Aerin Elisabeth, 10, at school.

A source said: 'The school communities here are very close knit, and it extends into the wider families and the circles and parties they all go to. That Hollywood set is very pro-Democratic.

'They are mostly big fundraisers for Biden, so you can imagine how well it went down when one of their classmates' dads is at the helm of the biggest anti-Biden machine in the country.'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to News Corp for further comment.

Change: According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the family 'felt the cold winds of political change' when Joe Biden (pictured) assumed power over Donald Trump, after the family-owned Fox News appeared to favour the Republican Party throughout the election campaign

The man most likely to take over his father Rupert's global empire arrived in Australia last month via private jet.

The family completed the mandatory quarantine period for international visitors by remaining confined to their luxury home in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

The Murdochs bought the beautiful Georgian mansion in Sydney's Bellevue Hill in 2009 for $23 million and then reportedly spent $11.67 million renovating the property.

Isolation: The family completed the mandatory quarantine period for international visitors by remaining confined to their luxury home in Sydney's eastern suburbs

They also purchased an adjoining property for more $4.4 million in 2018. In the current Sydney market, the estate would be worth closer to $50 million.

Despite their life in Los Angeles, where Lachlan is Executive Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, the couple has always maintained the home in Sydney, where they first met in the late 1990s before marrying in 1999.

It's not known how long the glamorous family plan to stay in Australia, although a large 90th birthday for patriarch Rupert is said to be planned for July this year in California.
Pressure was growing on Boris Johnson to introduce a lobbying law last night as David Cameron faced more questions about his closeness to a controversial financier.

Leaked emails revealed how Australian tycoon Lex Greensill was able to push through a government loan scheme from which he benefited by citing the authority of then prime minister Mr Cameron.

The cache of messages showed how the businessman told officials in 2012 that 'the PM' had requested that he implement his ideas 'across government'.

Leaked emails revealed how Australian tycoon Lex Greensill was able to push through a government loan scheme from which he benefited by citing the authority of Mr Cameron

He was said to have sent his proposed loan plan for NHS pharmacies to senior officials, who opposed them, but he was so confident he told them: 'We are not seeking your approval.'

The latest disclosures add to the pressure on Mr Cameron who brought Mr Greensill into No 10 as an unpaid finance adviser.

After leaving office the former PM then went to work as an adviser for Mr Greensill's firm, Greensill Capital, in 2018 and later lobbied ministers on its behalf for support through the Government's corporate Covid finance scheme.

He went straight to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and a Treasury minister, both of whom are said to have rebuffed the efforts.

Greensill Captial subsequently filed for insolvency after its application was rejected. Its collapse put the future of 5,000 jobs at risk while tens of millions of pounds of share options which Mr Cameron was reported to have received became worthless.

Last night Labour demanded the Government introduce a law to tackle cronyism in the wake of the lobbying scandal.

According to the latest disclosures, civil servants were worried by Mr Greensill's proposals for a system of supply-chain finance  fast-tracking funds to a company's suppliers for a commission, giving the company extra time to generate the money it needs to pay its own bills.

They were reportedly even suggestions the scheme could leave the government open to 'legal challenge'.

One official described Mr Greensill as a 'semi-private sector agent', adding: 'Rein him in  stop him approaching departments unilaterally.'

The Sunday Times reported that a deal was reached with Mr Greensill's former employer Citigroup to run the scheme for pharmacies without a tender.

The financier was said to have shocked officials by writing that there was 'no formal contract with Citigroup', adding 'this situation is entirely normal in the private sector'.

Pressure was growing on Boris Johnson to introduce a lobbying law last night as David Cameron faced more questions about his closeness to a controversial financier (File image)

Pictured: Banker Lex Greensill returns to his home in Cheshire after a walk with his dog

Labour's Cabinet office spokesman Rachel Reeves called for legislation to expand the statutory register of lobbyists.

Mr Cameron did not have to declare his Greensill role on the register as the rules apply only to third-party lobbyists and not those employed directly by firms. Miss Reeves said: 'Given the cronyism consuming the Conservative Party, it's crucial that the scope of the lobbying register is expanded to include in-house lobbyists.

'The former Conservative prime minister's conduct and the immense access Greensill was given illustrates perfectly both the toothlessness of current rules, and Tory ministers' complete disregard for any self-driven integrity when lobbying.' Neither Mr Cameron nor Mr Greensill has commented over any of the claims.

The former PM has already been cleared by a watchdog looking at whether he engaged in lobbying for which he should have been registered. A Government spokesman said: 'Lex Greensill acted as a supply-chain finance adviser from 2012 to 2015 and as a crown representative for three years from 2013. His appointment was approved in the normal manner including registering any potential conflicts of interest.'
The Nigeria Center For Disease Control (NCDC) has re-emphasised the need to avoid non-essential travels during the Easter and Ramadan celebrations to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director- General of NCDC, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday that it is very important to adhere to public health and social measures required to reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19.

As Nigerians plan to celebrate Easter and begin Ramadan, it is very important to remember the public health and social measures required to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19.

It is very important to remember the public health and social measures required to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19.

He also emphasised the need for sustained testing as an effective public health response to detect, isolate and treat cases of COVID-19.

Testing is one of the key components in Nigerias response to the pandemic.

Mararaba motor park used to illustrate the story. [Photo credit: Daily Post]The benefits of getting tested include ascertaining the incidence of COVID-19 in the community, opportunity to break the chain of transmission in the community and tracking of mutation of SARS-CoV-2 in the country.

He said that the number of collection sites and laboratories had increased in the country making testing more accessible and effective.

The capacity for testing has increased in Nigeria since the outbreak began, from four laboratories to 129 functional laboratories. Of these, 48 are private laboratories and eight are corporate laboratories.

Each state and the FCT have several sample collection sites with at least one molecular laboratory to test.

Samples are tested daily to ensure results are communicated to the clients, patients and/or managing team for optimum care, he explained.

The NCDC boss noted that it was, therefore, important that Nigerians utilise these resources to enable control of the spread of COVID-19.

The symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, sore throat, sneezing, loss of smell and taste among many others.

It is important to get tested when you have any of the symptoms in the case definition or if you are a close contact to any confirmed case.

If in doubt on how to get a test, call your state emergency line or call 6232, the NCDC Connect Centre toll free number.

Some individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19, may never develop symptoms as in asymptomatic cases.

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Others may have very mild disease pauci-symptomatic, or they may develop moderate to severe COVID-19 disease, he told NAN.

Mr Ihekweazu added that it was also important to note that co-infections of SARS-CoV-2 with other pathogens have been reported, thus a positive test for another pathogen does not rule out COVID-19 and vice versa.

He noted that in the last two weeks, the number of samples collected and tested had reduced, despite the availability of sample collection sites and public health laboratories.

The NCDC boss, therefore, urged Nigerians who meet the criteria to get tested.

(NAN)
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Ive always said that this bill is not perfect, state Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, proclaimed during Wednesdays Senate debate on groundbreaking state legislation legalizing recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older.

With myriad unanswered questions, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham acknowledged in her victory statement Wednesday night the work will go on.

Martinez, the lead sponsor and a longtime advocate of legalized pot, is all too right: What passed isnt even in the ballpark of perfect. And lets hope Lujan Grisham holds to her pledge. While marijuana legalization supporters are doing their victory lap, critics are feeling steamrolled. There were myriad cannabis legalization bills introduced during the regular session without one winning enough votes for approval. The legislative machine then moved a bill through the Roundhouse in two days before Easter weekend with limited debate and a lone amendment. (Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, offered up the good-government move that prevents House and Senate members from supporting laws that enrich themselves  they cant hold or apply for commercial cannabis licenses until 2026. Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, and others circled the wagons and unsuccessfully opposed it.)

It was the third special session in less than a year, all three of which took place in a Roundhouse closed to the public. It was a partisan win (only Democrats voted for it), with some bipartisan opposition (nine Democrats voted against; a few others were not present for the vote).

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Statewide polls show the majority of New Mexicans favor legalizing recreational cannabis for adults, a fact that weighs heavy when lawmakers are considering the pros and cons.

But the long-term consequences, far-reaching impact and one-party-rule manner in which the Cannabis Regulation Act passed the Legislature left both a slew of unanswered questions and a haze of bad will in its wake.

Lujan Grisham made it clear in her victory statement her focus is on ensuring the success of the recreational cannabis industry and that New Mexico reaps the full economic and social benefit of legalized marijuana. Thats understandable. The governor has a lot of political capital invested in recreational marijuana, as shown by her calling a special session on a non-emergent issue.

The full economic benefit remains in question, as the legislation has the state tax topping 18%. With gross-receipts taxes added, that will run 20-26%, raising the question whether illegal/black market pot will be the cheaper way to go for most consumers, and make legalization a boon to nobody but the cartels.

It is important lawmakers and the governor revisit concerns raised by Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque and a veteran of both the Albuquerque Police and Bernalillo County Sheriffs departments. His amendments to address those who get legal cannabis via illegal means, as well as those who sell to minors, were tabled on party-line votes.

And that brings us to the full social benefit, also in serious question given the unaddressed concerns about the bills impact on children, public safety and rural communities.

While the governor said workplace and roadway safety had been assured to the greatest degree possible in House Bill 2, there remain no metrics for effectively banning consumption (not just smoking) in public, dealing with drugged driving, and not only selling to minors but selling by minors.

So just how will the state, No. 1 for DWI deaths, address drugged driving? The bill is silent on this.

As for protecting the public and children, not only were concerns raised by Rehm and Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, who has championed legalizing marijuana for years, ignored  Senate Judiciary Chair Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces and an attorney, eloquently pointed out there is essentially zero penalty (just counseling and community service) for minors who use, grow or sell pot. Cervantes said that opens the door to allowing unscrupulous adults or cartel operators to grow more than the allowed six plants per adult and, if caught, blame teenagers or even partner with them. Cervantes noted that suggested changes were given little consideration as the fix was in from the opening gavel. Were not really genuinely here to debate the bill or to improve the bill.  (Were here) to pass the bill, he said.

Sen. Gay Kernan, R-Hobbs and a teacher, spoke on the Senate floor about the bills potential impact on Lea County. Kernan predicted Texans will drive into New Mexico, buy some weed, use it in our communities and drive home. Its amazing to me that intelligent people think its a good idea for a state thats third-highest in poverty  knowing that people will spend money on this mind-altering drug  and I wonder why we are doing this, she said. Kernan pleaded for giving local communities the option of prohibiting cannabis sales, but to no avail.

HB 2 passed the House by a 38-32 vote, with seven Democrats voting in opposition. Credit goes to Democratic Reps. Anthony Allison of Fruitland, Harry Garcia of Grants, Miguel Garcia of Albuquerque, D. Wonda Johnson of Rehoboth, Derrick J. Lente of Sandia Pueblo, Patricia A. Lundstrom of Gallup and Candi G. Sweetser of Deming for putting the interests of their constituents above political groupthink. Its noteworthy most represent New Mexicans living far outside the Albuquerque metro area.

After about five and a half hours of debate in the other chamber, HB 2 passed the Senate 27-15, with two Democrats in opposition. Credit goes to Democratic Sens. Roberto Bobby J. Gonzales of Taos and Shannon D. Pinto of Tohatchi for having the courage to stand up to the governor who appointed them to the Senate in 2019.

Whether one supports legal recreational marijuana or not, there is much work to be done if legalized marijuana is to stay in the win column. The bill doesnt require recreational sales to begin until April 2022. Martinez did promise well have to come back and make tweaks to it, and thats OK.

Its more than OK. Its essential if our state is going to reap any benefit and mitigate much harm from legalized marijuana.

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.
Witnessing the real Xinjiang, foreign diplomats debunk lies

Xinhua) 09:28, April 04, 2021

-- 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.

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.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
S.C. State Parks is expanding its virtual reality offerings from one experience to three, adding an ascent up a historic lighthouse and a kayaking trip down on the Catawba River while spider lilies are in bloom.

The state agency's first project was a trek to the top of Table Rock Mountain. The actual hike, which ascends 2,000 feet over 3.6 miles, can take several hours, but the expedited virtual experience runs about five minutes, hitting the highlights along the way and ending with a vista from the summit.

The 47-park system has been busier than ever, but its VR offering, which was unveiled early last year, hasn't been used as much as officials had hoped. One reason: passing goggles from visitor to visitor during a pandemic didn't square with COVID-19 safety protocols, director Paul McCormack said.

From those who have tried it, the response was "overwhelmingly positive," he added.

"If you've not done virtual reality in the past, it's so different from what you expect it to be that it's surprising for a lot of people," McCormack said.

Choosing the next two VR experiences they'd offer was fairly easy, he said.

The lighthouse at Hunting Island State Park in Beaufort County is an icon for the property and the only publicly accessible lighthouse in South Carolina. While the 167 steps to the top aren't as challenging as the Table Rock summit, it still isn't accessible to every visitor.

That's one of the key ideas behind introducing virtual reality at parks in the first place: making experiences that aren't accessible to all available in another format.

"We're not looking to create a virtual park system where people can experience it all online," McCormack said. "We want this to supplement the experience when you come to the park, to give people who may have challenges experiencing some of the more significant resources in the park an opportunity to experience them in a new way."

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It could also be a tool to motivate people if they're scared or skeptical of giving the real thing a try.

And, at Hunting Island specifically, there is some work the park system has to do on the stairs and railings in the lighthouse in the future, and it will have to be closed "for an extended period of time" when that work is underway.

While the physical structure won't be available during that period, the virtual experience of the lighthouse climb will be on view via a VR headset at the visitor center.

Creating a virtual version of a late spring kayaking trip at Landsford Canal State Park off of I-77 in Catawba also seemed like an obvious choice, McCormack said. The York County park is home to the worlds largest population of Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies, and visitation goes "through the roof" when they're in bloom, McCormack said.

But the bloom only lasts for about six weeks. For the rest of the year, virtual reality can at least give visitors a taste of it what it's like.

Plus, McCormack said, some years are just bad lily years. Because of weather, the 2020 bloom wasn't great which delayed filming of the experience from last year to this year.

The VR videos are primarily designed to be used at the park centers where those experiences are offered in real life, but the goggles, which eventually will be loaded with footage for all three online excursions, will also come with parks representatives to trade shows or events like the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, McCormack said.

Filming for the lighthouse experience was recently finished, and editing is now underway. It could be ready for viewing around Memorial Day, he said.

The Landsford Canal experience will be filmed while the spider lilies are in bloom this year, which is usually May through mid-June.
MTN resumed airtime sales on banking channels Sunday after banks lifted a ban on the telco following an intervention by the Nigerian government.

Nigerian banks on Friday barred the Johannesburg-based firm from using their USSD platform to conduct business as both sides scuffled over airtime sales fees.

The three-day-long feud started after MTN, which has the biggest share of Nigerias telecoms market, reduced the rate it pays banks for each transaction from 4.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

The lenders removed the telecom giant from their platforms, disallowing MTN users from accessing their bank accounts to recharge their phones.

As subscribers expressed their frustration, MTN advised them to seek alternative ways of recharging. On Saturday, the firm announced alternative channels for its airtime sales, including a host of fintech platforms led by Flutterwave.

Service resumed Sunday afternoon after MTN agreed to revert to status quo at the request of the Minister of Communications, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria while a permanent solution is being worked out, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

The CBN Governors intervention is in line with our core values. We acceded to his request and that of our Minister. We will continue to live our values that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life, Carl Toriola, MTN Nigeria chief executive, said Sunday.

The telco told PREMIUM TIMES its firms pursuit has always found motivation in leveraging business to the fullest in the interest of customers and the Nigerian market.

MTNs intention has always been geared towards business optimization to the benefit of our customers and indeed the country, Mr Toriola said.

This is evidenced by the fact that through the USSD imbroglio, we never denied access to our customers. In the current case, customers have been denied access to services by the banks despite having monies in their accounts to purchase those services. MTN will naturally do all it can to minimise customer pain. It is not just about revenue for us. The good of our customers influence every decision we take.

Banks and MTN trade blame

Banks said earlier they were responding to check MTNs excesses.

The truth is that if MTN gets away with this, banks should expect further reduction if not checked. Over 60 per cent of airtime vending by telcos today are done electronically through the banks, a source said.

They argued that the percentage MTN pays is lower than that of other telcos, but MTN insiders, who also requested to speak anonymously, defended the networks decision.

We did a commission optimization which saw the banks commission reducing from an average of 3.5% to 2.5%. This reduction is standard because the volumes compensate for the reduction, one source said.

We reviewed our commissions downwards. Most of the banks are not connected to us directly but through a third party  our convenience channel partners and aggregators.

Communication was shared with the partners who in turn wrote to the banks (the banks here are agents to the partner). Our contract with the partners allows us to do this;

The channels were blocked yesterday midnight leaving our customers stranded. Interesting that the bank MDs met and quickly took a decision. This references our conversation around NCC standing in the gap for the industry. Subscribers to telecommunications are being denied services by the banks even when they have money in their accounts;

Zenith Bank is connected directly to MTN  their earnings is at 2.70%. They are happy and have not blocked us;

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Banks on MTN On Demand had an uplift in their commission from 2.0% to 2.75% yet have blocked services;

Banks with direct connection to us through MTN On Demand got a commission uplift.

Lingering feud over USSD

The CBN and the NCC on March 15 intervened to resolve a similar standoff between banks and telcos over USSD fees.

The USSD allows subscribers to use their mobile phones to access financial services daily.

READ ALSO: MTN announces airtime sales channels as banks standoff continues

The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) had said banks owed its members N42 billion and threatened to suspend service.

From March 16, subscribers paid N6.98 each time they used the USSD for banking transactions. That arrangement has angered customers and alarmed advocates of financial inclusion.

A PREMIUM TIMES report showed the banks and telcos would realise about N564 million in a year from the new mobile banking fee.

MTN reported a 15.1 per cent jump in sales for 2020, bringing its total earnings to N1.346 trillion. That easily made it Nigerias biggest public company by revenue last year. Nigeria, MTNs largest market, contributes nearly one-third of the groups yearly profit.
Google's Pixel lineup of smartphones, especially, the last couple of phones hasn't been super popular in the market. But it looks like Google is ready to change that with its next Pixel phone. According to reports, it looks like Pixel might try to copy the iPhones best trick to try beating other phones in the market.

Google's next Pixel phone, presumably called the Pixel 6, will reportedly feature a Google-designed GS101 "Whitechapel" SoC. This would be the first time a Pixel phone will have an in-house SoC instead of the ones made by Qualcomm.

According to 9To5Google, the company is working on two phones that will feature the Arm-based GS101. We expect one of them to be a flagship offering to succeed last year's Pixel 5 and the other one to be a Pixel 4a 5G follow-up.

The folks over at XDA Developers claim the GS101 will feature a three cluster setup with a TPU (Tensor Processing Unit) for machine learning. The new chip may also feature a security chip, similar to the Titan M. None of this would be a first for Google because they have already made TPUs for servers and Titan M chips for its current phones.

The custom SoC, however, is something new and it may allow the company to integrate those features very well. Google was rumored to be working on this chip for a while now, so it will be interesting to see exactly how it turned out. The company is also expected to use this chip, or a version of it, in its Chromebooks.

This could breathe a new life into Google's Pixel lineup as the idea of having a custom in-house chip is very a compelling one. Apple, as you probably already know, has a reputation for having a tightly integrated software and hardware stack. We hope Google a solid device in its hands and we can't wait to learn more about it.
Thousands of NHS patients could be given cutting-edge cancer treatments in the comfort of their own living rooms this year in a drive to spare them from repeat hospital visits.

Specialist nurses from top cancer centre The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester are already offering at-home chemotherapy and immunotherapy to 250 patients a day, and the service has been such a success that its now being rolled out further.

Up to 10,000 patients with breast, bowel, kidney, lung, prostate or melanoma skin cancer will benefit from the latest targeted treatments.

Specialist cancer nurses could offer NHS patients chemotherapy or immunotherapy at home following a successful trial

Some 250 patients a day are being treated at home as part of a trial running at The Christie NHS Hospital Trust, pictured

Sufferers are given their first two treatments in a clinic, to allow doctors to assess them and monitor for any potential complications.

If given the all-clear, they can then opt to have the rest of their treatments at home.

The drugs are delivered by a pharmacist and specialist nurses visit to administer them.

Stephanie Hechter, outreach service manager at The Christie, said: Patients dont have to spend time travelling to and from hospital appointments, and they dont need to worry about parking or sitting around in waiting rooms.

Over the past 12 months, hospitals across the country have been forced to interrupt routine cancer treatments for a number of reasons, notably diversion of resources owing to Covid. While some offered patients alternative drugs in place of chemotherapy until they could return to a normal service, other patients faced lengthy delays in receiving vital treatments.

Clinics are also still limiting numbers in waiting rooms.

All of this has resulted in a backlog  figures suggest there are 4.5 million patients, in total, waiting for hospital treatment. Experts say The Christies initiative could be a blueprint for other hospitals hoping to ease this pressure.

Hechter said her team was already working with experts at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, another leading cancer centre, which may soon follow their lead. She added: The benefits of at-home treatment were even greater last year, when many patients were worried about coming to hospital. Our way, they get a time slot and one-on-one nursing care. It meant no one missed appointments  we were able to keep providing treatment as usual.

The Christie began offering the option of treatments at home to breast cancer patients in 2016, after a successful three-month pilot scheme. The Trust also offers more than 25,000 chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments each year from a mobile unit and regional clinics.

One patient to have benefited is Bob Huntbach, 72, a retired detective superintendent from Urmston, Greater Manchester. The married father-of-two, who has five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer four years ago. He had a mole on his arm that was occasionally bleeding and went to get it checked by his GP.

Since having surgery to cut out the cancer cut, Bob has had six operations on his arm, including a skin graft. Last year, after noticing a lump the size of a pea on his arm and another lump the size of a grape on his collarbone, he began receiving nivolumab, an immunotherapy treatment given into a vein which uses the bodys own immune system to fight cancer.

Following Bobs first two infusions at The Christie, he was eligible to have the treatment at home. Within months, scans showed Bobs tumours were shrinking. He received the immunotherapy every six weeks and says he sat in his conservatory while the nurses carried out the treatment.

He adds: When I was going to hospital for the treatment I had to write off a whole day. And its very tiring. Now I have the treatment at home and it makes a huge difference. You also get a one- to-one service with the nurse, who can answer all your questions.

Unfortunately, in recent months the cancer has spread to Bobs lungs and he will now need to go on to new drug to continue his fight against the disease, but he says that the time he saved travelling has made all the difference to keeping up a somewhat normal lifestyle.

Once the nurses have gone, he says, I can spend time in my workshop. At my age, every day counts.
Many people today are increasingly concerned about transparency, equity and the environmental impact of the clothing trades.

Where our clothes are made and under what conditions are now seen to reflect us as a society, said David E. Lazaro, Historic Deerfields curator of textiles. That concern also acts as a lens through which to view clothing and textile production in the past. Understanding labor and technology patterns increases what we can learn about ourselves and makes us more informed about the choices we make today.

Historic Deerfield will present a virtual forum, Invisible Makers: Textiles, Dress, and Marginalized People in 18th- and 19th-Century America, on Saturday, April 10, from 9:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Academic and museum professionals will discuss examples of the important roles and contributions of Black, indigenous and people of color textile and clothing producers and consumers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Presented as case studies, the research includes textiles and clothing produced by forced labor within plantations; people of color working as tailors and dressmakers in Massachusetts; and marginalized people who fashioned their dressed bodies using Anglo-European garments in ways that both subverted normative styles while expressing other cultural identities.

The keynote lecture, Someone Knows My Name: A Framework for Researching the Lives and Experiences of Under-represented Craftspeople in Early America, will be presented by Tiffany N. Momon, assistant professor of history at the University of the South and founder of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive.

She will explore the methodology behind the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive (blackcraftspeople.org) and discuss the methods used to uncover Black craftspeople through examining historical documents, objects and places.

A flax wheel from the collection at Historic Deerfield

She will discuss the impact of this work and the goals of the project and explore the lives of a few Black craftspeople who labored in trades such as weaving, sewing and tailoring.

Today, objects made by Black craftspeople are underrepresented at museums and historic sites, she said, explaining that often stories of Black craftspeople are barely mentioned for a variety of reasons: Some museums and historic sites choose to ignore these stories because they have determined that these are not stories that their visitors want to hear when in fact everyone needs to hear them because they are a part of American history.

In early America, she continued, there was often no mention of the contributions of enslaved Black craftspeople who labored in shops making and contributing to objects because they were enslaved.

That continues to this present day when museums attribute objects specifically to a particular white craftsperson when in some cases it is known through examining the white craftspersons papers that they enslaved Black craftspeople who were skilled and labored in the white craftspersons shop, she said.

According to Lazaro, while the clothing and textile trades have historically been anonymous, except in cases of extreme luxury or accidental notoriety, recent scholarship has begun to shift. Textiles and clothing made, traded or worn by marginalized people in American society of the past is now recognized as an important aspect to how we study history, he said. In the past, Americans exploration into the contributions of Black, indigenous and people of color within fashion and textiles has not been forthcoming. This is partly because research interests tended to focus on white narratives.

Flax retted and ready to be processed into linen. Work like the processing of flax into linen was performed in New England by many people, most of whom are anonymous to us today.

But the lack of identifiable BIPOC makers and wearers of surviving garments or the lack of evidence in archives and museum collections added to the difficulty in telling those stories. Plus literacy was not a given, and some cultures passed down information orally rather than through writing, he said. With more efforts undertaken in the last several years, including the Black Craftspeople Digital Archives, those stories and identities are thankfully coming to light.

Panel topics for the forum will focus on The Fabric of Enslaved Labor, Fashioning an Appearance as Negotiation and Self-Expression and Following the Threads of Dressmaking and Tailoring.

Textiles and clothing have been a life-long interest of Lazaro. The technical, artistic and intuitive knowledge required to create and decorate fabric as well as the manipulation of that two-dimensional material into three-dimensional forms that clothe the moving human body or an upholstered piece of furniture, never cease to amaze me, he said. Textiles and clothing are visual, auditory and textural; all the senses come into play when we see dressed people or objects. Fashion and textiles communicate so much about who we are as individuals and as a society. So much is encoded and perceived in how we dress and decorate  aesthetics, mood, assumptions about gender, wealth, geography, and so much more.

The link for the live Zoom webinar will be sent to registrants prior to the event. Recordings will be available to registrants for two weeks after each session.

The cost for the webinar is $60 ($50 for members), $85 for new members (which includes membership) and $45 for students.

Register online at historic-deerfield.org.

For more information, contact Julie Orvis at jorvis@historic-deerfield.org or 413-775-7179.
The Jammu & Kashmir government will infuse up to Rs 500 crore more as equity into Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank) as its promoter shareholder.

Rating agency (Ind-Ra) said J&K Bank will need substantial equity infusion in the first half of this financial year to maintain adequate capital buffers amid high credit costs, until March 2023. The banks common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio marginally improved to 8.56 per cent in December 2020 as against a minimum CET1 requirement of 7.38 per cent.





The capital adequacy improved on equity infusion of Rs 500 crore by the J&K government in Q4FY20 and three profitable quarters in FY21. Its CET1 was 8.42 per cent in March 2020 and 9.13 per cent in March 2019. The banks board will discuss the proposal of

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank extended the term of R K Chhibber as chairman and managing director of J&K Bank by six months from April 10 or till the appointment of a MD & chief executive, whichever is earlier.
Diversified natural resources firm has said it contributed USD 4.66 billion (Rs 34,018 crore) to the public exchequer in during the 2019-20 fiscal.

Its overall contributions to public exchequers of various countries stood at USD 4.7 billion (Rs 34,310 crore) during the fiscal year, said in its latest report.

"Consistent with our commitment to building on transparency, we present our fifth tax transparency report. During FY2019-20, our contribution to exchequer was USD 4.7 billion, which accounts for 40 per cent of our consolidated turnover," Chairman Anil Agarwal said.

Most of this amount goes to the Indian exchequer as majority of the groups business operations are located in

The company paid USD 1,398 million (Rs 10,205 crore) towards royalties to the state governments of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka based on extraction of bauxite, lead-zinc, iron ore, crude oil and natural gas.

Vedanta has also formed an internal 'Tax Council' which acts as an overarching governing body to the tax function as a whole.

The company has adopted guiding tax principle to maintain high standards of integrity with respect to tax compliance and reporting.

In the last seven years, Vedanta has contributed USD 46.4 billion (Rs 3,38,720 crore) to the exchequer which constitutes to around 39 per cent of the company's consolidated turnover.

It is the highest contribution to the exchequer made by any corporate so far in the last seven years under the present government regime.

The company said that Vedanta is the 'only' corporate in the country to come out with such a report that breaks down key components like economic value generated, taxes paid and contribution by each of the businesses, the company said.

In terms of direct taxes, the company's contribution to the exchequer is amongst the top in the private sector, it said.

"The direct economic value of USD 12,475 million (Rs 91,067 crore) has been generated during the year," it said.

Vedanta Resources Ltd is a diversified natural resource company engaged in exploring, extracting and processing minerals and oil and gas.

The group engages in the exploration, production and sale of zinc, lead, silver, copper, aluminium, iron ore and oil & gas and has its presence across India, South Africa, Namibia, Ireland, Australia, Liberia and UAE.

The group is also in the business of commercial power generation, steel manufacturing and port operations in and manufacturing of glass substrate in South Korea and Taiwan.
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Endangered right whales in the North Atlantic were discovered to have given birth to a large number of offsprings over the winter, the largest in fact since 2015 - a hopeful return to life after researchers were shocked to find the marine mammals having no known offsprings three years ago.

Researchers were able to identify 17 right whale newborns with their parents offshore between Florida and North Carolina last December to March. Unfortunately, one of the newborns died shortly after being hit by a boat, a testament to the high death rates faced by marine creatures, and for right whales, might be outpacing the creature's ability to reproduce.

ALSO READ: Climate Driving New Right Whale Movement





A Sign of Recovery for Right Whales

According to survey teams monitoring the right whales, the overall calf count from the past winter is equal to the combined total for the previous three years, including the 2018 birthing season for the right whales - which yielded absolutely no new calves for the first time in thirty years.

Despite this achievement, researchers stress that even more births are needed in the next few years to allow North Atlantic right whales to recover from their current numbers, which have been projected to drop down to only 360.

"What we are seeing is what we hope will be the beginning of an upward climb in calving that's going to continue for the next few years," said Clay George, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in charge of right whale surveys, in a release from the AFP. He adds that the right whales need to give birth to "about two dozen calves per year" for their population to stabilize and hopefully recover.

During wintertime, right whales migrate to the warmer waters of the Atlantic ocean near the Southeastern United States for their calving season. Their populations are monitored by trained spotters flying a little beyond the coastline every day during this season, scanning the shallow waters for mother whales with their newborn calves.

Survey flights that monitor Georgia and Florida concluded their calving season monitoring on Wednesday, the last day of March. Spotters observing North and South Carolina will continue to monitor waters until April 15, hoping to find additional newborns before right whales head further north to their traditional feeding grounds.

New Waters and a New Shot at Life

The recent newborn count of 17 right whales is equal to the number of calves spotted in 2015. However, these numbers, despite being the records from the past decade, are still considered average by experts. The record for right whales is 39 newborns spotted back in 2009.

Scientists believe that the lower average rates at which these marine mammals reproduce have been caused by a lack of food source. They believe that there has been a significant shortage of zooplankton to sustain right whales in the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy from Nova Scotia in Canada.

The positive growth in their birth rates this season is believed to be caused by healthier whale populations after moving to waters with more abundant food sources.

"It's a somewhat hopeful sign that they are starting to adjust to this new regime where females are in good enough condition to give birth," said Philip Hamilton, a researcher of right whales from the New England Aquarium in Boston.

RELATED ARTICLE: Experts Almost Certain Ship Collision Caused Death Of Endangered Right Whale





Check out more news and information on Right Whales in Science Times.


Frankfurt arrivals a sign that Phuket is ready, says Governor

PHUKET: Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew has hailed the arrival of the flight from Frankfurt yesterday (Apr 3) as a positive sign, saying that Phuket is ready to receive international tourists.

tourismtransporteconomicsCOVID-19

By The Phuket News

Sunday 4 April 2021, 10:58AM

Governor Narong was among the official welcoming party ready to receive the arrival of just 16 passengers, 13 foreigners and three Thais, on Flight TG912 from Frankfurt. The plane initially landed in Bangkok with 130 tourists on board, before continuing to Phuket.

Governor Narong explained that the Frankfurt flight stemmed from talks between Phuket tourism industry representatives with Thai Airways International in Bangkok in December to urge THAI Airways International to arrange direct international passenger flights to Phuket and for its dometic carrier subsidiary THAI Smile to reduce airfares to Phuket to help boost the number of domestic tourists visiting the island.

Today, we have received a great response from Thai Airways It is a good vision to revive the economy of Phuket, and the economy of the country. It is also an opportunity for the recovery of Thai Airways operations It is a collaboration of all sectors that will drive the economy back to be bright and sustainable, he said.

Jesada Chandrema, THAI International Airways Acting Vice-President for Sales, and also part of the welcoming committee yesterday, noted that it had been a full year since THAI international flights had operated out of Phuket International Airport.

The last Thai Airways flight after the COVID-19 situation [the lockdown in Thailand] began was on March 29 last year, with flight TG926 from Phuket to Frankfurt. Then flights ceased to operate. Until today, it has been a period of one year and four days, he said.

Mr Jesada noted that before the pandemic THAI Airways usually operated three flights a week between Frankfurt and Phuket.

THAI Airways will be able to return to normal flights. We expect to start more flights from high season Q4 after the market starts to improve, and more people are vaccinated it is expected that people will start to return to Phuket as they did before, he added.

The next flight from Frankfurt will be on May 7, said Wit Kitchathorn, a top executive with THAI Airways International, also present yesterday.

All passengers today still have to be quarantined as required by the Ministry of Public Health. A seven-day quarantine for those vaccinated, and 10 days for those not vaccinated, he said.

Mr Wit also assured that all necessary precautions were being taken by the airline to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

All flights are thoroughly sanitised, as we want to ensure that traveling with Thai Airways is as safe and secure as it was in the past, he said.
The Editor of Whatsapp News, David Tamakloe, who was arrested by the police on Thursday, April 1, 2021 has been granted a police enquiry bail.



He was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service on alleged offences of attempt to commit crime.



According to a police statement issued by the Head of Public Affairs of the CID, Deputy Superintendent, Ms Juliana Obeng, the suspect was arrested for attempted extortion crontrary to sections 18(1) and 151(1) and publication of false news contrary to section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).



"Suspect after being cautioned has been released on police enquiry bail to a surety to report on Tuesday, April 6, 2021 for further action.



:However, the CID denied any allegation of arresting the suspect at gun point," the police statement added.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Amman, April 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2021 ) :A top former Jordanian royal aide was among several suspects arrested Saturday as the army cautioned a half-brother of King Abdullah II against damaging the country's security.

Videos posted online showed a heavy police deployment in the Dabouq area near the royal palaces as the Washington Post said Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, who is also a former crown prince, was "placed under restriction" as part of a probe into an alleged plot to unseat the king.

"The move followed the discovery of what palace officials described as a complex and far-reaching plot," it said, quoting a senior middle East intelligence official.

Hamzah is the eldest son of late King Hussein and his American wife Queen Noor. He has good relations officially with Abdullah and is a popular figure close to tribal leaders.

Abdullah had appointed his half-brother Hamzah crown prince in line with Hussein's dying wish, but in 2004 stripped him of the title and gave it to his own eldest son Hussein.

The Washington Post said the alleged plot "included at least one other Jordanian royal as well as tribal leaders and members of the country's security establishment".

US State Department spokesman Ned price said Washington was "closely following" the reports.

"We are... in touch with Jordanian officials. King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support," he said.

"The kingdom stresses its full support for the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan.

.. and for the decisions and measures taken by King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Hussein to safeguard security and stability," it said.

Jordan's Joint Chiefs of Staff head, Major General Yousef Huneiti, denied media reports that Hamzah, who holds no official position, had been arrested.

"What has been published about the arrest of Prince Hamzah is not true," Huneiti said.

But the prince had been "asked to stop some activities that could be used to shake the stability and security of Jordan".

- 'Security reasons' Official news agency Petra named Bassem Awadallah, chief of the royal court in 2007-2008, and Sherif Hassan bin Zaid among an unspecified number of suspects arrested.

Sherif is a title given to those close to the royal family in Jordan.

The pair were detained for "security reasons" after a "close" operation, Petra said, quoting a security source.

Awadallah, a former finance and planning minister educated in the United States, 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 in 2006.

He had been a rising figure in Jordan playing a key role in pushing for economic reforms in the cash-strapped country until he resigned in 2008.

Awadallah stepped down after coming under public criticism over alleged interference in controversial political and economic issues.
Why it matters: The about-face has implications for how one of the worlds most influential economic bodies steers policy and regulates the nation's banks.

Historically untouchable issues  like climate change and race  are now on the table for the Federal Reserve, as it wades further into uncharted territory.

Historically untouchable issues  like climate change and race  are now on the table for the Federal Reserve, as it wades further into uncharted territory.

Why it matters: The about-face has implications for how one of the worlds most influential economic bodies steers policy and regulates the nation's banks.

What's going on: The Fed recently set up two committees to look at the impact of climate change on the economy and banks  a sign previous moves on this front are getting some traction.

Between the lines: It may feel small, particularly for issues that have threatened and plagued the country for years.

But its a big deal for an institution that rarely  if ever  spoke publicly about these issues, let alone interwove them into considerations about the economy.

On climate: The Fed is behind its peers around the globe where climate change is less politicized.

Last year the Fed became the last to officially join a central bank climate network thats been around since 2017.

Another example: The Bank of England will incorporate climate into stress tests on banks  something Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says is in the "early stages" of consideration.

On race: Fed officials have implied that the national unemployment rate wouldnt be the only jobless measure they look at when measuring the health of the economy.

Black unemployment  which tends to fall much more slowly  might also be a factor.

Im going to be ... pushing back against the notion that were all fine if the aggregate [unemployment rate] is at a certain point but some of these targeted populations are still in significant distress.

 Raphael Bostic, the only Black leader of a Fed bank and a voting member on Fed policy, earlier this month

Flashback: In 2019, Powell started calling out the importance of keeping the economy humming so minority and low-income workers could reap the benefits.

Powell has said the Fed's pandemic-era policies "absolutely" will not worsen income inequality in America.

Yes, but: A study from the New York Fed this year found that easy-money policies benefited the wealthy more than lower-income people  exacerbating inequality.

Of note: As the Fed gets louder on the importance of diversity, it's grappling with the lack of diversity in its own ranks.

The big question: Whether the sea change on climate and race is a blip or long-lasting.

"As long as the Fed is governed by reputable people, I think many of these changes are here to stay, Adele Morris, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, tells Axios.

What to watch: Resistance from Republicans.
"South Africa is concerned about the security situation at Cabo Delgado in the northern part of Mozambique, and remains seized with the safety of South Africans in that province," Xinhua new agency quoted the Ministry's Head of Communications Siphiwe Dlamini, as saying in a statement on Saturday.

Pretoria, April 4 (IANS) More than 50 South African nationals were reported missing after a terror attack in Mozambique last week, the Ministry of Defence and Military Veterans in Pretoria said.

"The government can confirm that, with the exception of one person who died tragically in violence, more than 50 South Africans who were reported missing through the South African High Commission in Maputo have been accounted for," Dlamini added.

He said South African National Defence is bringing back citizens who want to return home.

On March 30, the South African Air force carried back the body of the deceased with his family.

South Africa will attend the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Troika meeting called by the President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi to discuss Mozambican problems, Dlamini said.

"South Africa, as a member of SADC, will participate in the meeting with a view to assist in the development of a solution that will secure peace and continued development in Mozambique," Dlamini said.

The attack began on March 24 when about 100 insurgents stormed the strategically important town of Palma in the volatile Cabo Delgado province.

Dozens of people have reportedly been killed while thousands of others were trying to flee the zone by foot, boat and road, according to the UN agency.

The Islamic State terror group, which claimed responsibility for the attack, says it has taken control of Palma and killed more than 55 Mozambican security forces.

The population in the oil-rich Cabo Delago province has been suffering from brutal attacks for the past three years in a simmering conflict that has cost an estimated 2,500 lives to date.

--IANS

ksk/
You laugh at el Rufai, Ortom, Masari or any other governor at your peril. The joke will soon be on you and your children if the Federal Government doesnt excise the cancer of banditry with the massive instruments of legitimate violence at its disposal.

If the amalgam of violent criminals  kidnappers, bandits, armed robbers, hostage takers, terrorists, or whatever other name one calls them  had their way, Governor Nasir el-Rufai would have become history by now. It was Nasir who made national headlines after he confessed to realising that payment of ransom to abductors was futile.

He had caused a similar furore at the onset of his administration when he revealed that he had paid some princely sum to buy off a planned reprisal attack by some herdsmen. Many people who criticised his decision to negotiate with self-confessed killers or revenge seekers outside the ambit of the law at the time are now gladdened that the governor has come to the realisation that there is no point in negotiating with evil. The only lasting solution is to stamp it out; extirpate it!

Criminal gangs, bandits, insurgents and ethno-religious militias made a conscious choice to challenge Nigerias sovereignty and menace our citizens. These criminals must be wiped out immediately and without hesitation We must put a stop to these criminal acts and enable our people to live their lives in peace and safety. This is a most urgent task, says the governor.

The reaction of the criminals to the stance of the Kaduna State government is to make the State ungovernable by hitting soft targets and generally creating a feeling of insecurity in rural and urban centres of the State. If el-Rufais government is defeated by the bandits, the attempted assassination of Governor Ortom of Benue State will become a routine expectation. We shall enter the era of warlords controlling different patches of our country. It will not just be farewell Kaduna but farewell Nigeria.

Criminals sometimes benefit from the collective myopia of their victims. That was certainly the case when Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue State, was nearly killed in an assassination attempt near his farm. Some sympathisers of cattle rearers who had been having a running media battle with the governor over the States ban on open grazing, openly celebrated the act.

Remember the old saying that when a violent breeze carries away a garment hung in the room, everyone must hold tight to the one they are wearing lest they suffer the same fate? If criminals succeed in kidnapping a governor, they will escalate their adventure to the presidency.

A group known as the Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM) reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement by one Umar Amir Shehu. Our courageous fighters carried out this historic attack to send a great message to Ortom and his collaborators: Wherever you are, once you are against Fulani long term interest, we shall get you down.

The group also threatened to sponsor attacks on any State or individual that opposes the implementation of Rural Grazing Area (RUGA)  a threat which the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has condemned.

Remember the old saying that when a violent breeze carries away a garment hung in the room, everyone must hold tight to the one they are wearing lest they suffer the same fate? If criminals succeed in kidnapping a governor, they will escalate their adventure to the presidency.

If there is anything one has learnt in the multiversity of life, it is never to say never.

Come to think of it, those Latin American countries with a rich history of kidnapping and abduction didnt achieve that status overnight. One kidnap led to another. With time, people merely shrugged. It became part of the vagaries of life. But in those climes, it is mostly tied to political triggers, not savage banditry orchestrated by illiterate merchants of violence under the patronage of an allegedly unseen godfather pulling the strings.

If we are to rid the country of this novel but lucrative crime wave, government has to live up to its name. There is no disease that death cannot cure. In the same vein, there is no criminality that government cannot wipe out. In this game of death, government ought to be the one wielding the sharpest sword of decapitation.

Neither government nor the military does its image any good with claims that bandits terrorising the nation are backed by some godfathers. Who are the godfathers? What is so sacrosanct about their names? If government knows them why are they still walking free?

In the global ranking of kidnapping hotspots as at 2015, the RiskMap Report on Kidnap and extortion rates Nigeria as having climbed from being an outsider to ranking as Number 5 after Mexico, India, Pakistan and Iraq. Notorious countries such as Libya, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Lebanon are considered relatively safer. Nigerians ought to be worried; very worried.

If we are to rid the country of this novel but lucrative crime wave of bandits, government has to live up to its name. There is no disease that death cannot cure. In the same vein, there is no criminality that government cannot wipe out. In this game of death, government ought to be the one wielding the sharpest sword of decapitation.

Unfortunately, in the midst of this unprecedented attempt to render the country ungovernable, some people are still campaigning for amnesty for bandits, claiming that they are freedom fighters like the Niger Delta militants. When you ask what these bandits are fighting for, youll be told that they want to be compensated for taking to the bush to fight for inclusion. Enough of the jokes! Let the military translate President Buharis latest order for total annihilation of the bandits, into reality.

You laugh at el Rufai, Ortom, Masari or any other governor at your peril. The joke will soon be on you and your children if the Federal Government doesnt excise the cancer of banditry with the massive instruments of legitimate violence at its disposal.

Fighting Judge

When you think youve seen the most ridiculous things in life, another comes up that leaves your jaw agape. Imagine a judge, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, fighting in public! While I leave the substantive matter to law enforcement to unravel, I cannot extend the same privilege to Ibraheem Al-Hassan who describes himself as Head, Press & Public Relations of the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

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In his attempt to exculpate his boss, Al-Hassan simply murdered the English language, and sneaked in some ethnic innuendoes, thereby exposing the low quality of some people working for government. Excerpts from the press release:

Our attention was drawn on a report from some online publication with a video cliff suggesting Hon Chairman, Justice Danladi Y. Umar assaulted a Security Guard at Banex Plaza.

To start with, the said plaza has been his usual place of visits for the past 18 years for shopping and repairs of his phones, and in all these periods there have never been any time he had any turmoil with anybody.

Unfortunately, yesterdays altercations started over a packing lot, which Chairman met vacant and it was directly opposite a shop he want to make a purchase and to fixe his phone, when the young Security guard sighted him, he ordered that Chairman should not pack his car in that particular empty space, but Chairman asked why, the security guard couldnt convinced chairman, though Chairman didnt identify himself, because to him is needless and is a place he visited often, but the boy was rode in his approached and threaten to deal with Chairman if he refuse to leave the scene.

Again, if Chairman had went there to cause trouble or intimidate some one, as suggested in the report, he would have gone there in his full official paraphernalia, but he went there alone with his younger brother.

The Police men seen in the video cliff were not the Chairmans police team, they were policemen operating around the plaza whom at first instance intervened before the arrival of police team from Maitama Police station. As the few policemen in the complex were apparently overwhelmed by the mobs, consisting of BIAFRAN boys throwing matches and shape object to his car, which led to deep cut and dislocation in one of his finger, causing damage to his car, smashing his windscreen.

At a point he attempted to leave the scene, these same miscreants, BIAFRAN boy ordered for the closure of the gate thereby assaulting him before the arrival of police team from Maitama police station.

An incident like this when it happened, sympathy usually goes to the low personalities. Though is unfortunate as I said, it ought not to have happened.
Imperial Valley News Center

Justice Department Settles Discrimination Claim Against Recruitment Firm

Washington, DC - The Justice Department Wednesday announced that it reached a settlement with Adaequare Inc. (Adaequare), a company that recruits workers for other companies. The settlement resolves the departments claim that Adaequare only considered applicants who were U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents when filling a job for a client. Based on its investigation, the department concluded that by only considering applicants who are U.S. citizens and permanent residents, Adaequare discriminated against refugees, asylees, and non-citizen nationals, based on their citizenship or immigration status.

Recruiters cannot illegally exclude applicants based on their citizenship or immigration status, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. We applaud Adaequare for immediately taking steps to ensure that this discrimination does not happen again.

The departments investigation determined that when a client asked Adaequare to only recruit U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents for a job, the company did not first check to make sure that the client was legally allowed to limit jobs to those statuses. Instead, the Civil Rights Divisions Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) determined, the company unlawfully screened out applicants based on their citizenship or immigration status.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) protects U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals, refugees, asylees, and recent lawful permanent residents from this type of discrimination. The law has an exception if an employer or recruiter is required to limit jobs due to a law, regulation, executive order, or government contract. The departments investigation determined that Adaequare did not have a legal justification for screening out these workers based on their citizenship or immigration status. To help prevent future discrimination, Adaequare now asks clients for a legal justification if a client requests the company to limit candidates for a job to certain citizenship or immigration statuses.

Todays settlement agreement requires Adaequare to take several steps to ensure it follows the law in the future, including training its employees who recruit to fill positions. The company also must pay a civil penalty. As with its other settlements, IER will also monitor Adaequare to make sure the company is complying with the agreement.

IER is responsible for enforcing discrimination protections under the INA. The law prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation. Learn more about citizenship status discrimination under the INA here.
Landslides and flash from torrential rains in eastern killed at least 44 people and displaced thousands, a disaster relief agency said Sunday. Several were still missing.

Mud tumbled down onto dozens of house in Lamenele village from the surrounding hills shortly after midnight on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province. Rescuers recovered 38 bodies and five injured, said Lenny Ola, who heads the local disaster agency.

The bodies of three people were found after being swept away by flash in Oyang Bayang village as 40 houses were destroyed, she said. Hundreds of people fled submerged homes, some of which were carried off by the floodwaters.

Seasonal downpours cause frequent landslides and and kill dozens each year in Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

In another village, Waiburak, three people were killed and seven remained missing when overnight rains caused rivers to burst their banks, sending muddy water into large areas of East Flores district, Ola said. Four injured people were being treated at a local health clinic.

Hundreds of people were involved in rescue efforts, but distribution of aid and relief was hampered by power cuts, blocked roads and the remoteness of the area that's surrounded by choppy waters and high waves, said the National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson, Raditya Jati.

Authorities were still collecting information about the full scale of casualties and damage in the affected areas, Jati said.

Photos released by the agency showed rescuers and police and military personnel taking residents to shelters, bridges cut while roads were covered by thick mud and debris.

Severe flooding also has been reported in Bima, a town in the neighboring province of West Nusa Tenggara, forcing nearly 10,000 people to flee, Jati said.

In January, 40 people died in two landslides in West Java province.

(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.)
Indian paramilitary troopers carry a coffin with the body of a slain colleague after a wreath laying ceremony at a paramilitary camp in Srinagar on March 26, 2021 held to honor the slain troopers following an attack by suspected militants a day before. (Tauseef Mustafa/AFP via Getty Images)
A large rockslide at the base of Elowah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge has added to the inaccessibility of one of the most beautiful and secluded waterfalls in the area, which continues to recover from the 2017 Eagle Creek fire.

Steve Kruger, Trailkeepers of Oregons executive director, said Saturday that the area is closed to the public until further notice and theres no access to Gorge 400 Trail to Elowah Falls and the Upper McCord Creek Falls Trail.

Kruger said that Trailkeepers volunteer Drew Stock was scouting for sites for upcoming trail work parties and a weekend training program for new volunteers on Friday when he was stopped by rocks and debris, which wiped out a footbridge that crosses the 213-foot waterfall along McCord Creek.

The rocks and debris completely buried a section of trail and was enough to fill about three dump trucks, according to Kruger.

Only a part of the bridge handrail could be seen above debris, he said.

The rockslide did not dam McCord Creek, so water wont affect the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail or Interstate 84, he said.

Trailkeepers of Oregon will watch how the debris settles and will work with Oregon State Parks to conduct restoration work, realign the trail or find another solution, Kruger said.

The debris will have to be moved by hand because of its location, said Clay Courtright of Oregon State Parks. He said the area has not yet been fully assessed and is not safe for visitors.

Weve received word from a crew leader that theres a massive slide at the base of Elowah Falls. Is taken out the bridge that crosses the falls at the bottom of the trail. (Photos by Drew Stock) Posted by Trailkeepers of Oregon on Friday, April 2, 2021

The closure adds to a list of roadblocks spring hikers face in the gorge.

A landslide has closed part of the Historic Columbia River Highway, for example.

And the John B. Yeon parking area, which offers access to the Elowah Falls trailhead, was closed intermittently in March because of frequent landslides that dumped mud, water, rocks and debris onto the highway. Other exits on I-84 were also intermittently closed.

Kruger said that although the rockslide discovered Friday is separate from ongoing landslides, the area, part of the John B. Yeon State Scenic Corridor, is still fragile after being severely burned in the Eagle Creek fire.

The scenic corridor had reopened to the public in January for the first time since the 2017 fire.

Due to landslides, the scenic corridor is now only accessible by taking the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail west from the Toothrock Trailhead by foot or bike, according to updates on the Oregon State Parks website.

 Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg fired back at South Dakotas Republican Governor Kristi Noem after she criticised Joe Bidens sweeping infrastructure proposal for its investments in housing and pipes and different initiatives.

I heard the governor of South Dakota recently saying, This isnt infrastructure  its got money for pipes. Well, we believe that pipes are infrastructure, because you need water to live, and too many families now live with the threat of lead poisoning, he told ABCs This Week on Sunday. Thats absolutely infrastructure.

Mr Buttigieg and White House officials made the case for the $2 trillion White House plan across US media on Easter Sunday, pitching the presidents plan to modernise the nations ageing water systems and expand internet access, repair crumbling roads and bridges, incentivise manufacturing projects to remain in the US, and revive schools and care facilities.

It aims to address long-term sustainability goals and racial and socioeconomic disparities, and would partially reverse corporate tax cuts implemented by Donald Trump to pay for it.

The plan would eliminate lead exposure in 400,000 schools and childcare centres and as many as 10 million homes through water infrastructure grants through the Environmental Protection Agency.

Read more:

Asked by This Weeks George Stephanopoulos why the White House hasnt proposed a more targeted effort around traditional infrastructure, Mr Buttigieg said: Lets be clear  theres a lot more than roads and bridges that are part of infrastructure.

I know that traditionally, the internet wasnt considered infrastructure ... but infrastructure investment has to include looking to the future, he said.

Mr Buttigieg argued that Americans will support the plan even more when you explain how were gonna pay for it, and the reason is simple, which is that corporations, we all know, have not been paying their fair share. A lot of multinational corporations have been paying zero [in federal income taxes].

The plan would raise the corporate tax rate to 28 per cent from its current 21 per cent, rowing back cuts under Donald Trump in 2017 as part of his administrations massive tax cuts that immediately heaped more than $1 trillion on the deficit in a pre-pandemic healthy economy.

Mr Buttigieg said the infrastructure proposal would begin to chip away at the federal deficit by year 16.

GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the White House proposal a Trojan Horse with the latest liberal wishlist, reviving previous Republican opposition to Mr Bidens American Rescue Plan, which has seen broad public support from both Republicans and Democrats across several recent polls after its passage.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants to pass an infrastructure bill in the Democratically controlled House of Representatives near the July 4 holiday, but it faces a murky path in the Senate.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Democrats are weighing a move to pass the bill through the budget reconciliation process, as they did with the American Rescue Plan, to bypass the need for GOP support and send the bill to Mr Bidens desk with a simple majority vote.
Dont they know that there is a metaphysical and indeed, physical link between the health of the president and the health of a nation? No one needs any peep into the Ouija-board to know that since Buhari came back from the infirmary in 2017, he had literally and figuratively ceased to be capable of administering Nigeria.

The President Is A Sick Man is the title of a book written by Philadelphia-born, award-winning American journalist, Matthew Algeo. It is a chronology of the medical travails of President Grover Cleveland, a lawyer, statesman and one of the most famous public speakers of his time. Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States of America, from 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897. The book chronicles how inexorably linked the health of a president and the health of the nation are.

Cleveland was Americas first and only two non-consecutive terms president in history. He was also the first democrat to become the American president in 28 years. Famously renowned for always speaking the truth, he was regarded as a very virtuous man, so much that his most memorable quotation, ramped up into a cliche was, Tell the Truth. Like Nigerias Muhammadu Buhari, whose minders ingenuously chiseled out an alias, Mai Gaskiya, out of his simple lifestyle which, unbeknownst to the generality of Nigerians, was earlier on a facade covering a gross latitude for egregious corruption by the people who surround him, America was later to find out that wrapped up inside that Cleveland shawl of telling the truth was the most untruthful cover-up in American history, far more scandalous than Watergate. What revealed Clevelands real persona was his battle with mouth cancer and an extraordinary, even if political cover-up of this infirmity that lasted for almost a century, garnished with a successful attempt to keep it from the American people.

Cleveland had assumed the American presidency on March 4, 1885 as the second bachelor president in the history of the country, after James Buchanan. Critics called Cleveland debauched, due to his penchant for bringing his harlots to the vicinity of the White House. However, on July 1, in the summer of 1893, Cleveland suddenly disappeared from the radar and couldnt be found anywhere in the White House. Or anywhere in America. It was a challenging time when America was embroiled in what newspapermen labeled, in oblique vernacular, The money question. America was teetering on the brinks of financial and social chaos. The economy was threatening to kiss the canvass; unemployment figures were competing with the firmament in height; banks and factories were shutting their gates with reckless abandon and stock prices were in a free fall.

On May 5, 1893, two weeks shy of his 56th birthday, the second day of his swearing in at the Capitol for a second term, Cleveland noticed a rough spot on the roof of his mouth which, by the prodding of his wife, Frances, prompted the invitation of the presidents friend, New York surgeon and Clevelands family physician, Dr. Joseph Decatur Bryant, to look it up. Bryant diagnosed an oral tumour, which was malignant in nature, an ulcerated surface with an oval outline about the size of a quarter of a dollar. He called it a bad looking tenant that should be evicted post-haste.

Right from the 5 BC, cancer had garnered the notoriety of being the most dreaded disease in human history. America of the 19th century was no exception, nor President Cleveland himself. He was thoroughly afraid. The dread was such that, even Greek physician of the Age of Pericles, Hippocrates, also known as Hippocrates of Kos or Hippocrates II, who was renowned to be one of the most outstanding personalities in medical history, was quoted to have urged that It is better not to apply treatment in the cases of occult (internal) cancer; for if treated, the patients die quickly; but if not treated, they hold on for a long time. The fear was that, if the cancer afflicting Cleveland had gone into metastasis, the lower part of his left eye socket would be removed during surgery and thus permanently impairing his vision.

On July 1, 1893, President Cleveland got lost inside the Oneida, his friend, Commodore Elias Benedicts yacht. For five good days, he was declared missing. William Williams Keen, Americas most famous and celebrated surgeon of the time and a team of other surgeons, performed the surgery to remove the cancerous tumor that had grown dangerously and embarrassingly on the presidents upper jaw and palate. The most shocking aspect of it was that, one very enterprising newspaper reporter, E. J. Edwards, later got wind of the information and reported the secret surgery. Clevelands Garba Shehus descended on the journalist with the highest acerbity ever. They even labeled him a disgrace to journalism. It was not until decades later that one of Clevelands surgeons exposed the startling disappearance.

Last week, Nigeria undertook its own ample share of the unwitting communication of the superhuman status of African presidents to the public. President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria jetted out to the United Kingdom to undertake his own surgery inside a Cleveland-type Oneida yacht, for routine medical checkup.

I decided to narrate this long story so as to give a background to the African and Nigerian experience of the Cleveland disease  not in terms of the disappearance per se but the stunt of keeping ailments out of the peoples purview by elected presidents. While some may argue that the covert Cleveland surgery legitimises many similar situations in Africa, the fact that this happened in America, in the dark age of the 18th century, delegitimises such argument.

Drawing curtains around the health status of African leaders today, making them suddenly disappear to undertake surgeries inside the Cleveland-type Oneida yacht that was utilised, has a history behind it. It is a mentality of the continuation of the great empires and monarchies of Africa, where kings were perceived to be infallible, super-human and incapable of falling prey to the afflictions of plebeians and common people. African leaders, seeing themselves in the same mould of kings and emperors, believe that they must not be heard to be having failing healths, nor for their health statuses to be made public. In what other way can it be said to them that, no matter ones status in life, no one is immune to health failings and death? This trend that I call the Kabiyesi mentality, has bred a pandemic of leaders of Africa who, almost like 19th century Cleveland, abdicate their thrones covertly to seek remedies abroad, without the knowledge of their people.

In October 2016, that was how President Peter Mutharika of Malawi disappeared off the radar, by which time he was 76 years old, clandestinely undertaking his own surgery inside a Cleveland-type Oneida yacht. He had gone to attend the United Nations General Assembly mid-September and didnt come back until October 16. This provoked speculations in Malawi that he had died, with his cagey aides failing to divulge his whereabouts. There were later disclosures through the grapevine that he had vamoosed to some parts of Europe to attend to his health. The same was the story of Gabonese President, Ali Bongo, son of Omar Bongo. At a time in November 2018, Ali was said to have been seriously ill, with speculations rife that he had died after suffering from a stroke. He was just 59 years old then. Findings, however, later revealed that he had not died but that was holed up in a Saudi Arabia hospice.

Oil-rich Angolas Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979, also eloped to Spain to have his own surgery inside a Cleveland-type Oneida yacht. He had sought medical remedy for an undisclosed ailment in May, 2017. It was after about three weeks of his noticeable absence from the public that his foreign minister, after pressure from the opposition, confirmed his unceremonious absence. Again, until his death at age 95, Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe was always dashing in and out of Singaporean hospitals. In the same vein, Benin Republics Patrice Talon is perhaps one of the rarest breeds of the African leadership caste to have made public disclosure of what ailed him. After the 59-year old president, who took over from Thomas Yayi-Boni, disappeared from the radar for about three weeks, his minders, on June 19, 2017, released the information that he had undergone two successful surgical operations in Paris. He said doctors had found a lesion in his prostate. This further necessitated another surgery in his digestive system.

Last week, Nigeria undertook its own ample share of the unwitting communication of the superhuman status of African presidents to the public. President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria jetted out to the United Kingdom to undertake his own surgery inside a Cleveland-type Oneida yacht, for routine medical checkup. In March 2017, the then 74-year-old president had suddenly appeared on the radar, after unceremoniously disappearing for seven weeks, from January 19. He had jetted to the U.K. to treat an ailment, which till today remains undisclosed, flakes from which stoked the general perception that his failing health had grossly been responsible for the ungoverned space that Nigeria has being for the period of his presidency much far. It was so bad that some cynics wickedly alleged that the character that was flown back to Nigeria after the weeks of treatment in a U.K. hospice was a Buhari look-alike from Sudan and that the original had passed on. Buhari too didnt help matters. Anytime his minders fail to put on the latch and he speaks ex-tempore, the president gives them public relations migraine, veering off course into irrelevances like a wandering spirit. This is why they only release him for photo-ops, taking care that he does not get any media engagement. For how long is this window-dressing going to last?

The only known communication of Buharis ailment by the presidency was the claim that he had an ear infection, an ailment that took him to the same U.K. in 2016. On May 7 of the same year, Buhari went back to the U.K. for further medical checks, necessitating his before-now voluble wife, Aisha visiting him. His Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, acted as President during this interregnum and Nigerians, who had witnessed a previous Katsina kinsman of Buhari, Umaru YarAdua, dying in office, were wary of this continuous absence.

If the health failings of the presidents are such that they cannot function in office effectively, since the presidency is not a birthright, let them step aside and their deputies step in. Of course, those who profit from the power stagnation arising from the incapacity of ailing leaders would fight tooth and nail to continue to pad them up.

Whether he personally learnt his lessons from the mistake of temporarily dispensing power to his ngbati ngbati VP or that the Villa cabal felt threatened by Osinbajos superlative three months performance in office, it was obvious that they both dreaded such ever happening again. So, this time around when Buhari hopped onto the presidential jet to his U.K. infirmary, his minders, seemingly emerging from sleepless nights of studying the constitution, obstinately announced that he would not vacate power to anybody, as the constitution allows him to spend his two weeks projected stay with medics in the U.K. without a transfer of power.

There must be a genetic dysfunction in African presidents, which necessitates them not to disclose their health statuses. Worse still, they try to hold on to power like an adhesive, in spite of and despite their failing health. Let leaders, especially African ones, who have the tendency to be unduly secretive, disclose the facts of what ails them to their citizens. These citizens will in turn pray for their leaders recovery. On the claim that the opposition would capitalise on the disclosure to torpedo them, let who is immune to sickness and death throw the first stone.

If the health failings of the presidents are such that they cannot function in office effectively, since the presidency is not a birthright, let them step aside and their deputies step in. Of course, those who profit from the power stagnation arising from the incapacity of ailing leaders would fight tooth and nail to continue to pad them up. Dont they know that there is a metaphysical and indeed, physical link between the health of the president and the health of a nation? No one needs any peep into the Ouija-board to know that since Buhari came back from the infirmary in 2017, he had literally and figuratively ceased to be capable of administering Nigeria.

The most germane question to ask is, why hasnt Buhari constructed a world-class hospice similar to the one he visits periodically and shamelessly in the U.K., in his six years of being president? Is it naivety, inability or sheer incompetence? The billions of dollars voted to resuscitate an abiku Port Harcourt refinery will no doubt build twice of such and stuff it with world class medics. Those who argue strongly in defence of Nigerian sovereignty should well know that that same sovereignty is seriously bayoneted by the Nigerian president being a captive patient in a foreign hospital, subjected to the medical suzerainty of U.K. nationals, on their own soil. There is no doubting the fact that all information about Nigeria and what ails her president would by now be in the hands of the United Kingdom government. So what sovereignty are we talking about?

Administering Nigeria has since been done by proxies. This is why Nigeria has been very sick, from all ramifications. Consequently, all manner of afflictions, ranging from security, social to economic, have been attempting to down the Nigerian ship of state. Now imagine how many Nigerians have died, literally and metaphorically, due to the absence of firm, knowledgeable and grounded Nigerian leadership and charge of presidential power since Buhari took ill. This is why many members of the cabal who forcefully make Nigerias presidential corpse to walk are spending blood money and occupying blood-encrusted offices. The blood of those who die or get incapacitated due to the lack of grit of presidential power, in that un-Godly process, is crying for vengeance.

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Rest Easy In Sleep Eternal, Comrade Odumakin

He was a delight to journalists who sought his riposte to schisms in the polity and the wonky views of enemies of the Yoruba people. Fearlessly, coherently and with unassailable logic, Odumakin granted interviews which must have delighted the alale ile yi  the patrons and custodians of the land

News of the sun having set for our brother, friend and compatriot, Yinka Odumakin, filtered through the airwaves yesterday, Saturday. It was shocking, unsettling and benumbing, especially for those of us who werent aware that Comrade was engageind his own existential battle of ill health. Flags of the Yoruba nation immediately flew at half mast, without prompting. Yorubaland had lost a gem.

Odumakin was a Yorubaman who wore his Yorubaness on his lapel, without caring whose ox was gored, to the chagrin of the enemies within the nationality. He was an Awoist in deed and in truth, who did not subscribe to the reigning fad among political octopods that you had to genuflect by the feet of cows in order to have a chunk of its meat. He was a thorn in the flesh of the Hausa/Fulani establishment and their minions who, in obeisance, gave unworthy rankadede so as to be allowed to mount the horse of power.

To the very end, Odumakin poured libations by the feet of the gods and ancestors of Yorubaland and invoked the spirits of Sanpona and Obaluaye to consume the enemies of his people. You might disagree with him on the modus operandi of untying his people from the twines that the Nigerian system used to bind their feet and legs but you could not disagree with his verve, grit and courage. Perhaps due to his link with those who hold the levers of power, Odumakin knew so much about the system and was privy to its unworkable nature.

He was a delight to journalists who sought his riposte to schisms in the polity and the wonky views of enemies of the Yoruba people. Fearlessly, coherently and with unassailable logic, Odumakin granted interviews which must have delighted the alale ile yi  the patrons and custodians of the land and riled those who disdained Yorubas frontline, nature-bestowed position in the Nigerian equation. He was not a snake that meandered on the rock without an imprint. He left his wide marks on the Nigerian soil. Paradoxically, it is the same soil, the same land, that will open its mouth presently to swallow yet another hero of the nationality.

Odumakin and I met late last year when we were summoned by a major custodian of the culture of the Yoruba people, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, to his palace. It was our last meeting. We however exchanged periodic messages, which bordered on our common interventions in the Tribune newspaper.

Those who feel that they can mock or disdain the memory of Odumakin because he was a thorn in their flesh should borrow the garment of Methuselah and refuse to die. The great Comrade has gone the way of all mortals, a road which we all must tread.

Rest on, Comrade. Rest on, Omo Yoruba atata (beloved son of Yorubaland). Rest on by the feet of the progenitors of the race which you valiantly stood for.

Festus Adedayo is an Ibadan-based journalist.


This article is the last in a four-part series highlighting the importance of ESG criteria in management and making suggestions for Korea's financial, industrial and public sectors to come up with better ESG strategies for sustainable growth.  ED.



In-depth discussions with market participants considered necessary



By Park Jae-hyuk



The set of management criteria called environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards has become one of the Korean government's top policy priorities, after President Moon Jae-in said in early February that it was very meaningful that the country has been awarded the highest rating in Moody's Investors Service's analysis of 114 nations' capabilities in handling ESG issues.



Government ministries have been busy recently making various ESG policies, since Moody's and its peers  S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings  emphasized that the values-based criteria are considered key factors in assessing the country's sovereign credit rating.



Moody's said that Korea's ESG scores have a positive effect on the country's sovereign credit rating. Its remarks were encouraging enough for the Korean government to speed up making ESG policies. However, at the same time, some experts raised questions about the sudden flood of policies that seem to have been hastily made to catch up with the global trend.



In line with the administration's Green New Deal drive for eco-friendly growth, a government taskforce to pursue green finance, comprised of representatives from relevant ministries, public and private financial institutions and various other sectors, has also held talks since August of last year.



Last December, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced it developed what is called the "K-ESG index," to enable the assessment of efforts for sustainable management, based on the Industrial Development Act. The Ministry plans to give certifications to businesses that satisfy the standards, so that they can keep up with global companies and investors demanding sustainable management.









The Financial Services Commission (FSC) will force all KOSPI-listed firms to disclose how they adhere to ESG factors starting in 2030. The Ministry of Finance and Economy also decided last month to request that public institutions disclose their work safety, environmental, and social contributions, as well as how they are working to improve work-life balance, starting in July.



But this new series of policies has caused concern among experts over their effectiveness.



"The government should be careful about being hasty in accepting suggestions from certain institutions without assessing their effectiveness, and in its discussions with other market participants," the Korea Corporate Governance Service's ESG business division head, Yoon Jin-soo, said. "It is important and meaningful for the government to pay attention to ESG issues, but the government should refrain from enforcing a unified standard."



He advised the government to focus more on providing a forum for debate about ESG criteria, agreeing with other experts who emphasized the importance of the government playing a role as provider of the legal infrastructure to push for the implementation of ESG management principles and investments.



Regarding the mandatory measure requiring companies to disclose their adherence to ESG criteria, Yoon and other experts urged the government to implement the measure earlier.



"More objective and correct indices are needed to better compare each company's ESG performance, and the mandatory disclosure measure should be pursued speedier," Samil PwC's director, Lee Bo-hwa, wrote in a recent report.



Korea Development Institute economist Kim Jung-wook said the government's role in bolstering the implementation of ESG principles is in enhancing the transparency of information, by providing investors with non-financial data for each company. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has also pressed the government to hasten the mandatory ESG disclosure measure.





Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, left, speaks with Alastair Wilson, head of Moody's Investors Service's sovereign risk group, during a teleconference at the Central Government Complex Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of the Ministry of Economy and Finance
LORENA - For those of us of a certain age, the 1920s feel like the beginning of the modern era. Not that we were alive a century ago, but we knew people who were. In old-time movies and in person, they looked like us, sounded like us. Like us, they were coming back to life, so to speak, after a virulent pandemic. A world war had left them hungry for new beginnings; the Roaring 20s were the result.

Also like us, old resentments and old prejudices that had been subsumed to some extent by mass illness at home and war abroad re-emerged. Like us, our forebears had their insurrectionists. They called themselves the Ku Klux Klan.

This little bedroom community south of Waco knew the Klan. So did Waco. So did Houston.

Originally founded in Tennessee in 1868 by six young Confederate veterans, the Klan had pretty much dissolved by the mid-1870s. It came roaring back decades later, in the wake of the Great War. The first Texas klavern of the reconstituted Klan emerged at a Confederate reunion in Houston in 1920. Thousands of hooded, white-robed Klansmen marched in a nighttime parade along Main under banners proclaiming We Were Here Yesterday, 1866, We Are Here Today, 1920 and We Will be Here Forever.

If you lived in Waco in the early 1920s, you wouldnt be inclined to argue. Guy B. Harrison, Jr., who joined the Waco klavern in 1921 at the urging of his father, recalled its pervasive influence in a series of Baylor University oral history interviews in 1972.

If you were going to live and do well in business circles, you had to [be a member], he recalled. There were so many Klansmen here that if the Klan decided to boycott somebody, it would force them out of business, hurt them severely. It bankrupted a number of prominent concerns here.

Tim Bullard, HC staff / Houston Chronicle

Harrison told his interviewer that he and his father joined the Invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan, because they believed in its principles. Annual dues were $1.50, although he grumbled about having to pay the Atlanta headquarters $10 for his robe, since materials and workmanship werent worth more than a dollar and a half. (Harrisons oral history interviews are on file at Baylors superb Texas Collection.)

It was for the United States, for America, he said. It was Whitsu, white supremacy. It was sort of an America-first organization. And it did a lot of good. . . . We forced undesirable people out of business. We forced undesirable people to leave Waco.

Harrison was still a new member when Waco Klan No. 33 organized a downtown march on the night of Oct. 1, 1921. McLennan County Sheriff Bob Buchanan blocked it, telling Klan leaders they would not be allowed to march while hooded. Instead of protesting, the klavern decided to accept a spur-of-the-moment invitation from Lorena residents to parade along their main street. Between three and four thousand people drove down to watch. Harrison was on hand to march.

At about 9:30 in the evening, the Klansmen stepped out, robed and hooded and marching two by two behind an American flag and a burning cross. Buchanan and two deputies halted the procession. The sheriff reminded the leaders they were still in McLennan County, told them they couldnt march unless they identified themselves and attempted to snatch the hood off a man carrying the American flag. The flag bearer - a very prominent man here in Waco, Harrison recalled - beat the sheriff to the ground with his flag staff.

Fraid to march? the man was heard to say. Ha! I followed this old flag against 15 million Germans!

A wild scene ensued, a Waco News-Tribune reporter named George Isbell wrote in the newspapers Sunday edition the next day. A pistol shot rang out in the clear air. A lull of a few seconds followed, then between 10 and 15 shots were fired in rapid succession.

Just before the melee erupted, Harrison noticed that his uncle, a prominent Wacoan named Louis Crow, had parked across the street from where he was standing. Crow owned a string of laundries.

He liked in the summertime to wear a white suit, white shirt, white collar, white tie, Harrison recalled. He had a great big diamond ring in front of that stiff shirt,

Joe Holley / Contributor

Crow, who had gotten out of the car so his kids in the back seat could watch the parade, saw Buchanan fall. He knew the sheriff, had known him all his life. . . so he rushed across to help him up, Harrison said. The sheriff came to about that time and saw my uncle in all that white and thought he was a Klansman, perhaps the one who had knocked him down. He jerked out a tremendous big dirk, almost a Bowie knife, and stabbed my uncle in the chest. . . . After he did that, he got up on his heels in a squatting position and began to shoot.

The parade broke into chaos at the sound of gunfire. Panicked onlookers revved up their Model Ts and maneuvered through narrow nighttime streets to get out of town. Sheriff Buchanan was carried into a drugstore, shot in the right lung and right knee. Crow also was brought in, bright-red blood spreading across his white-suited chest. The sheriffs knife thrust had nearly severed his liver.

I begged and I pleaded, and I begged and I pleaded with them to halt, Buchanan told reporter Isbell, but they wouldnt hear me.

Nine men, including Crow and the sheriff, were transported to Waco hospitals. Crow died five days later. Buchanan recovered and was indicted early in 1922. I havent determined whether he was ever tried.

Harrison left the Klan not long after the Lorena Riot, in part because of my belief in politics and how we live and treat other people, but also because he was allergic to the blue tobacco smoke that befogged every meeting. The Klan also started recruiting men who were not desirable characters, he said. It got to be very bad.

Tens of thousands of Harrisons fellow Texans stayed with the Klan long enough for the group to elect legislators, sheriffs, judges and other state and local officials, as well as a U.S. senator, Earle Bradford Mayfield, in 1922. Its political power began to wane with the unlikely election of Klan opponent Ma Ferguson as governor in 1924.

Harrison would go on to be Wacos mayor pro tem, a prominent Boy Scout leader and for 44 years a popular history professor at Baylor. I kept my robe until, oh 15 or 20 years ago when I burned it, he told his interviewer in 1972. With the exception of the cross.

djholley10@gmail.com

Twitter: holleynews
British Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya joked he was what the Royal Family 'feared Harry and Meghan's baby would look like' as he hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time last night.

In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey last month, Harry and Meghan alleged a member of the family - not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh - had expressed concern about Archie's skin.

The name of the royal has yet to be made public and the comments triggered a wave of speculation and controversy.

Now, Kaluuya, who was born in London to Ugandan parents, referenced the claim during his SNL opening monologue.

He said: 'First of all, I know you're hearing my accent and thinking 'oh no, he's not black, he's British'.

'Let me reassure you that I am black. I'm black and I'm British. Basically I am what the royal family was worried the baby would look like.'

Daniel Kaluuya, who was born in London to Ugandan parents, joked he is what 'the royal family were worried Archie would look like'

In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey last month, Harry and Meghan alleged a member of the family - not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh - had expressed concern about Archie's skin

During the bombshell interview with Oprah, Meghan accused a member of the Royal Family of having 'concerns' about 'how dark' her son Archie's skin would be before he was born because she is mixed-race and Harry is white.

The Duchess of Sussex, who is expecting her second child, also described her 'pain' that officials had denied Archie the title of prince and accused Buckingham Palace of failing to protect him by denying him 24/7 security.

Prince William asserted that the Royal Family is 'very much not racist' as he was questioned about the interview during a public engagement a few days after it aired.

The Queen later responded with a deeply personal message saying that while some recollections vary, the issues raised, particularly that of race, were concerning and would be taken seriously.

Racism, which Prince Harry said was a driving factor in their decision to leave the country, was a major theme of Kaluuya's hosting of SNL yesterday.

He added: 'People ask me what's worse, British racism or American racism. Let me put it this way, British racism is so bad white people left. They wanted to be free, free to create their own kind of racisms.

'That's why they invented Australia, South Africa and Boston.'

Discussing his Golden Globe-winning portrayal of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in Judas And The Black Messiah, Kaluuya, 32, also reminded viewers of the technical issues that marred his acceptance speech during the virtual ceremony.

Kaluuya referenced the claim during his SNL opening monologue last night - with racism a key theme throughout the show

The Duchess of Sussex, who is expecting her second child, also described her 'pain' that officials had denied Archie the title of prince

He said: 'I was muted! Can you believe that? I told the best joke of my life and I was muted.'

Kaluuya, who is nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Bafta and an Oscar, nodded to his breakout role in Get Out and said: 'I felt like I was in a Sunken Place!'

The first sketch saw him portraying a game show host and medical doctor asking his black relatives about their reluctance to take the Covid-19 vaccine.

Kaluuya also starred as a YouTube prankster in a sketch sending up apology videos from influencers and played a Nigerian father furious about his son changing his degree from medicine to creative writing.

Told the world needs poets, Kaluuya's character sarcastically responded: 'If there's anything we've learned from the pandemic, it's that the world needs more poets.'

Musical guest St Vincent performed the songs Pay Your Way In Pain and The Melting Of The Sun.

SNL's traditional cold open once again featured comedian Chloe Fineman as Britney Spears fronting talk show Oops, You Did It Again.

It sent up the controversy surrounding Lil Nas X and his satanic-themed music video for Montero (Call Me By Your Name) and the 'cancellation' of cartoon character Pepe Le Pew. The cartoon skunk was accused of perpetuating rape culture and has been left out of the upcoming hybrid live-action animation sequel Space Jam: A New Legacy.
Phytoption LLC, a Purdue University-affiliated startup, is advancing the development of antiviral therapeutics in the fight against COVID-19 and other viral diseases. (Image provided)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  A Purdue University-affiliated startup is advancing the development of antiviral therapeutics in the fight against COVID-19 and other viral diseases.

Phytoption LLC, in the Purdue Research Park, has been working on the commercialization of Purdue initiated OHPP nanotechnology that significantly boosts drug solubility. A soluble niclosamide drug formulation has been developed using such technology.

Niclosamide, a drug used to treat tapeworms, has been found to have a broad-spectrum antiviral effect against many viruses including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 pandemic. But the drug itself has limited potential because its structure makes it difficult to dissolve and for patients to absorb, especially in convenient dosage forms.

The Purdue and Phytoption teams worked with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to understand key requirements to further develop soluble niclosamide drugs. They received support from the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund and have conducted key studies with scientists at Purdue, including Thomas Sors, assistant director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease (PI4D).

One of our key missions in PI4D is to connect our faculty members through our extensive research networks to accelerate the translation of their innovations, Sors said.

The team has completed pilot studies working with the University of Chicago, and the Translational Pharmacology Facility and the Metabolomic Profiling Facility at Purdues Bindley Bioscience Center.

Our oral formulation has shown outstanding bioavailability and prolonged release of niclosamide that has not been achieved by any other known technology, said Yuan Yao, a Purdue professor of food science.

Joanne Zhang, CEO of Phytoption, said, We are incredibly thankful for the support from the grant sources and Purdue collaborators.

The team is looking for additional partnerships and support. For more information, email contact@phytoption.com.

About Purdue Research Foundation

Purdue Research Foundation supports Purdue Universitys land-grant mission by helping the university improve the world through its technologies and graduates. Established in 1930, PRF is a private, nonprofit foundation. The foundation helps patent and commercialize Purdue technologies; builds places to encourage innovation, invention, investment, commercialization and entrepreneurship; and makes equity available to students to finance their Purdue education. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. For more information about involvement and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.

Writer: Chris Adam, cladam@prf.org.



Source: Joanne Zhang, joanne.zhang@phytoption.com
A Massachusetts State Police trooper accused of pointing his gun at an ex-girlfriend and threatening her remains suspended.

A state police spokesman confirmed Trooper Joel Devine was suspended without pay as the department continues to monitor the status of the case in Attleboro District Court.

An internal investigation is still ongoing, the spokesman said.

Devine, 28, was arrested in January by Attleboro police after he allegedly pointed his service weapon at an ex-girlfriend while threatening to kill her, according to The Sun Chronicle.

The newspaper, citing court records, said the threats took place four times between July 2020 and September 2020.

The trooper pleaded not guilty in Attleboro District Court to charges of domestic assault, assault with a dangerous weapon and threats, The Sun Chronicle reports. He remains free on cash bail.

The newspaper reports Devines lawyer expects his client to be exonerated and denies the allegations.
The presence of Chinas maritime militia" near a South China Sea reef shows Beijings intent to occupy more disputed areas, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement on Sunday.

China has done this before" in other contested areas like Scarborough Shoal and is brazenly violating Philippine sovereignty," Lorenzana said. He was reacting to a statement from Chinas embassy in Manila on Saturday, which described waters around the Whitsun Reef -- where hundreds of Chinese vessels were spotted early last month -- as traditional fishing grounds" and part of Chinas Nansha Islands."

Lorenzanas remarks signal a tougher stance from the Philippines government. It had initially issued a formal diplomatic protest to China over the matter, saying that the ships presence raised concerns on overfishing and safety of navigation. In a separate statement on Saturday, Lorenzana also refuted Chinas earlier response that those vessels were sheltering from the wind, saying the the weather in the area has been good.

The Philippines, under President Rodrigo Duterte, has in recent years been building friendly ties with China while keeping its alliance with the US. The US in late March expressed concerns over the presence of Chinese fishing vessels near the disputed reef, saying Beijing uses maritime militia to intimidate, provoke and threaten other nations."





This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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TROY  A year ago, Warren Shaw was living in Queens, his home for the past 36 years. But upstate was no stranger to the architect; he grew up in Hyde Park and had friends in Troy he'd often visit.

Then the pandemic hit, and hit hard in New York City.

It crystallized Shaw's notion to pull up stakes from his longtime Jackson Heights neighborhood and make a northward trek to a new home. All the boxes were checked, he said.

I fell in love with Troy. Im an architect so I love the architecture. I love the food scene, the art scene. It had so much energy. I dont drive, I like small cities that are walkable, Shaw said.

Shaw, 55, who relocated in December, is now part of the whopping 214 percent increase in the number of New York City residents who've decided to escape to the Capital Region's four main counties. He made that decision after seeing how real estate prices skyrocketed in Poughkeepsie after other New Yorkers sought out that mid-Hudson Valley city.

They're spurred by less anxiety about contracting COVID-19, more living space, housing affordability, friendliness, opportunities and amenities. And, of course, New York City isn't too far to visit.

Change of address requests from the U.S. Postal Service and tallied by the Capital District Regional Planning Commission are evidence of the surge last year of those coming from the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens up to Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties. (Staten Island is the only city borough not included as the changes of addresses never reached the 10 -in-a-month threshold required to be counted.)

It shows that people are changing their addresses to the Capital Region. It could mean theyre relocating and buying home or temporarily relocating to weekend homes or renting, said Mark Castiglione, Planning Commission executive director.

All those conclusions could be on the table. Time will tell whether this is a blip or a significant impact during the COVID pandemic of people moving from New York City to the Capital Region, Castiglione said.

The numbers in the four counties are rather astonishing. They back up what many have suspected about the downstate influx.

Rensselaer County had a 787 percent increase in address changes from New York City in 2020, compared to 2019. Saratoga County was next at 518 percent followed by Schenectady County at 152 percent and Albany County at 126 percent.

The Planning Commission's review of address changes is the first time local officials have been able to find data to support the tales of downstate residents turning up to buy homes, rent apartments or Airbnbs, move back with family or ride out the pandemic in weekend or summer residences. The available data is only at the county level.

We dont know where theyre going. We dont know if theyre going to rental properties in Albany or luxury weekend houses in Westerlo, Castiglione said.

As more people from downstate have hired Select Sothebys International real estate agent Dona Federico to help them find a house in the Capital Region, shes noticed two themes. One, they want space  relief from the confinement on their homes in the city. And two, they need a fast and reliable internet connection.

I never before in my career had to test upload and download speed at a listing, Federico said.

Internet speed is important, not only because the buyers expect to work remotely from their new home, but because they might have two or three children, also using the internet connection for remote classroom learning.

She researched multiple options for buyers as to what type of internet service provider would be available and work at a house a buyer was considering.

A lot of times space and the internet dont go together, Federico said. I had buyers who looked out in the country, but if a house didnt have high-speed internet, they walked away.

Shes also watched as buyers spend $20,000 to $40,000 over asking price, but if the price a buyer agrees to spend is over the appraisal amount, banks wont finance it, Federico said. The loan is tied to the appraisal, so if a buyer is going to spend more, they have to come to the closing table with the difference in cash.

Shaw rented an apartment in South Central Troy at Jefferson and Third streets as part of his switch from New York. Hes preparing to move into a two-family home hes purchasing in Lansingburgh.

Emily Menn, who rented Shaw his apartment, said shes seen a stream of people arrive in Troy. Theyre getting accustomed to the area before deciding whether to settle in as Shaw has decided.

Im really happy theyve moved in. Theyre great people. Troy is a perfect city for the transplants to look for home values. Were a city of immigrants, Menn said.

Hey neighbor!

Jesse Leder never intended to live in Manhattan long term. The lockdown caused by COVID-19 reminded him of his goal to move back upstate, where he was raised in Cambridge and went to SUNY Potsdam and Union College. Leder wanted to move to the Saratoga Springs area, but he had to convince his fiancee, Syracuse-area native Tashina Zamlowski, it was a place she wanted to live, too.

One day of riding bikes around Saratoga Spa State Park persuaded her to make the move, Leder said.

When the pandemic hit, Leder, 35, a human resources consultant, and Zamlowski, 34, director of a modeling agency, found being cooped up in their 700-square foot apartment was a strain. When they started looking for a house to buy, space was a priority, and a backyard  a place where they could breathe without wearing a mask and watch their French bulldog, Amelia Peppercorn, run around.

Leder and Zamlowski closed in September on a Cape Cod style house on Meadowbrook Road, an eight-minute drive from downtown Saratoga Springs. Leder is proud to say they paid less than the asking price while many other buyers since then have paid more. They kept kept their New York-based jobs with written agreements from their companies they will be able to work remotely. In addition, Leder got a license to sell real estate. He joined Monticello Real Estate, where the agent works who helped him and Zamlowski find a house.

The move from New York exposed Leder and Zamlowski to neighborliness they hadnt known before. Leder bought a shovel when they moved in, but when three feet of snow fell in December, one of his neighbors cleared their driveway with a snowblower. The first night they were in the new house, they both froze when the doorbell rang. They werent expecting anyone.

In New York, when the doorbell rings and you arent expecting someone, you ignore it, Leder said.

Peering out, he saw a woman at the door holding a package. It was a take-out order of food from a neighbor, meant to welcome the newcomers to the neighborhood.

Solid bookings

Capital Region real estate, whether its residential, commercial or available for development has become a lure for investors seeking a deal. That could be purchasing from one of the areas land banks or negotiating through a local real estate agent.

I had a lot of inquiries from New York, a lot of people from all over downstate. Theyre scattering out of the main metropolitan area looking for opportunities, said Deanna Dal Pos of NAI Platform, who represents commercial properties in Troy and put together a promotional package highlighting the city and the region.

Dal Pos said Airbnbs also have become popular. She said theyre booking solid.

Rental prices are more attractive in Rensselaer County and the Capital Region than Manhattan, said James McCleghan, assistant broker/manager of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services Greenbush in North Greenbush.

People paying $3,000 to $4,000 month in New York find the local Airbnb market and renting homes are more reasonable, McCleghan said. Prices also have them looking at buying.

Theres definitely been a lot of people from downstate, McCleghan said, recounting how a couple came to Troy from New York and purchased a residence on Broadway downtown. They decided to rent it out while they pursued business investments farther north in Glens Falls.

The Capital District Regional Planning Commission intends to expand its sampling from the four boroughs to include the greater New York Metropolitan Area, Castiglione said. This would allow a better estimation of where people are heading from into the Capital Region.

A welcome change

Lyndsay King, 41, and her parents, Joseph J. K. Wisneski of Bridgeport, Conn. and Robyn Sklar of West New York, N.J., moved to Harmony Mills Lofts in Cohoes to get away from the pandemic last summer. Wisneski and Sklar would be counted in the expanded regional sample while Kings move from London would still be missed.

I could tell we were going into the COVID for the long haul. Whats the point of living in the city if COVID lasts for two years? said King, who left Europe with eight suitcases and eventually landed in the Capital Region..

The three family members moving into their own apartments at Harmony Mills has brought the trio closer together and setting them on new paths. Sklar and Wisneski both have family ties to the region.

Its been a big change. I love living here, said King, whos an entrepreneur, planner of events for women that was based in London but now has become virtual and international, as well as a mentor and is building her Accelerate Your Life business. Shes also founded Hourglass, an events platform connecting women in business and who are entrepreneurs.

Im online all the time. I work all over the world, King said about her business reach from Cohoes.

Settling into Cohoes has opened up new vistas for King. It means ice cream at the Snowman in Troy, having a pet cat Zeus as her companion, seeing her parents, riding her new bicycle around Cohoes and along the Capital Regions network of bike paths. When she passes her upcoming New York state drivers license test, she intends to expand her explorations of the region.

King said whats struck her is how friendly everyone has been since she arrived in June: I love it here."

Editor's Note: The story has been updated to correct the middle initial of Joseph J.K. Wisneski and the name of the business Accelerate Your Life.
Chennai, April 4 : RTI activist and Makkal Needhi Maiam candidate from Tamil Nadu's Tambaram Assembly constituency, Siva Elango has appealed to people to crowd fund his "Zero Budget" campaign, for which he already collected around Rs 6 lakh.

Elango, who is associated with the Satta Panchayath Iyyakam (SPI), said contesting elections to public officer with public money would lead to the candidate becoming more responsible.

He told media persons that he has received Rs 3 lakh as seed money from friends and well-wishers, as well as fellow activists, and Rs 3 lakh more from the public after his appeal for funding his election expenses.

Elango said that he was able to cover more areas of Tambaram constituency than his opponent candidates who had spent crores of rupees during electioneering.

The RTI activist was focusing more on digital campaigning and had communicated directly to the voters and answered the queries posted by the voters by interacting with the Resident Welfare Associations.

Talking to IANS, Elango said: "Both the DMK-led front and the AIADMK-led front are spending crores of rupees during this election and using common sense, one can understand easily that the first priority of these candidates will be to recover the money they had spent. This would lead to corruption and more corruption. My aim is to weed this out by spending a minimum amount and campaigning for a transparent election."
Police investigating dog thefts in Essex arrested a 54-year-old woman and two teenage boys as they rescued 27 animals.

Officers said 19 adult dogs and eight puppies were seized from the address in Dunmow, Essex, on April 1.

Police, supported by the RSPCA, found a range of breeds including spaniels, terriers, lurchers, a French bulldog and a Rottweiler.

An investigation is now under way to identify the dogs and discover if they were stolen from their owners.

Police found a number of dog breeds at the property, including a Rottweiler, spaniels and terriers (stock image)

It is thought the puppies, which are between six and 10 weeks old, may have been born at the property.

PC Glenn Braden, from the Uttlesford Community Policing Team, said: 'We know the devastation the loss of a much-loved pet can cause and we take reports of thefts seriously.

'We have been carrying out extensive enquiries into recent reports of thefts and this warrant comes as part of that.

'We are now working to identify the dogs we found at this address and, if stolen, identify their owner so we can return them.

Average asking price for some of UK's most sought after breeds Breed Before lockdown After lockdown % increase Dachshunds 973 1,838 89 Chow Chows 1,119 1,872 67 Pugs 684 1,064 56 French Bulldogs 1,251 1,905 52 English Bulldogs 1,637 2,140 31 Source: Dogs Trust

'If you have any information about the theft of a dog then we need you to contact us.'

The woman and boys aged 14 and 16 were arrested on suspicion of theft and animal cruelty.

They have since been released under investigation.

Anyone with information about dog theft or who thinks one of the seized dogs may be theirs is asked to call Essex Police on 101, quoting incident 136 of April 1.

In a separate incident on Good Friday a family was devastated when their 13-week old puppy was snatched by a teenager in Kent.

Julie Borland was taking daughter's dog, a cross between a French bulldog and a pug named Kali, for a walk through a town centre when she was approached by a man aged about 16.

Julie Borland's 13-week-old puppy Kalli was snatched on Good Friday in Dartford, Kent

She was out with a friend walking the puppy when she was approached by a teen who later snatched her

He gushed over the dog and asked about her before she carried on their stroll in Dartford.

She became suspicious when they saw he was following them but eventually lost sight of him and later decided to take her off the lead when the same teen 'came out of nowhere'.

UK's most stolen dog breeds Staffordshire Bull Terrier Crossbreed Chihuahua Cocker Spaniel Bulldog Yorkshire Terrier French Bulldog Lurcher Border Collie Jack Russell Source: Direct Line Pet Insurance Advertisement

He grabbed Kalli and ran away.

Mrs Borland said: 'I am not stupid, he just came out of nowhere, it happened so fast.

'He just was a young boy, I thought he was being friendly. I was shaking in the street, I was so upset.'

The incident was reported to Kent Police.


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Kolkata, April 4 : The Trinamool Congress on Sunday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for addressing state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as 'Didi' at different rallies in the state. The ruling party alleged that the Prime Minister's way of addressing the Chief Minister was a subtle way to insult her.

The Trinamool Congress women cell even alleged that Modi not only insulted Mamata Banerjee but it was an insult to the women in general of the state.

Speaking at a press conference, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, Sashi Panja said, "Didi - Kaha Hai Didi/ Didi - Sun Rahi Hai Didi. This is the way the Prime Minister is addressing the elected Chief Minister of the state. Is this expected from the Prime Minister of the country? So many Prime Ministers have come to the state but none spoke in such an insulting tone." Panja who was flanked by June Malia - an actress and TMC candidate from Midnapore said, "Our Chief Minister is an elected people's representative for the seventh time and she doesn't deserve this kind of an insult. The Prime Minister continuously taunted her in his rallies on Saturday. I am born and brought up in this country, I cannot recall any Prime Minister of the country who have spoken in this language".

"He should maintain the dignity of the chair of the Prime Minister," she added.

Noted social worker and film-maker Ananya Chakraborty who was also in the press conference said, "The Prime Minister has no respect for the women. It is reflected in his personal life also. He doesn't even acknowledge his marriage in the election affidavit. This kind of a remark is not unexpected from him. But the Prime Minister should know that by insulting our Chief Minister he is insulting the women of the state and he will get this reply in the election soon." BJP Mohila Morcha President Agnimitra Pal reacted strongly at the Trinamool Congress criticism. Pal, a well-known costume designed designer, said: "It is surprising that addressing someone as 'Didi' is an insult. It is one of the closest calls in Bengali. This 'language terrorism' is something that the Trinamool congress leadership does every day. The way they speak about the Prime Minister and the Home Minister is unbelievable. Actually, they don't have any issues and so they are making this kind of weird allegations."
Now that women are not important enough to have an actual Prime Minister they elected, the women of Australia will have to make do with a cadre within cabinet, led by the Prime Minister for Women Marise Payne, to manage their interests. Last week, the Prime Minister announced a taskforce on womens equality, safety, economic security, health and wellbeing, as if addressing those concerns was an innovation. Perhaps for this government.

Minister for Women Marise Payne and Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

This skirtupping took place in the same week 88 detailed recommendations from the parliamentary inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence were tabled, nearly all of which have been both detailed and recommended since eternity. Why the Minister for Womens Safety Anne Ruston would choose to have yet another summit without acting on what we all already know is puzzling.

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Youd think womens groups would be too nervous to criticise the new taskforce in case it puts the government, which despises advocacy, off actual funding increases. Maybe a time to wait for political gods to shower you with support for the bloody hard work youve done over decades. But if the Prime Minister thought selecting Payne, with her cadre including Amanda Stoker, superstar supporter of mens rights activist Bettina Arndt, would refashion the way women feel about the Prime Minister, he should have another think.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 04:13:54|Editor: huaxia

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People in ancient Egyptian outfits perform during the Pharaohs' Golden Parade in Cairo, Egypt, on April 3, 2021. Egypt moved on Saturday evening 22 mummies from the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in a festive, remarkable parade known as "The Pharaoh's Golden Parade." The mummies belong to 18 kings and four queens from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties that ruled ancient Egypt over 3,000 years ago. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

CAIRO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Egypt moved on Saturday evening 22 Pharaonic mummies from the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in a festive, remarkable parade known as "The Pharaoh's Golden Parade."

The festivity started with 22 ancient-like vehicles especially designed for the event, each carrying the name of the mummy of the king or queen inside, moving from Tahrir Square and escorted by parades of chariots, motorcycles and men and women dressed in ancient Egyptian outfits.

The royal mummies belong to 18 kings and four queens from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties that ruled ancient Egypt over 3,000 years ago.

They include mummies of famous ancient Egyptian King Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut.

About an hour before the parade set off, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the main hall and the mummies hall in the NMEC, accompanied by Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Anani, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zurab Pololikashvili.

"It's the only one of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East," the minister told Sisi while taking him in a tour inside the museum.

The minister explained that the main hall of the NMEC contains 1,500 artifacts and it will be open for visitors the next day, while the mummies hall will be opened on April 18 to coincide with the International Day for Monuments and Sites, also known as World Heritage Day.

"It is a unique cultural, awareness, tourism event. It's unprecedented and it shows that Egypt puts our civilization and antiquities on the top of our priorities," Anani said in a statement before a ceremony started at the NMEC.

With joint efforts of the UNESCO and the Egyptian government, the NMEC's foundation stone was laid in 2002 and its temporary exhibition hall was opened in 2017.

The 22 royal mummies of the Pharaoh's Golden Parade were discovered in two cachettes, the first of which was unearthed in 1881 and the second in 1898, both in Upper Egypt's monument-rich province of Luxor.

"The remarkable and magnificent parade shows that Egypt celebrates and honors its ancestors," Khaled Gharib, professor of Egyptology at Cairo University, told Xinhua after the parade.

"It is a new museum with a new technology that presents a new Egypt," the professor said, referring to the newly-opened NMEC. Enditem
Thiruvananthapuram, April 4 : Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has rounded up the high profile election campaign at Nemom Assembly constituency in Thiruvananthapuram by stressing on the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY).

NYAY scheme is a flagship project of the Congress leader which promises Rs 6,000 to every poor person of the state if the Congress is voted to power.

Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament from Vadakara loksabha constituency K Muraleedharan is contesting from Nemom.

While addressing the mammoth gathering at Nemom, the only seat won by the BJP in Kerala, he said, "K Muraleedharan represents the state in all its equality and communal harmony." He also appealed the people to vote for him.

He also claimed that the BJP will finish at the last place at Nemom. He said, "When I went through the list of the Congress candidates, I decided that I will definitely attend the election campaign of K Muraleedharan." Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the Kerala Chief Minister and said that the CPM is forming a secret alliance with the BJP and the central investigation agencies are also now supporting the state CM. He said, "The Enforcement Directorate is silent in Kerala and this indicates a subtle understanding between the two parties." The senior Congress leader said that there is a clear wave in favour of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the media reports regarding a repeat of the LDF are not correct.

Coming out strongly against the Prime minister Narendra Modi, the ex-Congress president said, "Prime Minister's arrogance will not be tolerated by the people of the country and the people of Kerala must give a befitting reply to the BJP in the state."
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A man wielding a machete broke up the robbery of his elderly Asian parents in Oakland on Monday afternoon.

Video of the incident was first tweeted by KGO's Dion Lim. One clip shows four individuals surrounding the couple on their front porch, riffling through their pockets, until the couple's adult son runs out of the house with a machete. In a second clip, the suspects can be seen jumping into their getaway vehicle and driving away. Lim said running the license plate resulted in no hits which may indicate the plate is fake.
New strategy needed to avoid US-China rivalry



China needs to play a more active role in denuclearizing North Korea and facilitating peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. The Asian giant is certainly the only country that can still exercise influence over the North on key issues. That's why Seoul is trying to enlist cooperation from Beijing to resume stalled denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington and push for President Moon Jae-in's peace process on the peninsula.



In this context, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi had significant implications. After holding talks with Chung on Saturday, Wang said the two countries will seek a process for a "political" resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue through dialogue. And Chung stressed that both sides share the common goal of the "complete denuclearization" of the peninsula.



The two ministers' remarks may sound like diplomatic rhetoric. Yet they can serve as a catalyst for untying the Gordian knot. China, the sole benefactor of North Korea, can play a more constructive role in moving Pyongyang toward denuclearization and peace. It can also reduce  to a certain degree  growing tensions with the U.S. by working together with the Joe Biden administration in realizing the shared goal of making the North nuclear-free.



However, it is uncertain if both the U.S. and China are willing to collaborate with each other in global issues of common interest such as the North Korean nuclear issue. Given the escalating rivalry between the G2, the prospects for their cooperation are not bright. This is all the more so when Washington is doubling down on forming an anti-China alliance. Biden is trying to expand the informal Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, better known as the Quad comprising the U.S., Japan, Australia and India, to contain the rise of China.



Against this backdrop, South Korea is under increasing pressure to join the Quad. But the country is reluctant to do so because it is heavily dependent on the U.S.  its traditional ally  for security, while relying on China  its largest trading partner  for economic growth. It is imperative for Seoul to keep a balance between Washington and Beijing to avoid being caught in the crossfire. But it is tricky to walk a diplomatic tightrope.



Minister Chung's visit to China came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited South Korea and Japan in mid-March to strengthen America's alliances and enhance cooperation with the two allies. It also came after the U.S. and China clashed head-on over thorny issues such as human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang during their high-level talks in Alaska. Chung's meeting with Wang was held right after the top security advisers of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan had a meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, to step up trilateral cooperation on issues such as threats from North Korea.



It appears that the U.S. and China are wooing South Korea to their respective sides amid the great power rivalry. Chung said last Wednesday that South Korea is not in a position to choose between the U.S. and China. Yet, we need a new strategy to prepare for when the rival powers force us to do that.


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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Despite the Archdiocese of Santa Fe closing el Santuario de Chimayo in the days leading up to Easter, and pleas by state officials and New Mexico State Police for people not to participate in the annual pilgrimage to the sacred site due to the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds still made the trek on Good Friday.

They didnt cancel the crucifixion, reasoned Eli Castellano of Albuquerque.

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Castellano and a group of friends from their Duke City church were standing in line to give confession to Father Sebastian Lee, who nonetheless was receiving people in a space behind the locked-up sanctuary. Roads into the property were also blocked off, but a few dozen people still roamed the grounds Friday morning.

Some approached the doors of the sanctuary and said a prayer before moving on. Others paid respects by lighting a candle at an outdoor shrine. Each had their own reasons for being there.

I feel the need for peace in this crazy world, and I feel like Im finding it today, Castellano said.

Diego and Anastasia Lucero, also of Albuquerque, make the pilgrimage part way because its a tradition they dont ever want to see end. Thats why they brought along their four children.

Ive been doing this all my life, Diego said. 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, Anastasia added.

For decades, large numbers of people each year have made the walk from their home, or park their vehicle far enough away to make the pilgrimage worthwhile, and walk to the sanctuary, where legend has it that the dirt dug from a small room inside has the ability to heal.

A popular parking spot is Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino in Pojoaque, about 20 miles away.

Its supposed to be a sacrifice, Anastasia said of the journey to Chimayo. We say prayers and count our blessings along the way.

Most years, tens of thousands of people visit Chimayo during Holy Week, with Good Friday being the peak day.

This year, numbers were reduced to hundreds over the course of the day. Still, that was perhaps 10 times more than last year, when nearly everything was shut down after the COVID-19 pandemic first hit.

A year later, the crisis seems to be subsiding, though the reduction in COVID cases has generally plateaued in recent weeks. But, while most businesses and restaurants have reopened with at least partial capacity, limits on large gatherings are still in place and the archdiocese decided to cancel the holy pilgrimages to Chimayo and Tome Hill in Valencia County for the second straight year.

Its amazing how few people are out here. I thought thered be more, said James Baumbach of Nambe. I dont want to break any rules, but the governor did say to get outside and walk, get fresh air and keep your health up.

The governor has encouraged people to get outside for exercise and the weather on Friday couldnt have been better for early April, with high temperatures in the 70s.

Kim Feller and Lori Meyer, both of Los Alamos, took advantage of the beautiful day, too.

Its still a great opportunity to get out and enjoy the day. And, afterwards, well have a great meal at the restaurant, Feller said, referencing the popular Rancho de Chimayo restaurant.

Neither are Catholic, but say they are spiritual. Meyer said she and her friend were enjoying the solitude walking down N.M. 503. They shut their phones off and, except for a few words passing between them, remained mostly reflective.

This sets the tone for me for the entire year, Meyer said.

John Lopez was walking down 503 alone. Hes been making the trek since 1993.

It started off as a thanks to God after an AIDS test came back negative. I made a promise and Im paying it back, he said.

Lopez said he started his walk about five miles from the sanctuary. His wife would pick him up later.

Not everyone came with a purpose.

A young woman who gave only her first name, Naghmeh, was with her boyfriend, Kyle.

Were here by happenstance, she said.

The two are from the San Francisco Bay Area, but Naghmehs father moved to New Mexico a few years ago.

We were planning a trip to the Rio Grande and saw this town that looked interesting, she said when asked what brought them to the sacred shrine.

She and Kyle walked the grounds with interest. And though theyre not Catholic, Its nice to pay our respects, Naghmeh said.

But most people came to el Santuario de Chimayo on Friday for a reason, and they werent going to let the recommendation of state officials and their own church stop them for a second year in a row.

My faith is the most important thing to me above everything else, Castellano said.
A couple spent up big on a 'lavish lifestyle' that included a sprawling rural 'mansion' and show horses after defrauding Bunnings out of $270,000, a court has heard.

Andrew Alasdair Ryan and Tania Leonard appeared before Brisbane District Court last Wednesday where they were convicted of fraud, stealing and possessing a horse purchased with proceeds of crime after pleading guilty, the Courier Mail reported.

The court heard Ryan, 47, and his now ex-wife Leonard, 41, ran a scheme where products would be stolen from Bunnings and then returned for a cash refund or sold on to friends and through online sites such as Gumtree.

Andrew Alasdair Ryan and Tania Leonard 'lived on a rented sprawling mansion on acreage with horses and horseriding activities' in Tamborine, Queensland after defrauding Bunnings and swindling money out of two friends, a Brisbane court has heard

Ryan spearheaded the 'sophisticated' operation between 2016 and 2018, the court heard.

Crown prosecutor Shauna Farrelly told the court Ryan would use a receipt from items he purchased from Bunnings to steal identical products from a number of other stores.

Leonard became involved in the fraud in 2018, where she would collect Ryan from Bunnings using a car that had fake number plates attached, while also making false returns to the hardware store, the court heard.

The $270,000 the couple defrauded Bunnings out of was comprised of $215,000 worth of goods which where then on-sold, false returns worth $25,000 and $20,000 in items seized from their home.

The couple also defrauded two friends out of $25,000.

They went on to spend the stolen money on a rental property in Tamborine and a show horse called Daisy Lane Huntsman for their two daughters, which was worth $50,000, the court heard.

They couple also splashed out $50,000 on a show horse called Daisy Lane Huntsman for their two daughters

Ryan and Leonard defrauded Bunnings out of $270,000, which included $215,000 worth of goods which where then on-sold

'The money was spent on a lavish lifestyle; the family had a holiday to America within the period of offending, they had purchases for clothing, they lived on a rented sprawling mansion on acreage with horses and horseriding activities,' Ms Farrelly told the court.

She said the couple's 'offending was prolific enough to be the source of income for the family'.

But the couple's operation fell apart when police raided their property in November 2018 and uncovered 137 items suspected of being from Bunnings.

Judge Vicki Loury QC told the court Ryan's 'motivation was to fund the lifestyle that you and your wife enjoyed'.

Ryan was also convicted of dishonestly gaining property for himself and others worth more than $100,000 and was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison but was eligible for parole from Wednesday.

Leonard was ordered to perform 150 hours of unpaid community service and handed a two-year suspended sentence.
Rare coin from 2nd Temple period discovered in Jerusalems Tower of David

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Archeologists in Jerusalems Old City have discovered a box containing artifacts including a rare silver Tyre Coin, which, they believe, might have been used by pilgrims to pay the Temple tax during the reign of King Herod.

The coin has the image of Melqart, the chief god of the Phoenician city of Tyre, imprinted on one side, and that of an eagle on the other, according to The Times of Israel, which said the box holding the coin was originally found during an excavation in the 1980s.

The box, which was lost, was discovered recently as part of a conservation project at the Tower of David Museum, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The Tyre shekel, very few of which have been found thus far, was used during the Second Temple Period and produced in the ancient city of Tyre from 125 BCE until the outbreak of the Great Revolt in 66 CE.

We know from the Gospels that Jesus visited Jerusalem ... and we know that He talked to the money changers. So here we have the evidence, the archaeological evidence to the historical sources, Eilat Lieber, the director of the museum, told CBN News.

The Tower of David complex includes Herods palace where the trial of Jesus took place, according to the Bible.

The Tower of David is one of the most important structures in Israel, both in terms of its history and location, The Jerusalem Post quoted Yotam Carmel, conservation manager at Ken HaTor, the company put in charge of the project, as saying. The last conservation project at the Tower of David was carried out in the 1980s. Since then, the citadel has been in desperate need of conservation.

It connects the ages, Lieber was quoted as saying.

You can see how the past, the present, and the future are actually here at the Tower of David. During the work for the future of the citadel, we found the evidence from the past. And we can actually, know more about our identity. Christians can see how the sources, the Gospels are coming alive here in Jerusalem.  All we want is to bring Jerusalem to the world, the story of Jerusalem, the rich history of all of us, Jewish people, Christians from all over the world.

The rare coin will be displayed in a new and permanent exhibit at the museum, which is scheduled to reopen next year.
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.
Press Release

April 4, 2021 STATEMENT OF SEN. BONG GO As chair of the Senate Committee on Health, I appeal to concerned agencies, with the help of the private sector, to expedite the construction and expansion of more modular facilities and tents equipped with COVID-19 isolation and ICU beds to cater particularly to those with severe conditions. I laud the continuing efforts of the government to provide more isolation facilities for people with mild and moderate COVID-19 cases; however, the need for more facilities that can handle severe and critical conditions must also be considered. In order to maximize our resources, I urge the government to identify locations where we can install these modular facilities and tents equipped with ICU beds, or existing structures that can be transformed into temporary health facilities to accommodate severe COVID-19 cases. We need to double our efforts in order to reduce further the waiting time for patients needing urgent treatment or admission, provide faster medical transport and patient pick-up, and facilitate much improved use of critical care services in our health facilities. Nakakaawa po 'yung mga kababayan nating naghihingalo na tapos wala pang mahanap na ospital. Buhay po ang nakasalalay sa bawat minutong pag-aantay makakuha lang ng ospital, kama, at doktor para maalagaan sila. Huwag nating hintayin na nag-aagaw buhay na sa labas ng mga ospital ang ating mga kababayang may sakit. Gawin natin ang lahat ng ating makakaya para sagipin at gamutin sila. Moreover, we also need to augment our medical frontliners, particularly in critical areas where a significant number of them have been overburdened or, worse, also infected with COVID-19. I laud the bayanihan efforts of nurses in the Visayas who expressed willingness to be deployed to the 'NCR Plus' areas. Patunay lamang po ito na sa kabila ng pandemya, malakas pa rin ang diwa ng bayanihan sa bansa. I appeal to our health workers in other parts of the country with lower COVID-19 cases to also be ready to extend help in critical areas. In these trying times, we need a whole-of-nation approach to fully overcome this pandemic. Bawat isa sa atin ay may tungkulin sa kapwa, sa ating komunidad, at sa ating bayan. Lahat tayo ay dapat maging bahagi ng solusyon. Laging tandaan na ang ating kooperasyon, bayanihan, at malasakit sa kapwa ay makapagliligtas ng buhay ng kapwa nating Pilipino!
Reuters

Nowhere is this more evident than in the rising popularity of a Federal Reserve program that lets firms stash their cash overnight with the U.S. central bank in exchange for at best a small return. But usage is soaring to record highs as money market funds and other eligible firms cope with what some analysts are calling a "tsunami" of cash. The banking system is swimming in nearly $4 trillion of reserves, thanks in part to the Fed's asset purchases, a fall off in Treasury bill issuance and a rapid drawdown in the government's store of funds at the Fed. The Treasury General Account, or TGA, has dropped by nearly $1 trillion since last fall, mirrored by the surge in bank reserves.
New Delhi: In response to West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's allegation that there was a complete breakdown of law and order during the second phase of the voting election in the state on April 1, especially at a polling booth in Nandigram, Election Commission has given a point-by-point reply to the Chief Minister.

The letter by Umesh Sinha, Election Commission of India, referring to her hand-written letter citing alleged going-on at polling station No. 7 Boyal Maktab Primary School, Nandigram Assembly Constituency, said, the EC said that allegations made against Border Security Force (BSF) jawans deployed at polling stations in Nandigram are "not correct".

It said, "A copy of your own communication referred to above is being enclosed. This communication signed by you at 2.44 PM was preceded by massive coverage all over the country especially in the electronic media which showed dozens of audio-visual shots of your being in this polling station and literally hurling avalanche of allegations on some officials working in Govt. of West Bengal itself, paramilitary force and eventually at the Election Commission."

"The Commission after getting sensitized from the electronic media and its own officials had been keeping a track of events and eventually sought a report from Special Observers - General, Shri Ajay Nayak, and Police, Shri Vivek Dube - who sent a final report to the Commission yesterday around 5.30 PM."

The EC letter said that A mock drill was conducted at 5.30 am across polling stations in Nandigram and voting commenced at 7 am on April 1, adding that the polling agents of all political parties were present during this mock drill.

It clearly said that by 1.45 pm when Mamata Banerjee reached the polling station No. 7, the "supporters of boot BJP and AITC gathered outside the premises of polling booth and the situation started becoming tense."

The EC letter also added that relevant CCTV footage is available with the Commission to prove that there was no wrongdoing in the process.

Earlier on Thursday, Mamata Banerjee had also dialled Governor Jagdeep Dhankar from Nandigram, from where she is contesting against BJP`s Suvendu Adhikari, alleging that there is a complete breakdown of law and order.

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Kirstie McGrath, 30 (left) and Niamh Mulreany, 25 (right) at Tallaght District Court on Saturday. Picture by Fergal Phillips

The High Court has made orders allowing two women who refused to enter mandatory hotel quarantine after arriving at Dublin Airport from Dubai to leave Mountjoy woman's prison.

On Sunday Mr Justice Paul Burns amended bail conditions imposed on friends Niamh Mulreany and Kirstie McGrath, which will see them leave prison and continue to quarantine at a designated hotel.

The judge also declined the mothers application to be allowed quarantine at their respective homes instead of the hotel so they could be re-united with their children.

Expand Close Kirstie MCGrath leaving Tallaght District Courton Saturday. Photo: Collins Court. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Kirstie MCGrath leaving Tallaght District Courton Saturday. Photo: Collins Court.

The judge said that in light of the public health situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the measures put in place to reduce new variations of the virus, they must quarantine at the hotel.

Both women were arrested and charged with breaching Section 38 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 by refusing to be detained in quarantine following their alleged refusal to go to the designated hotel last Friday.

They were granted bail by the district court on Saturday, but were unable to satisfy the financial conditions imposed on them, resulting in their incarceration at Mountjoy women's prison.

Following an application by their lawyers on this morning, the judge directed an inquiry, under Article 40.4.2 of the Constitution, into the legality of their detention of at Mountjoy woman's prison.

Expand Close Niamh Mulreany leaving Tallaght District Court on Saturday. Photo: Collins Court. / Facebook

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However following discussions between lawyers for the parties that action has now been converted into a constitutional challenge against laws requiring persons to enter mandatory quarantine on their arrival into Ireland from certain countries.

Lawyers for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the prison's governor opposed the application and had argued their detention was valid.

They also argued that while they were not unsympathetic to the situation that the two women found themselves, the mandatory quarantine was introduced in the interest of the greater public good to help counter Covid-19.

Mandatory quarantine was introduced by the State following advice from experts, the court heard.

The two women attended the hearing via video link from the prison. The court heard they had travelled to the United Arab Emirates, where they were due to but ultimately did not undergo cosmetic procedures.

The court also heard that the trips and procedures were birthday presents funded by the women's respective families and friends.

The pair were granted bail by the District Court on Saturday, on terms including that they remain in the hotel, and that they provide their own bond of 800, of which 500 must be lodged.

They also had to provide an independent surety of 2,000, of which 1,800 must be lodged. They were also to reside at the designated hotel, surrender their passports and not leave the jurisdiction.

However, the High Court heard that neither woman was able to take up bail resulting in their detention at the prison.

Following talks between the sides the state parties, represented by Kate Egan BL and John Gallagher BL, agreed that the financial conditions of their bail could be relaxed.

All that was at issue was if the two could quarantine at their homes or at the designated hotel.

In his decision Mr Justice Burns agreed with the State that the two must quarantine at the hotel.

He granted the two bail on condition that they be of good behaviour and that there be a cash bond of 100, with no lodgment required.

He added that the two may not have to spend the 14 days at the hotel, given that there was an appeal mechanism included as part of the 2021 Act which they can avail of.

The judge also noted that there was a waiver scheme in the Act for people who cannot afford to pay the costs of quarantining in the hotel.

He warned them that any breach of the quarantine could see them back in the same position that they had found themselves in.

In their action counsel John Fitzgerald SC for the two women claimed that their detention was not lawful.

Counsel said the bail conditions imposed by the district court, given the circumstances were "draconian and disproportionate".

The women have no previous convictions and had tested negative for Covid-19 following three recent tests, he added.

Their mandatory quarantine, which his clients were not aware of before they left for Dubai, amounted to a form of preventative detention which there is no lawful basis.

Counsel said Ms McGrath, of St Anthony's Road, Rialto Dublin 7, is the mother of children aged 10 and eight years, and is the recipient of lone parents' allowance.

Her trip to Dubai was a 30th birthday present funded by family and friends.

She was due to undergo a cosmetic medical procedure, which she believed would assist her in addressing some personal matters.

Counsel said that Ms McGrath's mother, who has taken leave from her job, has been looking after her two children. However, her mother must return to work in the coming days.

Mother-of-one Niamh Mulreany, who also celebrated her 25th birthday in March, also had her trip funded by a family member as a gift.

Ms Mulreany of Scarlett Row, Essex Street West, Dublin 2, who previously had breast enhancement surgery, had travelled with the intention of undergoing a corrective procedure in Dubai.

She too did not go ahead with the procedure. She is also in receipt of the lone parent allowance.

When they attempted to return to Ireland from Dubai on March 31 last, they were informed that they must pay 1,850 in order to quarantine at a hotel upon arrival in Dublin.

They were not able to pay that sum, and were told in Dubai that if they did not pre-book the hotel and pay, they would be denied passage to Dublin.

They were not allowed board flights to Dublin for two days. Following representations from a public representative and the Irish consulate they agreed to make deferred payments for the hotel.

They had also believed that their children could stay with them in the hotel. However, when they returned to Ireland, they were told they would have to pay the fee and that their children could not stay with them.

Arising out of that, they allegedly refused to go to the designated hotel because they could not afford the fee, and over concerns for their children.

In reply Mr Gallagher for the Governor said information about the mandatory quarantine was put in the public domain the day before the women travelled to Dubai on March 24.

In all the circumstances counsel said that both women were validly detained.

The matter will return before the court later this month.




New Delhi: 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 honoured 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.

Here's the post:

'Ram Setu' also features Nushrratt Bharuccha, and is directed by Abhishek Sharma. The film's unit had earlier performed the muhurat shot in Ayodhya.
Researchers claim that Elon Musk's Starlink internet satellites could give Earth its first techno-signature. This info was first revealed by the study entitled "From the SpaceX Starlink megaconstellation to the search for Type-I civilizations."

According to Teslarati's latest report, Zaza Osmanov, a professor in astrophysics at the Free University of Tbilisi, is the one the leads the new research, who, along with the other researchers said that this techno-signature would be visible from deep space.

This means that astronomers and other researchers that are far out from Earth could see this bizarre display. If you don't know what it is, then here are other details that you should know.

What is Techno-Signature

NASA's Astrobiology's blog post explained that the techno-signature is the sign that there is a technology existing on a planet. It is the evidence that proves that there are industrial activities that are happening in that heavenly body.

Also Read: SpaceX Reveals Panoramic Glass Dome-Topped Spacecraft for Upcoming All-Civilian Spaceflight

Osmanov also added that the techno-signature is likely to happen since SpaceX's internet satellites could be visible to instruments such as the VLT or Very Large Telescope and China's FAST radio telescope.

These space technologies could see a techno-signature from 260 light-years away. The researchers also added that these giant scopes are comparable with other FAST telescopes, which could also be able to detect the megaconstellations as far out as 520 light-years away.

However, before they can do these things, SpaceX's satellites still need to be fully ramped, which the researchers believe is taking a very long time.

What does it look like?

As of the moment, the researchers still haven't released the official photograph of Earth's techno-signature since SpaceX hasn't achieved its total number of internet satellites orbiting outside Earth.

However, SpaceX released an unofficial analysis of what could be the appearance of the fully formed Starlink internet satellites' constellation. Based on the image, the techno-signature looks like radio waves of net covering the entire Earth.

If you want to see the actual image, all you need to do is click here.

For more news updates about Elon Musk's Starlink internet satellites and other space innovations, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: SpaceX Starlink's Rival Claims Launching Thousands of Satellites is No Good: OneWeb Goes Head-to-Head

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Written by: Giuliano de Leon

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Nina Toracca and Julia Kiehn, both 17 and in Easter dresses, had just taken Communion in the form of a wafer handed out in a paper napkin before dashing out to the sidewalk in front of St. Vincent de Paul Church in San Francisco.

This is so weird, said Kiehn to Toracca after the two parish grade-school friends hugged in greeting. What was weird was being at church itself.

This is my first in-person Mass in eight months, said Toracca. It feels pretty good.

A year ago Easter services in the Bay Area were conducted through computer screens, but on Sunday many were live at minimal capacity and by reservation. St. Vincent de Paul in Cow Hollow, with a capacity of 600, got maybe 100 at each of four Masses. Masks were required, a sanitation station was set up in the lobby, and parishioners maintained social distance in the pews. Mass was limited to 45 minutes, and the heavy double doors were wide open to the traffic noise on Green Street.

On a normal Easter theyd be out the door and down the stairs waiting to get in, said Father Mike Healy, watching from the back.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

For people still hesitant to go inside before the community is fully vaccinated, St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church around the corner on Union Street had an appealing workaround. Its service was conducted outside in the courtyard, with blue Xs marking the spot where families could stand, two to an X. Services were held on the hour at a maximum of 70 attendees. Tickets were required, and an additional service was added to meet demand, for a total of five.

We have not met in person since the lockdown, said St. Mary the Virgin usher Linda Logemann, and everybody is thrilled to be back.

At the entry gate each attendee was given a hand bell, and at the end of the service, they rang them along with the church bells. Their chiming just before 11 a.m. could be heard all the way up the hill at St. Vincent de Paul.

Stephen Lam / The Chronicle

After Mass up there, people stood around outside as if they did not want to leave. As Catholics, we are so centered on Communion that it is difficult to be away from it, said Sara Kiehn, Julias mom.

SVDP, as they call it, is so deeply entrenched in its neighborhood that Green Street is blocked off between Steiner and Pierce streets twice a day so kids at the parish school can use it as a playground for recess. Thats a privilege that was granted in handwriting by Mayor James Sunny Jim Rolph in the early 20th century and has stood both the test of time and the test of the courtroom.

What a wonderful feeling to be back in church and rejoice together, said Alyssa Rauch, who was at SVDP with her mom, her best friend, her husband and their three children, including a newborn in a stroller.

Running up and down the sidewalk was her daughter Marie, 2. It had been a long year because shed been promised she could wear her moms Easter dress from when she was a child in San Diego. Then, last year, Easter got canceled, and it would not do to wear it around the house while watching Mass on a screen.

She couldnt wear it last year, said Rauch. But this year she could. She loves it.

Matt Shriber and his two sons, Max, 6 and Lucas, 4, had all been baptized the night before. Now they were back in church with their mother, Jessie, a Catholic of long-standing. That made two church sessions in about 12 hours, and Max, for one, was deserving of a reward.

Can we get brunch now? he said as soon as he was outside the church doors.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF
How Chauvin trial has impacted its witnesses

The first days of testimony at the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyds death were dominated by witnesses to his arrest and countless videos that forced them to relive the trauma of it all over again.

One man who shouted You cant win! at Floyd as the Black man struggled with police, bowed his head and sobbed on the stand. The teenager who shot widely seen bystander video cried as she talked about her guilt over not being able to help Floyd. A firefighter trained as an EMT broke down as she described her frustration because police prevented her from acting to save Floyds life. The young cashier who reported that Floyd used a $20 counterfeit bill to buy cigarettes _ prompting a call to police _ recalled his guilt as he watched Floyd struggling to breathe.

Attorneys on both sides at the trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin face a delicate balance in questioning witnesses who have experienced such pain while trying to advance their cases. The testimony raises questions about how witnesses who have suffered trauma are treated when they participate in the criminal justice system.

New York Law School criminal law professor Kirk Burkhalter, a former detective who leads a program on police reform, said the bystander testimony has been a powerful reminder of how police misconduct is a betrayal to the entire community.

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These people have been walking around with this pain for a year, unbeknownst to us, he said. They were victims of a crime. We just cannot forget that. They were trying to do their civic duty and they were prevented from interceding in something that was just completely horrible.

Chauvins defense has even tried to paint some of the witnesses as part of a dangerous crowd, adding more pain, he said.

ARE THESE WITNESSES CONSIDERED CRIME VICTIMS?

Probably not. The law generally does not recognize the emotional toll on witnesses as a harm, Burkhalter said.

In Minnesota law, a victim is anyone who incurs loss or harm as a result of a crime, including a good faith effort to prevent a crime. Some of the witnesses testified that they sought to stop Chauvin from using force against Floyd, and even called the police to report his actions. They also described the emotional harm they have endured.

The legal distinction between a witness and a victim is important. Victims have rights in criminal cases, including the right to be notified and object to any proposed plea agreements, and to give victim impact statements at sentencing hearings.

DO WITNESSES QUALIFY FOR GOVERNMENT AID TO DEAL WITH THEIR TRAUMA?

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Potentially. Witnesses to crimes may apply for mental health counseling and other benefits from the Minnesota Crime Victims Reparations Board.

Eligibility depends on individual circumstances and is decided on a case-by-case basis, said Doug Neville, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. If approved, they could be eligible for up to $7,500 in counseling and healing services.

WHAT LEGAL PROTECTIONS DO WITNESSES HAVE?

Most of the laws and professional guidelines governing the treatment of witnesses are designed to protect their physical safety against retaliation and limit the inconvenience of having to testify.

National District Attorneys Association guidelines note that one of the greatest needs for witnesses is the assurance of safety against threats, harassment or intimidation. In Minnesota, a prosecutor can take steps to protect witnesses from having to reveal their home or employment addresses, telephone numbers and dates of birth.

Generally, witnesses are also compensated for their time and the expense of testifying, including $20 per day in Minnesota plus mileage and meals. They are to be notified when to show up, with any delays minimized. And employers in Minnesota cannot retaliate against witnesses who have to take time off to testify.

WHAT ABOUT THEIR EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING?

Prosecutors have a duty to present the truth in court proceedings, and that can include gut-wrenching testimony from people who witnessed disturbing and distressing events.

At Chauvins trial, prosecuting attorneys frequently paused when witnesses were overcome, inviting them to take as much time as they needed. Chauvins attorney often skipped cross-examining witnesses, including a 9-year-old girl.

How much trauma witnesses have to relive on the stand largely depends on the attorneys strategies and what evidence the judge allows, said University of Iowa law professor Emily Hughes, a criminal law expert. Some may be unavoidable.

In order for the prosecution to meet their burden and put in the evidence they need, they sometimes do have to put in really hard, traumatic facts, Hughes said. At the same time, sometimes the two sides are able to stipulate to certain information to protect witnesses or jurors or people from having to relive an experience like that again. When and how that happens is very much a case-by-case, witness-by-witness or fact-by-fact situation.

Prosecutors have played bystander video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyds neck as he lay face-down in handcuffs. They have argued that he persisted even after several onlookers tried to intervene and yelled at him to stop. Chauvins defense has argued that the videos show an angry crowd that made it harder to subdue Floyd.

DO WITNESSES WHO ARE MINORS HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS?

Yes. A judge this week sided with prosecutors in blocking live television coverage of the testimony of four witnesses who were minors when they witnessed Floyds arrest. He allowed audio of their testimony.

The judge ruled that it would be up to the news media to determine whether to identify those witnesses by their names or to keep them confidential. One child witness appeared with an adult support person as allowed under Minnesota law.
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.
Two daredevil base jumpers have been caught on film hurling themselves off Durdle Door arch in Dorset.

The two base jumpers stunned members of the public out for an Easter Sunday walk by ascending the 200ft tall landmark on the Dorset coast.

The two men ignored warning signs telling people not to climb the rocky arch and made their way to the top.

The two men ignored warning signs telling people not to climb the rocky arch and made their way to the top

Both were dressed only in shorts and T-shirts although they were wearing safety helmets

The first man flung himself off and his yellow parachute opened up to control his descent into the chilly sea

Both were dressed only in shorts and T-shirts although they were wearing safety helmets.

The first man flung himself off and his yellow parachute opened up to control his descent into the chilly sea.

He surfaced and then struggled to rein in his soaking canopy before swimming to the shore with it.

Then he swam back under the arch to help his mate who jumped using a blue parachute.

The stunt was witnessed by hundreds of members of the public who were on the beach.

One witness said: 'The beach was packed but I don't tink anyone could quite believe it when they saw these two guys start climbing up the door carrying their gear.

'It was obvious what they were going to do but still a bit unbelievable at the time. Everybody stopped to watch.

The stunt was witnessed by hundreds of members of the public who were on the beach

'The first guy who jumped seemed to struggle with his parachute afterwards, it must have been very heavy in the water', a witness said

Durdle Door was the scene of several stunts last year, most notably people climbing to the top of it to jump 200ft into the water

'The first guy who jumped seemed to struggle with his parachute afterwards, it must have been very heavy in the water.

'I think that is why he swam back out to help the second guy.'

Durdle Door was the scene of several stunts last year, most notably people climbing to the top of it to jump 200ft into the water.

One of those had to be rescued from the seabed and resuscitated on the beach after his jump went badly wrong.

Then last September another thrillseeker used a jet-pack to fly through the arch that forms part of Britain's UNESCO World Heritage Jurassic Coast.

At the time the Lulworth Rangers, who are employed by the landowner, the Weld Estate, said they were fed up with people abusing the historic site.

A spokesman said: 'From the horrific scenes of tombstoning, more and more people are using the iconic arch to make a viral sensation.

'Not only does this put themselves and our emergency services at risk but it exploits the natural World Heritage Site as a playground to abuse, rather than respect.

'Stunts like this just make us despair as to what will happen next. Just because Durdle Door is there, doesn't mean you should jump off, climb up or fly through it.'

Kevin Burt, a Lulworth coastguard, said: 'We try and stop people from jumping off the arch because it is so dangerous.'

It comes as a base jumper was airlifted to hospital after his parachute failed in a separate incident in Beachy Head.

The coastguard and ambulance crews were called to the beach in East Sussex after a 999 call.

According to reports, the base jumper's parachute did not fully open as they jumped off the 530ft height.

Ambulance crews and a helicopter were seen taking off following the accident.

A coastguard spokesman said: 'A 999 call was received at 9.15am today reporting an injured person at Beachy Head.

'The Coastguard Rescue Teams from Eastbourne, Birling Gap and Newhaven, the RNLI lifeboat from Eastbourne, the search and rescue helicopter from Lydd and the South East Coast Ambulance Service attended the scene.

'The casualty was winched by the search and rescue helicopter and airlifted to Brighton Hospital where they were passed into the care of medical staff.'
They trashed police management.

They mocked city leaders.

They bemoaned the lack of true community-based policing.

And they were all Portland officers and supervisors who chose to leave the states largest police force in the last year.

In 31 exit interview statements, the employees who turned in their badges or retired were brutally frank about their reasons for getting out.

The community shows zero support. The city council are raging idiots, in addition to being stupid. Additionally, the mayor and council ignore actual facts on crime and policing in favor of radical leftist and anarchists fantasy. Whats worse is ppb command (lt. and above) is arrogantly incompetent and cowardly, one retiring detective wrote.

The only differences between the Titanic and PPB? he continued. Deck chairs and a band.

Since July 1, 115 officers have left the Police Bureau, including 74 who retired and 41 who resigned. Two more will resign by the end of this month and one more is retiring. They make up one of the biggest waves of departures in recent memory.

Filling out the exit interview forms is voluntary. About a quarter of those who left in the last year chose to do so.

Nearly all who did said they were dissatisfied with the bureaus ability to respond to problems and said they wouldnt recommend their jobs to family or friends.

The Oregonian/OregonLive obtained the forms through a public records request.

The bureau redacted the officers names and years of service, but they wrote down their most recent assignments. The responses came from an assistant chief, lieutenant, sergeants, detectives and patrol officers. One non-sworn employee, public records specialist, also filled out a form.

The mass exodus, also a phenomenon in other big U.S. cities, coupled with a hiring freeze since July, has created significant vacancies  93 sworn officer positions and 43 civilian positions as of mid-March.

The Police Bureau is authorized to have 1,210 positions  916 sworn and 294 non-sworn jobs.

A handful of officers followed retired Assistant Chief Ryan Lee to the police department in Boise, where hes now police chief.

Other officers have left to work at other police agencies in the state, including Oregon State Police, the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office and Hillsboro police.

At least another dozen officers have applied to other agencies and are going through the backgrounding process, the Police Bureau estimated.

One of a handful of billboards that was up in Portland advertising Spokane County Sheriff's Office's $15K hiring bonus for mid-career officers.The Oregonian/OregonLive

Officers on patrol cant help but notice a handful of large billboards posted around the city advertising that the Spokane County Sheriffs Office is hiring for 40 mid-career officers.

Some of those who left said their heavy workload drove them out. One said everyone is overworked, overwhelmed and burned out.

Others said they felt their efforts to solve crimes or protect the public were for naught.

Budget cuts, unit cuts that put the community at risk made working for Portlanders feel like a waste of effort, one retiring patrol officer wrote.

Police leaders acknowledge the morale problems and Portlands particular place in the national reckoning against racial injustice and police violence. The city has been wracked by months of protest confrontations, lawsuits alleging excessive force by police and political reforms that cut the police budget amid a rising tide of shootings and homicides.

Complaints about city politics are beyond the control of the police brass, said Assistant Chief Mike Frome, who oversees the bureaus Personnel Division.

A lot of those things in those exit interviews, nobody in the chiefs office have any power over, Frome said. We dont have any power over City Council. We dont have any power over the mayor or the governor or any members of City Council. We can only focus on what we can do here.'

And that, he said, is working to support officers and cultivating interested applicants until the bureau can restart hiring.

On June 4, 2017, police detained more than 300 people on Southwest Fourth Avenue between Morrison and Alder streets after closing down Chapman and Lownsdale Squares and ordering protesters to disperse north.LC- Staff

Mayor Ted Wheeler, who serves as police commissioner, said the city must foster a culture in the Police Bureau that retains and enhances  and does not move us away from  a diverse, professional, and successful work force.

We ask a lot of our police, he said in an email. The city of Portland, like many other cities, is on an ambitious and aggressive mission to transform community safety and policing. Change management is a specialty occupation for a reason. Its hard work for everyone involved.

Our job as the City Council is to ensure a laser focus on building a better public safety system  and, as we pursue change to meet Portlanders needs and expectations, we must focus on support and care for our employees, he said.

Some of the police who are leaving said theyve found little to no support from City Hall. One training officer who retired in January also said officers are de-policing due to fear of being accused of excessive force.

What the city council has done to beat down the officers willingness to do police work is unfathomable, he wrote. I have never seen morale so low. Officers leaving mid-career and sometimes sooner to go to other agencies. Officers retiring when they would have stayed longer if the situation were different.

He said he knew it was time to go because he stopped looking forward to work that he once loved.

It is no longer a fun place to work.  There is no end in sight and the negatives far exceed anything positive ... hate what Portland has become.'

CULTURAL COMPETENCY LACKING

Young officers of color have left, including Jakhary Jackson, who went to Boise, and Elise Temple, who was one of the Police Bureaus recruiters.

Temple declined to comment on the record.

Jackson didnt respond to messages but he was one of the officers who spoke out last summer about being on the front line of racial justice protests as an officer with the Rapid Response Team.

A graduate of Portland State University who joined the Police Bureau after working for Nike for 10 years, he said then that he became a cop because he wanted to make the most out of my life by helping others. He also was following in the footsteps of his father and aunt.

But Jackson said he was disgusted by the hatred he and other officers faced while standing on the police lines. He got hit by an explosive one night, felt tingling in his fingertips and heat from the device, and got berated by young white protesters.

A protester lights an American flag on fire in front of the Justice Center in downtown Portland on July 4, 2020. The holiday, typically a celebration in the United States, provided many protesters in Portland another occasion to express grievance against the government, both for its history of police treatment of Black Americans but also for local, state and federal response to Black Lives Matter protests.

Often when he tried to talk to someone of color at the protests, he said, Someone white comes up and blocks them and tells them not to talk. Or yells, Eff the police ... dont talk to him. He left shortly after he was named to be a new community engagement officer.

A Latino officer under 30 years old said he left in February for a better work environment. What would have kept him in Portland? Actual community policing, he wrote.

It should be time to repair relations with the community, he said. The community aspect was not there.

He also complained of officers on the force who are unable to relate to the community and said officers of color struggle to fit in.

A factor in his exit: Too many officers believing they are better than the public because they are cops  Still too many officers who are not culturally competent & refuse to have an open mind about the struggles of the community.

Only a handful of the 31 who filled out the forms were Black, Latino or Native American. Most were white men.

Many wrote about how the City Council is out of touch with how and why police do their jobs.

Muzzle city officials  give decision making back to the 15th floor  respect all employees, wrote one officer, referring to the chiefs floor at police headquarters downtown.

People are leaving due to not believing in the mission any longer  feeling of hopelessness for a once thriving city, another wrote.

A few retirees said they would have stayed if the bureau still had a retire-rehire program to return for two to six years. The bureau eliminated it last year because its more expensive to bring back veteran officers.

INTERVIEWS PROVIDE SOBERING MOMENT

Frome said hes read every one of the exit interview forms and shares them with Chief Chuck Lovell, Deputy Chief Chris Davis and the two other assistant chiefs.

Im part of the group thats up on the 15th floor that needs to take a look in the mirror and decide, What can we do better? " he said.

There is a kind of a sobering moment of reflection that does go on when you read those.

But Frome said he wasnt surprised by the sentiments expressed given the year of protests and political upheaval, though he added, Some of them had a level of intensity that I wasnt quite expecting.

Police shown at the scene in January in Southeast Portland, where a driver struck and injured a series of people over a 20-block stretch before crashing and fleeing, witnesses said.Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian

Police leaders need to do a better job in letting our officers know theyre appreciated, that we are constantly trying to advocate for them and make them feel wanted, he said.

He recognizes times in the past year when it became too easy to get caught up in the minutia of my job and forget about the people that were doing the work every day, he said.

I probably did not do a good enough job of making sure that they saw me enough, that they heard me enough, and that they really believe that I was there fighting for them.

Police leaders are trying to be more transparent and accessible, Frome said.

Lovell, for instance, is working to hold more frequent Zoom sessions to update officers on changes in the bureau. Frome said hes offering similar informational sessions on the citys budget decisions.

He said he cant offer higher pay or other benefits such as more vacation time to dissuade officers from turning in their badges, as those are governed by union contracts.

He recognizes that officers hired after 2007 have an easier off-ramp to join other police agencies in the state because they were hired under the states public employee retirement program, not the citys unique police and firefighter pension fund. So their years as Portland officers will count toward their pensions even if they jump to another police agency in Oregon.

BUREAU GETTING APPLICANTS

Yet Frome said he remains optimistic that the Police Bureau can attract good officers if it gets the money to hire again.

FBI data from 2019, the latest available, showed there were 1.3 sworn officers per 1,000 population in Portland, or 889 sworn officers out of a 662,114 population. Thats below the average rate of 2.4 officers per 1,000 people nationally.

I dont think that anyone would say that the Portland Police Bureau of 10 or 12 years ago is anything like what we are now. ... When you look at the people weve been bringing in the door over the last three to five years, Frome said, they are a different generation of police officer that are really committed to doing law enforcement differently than the people when I got hired, so we just need to continue on that route.

The bureau currently has about 30 applicants on a hiring eligibility list who have yet to complete background checks.

The bureau also received 400 online applications late last year from people interested in becoming a Portland cop. Historically that number dwindles substantially when people wash out because they dont meet the bureaus qualifications or are eliminated during background checks.

If given a chance to hire, Frome said hed tell candidates: If they want to be part of a progressive police agency, this is where theyre going to come.

The problem with Portland right now is that we are too progressive compared to some of our neighbors, he said, and we are not progressive enough for some people in Portland.

Lakayana Drury, co-chair of a Portland police community oversight group and director of the nonprofit Word is Bond, said hes often asked how agencies can recruit and retain officers of color. His group strives to improve relations between young Black men and officers.

You have to care about the issues that matter to Black people and people of color and provide an environment thats welcoming to communities of color, Drury said.

Sgt. Matthew Jacobsen, of the Portland Police Bureau's Neighborhood Response Team, tours homeless camps along Northwest Broadway in downtown Portland.

He said the frustrations and low morale in the Police Bureau speak to the urgency of this moment to get policing right and a need to forge a community policing model that truly reflects how residents want police to serve them.

The officers want to be able to do a job theyre proud of and feels right to them, he said. If the community is not happy with you, thats not a sustainable model.'

CHALLENGING TIME TO BE A POLICE OFFICER

Other large police departments also are experiencing exoduses, including in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and Minneapolis.

Its a challenging time to be a police officer, lets face it, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based independent organization that does research on policing.

The last year, he said, has been one crisis after another and in Portland in particular, which went through more than 100 days of non-stop protests.'

When Wexler goes into rooms full of chiefs or officers and you ask them would you recommend this position to your son and daughter and nobody raises their hand, thats relevant because traditionally, police officers are your best recruiters, he said.

Amid the push to shift money from police budgets to social services, Wexler said few people seem focused on the question of who will want to be our police officers of the future?

I dont think anyone is really focusing on it except for police chiefs, he said.

After last years widespread unrest in the wake of George Floyds killing and now live coverage of the trial of the Minneapolis officer who knelt on Floyds neck, its unsettling to work in policing, Wexler said.

At the same moment chiefs are trying to recruit, others are talking about how do we defund the police and get someone else to do what the police have been doing, he said. Thats a hard message if youre the police chief trying to do your job and attract new officers.

Police agencies should identify officers, particularly those of color, to work as recruiters and try to reach out to younger people in high school or college to encourage them to become cadets who can eventually be hired as officers, he said.

Portland police square off with demonstrators at Revolution Hall before backing off during a protest on Jan. 20, 2021.Beth Nakamura

In Portland, the Police Bureau laid off half of its background investigators and no longer has any police recruiters.

A Black officer in her 30s who left this past year said she would have stayed longer as a recruiter but she felt it was the right time to go with all the changes occurring and hiring halted.

Wexler said with homicides increasing here and in other major cities, at some point the reality of the situation is going to dawn on people. You still need cops. You just need good cops.

One day people will wake up and wonder, he said, where have all the cops gone?

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian
A battle between the US and China threatens to trigger a new cold war at the United Nations By Thalif Deen View(s): View(s):

UNITED NATIONS (IPS)  During the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s, the United Nations was the ideological battle ground where the Americans and the Soviets pummeled each other  either on the floor of the cavernous General Assembly (GA) hall or at the horse-shoe table of the UN Security Council (UNSC).

Perhaps one of the most memorable war of words took place in October 1962 when the politically feisty US Ambassador Adlai Stevenson (1961-65), a two-time Democratic US presidential candidate, challenged Soviet envoy Valerian Zorin over allegations that the USSR, perhaps under cover of darkness, had moved nuclear missiles into Cuba  and within annihilating distance of the United States.

Speaking at a tense Security Council meeting, Stevenson admonished Zorin: I remind you that you didnt deny the existence of these weapons. Instead, we heard that they had suddenly become defensive weapons. But today  again, if I heard you correctly  you now say they dont exist, or that we havent proved they exist, with another fine flood of rhetorical scorn.

All right sir, said Stevenson, let me ask you one simple question. Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the USSR has placed and is placing medium and intermediate range missiles and sites in Cuba? Yes or no? Dont wait for the translation: yes or no?, Stevenson insisted with a tone of implied arrogance. Speaking in Russian through a UN translator (who faithfully translated the US envoys sentiments into English), Zorin shot back: I am not in an American courtroom, sir, and therefore I do not wish to answer a question that is put to me in the fashion in which a prosecutor does. In due course, sir, you will have your reply. Do not worry.

Not to be outwitted, Stevenson howled back: You are in the court of world opinion right now, and you can answer yes or no. You have denied that they exist. I want to know if Ive understood you correctly. When Zorin said he will provide the answer in due course, Stevenson famously declared: I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over.

The battles of a bygone era are likely to be re-enacted with the emergence of a new Cold War  this time between the US and China (with strong Russian support to Beijing).

With all three countries holding veto powers  along with the UK and France, backing the US  the UNs most powerful body, name the Security Council, will continue to remain paralysed and deadlocked.

The current criticism is mostly against the Security Council for its failures primarily in Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Iraq, North Korea and Libya  and its longstanding failure over Palestine.

As of now, the sharp divisions between China and Russia, on one side, and the Western powers on the other, are expected to continue, triggering the question: Has the Security Council outlived its usefulness?

US President Joe Biden has described the growing new confrontation as a battle between democracies and autocracies.

In an analytical piece last week, the New York Times said Chinas most striking alignment is with Russia, with both countries drawing closer after Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014. The two countries have also announced they will jointly build a research station on the moon, setting the stage to compete with US space programmes.

The threat of a US-led coalition challenging Chinas authoritarian policies has only bolstered Beijings ambition to be a global leader of nations that oppose Washington and its allies, the Times said.

Asked about the killings in Myanmar, and the lack of action in the UNSC, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on March 29: We need more unity in the international community. We need more commitment in the international community to put pressure in order to make sure that the situation is reversed. Im very worried. I see, with a lot of concern, the fact that, apparently, many of these trends look irreversible, but hope is the last thing we can give up on.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters on March 31: And then in terms of working with my counterparts in the Security Council, I know that there are areas  and this is a discussion that Ive had with both my Russian and Chinese colleagues  we know that there are red lines.

There are areas where we have serious concerns, and weve been open and weve been frank about those concerns. In China, what is happening with the Uyghurs, for example. With Russia, in Syria, and there are many others. We know what the red lines are, she added.

We tried to bridge those gaps, but we also try to find those areas where we have common ground. Weve been able to find common ground on Burma (Myanmar). With the Chinese, were working on climate change in, I think, a very positive way. Were not in the exact same place, but its an area where we can have conversations with each other.

So, as the top US diplomat in New York, it is my responsibility to find common ground so that we can achieve common goals, but not to give either country a pass when they are breaking human rights values or pushing in directions that we find unacceptable, she declared.

Ian Williams, President of the Foreign Press Association in New York, and author of UNtold: The Real Story of the United Nations in Peace and War, told IPS the Security Council is functioning almost as designed.

Without the veto, the Council would split, but with it, the UN as an organisation survives, nominally, allowing all the good vital but geopolitically peripheral activities to continue.

I do not believe that adding new privileged members would add to its efficacy nor do I think that Council representing (Indias Narendra) Modi and (Brazils Jair) Bolsonaro would be a more ethical body!

He argued the Councils effectiveness will depend on how much pressure the World Community can apply on the P5 (the US, UK, France, China and Russia), particularly the P3, and on the role of the Secretary-General and the 193-member General Assembly (GA) in that.

The GA has sold the pass by allowing the temporary seats to be rotated without regard to the actual independence or principles of candidates, he pointed out.

It is not a function of size: Ireland, for example is a better world citizen than Canada would be! Regardless of the rules, a forthright GA with Uniting for Peace majorities could have a political effect, said Williams.

A serious SG could use powers to affect the agenda and name and shame those who stall the work of the UNSC, said Williams, a senior analyst who has written for newspapers and magazines around the world, including the Australian, The Independent, New York Observer, The Financial Times and The Guardian.

(Thalif Deen is the author of a newly-released book on the United Nations titled No Comment  and Dont Quote Me on That. Published by Amazon, the 220-page book is filled with scores of anecdotes from the serious to the hilariousand will soon be available in bookstores in Colombo.)
Haunting final images of Australian fashion icon Carla Zampatti show the legendary designer relaxing with friends while attending what would be her last red carpet at an event in Sydney

Opera Australia will conduct a 'comprehensive' safety review after the tragic death of iconic designer Carla Zampatti.

The 78-year-old died at St Vincent's Hospital on Saturday morning - a week after she fell down stairs at an outdoor opening performance of Opera Australia's La Traviata on Sydney Harbour.

The mother-of-three and grandmother to nine was knocked unconscious after falling on the bottom steps of the staircase and was rushed to hospital, but couldn't be saved.

Witnesses claimed workers with a power drill were 'working furiously' on the stairs during the interval of the show, The Daily Telegraph reported.

This was denied by Opera Australia, who said the 'compliant' stairs were given 'some additional measures' for greater access to and from seating areas.

'In line with OA's policies and procedures, OA is conducting a comprehensive review of the site and incident. OA is committed to all aspects of the safety of our site and patrons,' the spokeswoman said.

Zampatti, 78, tragically died a week after falling down stairs while attending the opening night of Verdi's La Traviata opera on Sydney Harbour. She is pictured at the event

The spokeswoman said work was not done to the stairs near Zampatti's fall during the show but 'prior to the interval there was some minor work done in an area not related to the incident'.

Opera Australia earlier said they were 'deeply saddened' by the news of Zampatti's death.

'Zampatti was an Australian fashion icon and a passionate supporter of the arts who will be greatly missed,' a statement said.

'Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with her family at this time.'

Opera Australia was asked to respond to comments from Zampatti's contemporary and ABC Chair Ita Buttrose that the stairs were dangerous and needed improvement.

'The stairs are very dangerous at the opera,' Buttrose told ABC TV.

'Install some rails because otherwise other people might fall as well.'

The comprehensive safety review comes as Zampatti's family accepted the NSW government's offer of a state funeral.

Born in Italy in 1942, Zampatti (pictured) migrated to Australia in 1950 at age nine, setting up her fashion famous label at 24

In a statement on Sunday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described the designer as 'talented, generous and inspiring. A true trailblazer in every respect'.

'On behalf of the people of NSW, I extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Carla.' the statement said.

Details of the State Funeral will be provided in the coming days.

Born in Italy in 1942, Zampatti migrated to Australia in 1950 at age nine, setting up her fashion famous label at 24.

Her designs have been worn by some of Australia's most influential women, including Princess Mary of Denmark, Australia's first female prime minister Julia Gillard, Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman and Ms. Berejiklian.

'Carla has long been celebrated for making Australian women feel confident and elegant through her exceptional design, tailoring and understanding of the modern woman,' her family said in a statement.

A general view from the OpenAir Cinemas at Macquaries Point in Sydney

Zampatti was named Australian Designer of the Year in 1994, awarded the Australian Fashion Laureate in 2008 and a year later was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honour.

Daughter Bianca, who followed in her mother's footsteps as a designer, posted an emotional tribute to her 'inspiration' on Instagram.

'Today I lost my mother, my inspiration, my mentor and my friend. I am lost for words and totally heartbroken,' she wrote.

'She leaves an undeniable legacy behind, and will remain a constant in the hearts of her loving family, friends and women all over Australia.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison also paid tribute, saying it had been a great honour to have known her.

'Carla was an icon to the fashion industry, a pioneer as an entrepreneur and a champion of multicultural Australia,' he said.

'Her contribution to our nation will be timeless, just like her designs.'
According to information released by the Tunisian Ministry of Defense on April 2, 2021, Tunisia and Greece have conducted a joint naval military exercise on April 1, 2021. This naval exercise was conducted by the Hellenic and Tunisian Navy to develop collaboration in the field of maritime surveillance and search-and-rescue operations.

According to information released by the Tunisian Ministry of Defense on April 2, 2021, Tunisia and Greece have conducted a joint naval military exercise on April 1, 2021. This naval exercise was conducted by the Hellenic and Tunisian Navy to develop collaboration in the field of maritime surveillance and search-and-rescue operations.

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PR HASDRUBAL 509 fast attack craft of Tunisian Navy. (Picture source Shipspotting)

The Hellenic Navy has involved its Salamis (F-455) frigate in this naval exercise while the Tunisian Navy has participated in this joint maritime exercise with its PR HASDRUBAL 509.

The HASDRUBAL 509 is a German-made Type 143 Albatros class fast attack craft constructed by German shipbuilders Lurssen and Kroger. According to the military balance 2020, the Tunisian navy has a total of six ships of this class.

The Type 143 Albatros-class boats were in service with the German Navy and sold to Tunisia and Ghana in 2005. The ships were constructed using composite hulls, designed by Lurssen. She has a displacement of 398 tons, a length of 7.80 m, a beam of 7.80 m, and a draught of 2.6 m.

The Albatros-class is powered by four MTU 16V 956 TB91 diesel engines developing 17,700 horsepower (13.2 MW) driving four shafts. The ship can reach a top speed of 40 knots (56 km/h) with a maximum cruising range of 1,300 nautical miles (2,400 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h). She is armed with two OTO-Melara 76 mm naval guns, four MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles, and two 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes.

The Salamis (F-455) is the fourth ship of the Hydra-class frigate in service with the Hellenic Navy. Four ships of this class are in service with the Hellenic Navy. They were designed in Germany and are based on the MEKO 200 design. The first ship was commissioned in 1992 and upgraded in 2007 to allow the firing of the RIM-162 ESSM surface-to-air missile. In 2019, the implementation of the so-called "Mid-Life Modernization program" was launched including new electronic combat systems, sensors, and radars.

The Hydra-class frigate is powered by Combined diesel or gas (CODOG) propulsion system including two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines developing 60,656 hp (45,231 kW) and two MTU 20V 956 diesel engines developing 10,040 hp (7,490 kW). The ship can reach a top speed of 31 knots (57 km/h) with a range of 4,100 nautical miles (7,600 km).

The Salamis (F-455) is armed with one Mk 45 Mod 2A naval gun, two Mk15 Phalanx 20 mm CIWS (Close-In Weapon System, two Mk141 4  8 Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers, Mk 48 Mod 2 vertical launcher for 16  RIM-162 ESSM air defense missiles, and two Mk32 Mod 5 2  324mm T/T for Mk46 torpedoes.



Salamis (F-455) Hydra-class frigate of the Hellenic Navy. (Picture source Wikipedia)
SPRINGFIELD  A step into the Office of Latino Ministry on an upper floor of the Bishop Joseph Maguire Pastoral Center is to step into a global world.

The ministry of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield is a pipeline to the 13 parishes in the four counties of Western Massachusetts that the diocese covers that celebrate Mass in Spanish.

It is, under director Deacon Pedro Rivera Moran, about bringing the cultures and religious practices of the different Spanish-speaking populations found in these parishes into the liturgy of a church based on both faith and doctrine as well as integrating them into parish life.

We did a class through our pastoral ministry certification program at Our Lady of the Elms College addressing the multiple Latino cultures that exist in our midst, Rivera said. We addressed the opportunity to grow in love as we learn from one another. We also talked about the importance of not changing the aspects of the liturgy that brings us all together as one Church.

Many Spanish-speaking parishioners in the diocese have come from the Caribbean, and been joined in recent years by those from Mexico and El Salvador, as well as Colombia and Ecuador, he said.

Their parishes range from Blessed Sacrament on Waverly Street in the citys North End, where many worshippers are from Guatemala, to St. Marys in Westfield, where a majority of the Spanish-speaking are from Puerto Rico, to St. Marks in Pittsfield, where the bulletin lists weekend Masses in Spanish as well as English and for those from West Africa.

St. Peter Parish in Great Barrington also offers a weekday Mass for Spanish-speaking farm workers in the Berkshires who dont get Sundays as a day of rest.

They have their Sunday Mass on Thursdays, Rivera said.

He called Blessed Sacrament in the citys North End, where Masses are celebrated in both English and Spanish and livestreamed weekdays at 6 a.m., one of the largest such bilingual parishes in the diocese and a model for engagement of parishioners.

Blessed Sacrament, to which All Souls Church on Plainfield Street is yoked after being closed for safety reasons, is a model under Father Jose A. Siesquen-Flores, who has grown that parish by leaps and bounds, said Rivera of the Peruvian-born priest.

There are some 300 families and they do a lot for the parish. They have a team of catechists. A team of people who are involved in the liturgy and good readers. They have a deacon in his 80s, Jose Rivera, who retired but still preaches.

He added that over the last three years the parishioners did fund-raising of all kinds and painted the interior of the church and then the outside.

It looks like a Latin American mission, Rivera said. It is so colorful and beautiful.

The diocesan office of Latino Ministry pops with color as well. There are prints of Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Santiago, the first Puerto Rican to be beatified by the Catholic Church, as well as of Saint Hermano Pedro, a Spanish missionary who worked in Guatemala, and neat stacks of documents that Rivera prepares in Spanish for understanding Church practices and celebrations.

The population of Catholics the office represents include newcomers to the faith in need of instruction as well as those interested in becoming more involved as lay people. Other include long-practicing Catholics who enjoy being part of weekly discussions on faith topics or prayer groups that connect them to other such groups across the globe.

A diocesan office of outreach to those who speak Spanish dates back at least four decades and has evolved as a ministry supported by the Annual Catholic Appeal.

There are 11 Spanish-speaking priests assigned to the 13 parishes that have Holy Mass in Spanish, Rivera said. There are 15 priests that can say they have some Spanish-speaking skills, 19 priests that can celebrate the Mass in Spanish though some cannot have a conversation in Spanish and 11 Spanish-speaking deacons.

He termed awesome the support these parishes received during the coronavirus disease pandemic when parishes initially closed last March and then reopened to limited capacity as well as regulations around wakes and funerals.

The availability and pastoral support over all were awesome, Rivera said. I do not know the number but quite a few Latinos were called home to the Lord and all the wakes and funeral Masses, considering the restrictions, were well attended and supported by clergy including that for my mother-in-law who died of cancer this February.

Deacon Pedro Rivera Moran in his Office of Latino Ministry where a painting of Christ and the Holy Spirit, a gift done by one of his children when he was ordained to the permanent diaconate, is seen in the background. (Photo by Anne-Gerard Flynn, Special to The Republican)

Rivera and his wife, a translator and interpreter for the Westfield Public Schools, raised four children, one of whose artworks of Christ on the Cross releasing the Holy Spirit, hangs in his diocesan office, a gift when Rivera was ordained a deacon.

The Spanish-speaking population in general seeks the opportunity to worship and fellowship in our native language, to celebrate the spiritual cultural heritage we bring from our home, Rivera said. Novenas, traditions, celebrations, our spiritual expressions.

Rivera, who is retired from a career in teaching and information technology, has been active in Latino ministry since the mid-1980s when he and his wife settled in Westfield from Puerto Rico. He was ordained a permanent deacon in the diocese in 2005, and is assigned to St. Marys, in Westfield, where he serves all parishioners.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, homily at Mass, baptism, religious education for three older kids who need to do their First Communion and then I went to bless a house, said Rivera of what he did as deacon during a recent typical Sunday at St. Marys.

His work both at the parish as well as diocesan levels involves him in a variety of leadership and pastoral roles including preparing couples for marriage, preaching during weekend Masses and deepening through re-certification programs what lay ministers to the Spanish speaking understand on both a spiritual and doctrinal level about their faith.

He and Lucy Ramos, the Latino Ministry executive secretary who has seen the ministry expanding during her 22 years working for the diocese, work with the parishes that serve the Spanish-speaking to help them at a diocesan level as well as connect them to related regional and national organizations.

The percentage of Americans who are regular church-goers has declined and trended older in recent years, something that in this diocese has long been reflected in the closing of its schools and the merging of parishes and the aging of both lay and ordained in ministry.

Rivera says there is a need for more evangelization as Spanish-speaking parishioners age and their number in the diocese is a small percentage of the Hispanic population in Western Massachusetts. He and Ramos, disappointed that more young people of Hispanic background were not in attendance at the recent diocesan Youth Day and Mass with Bishop William Byrne, were already making correcting this a priority for future attendance.

Rivera is currently working collaboratively on a pastoral plan to present to Bishop William Byrne on ways Latino ministries in the 13 parishes with Spanish-speaking members can be improved and be better integrated into parish life.

For years, many of these churches had two pastoral councils - the Hispanic and the English, said Rivera who holds masters degrees in human resource development and education administration. It is one church and one parish and we are trying to get Hispanics to be part of the parish pastoral council.

He added, In my parish, we work as a Hispanic commission and whatever we do goes to the parish council and that is the contribution we are starting to grow into.

He sees integration as something that allows Spanish-speaking parishioners to both share their faith traditions as well as to have the opportunity to live the spirituality that we grew up with.

He noted the recent Stations of the Cross procession on Good Friday with narration both in English and Spanish.

We need unity  That they may all be one, like you, Father, and I are one. That the world may believe that you sent me,' said Rivera as he quoted from the Gospel of St. John. That is what I am looking for. Unity in the Church.

Blessed Sacrament Church on Waverly Street in Springfield's North End is one of the largest Spanish-speaking parishes in the Springfield Diocese. Parish members fund-raised and collaborated to renovate the church, including its colorful facade, during the last three years. (Photo by Anne-Gerard Flynn, Special to The Republican)

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Sixteen years after the BMW Group Plant Leipzig went on stream, the 3,000,000th BMW made in Saxony has just rolled off the production lines: a BMW M240i Convertible in Sunset Orange. (Fuel consumption combined: 8.3  3.8 l/100 km; CO2 emissions combined: 189  101 g/km).

The fact that weve manufactured 3,000,000 cars in sixteen years is all down to the hard work and commitment of our highly motivated employees. The team here in Leipzig are fantastic and deliver high-quality vehicles that are in strong demand across the globe, said Plant Director Hans-Peter Kemser honouring the work of the employees. He is particularly proud of electromobility in Leipzig: The 3,000,000 we are celebrating today include more than 200,000 BMW i3 vehicles, and production of all-electric cars continues to develop. The next time we celebrate an anniversary, it will be with a new family member, the MINI Countryman from Leipzig, which will come with a choice of a combustion engine or an electric drive.

Works Council Chairman Jens Kohler emphasised the contribution and achievements of employees as well: 3,000,000 vehicles made right here are an impressive testimony to the fact that Plant Leipzig is an integral part of the global BMW production network. BMW has placed their trust in our plant and also in our employees, who deliver peak performance every day.

The latest milestone vehicle was duly dispatched to its new owner  a customer in Bavaria, the home of BMW  with the Lord Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, BMW Group Leipzig Plant Director Hans-Peter Kemser and the Works Council Chairman at Plant Leipzig, Jens Kohler, in attendance.

The Lord Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, was visibly impressed by the growth of the BMW plant in his city. In 2016 I came here to celebrate Plant Leipzigs 2,000,000th vehicle. Im now looking forward to coming back for the 4,000,000th! Judging by the way BMW is constantly investing in the development of this facility, that will be within the next five years. Also, Im particularly pleased that, after the BMW i3, Plant Leipzig is due to manufacture another electric car, the MINI.

Lined up end to end, the 3,000,000 vehicles made by Plant Leipzig would stretch about 13,000 kilometres  roughly the flight distance from Leipzig to Australias northernmost city, Darwin.

The first BMW made in Leipzig rolled off the production line in March 2005, a BMW 320i. Six years later the 1,000,000th car was made, in December 2011, an Alpine White BMW 116d that was presented to the non-profit organisation Joblinge. The 2,000,000th car came even faster, in October 2016, a BMW i3 (fuel consumption combined: 0.0 l/100 km; electricity consumption combined: 13.1 kWh/100 km; CO2 emissions combined: 0 g/km) in Protonic Blue for a customer in the USA.

BMW AG Board Member for Production, Milan Nedeljkovic, is also thrilled by the anniversary: As a pioneer in electromobility, Plant Leipzig is of particular importance in the BMW Group production network. When we start making the successor to the current MINI Countryman, Leipzig will be the first BMW facility to make both BMWs and MINIs. Nedeljkovic was Head of Assembly and Plant Director at Leipzig between 2010 and 2015.

Along with the BMW i3, Plant Leipzig currently makes the BMW 1 Series, BMW 2 Series and its most powerful model, the BMW M2 Competition (fuel consumption combined: 10.0  9.9 l/100 km; CO2 emissions combined: 228  225 g/km). Output totals more than 1,000 vehicles a day and reached a good 200,000 units last year.

After 3,000,000 vehicles, the plant and team are not about to rest on their laurels. Instead they are busy preparing for the forthcoming MINI crossover. The successor to the current MINI Countryman, it will be manufactured from 2023.

Since going on stream in 2005, production capacity at Plant Leipzig has gradually increased. The facility is currently capable of delivering up to 350,000 vehicles a year, compared with some 54,000 in the first year of operations. It now has its sights set firmly on the next million and is also undertaking the next steps towards greater sustainability and becoming a green plant. Milan Nedeljkovic: The next stage of development will see the BMW Group strengthen Plant Leipzigs role as an important and reliable factor in the economy of the Leipzig/Halle region.

At BMW Group Plant Leipzig, the sparing and efficient use of energy has always been a top priority, with regenerative sources used wherever possible. Since 2013 production of the BMW i3 has been powered by green energy from four wind turbines on the plant premises, meaning the BMW Groups first fully electric model has been made with locally sourced green energy since day one. But now the plant is aiming even higher: By 2030 we intend to reduce CO2 emissions from production by 80 percent compared with 2006. Our vision is to fully decarbonise production by replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen, said Plant Director Hans-Peter Kemser looking to the future of BMW Group Plant Leipzig.

-- Tradearabia News Service
A bill heading to Gov. Kay Ivey's desk for a signature could benefit small businesses and churches through emergency orders issued by the state.

It was filed in response to what happened about a year ago when COVID health orders forced some businesses to temporarily close.

WAAY 31 spoke with business owners in Huntsville about what this could mean for local businesses in the future.

Under the new bill, if signed by the governor, even places like salons will never have to close their doors or shelves for long periods of time again.

"It was hard to be shut down for 8 weeks, it was difficult," business owner Michelle Mcgough said. "We did get the PPP loan and that really did help us sustain and give us a healthy year."

Michelle Mcgough is the co-owner of Salon Allure and she said this bill feels personal.

Last year she had to shut down and re-adjust after the safer at home order called for non-essential businesses to temporarily close.

The order also restricted restaurants to only to-go and take out orders.

"I think shutting businesses down for over months is criminal quite frankly," Stan Stinson said.

Stan Stinson believes the bill is needed for every small business owner in Alabama.

He admitted 2020 was rough for his business Earth and Stone Wood Fire Pizza.

"Our business dropped 80% and that was with us making deliveries to neighborhoods and doing everything we could," he said.

Under House Bill 103, it would allow for all businesses and churches to stay open as long as they follow and comply with the emergency order, and rules and regulations set in place by local government officials or the state.

Both Mcgough and Stinson hope the bill passes.

"They have bills to pay and they have supported us through the pandemic. Hopefully this year will be a profitable year for those around us," Mcgough said.

We reached out to Governor Kay Ivey's team to see about getting an answer on if or when she will sign the bill.

A spokeswoman told WAAY 31 the bill is under review.
28 countries drawn to Phuket relaunch

BANGKOK: Tourists from 28 countries have expressed interest in visiting Phuket after the government has agreed to waive the mandatory quarantine for vaccinated foreign visitors, according to tourism operators in the province.

COVID-19tourismeconomics

By Bangkok Post

Sunday 4 April 2021, 09:55AM

Promthep Cape, one of the islands best-known locations, hopes to see large numbers of local tourists soon. Photo: Bangkok Post

In July, Phuket will be the first province to waive the quarantine requirement for foreign visitors who have been vaccinated, as part of the governments plan to reopen the country.

Bhummikitti Raktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association, said even though foreign tourists have shown interest it remains to be seen if they can proceed with their visit plans which will be approved by authorities in their own countries.

Among 28 countries were tourists from China, Singapore, Russia, the UK and Germany  known as frequent travellers to Phuket.

He said the province is expected to welcome 150,000 foreign visitors from July to September with an estimated income of B30 billion. The high season for the resort island usually starts in mid-October.

However, Mr Bhummikitti said that despite the agreement to allow vaccinated tourists in without quarantine, provincial authorities will submit details to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) for approval.

"The details involve what documents they need, what they are supposed to do while being in Phuket, and if their vaccines are endorsed. We have to take the health safety of local people into consideration too," he said.

The province must inoculate at least 70% of its population (460,000 people) to create herd immunity. Around 920,000-930,000 doses are needed to achieve such a goal, he said.

Mr Bhummikitti, however, said the reduction of the mandatory isolation period from 14 days to seven days which took effect on April 1, is unlikely to revive the general tourism industry.

"Those who are likely to visit are businessmen or people who have families in Thailand. We have a survey indicating that foreign tourists are turned away by quarantine," he said.

On Saturday, Thai Airways first flight from Germanys Frankfurt  flight TG921  touched down at Suvarnabhumi airport, the first since an international travel lockdown started early last year when the pandemic broke out.

The flight carried 130 German tourists. Among them, 16 German travellers flew from there to Phuket. It is unknown if the others were transit passengers. The next flight will be on May 7.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government hopes to complete its vaccination programme to target groups in 77 provinces by the end of this month.

Speaking during the PM Podcast programme, he said that 800,000 doses manufactured by Chinas Sinovac will be distributed to target populations in the provinces.

Of total, 300,000 will be given to people in the outbreak areas, 300,000 doses to tourism and border provinces and the remaining 200,000 doses to the rest.
New Delhi:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, after celebrating her fourth election win, wakes up on Monday to the double headache of an emboldened hard-right opposition party and thorny coalition talks ahead.

If the campaign was widely decried as boring, its result was a bombshella populist surge weakened both Merkels conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats, handing both their worst results in decades.

After 12 years in power and running on a promise of stability and continuity, Merkels CDU/CSU bloc scored 32.9 per cent, against 20.8 per cent for the Social Democrats under challenger Martin Schulz.

The election spelt a breakthrough for the anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD), which with 13 per cent became the third strongest party and vowed to go after Merkel over her migrant and refugee policy.

The entry of dozens of hard-right nationalist MPs to the glass-domed Bundestag chamber breaks a taboo in post-World War II Germany and was labelled as a political earthquake by top-selling Bild daily.

We will take our country back, vowed the AfDs jubilant Alexander Gauland, who has recently urged Germans to be proud of their war veterans and said a politician with Turkish roots should be disposed of in Anatolia.

While joyful supporters of the AfDa party with links to the far-right French National Front and Britains UKIP sang the German anthem late yesterday, hundreds of protesters outside shouted Nazis out!

All other political parties have ruled out working with the AfD, whose leaders call Merkel a traitor for allowing in more than one million asylum seekers since the height of the refugee influx in 2015.

World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder called the four-year-old protest party a disgraceful reactionary movement which recalls the worst of Germanys past and should be outlawed.

While Germany still digests the rise of the right-wingers, Merkels inner circle will prepare today for what could be lengthy coalition talks ahead with a motley crew of smaller parties.

Party leaders will meet at 0700 GMT at Berlin headquarters to draw their conclusions from the election that some have dubbed a referendum on the refugee crisis, a contentious issue especially for her Bavarian CSU allies.

CSU chief Horst Seehofer, a vocal critic of Merkels asylum policy, called the poll outcome a bitter disappointment and vowed to close the open flank on the right before state elections next year, signalling more trouble ahead.

A weakened Merkel must now find a new junior partner after the Social Democrats (SPD) declared they would go into opposition, to recover the support they lost while governing in Merkels shadow.

Schulz, putting a brave face on the defeat, vowed that the 150-year-old traditional workers party would serve as the bulwark of democracy in this country and stop the AfD from leading the opposition.

This will likely force Merkel to team up with two smaller, and very different, parties to form a lineup dubbed the Jamaica coalition because the three parties colours match those of the Caribbean countrys flag.

One is the pro-business and liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), which scored a 10.4-per cent comeback after crashing out of parliament four years ago.

The other is the left-leaning, ecologist Greens party, a pioneer of Germanys anti-nuclear movement which won nine percent on campaign pledges to drive forward the countrys clean energy shift and fight climate change.

Weeks, if not months, of jockeying and horse-trading could lie ahead to build a new government and avoid snap elections.

The FDP has governed with the conservatives before, and the two have in the past been seen as natural allies.

But its leader Christian Lindner has pointed to new red lines, voicing scepticism especially on French President Emmanuel Macrons plans for a single eurozone budget, which Merkel has cautiously greeted.

The Greens, meanwhile, sharply differ with the FDP and CSU on key issues from immigration to the environment, pushing to expand wind farms, phase out coal and take to task car makers over the dieselgate emissions cheating scandal.

With a view to the tough challenges ahead, Bild daily called the vote outcome a nightmare victory for Merkel.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Aussie health official says blood clotting case 'likely' linked to vaccine

CGTN) 11:09, April 04, 2021

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 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.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then President Bidens professed commitment to conduct a foreign policy that concentrates on advancing the interests of the nations working families and middle class pays a striking compliment to his predecessor. Donald Trump achieved an improbable victory in 2016 in no small measure by lambasting the foreign-policy establishment -- right and left -- for pursuing immigration and climate policies, trade deals, and military campaigns that harmed blue-collar laborers and other middle-income earners. The Trump administration recognized that diplomacy should promote the prosperity of all Americans while giving special attention to those who -- owing to workplace automation, open borders, globalization, flawed trade deals, and more -- lost opportunities and saw their wages stagnate and manufacturing jobs move overseas.

If, however, administrations are measured more by deeds than by words, then the Biden administrations focus straight out of the gate on implementing a progressive agenda favored by intellectual and political elites constitutes a repudiation of Trump administration concerns for working families and the middle class.

Joe Bidens ending by executive order of Trump administration policies and programs that secured the border with Mexico triggered a surge of migrants crossing illegally into the United States. Bidens cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office cost the United States thousands of jobs and does not curb greenhouse-gas emissions. And the Biden administration has brought an intensification in the institutionalization of critical race theory throughout the federal bureaucracy -- most prominently in the Pentagon, among the nations most diverse and integrated institutions. Official promulgation of CRT places many ordinary people, who favor the old-fashioned civility and toleration that require equal treatment of individuals without regard to race, at odds with government-endorsed equity doctrine that demands different treatment based on race.

The discord between Biden-administration words and deeds fuels old suspicions and worries that much progressive rhetoric aims to convince ordinary voters that policies at odds with their stated preferences or contrary to their express wishes reflect their true interests.

Within weeks of assuming office, the new administration showcased its promise to put U.S. foreign policy in the service of working families and the middle class. Previewing the presidents first foreign-policy address, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan pledged, Everything we do in our foreign policy and national security will be measured by a basic metric: Is it going to make life better, safer, and easier for working families? In his Feb. 4 speech, the president hammered home the point: Theres no longer a bright line between foreign and domestic policy. Every action we take in our conduct abroad, we must take with American working families in mind. Advancing a foreign policy for the middle class demands urgent focus on our domestic economic renewal.

Sullivan (pictured) introduced the case for organizing foreign policy around the middle class in a 2019 Atlantic essay, What Donald Trump and Dick Cheney Got Wrong About America. Obscuring the obvious connection between his summons to fellow Democrats to turn to the people and then-President Trumps considerable support among ordinary voters, Sullivan demonized the Republican in the White House as hostile toward Americas allies and contemptuous of cooperation. He added that Trump was worse than an isolationist, preaching predatory unilateralism and offering Americans a false, dog-whistling choice between globalism and nationalism.

That characterization acrimoniously distorts the foreign policy of -- and implicitly rebukes the substantial bloc of working- and middle-class voters who backed -- an administration that reinvigorated the Quad to protect a free and open Indo-Pacific, persuaded many NATO allies to share responsibilities by honoring their agreed-upon contributions to national security, elevated the promotion of international religious freedom to a top priority, produced through sedulous diplomacy with Israel and Gulf Arab nations the breakthrough Abraham Accords, and launched the Clean Network to ensure that friends and partners around the world build digital infrastructure using only equipment that protects privacy and security.

Acknowledging, nevertheless, that Trump has surfaced questions that need clear answers, Sullivan espoused a foreign policy that seeks to avoid unpopular extremes, rejecting both ambitious nation-building abroad and retreat into isolationism at home. Instead of Trumps America First, Sullivan unveiled a new American exceptionalism to serve as the basis for American leadership in the 21st century. In fact, he affirmed traditional themes: The core purpose of American foreign policy must be to protect and defend the American way of life, Sullivan wrote. This entails a healthy democracy, shared economic prosperity, and security and freedom for all citizens to follow the paths they choose. In the service of these worthy goals, Sullivan offered sensible thoughts about American leadership, the China challenge, transnational threats, alliances, the variety of diplomatic tools, and the rules-based international order.

But Sullivans moderate pose and traditional language mask a grandiose intention It is one thing to consider where the middle class fits into Americas foreign-policy priorities. It is quite another to add domestic social engineering to the foreign-policy establishments to-do list. The countrys entire national-security strategy -- the resources it allocates, the threats and opportunities it prioritizes, the events and circumstances it tries to shape, the relationships it cultivates -- should more explicitly be geared toward reviving Americas middle class, declares Sullivan. Yet he provides no explanation of how their training and expertise prepare foreign-policy professionals to assume significant responsibilities for managing the American economy.

Nor does Making U.S. Foreign Policy Work Better for the Middle Class. Published in early fall 2020 by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the lengthy report elaborates the idea that the American foreign-policy establishment -- having failed at nation-building in other countries -- should nation-build at home. The bipartisan task force that produced the report included Sullivan as well as Salman Ahmed, co-editor and project director, who now serves as director of the State Departments Policy Planning Staff.

The Carnegie report is in many respects, like Sullivans article, balanced and reasonable. But, like Sullivans essay, the report assumes that the middle class is monolithic. It vilifies Trump administration foreign policy -- and also thereby denigrates the sizeable portion of working families and members of the middle class who voted for the 45th president. And while warning against overextension, particularly efforts to effect broad societal change within other countries, the report, like Sullivans article, envisages a major domestic power grab by the foreign-policy establishment: A foreign policy that works better for the middle class would preserve the benefits of business dynamism and trade openness -- which does not feature prominently enough in the progressive agenda -- while massively increasing public investment to enhance U.S. competitiveness, resilience, and equitable economic growth.

Instead of arrogating to itself power to plan the U.S. economy under the cover of concern for those neither rich nor poor, Biden foreign-policy hands would do well to concentrate on understanding better other countries interests, capabilities, and overarching aims. Developing programs to train a new generation of diplomats and security officials in languages and high-tech know-how, for example, would be a constructive step in enabling the United States to meet the challenge to the free and open international order presented by the Chinese Communist Party.

The middle classs most abiding foreign-policy interest, like that of all Americans, is maintaining the conditions abroad that secure freedom at home.
ALBANY  Teenagers from around the Capital Region gathered Saturday for an open forum on gun violence, the impact of the pandemic on their lives, restorative justice, and intertwined issues like poverty, domestic violence and systemic racism.

Eva Bass, CEO of Bridge da Gap and chair of the citys equity agenda, oversaw the Capital Region Youth Speak-out event. The idea for it grew out of discussions between non-profits in the city and members of the citys gun violence task force, she said.

Bass said they wanted to create a platform to amplify teenagers voices on issues that directly affect them but they are often not heard on, as well as connecting them with resources.

We give them an opportunity for them to speak up, so we can take their information and take action based on their concerns and their perspectives, she said.

Teens representing groups like the NAACP, the Leo Club, Youth FX, and others offered their thoughts on the larger solutions needed but also what they could do as individuals to solve those systemic issues on a smaller scale.

One speaker, Egypt Snipe, who recently moved from Albany to Schenectady, said that often her mother wouldnt let her out of the house because she feared some of the violence in the city. Last year Albany saw more than 120 shootings and 16 homicides.

That isolation had made it difficult for her to connect with anyone her own age, she said.

Snipe likened the cycle of violence to a toddler who falls off their bike and scrapes their knee because the sidewalk outside their home is cracked and broken. That child goes to day care and pushes other children, so theyre not the only one with a scrape on their knee.

We need to band together and try and find the support that we need as a whole so that children dont end up hurt and children stop this cycle of violence, she said.

Richard Smith, the national director of United for Healing Equity at Common Justice, a Brooklyn-based non-profit, laid out the heart of the issue, pointing out that those who commit violence against others are often already victims of violence in their own lives.

Hurt people hurt people and I believe that wholeheartedly, he told those watching the event over Zoom and Facebook.

Smith pushed back against the idea of community violence. The citys Black and brown communities are not inherently violent. Instead, the racism embedded in the economic, education, legal and others have caused that violence, he said.

The systems that are supposed to allow us to access all of the basic needs for our well-being have denied Black and brown communities equity and equal access to opportunities, he said. Its not just young people saying, Im going to beef with somebody when I get to the boulevard, its deeper than that.

Smith challenged the teens to imagine whether they could live in a city that depended on restorative justice and relied less on the police and criminal justice system.

Jada Gary, a senior at Albany High School, said in some ways that system already exists, people in the community who step in try to work things out.

I think we already have the basis for this, she said. We know what to do, we just have to apply more pressure.

Rasheeda Pierre is an intern with YouthFX. She shared her perspective that over the last few years, shes realized how difficult it is to speak out against the existing systems.

Starting my adulthood in a pandemic and also during Black Lives Matter, it really put into perspective how much society doesnt want us to be us at all, she said.

Among the speakers was Dyjuan Tatro, a former Albany resident who was sent to federal prison as part of a gang crackdown. During his time there, he graduated from the Bard Prison Initiative and now works as a criminal justice and legal reform advocate.

Tatro spoke about the lack of opportunities he had growing up and how it led to prison, as well as how he used his education to turn around and attack the systemic problems he saw in the criminal justice system.

Syaira Liverpool, a student at Albany High School, echoed the idea that opportunities and resources, along with teens holding each other accountable, can make a difference in peoples lives when it comes to violence. But the pandemic has changed that.

I feel like since COVID hit, its really difficult for people my age, or people in general to find resources and opportunities that can help them stay away from things like that, she said.
COVID-19 could spread due to New Year holidays, schools reopening By Quintus Perera View(s): View(s):

A stark warning was issued this week of another bout of the COVID-19 infection due to the inadequate availability of the vaccine, festivities like Sinhala and Tamil New Year and Vesak approaching and schools reopening.

This is because large numbers of people converge and the reluctance of the majority of the community to adhere to health guidelines, with the issues emerging partly due to state administrative problems .

The warning transpired at the Sunday Times Business Club monthly webinar titled Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines held online on Monday.

The panellists were Prof (Ms) Neelika Malavige, Head of the Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sri Jayawardenapura and Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe, former Chief Epidemiologist, Ministry of Health.

Dr. Abeysinghe said that over 100 vaccines the world over are on clinical trial and among them 17 are expected to get World Health Organisation (WHO) approval and they were to rollout the vaccine to prevent infections, deaths and further spread of the disease.

He said that with the information that the vaccine would be available they had prepared Vaccine Introduction Plan. The Planning Committee invited the Advisory Committee on Communicable Disease, of which he is a member and which has a history of about 50 years in guiding the Ministry of Health.

Whatever the manufacturers of the vaccine indicated, the whole world knew that these manufacturers would not be able to supply the total demand and Dr. Abeysinghe pointed out that, which is why some rich countries ordered several times more than their countries requirements. To use on the maximum population with the available vaccine, he asserted.

He said that unfortunately in Sri Lanka till the last moment the country was relying on various other medicines like the local herbal products, local medicine and then a commotion in the country was erupted and the country was not paying enough attention to place orders forg COVID-19 vaccines. Sri Lanka lagged behind in the case of placing orders, Dr Abeysinghe pointed out and in fact our orders were made only in January this year.

He said that the authorities should have really done their homework in ordering the required amount of vaccine, adding that the committee had prepared the Vaccination Introduction Plan based on the WHO advice to prepare a prioritisation plan. The WHO clearly advised the whole world how to protect the vulnerable  the frontline health workers, security staff, the elders and then the community.

He said Our priority experts identified as per WHO advice to define the vulnerable, identifying the persons who are engaged in the control work, essential services and the people clearly wanted us to help us to maintain the daily routine.

He said that they prepared the plan and the government negotiated with several countries to obtain the vaccine. The plan was to vaccinate with AstraZeneca which can be stored under Sri Lankan conditions and he said that they planned to reach the whole country.

After receiving 500,000 does from India, they still expected the government to follow their plan  to vaccinate as per the Priority List, he said adding however that unfortunately halfway through the government decided to change the plan.

He went on further: We did not agree, we explained our views but the government continued in their way. There is no way as to find a solution.

Prof. Malavige said that before finding out the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, she thought of highlighting the importance of vaccinating who and also discussing the issues relating to COVID-19. She said that the chances of these medicines are not fully understood by the public and the definition indicated that immunology is a study of the immune system and it is important to protect the people from various infections of disease  an important branch of health and biological sciences.

She said that people are alarmed as the COVID-19 pandemic is confronted with death in serious cases. Because, she said, to date it is severe  even with death. She said the risk is higher with higher age groups and is important to administer the vaccine to those identified vulnerable people, though the country is not having enough vaccine to go with.

Prof. Malavige stressed that all the countries are concentrating trying to save lives, because of the higher chances of dying. She said to get protection both doses have to be administered. In her opinion, the vaccination would last for over a year and then one may have to get a booster to update their immunity system.
AMMAN: Jordan`s military has told King Abdullah`s half-brother Prince Hamza bin Hussein to halt actions targeting "security and stability" in what people familiar with the matter said could be related to a plot to destabilise the country.

In a statement published by the state news agency, the military said the warning to Prince Hamza was part of a broader, ongoing security investigation in which a former minister, a junior member of the royal family and unnamed others were detained.

Prince Hamza said in a video recording he was under house arrest and had been told to stay at home and not contact anyone.

Speaking in English in the video, passed by his lawyer to the BBC, he said he was not part of any foreign conspiracy and denounced the ruling system as corrupt.

"(Jordanians`) well being has been put second by a ruling system that has decided that its personal interests, financial interests, that its corruption is more important than the lives and dignity and future of the ten million people who live here," he said.

Earlier, army chief Yusef Huneity denied reports the prince had been arrested but said he was told to "stop activities that are being exploited to target Jordan`s security and stability".

Two people familiar with the situation told Reuters security forces had arrived at his small palace and begun an investigation. King Abdullah dismissed Prince Hamza as heir to the throne in 2004 in a move that consolidated his power.

The Washington Post said Jordanian authorities detained the former crown prince and arrested nearly 20 other people after what officials called a "threat to the country`s stability".

A former U.S. official with knowledge of events in Jordan said the plot, which he described as credible and broadbased but not imminent, did not involve a "physical coup." Rather, he said, those involved were planning to push for protests that would appear to be a "popular uprising with masses on the street" with tribal support.

Jordan would investigate whether there was a foreign hand in the plot, said the former U.S. official.

POWERFUL TRIBES

Prince Hamza is not seen as a major threat to Jordan`s monarchy and has been marginalised for years, but the move against him represents the first such incident involving a close member of the royal family since King Abdullah came to the throne.

The authorities have become increasingly concerned with his efforts to build ties with disgruntled figures within powerful tribes.

These people known as the Herak have in recent weeks called for protests against corruption in a country hit hard by the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, pushing unemployment to record levels and deepening poverty. The authorities had cracked down on several demonstrations, detaining dozens.

Tribes who dominate the security forces form the bedrock of support for the kingdoms Hashemite monarchy.

The state news agency said Bassem Awadallah, a U.S.-educated long-time confidant of the king who later became minister of finance and also adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Sharif Hassan Ben Zaid, a member of the royal family, were detained along with other unnamed figures.

It gave no details.

"The U.S. administration knows that Bassam Awadullah works for MBS (Mohammed bin Salman). Any astute observer will say if someone this close to MBS is involved he would have to know," said the former U.S. official.

The Saudi royal court voiced its "full support" for King Abdullah and all decisions taken by him to maintain security and stability.

Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar also stood by him. The U.S. State Department said the king was a "key partner" and had its full backing.

Government officials were not immediately available for comment.

Arrests of top officials and royal family members are rare in Jordan, seen as one of the Arab world`s most stable countries.

POLITICAL WILDERNESS

Prince Hamza, who had been groomed by his mother Queen Noor to succeed his late father King Hussein, has been pushed into the political wilderness since he was sacked as crown prince.

Some opposition figures have rallied around him, a move that has displeased the king, officials familiar with the situation said.

Abdullah succeeded his father King Hussein, who ruled Jordan for nearly five decades.

The Jordanian Hashemite dynastys tradition under the 1952 constitution gives the succession to the eldest son but the monarch retains the option of naming a brother.

King Abdullah has succeeded in bringing political stability to the country and gaining stature as a prominent Arab leader whose message of moderation has found an echo, especially in Western forums.

Awadallah, who was a driving force behind economic reforms before he resigned as chief of the royal court in 2008, has long faced stiff resistance from an old guard and an entrenched bureaucracy that flourished for years on government perks.

Jordan`s powerful intelligence agency, with a pervasive influence in public life, has played a bigger public role since the introduction of emergency laws at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic last year, which civic groups say violate civil and political rights.

Jordanian riot police last month broke up protests in Amman and other cities called to mark the 10th anniversary of Arab Spring pro-democracy demonstrations, and authorities detained dozens of activists, witnesses said.
Burma Myanmars 10 Peace Signatories Back Elected Govt

Regime soldiers, police and thugs beat and kick anti-regime protesters in Monywa, Sagaing Region, in February. / CJ

The 10 ethnic armed organizations Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) has given its unwavering support to Myanmars striking civil servants and the ousted governments Federal Democracy Charter and the abolition of the military-drafted 2008 Constitution.

The group also urged the regimes governing body, the State Administrative Council, to stop arbitrary killings and detentions and release all detained leaders.

By Sunday at least 557 people, including children and bystanders, have been killed by soldiers and police across Myanmar.

General Yawd Serk, head of the PPST and chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), said the grouping, firmly stands with the people from all walks of life who are opposing the military councils seizure of power by staging peaceful demonstrations and demanding the end of the dictatorship, the abolition of the 2008 Constitution, full democracy, the establishment of a federal union and the immediate release of all those who have been detained.

The regimes council must be held accountable for more than 500 civilians killed by its forces, Gen. Yawd Serk said during the weekend discussions via video conference.

To solve this political crisis, we all must work in various ways, said Gen. Yawd Serk, honoring the fallen heroes during the spring revolution.

The elected lawmakers Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Parliament), CRPH, announced that it was nullifying the 2008 Constitution and it introduced a charter to build a federal democratic union on March 31.

By supporting the CRPHs move, the PPST also demanded the military regime stop atrocities against unarmed civilians during our weekend discussions. We continue to support the people who are taking part in the civil disobedience movement, defying the military regime, said Dr. Salai Lian Hmong Sakhong, the PPSTs spokesman.

The civil disobedience movement, initiated by striking medics on Feb. 3, has been joined by civil servants from different sectors.

The spokesman said: We all support the CRPHs announcement abolishing the 2008 Constitution and its Federal Democracy Charter. The charters principles reflect the long-held demands of ethnic minorities.

Last week, the military launched airstrikes against civilians in Karen States Papun District, which is under the control of the Karen National Union (KNU), a member of the PPST, displacing more than 12,000 civilians, with many seeking shelter in Thailand.

With the PPSTs support, fears have risen that further armed conflict could erupt elsewhere. Myanmar has had more than seven decades of civil war between the military and various ethnic armies.

The PPST said in February that it would not hold political negotiations with the regime while the civilian government is being detained. Its members, including the RCSS and KNU, have been hosting striking civil servants.

Dr. Salai Lian Hmong Sakhong said: Whether fighting erupts depends on the response of the regimes council. On our side, we dont want war but peace. The councils actions are mocking our peace process.

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Chennai: The high octane campaign for the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections ended on Sunday at 7 pm, with the stage now set for the polling on April 6 which will decide whether it will a hat-trick of terms for the AIADMK or the return of DMK after a decade in opposition.

As many as 3,998 candidates, including Chief Minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam, DMK President MK Stalin, AMMK founder TTV Dhinakaran, actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan, Naam Tamizhar Katchi leader Seeman and BJP state unit chief L Murugan are in the fray.

Leaders, including Palaniswami and Stalin hit the campaign trail on the last day, even as they have been criss-crossing the state for hectic electioneering, the former in a bid to ensure a record third term, while the latter is keen to upset his rival's chances.

National leaders--Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi were among those who campaigned for the respective ruling and opposition alliances.

The Election Commission has made it clear that no campaign activity shall be held from now on, including in social media and through other forms of electronic communication that includes SMS.

Over 6.28 crore eligible voters will choose 234 members of the 3,998 contesting the elections.

In their "final appeal" to voters, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam sought votes to ensure "Amma rule" continued in the state, referring to the party-led government.

AIADMK is part of the NDA, the other constituents being the BJP, PMK and some local outfits. They sought support for the alliance party candidates also.

The two leaders said in a statement that late chief minister M G Ramachandran had founded AIADMK to protect people of Tamil Nadu from the "evil force" DMK.

The party was luring women voters with false promises and only the AIADMK can assure a peaceful, welfare state with all-round development, they said.

"Let's stop the evil force from rearing its head again in order to protect the people of Tamil Nadu. This will be the gratitude we can show to Puratchi Thalaivar (Ramachandran) and Puratchi Thalaivi Amma (Late J Jayalalithaa) for their selfless work," they said.

DMK leader Stalin, meanwhile, sought an opportunity for the party-led Secular Progressive Alliance.

"Let the Rising Sun (DMK symbol) rise. Let's retrieve our lost rights. Let's make Tamil Nadu hold its head high," Stalin, who has been accusing the ruling AIADMK of compromising on state's rights on issues such as NEET, said in a tweet.

The DMK has been in the opposition since 2011 when the AIADMK under Jayalalithaa stormed to the ruling saddle and also retained power in the subsequent elections in 2016.
Highlights Microsofts flagship event called Microsoft Build will take place from May 25th-27th in 2021.

Due to the pandemic, the event will be held virtually with numerous events focused on multiple areas and topics.

Last year, Microsoft talked about improved collaboration tools for productivity, AI-focused enhancements in the Azure cloud platform

The software giant announced the dates of Microsoft Build 2021 on the event's website. According to the statement, the conference will be held between May 25-27 this year. On the other hand, in the statement, it was stated that most activities of Microsoft's Build conference will be held virtually. The statement said, "Microsoft Build is the place where developers, architects, start-up projects and students connect together, write code, share their knowledge, and explore ways to innovate for tomorrow while expanding their skills," the statement said.

Similar to last year's Build event, this event will probably be free of charge with workshops and keynotes being live-streamed. Build is primarily targeted at developers and is often Microsoft's opportunity to showcase upcoming changes to Windows, Office, Edge, and other services. At last year's conference, the company exhibited its Fluid Framework, PowerToys Run launcher, and Project Reunion, among other new products.

Microsoft's Build Conference is held every year for the sheer purpose of sharing information, speaking out about new innovations, and discussing technology at a larger scale with Microsoft. It is a platform where the company discusses the future of its technology and services that are already running and other upcoming projects that the company is working on.

The event is attended by many including developers, students, start-ups, and even architects for a matter of fact that are presumably there to talk, connect and learn about new technology. This conference enables participants to expand their skillset and knowledge while exploring different ways of innovation by discussing the better tomorrow with like-minded people.
Attorney-at-law Peter Champagnie, who is also defence attorney for Mavados son, Dantay Brooks, and who represented Alkaline and Dexta Daps in the past, took a Jamaican cartoonist to task on Saturday morning, for an illustration which depicted defence attorneys rejoicing over the fact that no amendment would be made to Jamaicas Criminal Justice Act.

Champagnie, a Queens Counsel, expressed his displeasure after the Jamaica Observer posted a cartoon on its Instagram page which showed an apparently money-grubbing defence attorney sprawled on a wad of cash on one side of the scale of justice whilst ripping a document in two, while on the other end of the scale were bodies of murder victims piled on top of each other.

The Observers illustration comes apparently, in the aftermath of last weeks uproar in Parliament over the Criminal Justice (Administration) (Amendment) Act, under which consideration can be given by a judge, to a person who pleads guilty, to impose a lesser sentence as opposed to handing down maximum penalties for their misdeeds, depending on certain mitigating factors.

On Saturday morning Champagnie ripped into the Observers cartoonist Clovis Brown, pointing out that his sketch was promulgating untruths.

Whereas allowances must always be made for the satirical content of these cartoons, this publication is most unfortunate. It does much to perpetuate falsehood and misinformation! he declared.

Government backbencher and Member of Parliament for St Catherine North Eastern Kerensia Morrison, was also not spared by Champagnie for her part in erroneously stating, during Tuesdays sitting of the Lower House, that under the Act, persons who commit murder were given automatic 50 per cent reductions off their sentences because of a guilty plea.

In rubbishing Morrisons statements, Champagnie suggested that she should have been the one chosen by the Observer to be mocked in its caricature.

Perhaps what would have been a more appropriate cartoon should have been a depiction of a Member of Parliament commenting on the Legislation in question without ever having read it since it is this that has set fire to the misinformation! Journalism in whatever form has a duty to educate! Champagnie declared.

Firstly, the Legislation in question doesnt stipulate that persons pleading guilty are automatically entitled to a 50% reduction in sentencing. The Legislation notes that in such cases a person pleading guilty MAY BE considered for 50% discount at the FIRST reasonable opportunity that he or she pleads guilty. This is also subject to other considerations in the way of aggravating factors, he added.

Champagnie who represented Mavados 18-year-old son Dantay Brooks in his murder, arson and illegal possession of a firearm trial, for which he was recently convicted, also pointed to instances where despite pleading guilty, criminals were slapped with the maximum or hefty prison sentences in stark contrast to Morrisons claims.

Consequently, the very recent case in which an accused pleaded guilty (and in which the victim was beheaded), a 40-year prison sentence was imposed. Similarly, in another recent case where the person pleaded guilty and was caught on a CC-TV committing the act, the judge imposed a 37 years prison term, Champagnie argued.

In fact, the judge commented that the early plea of guilt really didnt amount to much since the evidence was overwhelming and person really had no choice but to plead guilty, he added.

He also referred to the declaration made by an agent of the State, the Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn, that there was nothing wrong with the Criminal Justice Act.

Our Chief Prosecutor also recently indicated publicly that the Legislation in its present form was acceptable, the former Meadowbrook High School head boy stated.

The attorney was opposed by Instagram user, brad_fromthe876, who declared that the cartoonist was on point, and that whilst the judges have discretion and power to exercise same, the cases mentioned where convicts are given long sentences after pleading guilty are few.

What happens often times is 50% reduction, reduction for time spent, reduction for good antecedent/ social enquiry report, reduction for having no previous convictions and 1/3 of the sentence remitted at prison if its a first offender. So the SCALE is tipped in favor of the convict once they plead guilty. And we all know this law was all about clearing backlogs in the court. On point Clovis, he said.

@peterchampagnie Oh forgot further reduction after the lawyers lengthy plea for mercy before sentencing, he added.

The intrepid Champagnie, in engaging the commenter, sought to explain further that, under the law, just as there were mitigating factors which were factored in sentencing, so too, were the aggravating ones.

@brad_fromthe876, I appreciate your response and indeed all the mitigating factors that you have listed are taken into account. However, so too are the aggravating features. These in include: victim impact statements and the deterrent principles, he said.

It would be good for you to have a look at the Sentencing Guidelines that was published in 2017. This aside, what was said about an automatic 50% discount for those pleading guilty is not grounded in fact or law, Champagnie added.
If there were a Guinness Book of Irresponsibility, Ohio General Assembly Republicans would have earned themselves special mention. No, were not talking about school funding, nor about the $700 million that Ohios electricity customers must still pay to bail out two coal-fueled power plants, one in Indiana.

That coal-plant bailout remains the law, despite partial repeal of House Bill 6, the scandalous 2019 pro-utility bill that spawned federal indictments. As someone shrewdly observed, the still-in-effect parts of HB 6 arguably mean Ohioans are paying people in Indiana to waft coal plant smoke toward Ohio.

The coal plants are owned by Ohio Valley Electric Corp., in turn owned by various electric utilities. According to Fitch Inc., the bond rating firm, OVEC has strong legal, operational, and strategic ties to its owners. This is especially true of American Electric Power Co. ... indirect owner of a roughly 43 percent stake in OVEC and provider of key managerial and operational support. American Electric Power fields 10 Statehouse lobbyists. Its AEP Ohio unit has about 1.5 million Ohio customers.

Whats now at issue is the stupid and potentially lethal decision by GOP legislators to overturn Republican Gov. Mike DeWines veto of Substitute Senate Bill 22. SB 22s legalese sounds innocent enough. It would establish legislative oversight of certain orders and rules issued by the executive branch.

But everyone knows how well legislative oversight works in Ohio  just consider the states rickety unemployment compensation setup.

SB 22 will let the legislatures 132 members  in practice, the legislatures 89 Republican members  overturn any measures DeWine takes to save Ohio lives by fighting COVID-19. The virus has killed nearly 19,000 Ohioans.

True, governors arent infallible. Even so, a governor has the 1,110-employee state Health Department for advice. And he can get anyone at Ohios seven medical schools on the phone tout suite.

Still, 23 of the 25 state Senate Republicans (all except Sens. Matt Dolan, of Chagrin Falls, and Stephanie Kunze, of suburban Columbus) voted to override DeWines veto. (Overrides require 20 Senate votes.) Senate Democrats voted no.

In Ohios House, 62 of the 64 Republicans voted to override the veto. (Overrides require 60 House votes.) Opposing the override: Rep. Andrea White, a Kettering Republican, and 34 Democrats. (Two members were absent: Rep. Adam Miller, a Columbus Democrat, and Rep. Nino Vitale, an Urbana Republican.)

Plainly stated, the veto override of SB 22 by General Assembly Republicans imperils Ohioans lives, and may contribute to the deaths of some. Sure, Ohioans (and people everywhere else in the United States) chafe at restrictions COVID-19 has forced states to impose. Impatience is bound to grow as the number of vaccinated people rises. That may prompt Ohioans to drop their guard. If theyve started doing that, it may be contributing to a reported uptick in new Ohio COVID-19 cases.

Yes, the General Assembly has come a way (though maybe not a long way) since 1975. Thats when the late Hugh McDiarmid, a celebrated Statehouse correspondent for the (Dayton) Journal Herald, described some Ohio state legislators as pig farmers and assorted other rustics and bumpkins.

Still, while at least two physicians are General Assembly members, no one familiar with the legislatures antics would let state senators and representatives oversee details of Ohioans health.

Moreover, of the 99 House members, almost 20 members (one in five) won their seats in 2020 unopposed. Those House members didnt have to answer to anybody last November.

Depending on how districts are redrawn, they may not have to answer to anybody in 2022, either.

In contrast, although 2022s statewide election is, politically speaking, a long way off, DeWines stewardship of the state will be judged by millions of Ohioans if, as expected, he runs for a second term.

COVID-19 isnt the only factor stoking the revolt by GOP legislators against Ohios Republican governor. In part, its a reaction to Republican then-Gov. John Kasichs success in ... managing ... the General Assembly. And in part its a reaction to public irritation over COVID-19 restrictions.

But, reduced to essentials, the override of DeWines SB 22 veto wont hurt him. It will risk the health of Ohioans, though. And thats unconscionable.

Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.

To reach Thomas Suddes: tsuddes@cleveland.com, 216-408-9474

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* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
American culture is a grand mix of the old and the not so old, as we all know. As is true in other cultures, including the island culture here Read more
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 April 5 to 7, 2021.

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.

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 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, a WAM report said.

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.

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 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. -- Tradearabia News Service
Connecticut state troopers helped with a special delivery Saturday of gifts collected by New Hampshire state police for a local girl who recently lost both her parents.

The young girl, identified as Eyvie, recently lost both of her parents in two separate tragic events and is now living with her grandma, said Paul D. Raymond Jr., a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Safety.

The New Hampshire State Police coordinated with the state police in Massachusetts and Connecticut to deliver the gifts to the front doorsteps of Eyvie, Raymond said.

It was amazing to see Eyvies smile and excitement and to help bring her some joy in such a tough time in her life, said Trooper First Class Pedro A. Muniz, Connecticut State Police Media Relations Unit.

The gifts were delivered by the Connecticut State Police who brought police six cruisers, two motorcycles and one of the K9 units, Raymond said.

Officials did not immediately provide additional information about Eyvie, including what town she lives in.

Donations were received from the New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of Emergency Services & Communications (911), Division of Motor Vehicles, Division of Fire Standards & Training & Emergency Medical Services, Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, Office of Highway Safety, as well as the Department of Administrative Safety and Department of Health and Human Services, officials said.

The donations were used to buy the gifts that included an iPad, toys, stuffed animals, rock painting kit, clothes and more, said Raymond Jr.

A video of the Connecticut State Police taking the gifts to Eyvie can be seen on their Facebook Page.
According to a New York Times report, the Kremlin is beefing up its forces on the Ukrainian border and small conflicts continue to happen. Several Ukrainian deaths have been reported as a result of these skirmishes.

It goes on to report that American military leaders in the area have increased their level of security in response to these buildups. Gen. Tod Wolters, head of US European Command issued these orders after Russian troops failed to leave the area. Strategists expected the Russians to leave the area after the exercise was finished.

It is thought that this buildup may be an exercise to determined President Biden's commitment to Ukraine.

The escalating public feud between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden rapidly de-escalated last month after the White House put on the brakes.

In particular, the Biden administration has pushed back on an invitation from the Russian leader to conduct a live debate with Biden for the world to see.

And why? Because, apparently, the U.S. president is quite busy taking care of things.

Commentary: I think if Putin would just wait a while longer he can walk into Ukraine because all the American troops will be in class outing each other for being too masculine, or woke, or racist, or whatever the noun of the day is. And if you don't think these classes are going to undermine the savagery of our fighting forces you have to be a liberal or living in a monastery.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 23:55:40|Editor: huaxia

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-- Overseas Chinese as well as local people have expressed in various ways their admiration for the fallen heroes from China, who sacrificed their lives in foreign lands for the cause of safeguarding world peace and promoting global development.

-- During the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, a total of 2.9 million Chinese People's Volunteers soldiers fought on the battlefield, 197,653 of whom sacrificed their lives.

-- In the 1970s, more than 50,000 Chinese engineers, technicians and workers traveled to Africa. During the construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, more than 60 Chinese experts sacrificed their lives.

-- China have sent over 40,000 peacekeepers to UN peacekeeping missions over the past 30 years, and 16 Chinese service personnel sacrificed their lives.

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival for people to sweep tombs to mourn the deceased and worship their ancestors and the martyrs.

Ahead of this year's Tomb-sweeping Day, which falls on Sunday, overseas Chinese as well as local people have expressed in various ways their admiration for the fallen heroes from China, who sacrificed their lives on foreign lands for the cause of safeguarding world peace and promoting global development.





CARRYING FORWARD FRIENDSHIP

During his visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in June 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid homage to the martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) at the China-DPRK Friendship Tower, which stands at the foot of Moran Hill in downtown Pyongyang.

Xi said the tribute paid to the tower demonstrates the firm determination of China and the DPRK to maintain peace.

In June 1950, eight months after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Korean War broke out.

In order to deter the invasion and expansion of imperialism, safeguard the security of China, stabilize the situation on the Korean Peninsula and uphold peace in Asia and the world, in October 1950, as requested by the DPRK, the CPV forces crossed the Yalu River to aid the DPRK until a truce was signed in 1953.

During the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, a total of 2.9 million CPV soldiers fought on the battlefield, 197,653 of whom sacrificed their lives.

A flower basket is presented by the Chinese embassy in honour of martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) at the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, April 4, 2021, on the occasion of Qingming Festival. (Xinhua/Jiang Yaping)

"Numerous CPV soldiers lost their lives on this land. The victory has not only safeguarded the security of new China and the DPRK, but also made great contributions to world peace and human progress," Sai Tiejun, chairman of the Central Committee of the Federation of Overseas Chinese in the DPRK, told Xinhua ahead of the Tomb-sweeping Day.

"The Chinese people love peace and oppose war. This is the precious wealth left to us by the martyrs of CPV soldiers," said Li Yuanfu, whose father participated in the war and chose to live in the DPRK after the war to promote China-DPRK friendship.

A flower basket is presented by the Chinese embassy in honour of martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) at the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, April 4, 2021, on the occasion of Qingming Festival. (Xinhua/Jiang Yaping)

"More than 70 years have passed. The China-DPRK friendship is deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples. We must inherit and carry forward the great spirit of the CPV martyrs, and continue to make contributions to the China-DPRK friendship," Li said.





DEDICATION TO COMMON PROSPERITY

In the 1970s, more than 50,000 Chinese engineers, technicians and workers traveled to Africa and worked side by side with the Tanzanian people to build the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) under extremely difficult conditions.

During the construction of the railway, which has been called a "road of freedom" and "road of friendship," more than 60 Chinese experts have sacrificed their lives.

In March 2013, during his visit to Tanzania, Xi visited a cemetery containing the remains of the Chinese experts who had lost their lives in the East African country.

They interpreted the great spirit of internationalism with their lives, and, just as TAZARA, they will be remembered by both the Chinese and Tanzanians, Xi said.

Having transported millions of tons of goods and innumerable passengers since it was put into operation, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway has greatly contributed to Africa's prosperity.

"We Tanzanians will never forget the Chinese-built Tanzania-Zambia Railway in the 1970s, when dozens of Chinese engineers sacrificed their lives in the endeavors to help their African brothers develop their infrastructure and economy," said Julius Augustino, an employee of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

The Tanzania-Zambia Railway epitomizes the pragmatic cooperation and long-standing friendship between China and Africa.

From assisting African nations in constructing roads, railways, airports and ports, to launching projects to improve local people's living standards, China has adhered to the principles of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith in its cooperation with Africa.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed. Africa, including Tanzania, has benefited a lot from Chinese aid over the years, which focuses not only on economic development, but also people's well-being," said Augustino.





CHINESE "BLUE HELMETS"

Committed to safeguarding world peace, China has also played an active role in the United Nations' (UN) peacekeeping operations around the world, making tremendous contributions to facilitating the peaceful settlement of disputes and safeguarding regional security and stability.

It is the second-largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget and the largest troop-contributing country among the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

China's armed forces have sent over 40,000 peacekeepers to UN peacekeeping missions over the past 30 years, and Chinese peacekeepers have left their footprints in over 20 countries and regions, according to a white paper released by China last year.

Moreover, by sending engineering and medical units to support the UN operations, China has also promoted economic and social development in the host nations.

During the peacekeeping missions, 16 Chinese service personnel sacrificed their lives and the fallen heroes' names have been listed in the white paper to commemorate them.

Members of the 19th batch of Chinese peacekeeping forces to Lebanon lay a wreath to pay tribute to martyrs including Du Zhaoyu on the occasion of Qingming Festival in Khiam, Lebanon, April 4, 2021. (Photo by Ding Wendong/Xinhua)

Among them is Du Zhaoyu, who was killed during a plane bombing in Lebanon in July 2006, after serving eight months as a UN observer in the Middle East.

"Du had held fast to his mission and defended peace on this land until the last moment of his life," said Lyu Fushun, a member of the 19th batch of Chinese peacekeeping forces to Lebanon.

Members of the 19th batch of Chinese peacekeeping forces to Lebanon pay tribute to martyrs including Du Zhaoyu on the occasion of Qingming Festival in Khiam, Lebanon, April 4, 2021. (Photo by Ding Wendong/Xinhua)

"Today, the Chinese peacekeepers continue to commit themselves to the mission (of maintaining peace). We have also helped local people build their homes and restore production, and provide them with supplies and medical assistance," Lyu said.

Grateful to the Chinese peacekeepers, Mahmoud Mehanna, an employee of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, said "I have witnessed the contributions and even sacrifices made by Chinese peacekeepers to Lebanon."

Besides dangerous tasks such as mine clearance and explosive disposal, "they have also helped us build schools, repair office buildings, offer medical treatment for free and repair living facilities," Mehanna said ahead of the Tomb-sweeping Day. "They are the most lovely Oriental friends of our people in Lebanon." Enditem

(Video reporters: Chen Zhi, Huang Aiping, Xu Liang, Yu Fuqing, Xie Huanchi, Pang Xinglei, Pan Yilong, Wang Xiao, Li Xiaobo, Wu Feizuo, Feng Yuanyuan, Jiang Yaping, Liu Yanxia, Hong Kerun, Wang Xiunan, Li Sibo, Gao Zhu, Wu Xiaoling, Hu Chao, Ma Yichong, Ding Wendong, Liu Pan, Wang Shoubao, Wang Huijuan, Yin Ke, Fan Haoyu, Yang Yuechen, Liu Zongya, Liu Xiongma, Zhao Yan; video editors: Dong Yue, Chen Mengchi, Zhang Xin, Yang Dingdu, Peng Tianxiao, Ma Huaizhao.)
Its that time of year again  though its a little later than usual! After a very strange year when the pandemic has disrupted everything from schools to safety to filming schedules, its nice to have the 93rd Academy Awards and its celebration of movies on the horizon.

This year, there are five films nominated for the International Feature Film Award. You have until Sunday, April 25 to catch up on viewing them all if you want to see them before the envelope is opened.

Heres how you can watch each of the films up for the International category.

Academy Awards (Oscars) Statuettes | Andrew H. Walker / Staff

Another Round (Denmark)

RELATED: Was Mads Mikkelsens Dry Performance in Doctor Strange His Fault?

Another Round was originally titled simply Drunk, and it follows four friends  a group of high school teachers  who have decided to test the per mille theory. This concept suggests that everyone would be a little bit happier and the world would run a little more smoothly if they maintained a consistently elevated blood alcohol level. Martin, played by Mads Mikkelson, convinces his friends to join him in the experiment as his life seems to be in a slump. The results are a mixed bag but make for a fascinating film that wavers between comedy and drama while exploring friendship and the meaning of life.

The film is available to subscribers on Hulu. It can also be rented on Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, or Apple TV for $3.99.

Better Days (Hong Kong)

Better Days is a dramatic and heartfelt film that centers on Nian, a high school girl who is feeling the intense pressure of the gaokao, the national exams that will determine the futures for millions of Chinese youth. Shes also dealing with the pain of losing a friend to suicide and facing her own tormenting bullies. Thats when she meets Bei, a criminal who forms a pact with her that will hopefully set both of their lives on a better path.

The film is available to rent on Amazon, Google Play, Apple TV, and YouTube at prices that range from $2.99 to $4.99.

Collective (Romania)

In the vein of films that showcase the power of investigative journalism like Spotlight and Good Night, and Good Luck, Collective is a documentary drama that showcases the true and tragic tale of a Bucharest nightclub fire that resulted in 64 deaths. Most of those deaths happened not in the fire itself, but from infections developed in the hospital. When a team of advocates comes together on behalf of the victims, they uncover a web of corruption and a health-care fraud that rattled the country.

The film is available for subscribers on Hulu. It can be rented on Amazon, YouTube, or Google Play for $3.99 to $4.99.

The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia)

The Man Who Sold His Skin is a drama that focuses on Sam Ali. The young man fled to Lebanon to escape the Syrian civil war, and he found himself in an unusual predicament. When a tattoo artist offers to pay him to use his flesh as canvas, he becomes a living art exhibit. Thats strange enough, but when collectors start expressing interest in buying this piece of art, human rights activists are outraged and Sam Ali is in quite a tight spot. The film follows his efforts to navigate the situation.

The film has not yet been released for streaming or U.S. theaters.

Quo vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Serving as a translator for the United Nations, Aida is living in the small town of Srebrenica when the Serbian army takes over the town. She and her family join the thousands of people trying to shelter in a UN camp. With insider information, Aida is faced with incredibly difficult decisions about what to do next as her interpretation skills  both literal and metaphorical  are put to the test.

The film is available for rent on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Google Play for $4.99 to $6.99.
The has taken many important steps towards making the state self-reliant in while special attention is being paid to develop renewable energy sources, Chief Minister said on Saturday.

Gehlot was speaking after virtually inaugurating a 220 KV grid substation in Chattargarh, Bikaner from his official residence here.

Rajasthan has immense potential in the field of solar energy and the government is working towards providing electricity to every village in the state, he said.

The state government has released 1.81 lakh new agricultural connections in two years. In this year's budget, 50,000 new agricultural connections have been announced. A provision has been made for installing 50,000 solar pumps, he said.

He said farmers can increase their income by selling solar power to the government by installing solar panels on their vacant land.

He asked the farmers to take advantage of the subsidy given on the scheme and put solar panels in their vacant fields.

Energy Minister B D Kalla said power generation capacity in the state has reached 23,000 MW and the state government is giving a subsidy of Rs 16,000 crore to farmers every year on agricultural power connections.

(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 Archbishop of Canterbury has urged society to 'choose a better future for all' as it begins to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

Justin Welby said the country had a 'choice' to make over the coming years and warned against a society in which 'the most powerful and the richest gain and so many fall behind', during his Easter Sunday service from Canterbury Cathedral, Kent.

The head of the Church also encouraged people to take inspiration from the 'overwhelming generosity' of God to ensure acts of love, charity, and international aid are maintained.

The Archbishop said: 'In this country, in this world, we have a choice over the next few years.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the country had a 'choice' to make over the coming years at it emerged from the coronavirus pandemic

'We can go on as before Covid, where the most powerful and the richest gain and so many fall behind.

'But we have seen and know where that leaves us.

'Or we can go with the flooding life and purpose of the resurrection of Jesus, which changes all things, and we can choose a better future for all.

'The overwhelming generosity of God to us should inspire the same generosity by us, in everything from private acts of love and charity to international aid generously maintained.

'We have received overwhelmingly, so let us give generously.'

The Archbishop's message also touched heavily on the topic of death, with reference to all those who had died since the start of the pandemic.

He described the past 12 months as 'yet another cruel period of history taking from us those we loved, ending lives cruelly and tragically'.

The church leader's message comes after he spoke out against the creeping trend of cancel culture, which had seen the statues of controversial figures being targeted by campaigners, and called it a 'huge threat' to the Church of England's future.

The head of the Church urged society to 'choose a better future for all' and encouraged people to take inspiration from the 'overwhelming generosity' of God

The Archbishop's message comes after he warned against the trend of cancel culture and called it a 'huge threat' to the Church of England's future

In a rare intervention, the head of the Church told Italian newspaper La Repubblica: 'We can't erase the past. It's impossible. We have to learn from it sometimes, often, always.

'We have to repent of it quite often. But we cannot erase it. The past is a reality. I think Cancel culture is a huge threat to the life of the Church.

'We need to be able to express truths or to express our views, whether they're good or bad.'

The Archbishop also noted the alarming trend growing at UK universities, where controversial speakers had been no-platformed.

He added: 'Particularly for universities, it seems to me very, very dangerous because you start with cancelling some views that you dislike and very quickly, you are cancelling everyone who disagrees. It's a very dangerous process.'
A man with at least one gunshot wound to the arm called emergency services and exited the expressway onto Fullerton Avenue, where an ambulance picked him up and transported him in serious condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
The motive of the suspect who rammed the car near the US Capitol killing one officer and injuring another, Noah Green still remains unclear. On April 3 Green rammed a car into a police barricade outside the Capitol building, brandished a knife and lunged at officers. Police then shot the 25-year-old and mortally wounded him. The attack pierced the calm of a spring afternoon on Capitol Hill and caused the second-on-duty death of a US Capitol officer following the January 6 insurrection at the federal building.

However, so far there are few details about who Noah green was but an investigation has been launched to work out the motive and get required arrest warrants. Originally thought to be from Indiana, Green lived in Covington, Virginia. According to his Facebook posts, Green was unemployed and for him, the past few years had been tough and the past few months tougher.

Who was Noah Green?

As per the Associated Press report, Green described himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam and its founder, Louis Farrakhan. The suspect who died on the scene also spoke about going through a hard patch where he leaned on his faith, according to the latest messages posted online by him but have now been taken down. The messages were tracked by SITE, the group that 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.

US Capitol was put on lockdown for a time as a precaution but there was no instant connection apparent between the April 3 crash and the January 6 riot. The law enforcement is reportedly still examining Greens background in order to determine his motive while also obtaining warrants to access his online accounts.



US Capitol Police acting chief, Yogananda Pittman, in the briefing, said that the suspect did not appear to be on the radar of the law enforcement. However, according to her, the unprecedented incident of April 2 highlighted the fact that the officers charged with protecting the US Capitol and the campus still remain potential targets for violence.

(Image credits: AP)
Magali Deliot et Yannick Cornet, responsable de lONG Planete Enfants ont ecrit a Mme Rita Venkatasawmy concernant lorganisation en plein confinement des examens de la PSAC/NCE et "we implore you to please request for a postponement of the national exams on an urgent basis. .

Mrs Rita Venkatasawmy,

Ombudsperson for Children

1st Floor, NPF Building,

Rue des Artistes,

Beau Bassin

Dear Madam,

We are an organization that has at heart the well-being of children, be it physical or psychological. It is a known fact that the current COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all of us, and all of us in different ways. Our children are equally impacted and one major way the children of this country are being impacted at the moment is through the conduct of national exams.

Especially taking into account the rapid surge of cases these days, we have reached out to the Minister of Education to request the postponement of the exams, but we havent unfortunately been heard and to date, there hasnt been any steps taken to at least address the several concerns of parents who fear for their childrens health and safety as well as theirs.

We are at a stage where our children have to deal with difficulties and anxieties, and it is neither imaginable nor acceptable to have to force our children to go such strains. We all know that these exams are at a national level only and it shouldnt be that hard postponing them by few months. All of this leads to us the question as to whether we are really listening to our children and whether we, as a country, do wish the best for the future generation or whether we want them to fail.

Children have a right to be heard and to be listened to on all issues affecting them. This is a fundamental right under Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to which Mauritius is a signatory. Are the best interests of the child a primary consideration as prescribed by Article 3 of the same convention?

Article 12

1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

Article 3

1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

Today, we appeal to you as Ombudsperson for Children, as a woman, as a mother and as a human being and we implore you to please request for a postponement of the national exams on an urgent basis. Let us not willingly put our children and our future at risk. Our duty is to protect them, today and every single day.

Best regards,

Magali Deliot, President

Yannick Cornet : Vice President
She has played a plethora of roles during her illustrious career as a leading lady in Hollywood that began back in 1991 when she was just 15-years-old.

But on Saturday Reese Witherspoon was more than happy to slip into the role of proud and adoring mother to her son Deacon Phillippe.

And she showed her love and affection for her oldest boy when she shared an adorable photo of herself posing alongside the 17-year-old, who's a look-alike for his father, actor Ryan Phillippe.

Random act of family love: Reese Witherspoon, 45, paid tribute to her oldest son deacon, 17, on Instagram and Twitter on Saturday

And as most of her millions of fans know: the Academy award-winning actress and mother of three loves to gush over her kids on social media.

'Not enough words to say how much I love this guy,' Witherspoon wrote in the caption of her latest family love letter.

'The way he looks at the world inspires me everyday @deaconphillippe.'

More love: Witherspoon said she loved Deacon 'to the moon' in a social media post in January

Dead ringer: Deacon is a look-alike for his father, actor Ryan Phillippe, whom his mother divorced in 2007 after about seven years of marriage; the former couple are pictured in 2006

The selfie photo showed Deacon with his arm around his mother, who's flashing a big glowing smile with an incredible sunset as the backdrop.

Back in January, The Morning Show star randomly decided to share some love for her son on Instagram

'love him to the moon @deaconphillippe,' she wrote in a post back on January 21 that was another mother-son snap.

Love fest: The Oscar-winning actress also gushed over Deacon when he turned 17 in October

She also shared some more lovely words for Deacon on social media when he turned 17 this past October.

'Happy Birthday to my wonderful son @deaconphillippe! My bright light/ hardworking / fun-loving / music making / deeply kind son, who always finds the good in everyone and everything,' she gushed in photo of Deacon.

'What a pleasure to watch you grow into an amazing young man who is always curious and endlessly creative. Can't wait to celebrate! I love you so much.'

Four-legged family members: Even the family's new black Labrador Retriever got a shout-out when he joined the family in January

Witherspoon also shared look-alike daughter Ava Phillippe with her ex-husband

This has been a time of celebration for Witherspoon over the past couple of weeks.

She and husband Jim Toth marked a milestone on March 26 with their 10th wedding anniversary.

Just four days earlier she and her family came together for her 45th birthday.

The love on social media even stretches to the four-legged family members, as seen when she welcomed their new black Labrador Retriever, Major, to the family on January 15.

Witherspoon is also a proud mama to look-alike daughter Ava Phillippe, 21, and to son Tennessee Toth, eight, from her marriage to Toth.
FDI dilemma for Sri Lanka View(s):

Recently the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, at a public forum, raised concerns about the import ban by Sri Lanka saying it would hamper trade relations. He was focusing in particular on vehicle imports from Japan. Recently the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, at a public forum, raised concerns about the import ban by Sri Lanka saying it would hamper trade relations. He was focusing in particular on vehicle imports from Japan.

Other foreign envoys have also expressed similar concerns saying Sri Lanka exports, particularly garments to the European Union, were not restricted, while imports were banned by Sri Lanka affecting the usual two-way trade practice. It was unfair on Sri Lankas part to restrict imports and expect markets to be open to Sri Lankan products, they said.

I was pondering these issues when the phone rang on this bright Thursday morning. It was Koththamalli Fernando, the Kokatath Thailaya (oil for many ailments) expert who has a remedy for any issue, on the line.

Hello Koththamalli, how are you? I said, greeting him warmly. Finefine. I hear there are discussions between the government and Ayurvedic practitioners to ascertain how reputed Ayurvedic medicine can improve the immune system of people as a means of tackling COVID-19. This is a good move, he said.

I too heard about that but is that the purpose of your call? I asked. No its about something that worries me as a Sri Lankan: I am talking about the resolution against Sri Lanka at the Geneva UN Human Rights Council. Will that have a major impact on Sri Lanka particularly on business? he queried.

Maybemaybe not. However, in a nutshell, it could have an impact on the countrys ability to garner foreign investment particularly when promotions are about to start to attract investments to the new Colombo Port City, I said.

How would it get affected? he asked again. Wellthe resolution has to some extent impacted the countrys reputation as a nation that respects human rights and related issues and another issue that could come up is the GSP+ concessions which are conditional to respecting the human rights of all citizens. We lost the GSP+ once and suffered a loss of revenue totalling billions of rupees, until it was restored. We cant afford another suspension; it will be disastrous to the economy particularly now as we battle the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, I said.

In this context, the government needs to engage the international community to ensure that such measures are not enforced. Otherwise, we could suffer job losses, he said and after a few more minutes of discussion, we ended the conversation.

In the meantime, the trio had gathered under the margosa tree and were munching maalu paan and drinking tea, when Kussi Amma Sera raised a question. Mokakda me, pol-thel prashne (What is this problem about coconut oil)? she asked.

Lankawata aanayana karapu samahara pol-thel wala wasa-wisa thiyenawalu (Apparently, some imported coconut oil stocks have had poisonous substances), said Serapina.

Mekata naraka kaalayak, mokada pol-thel godak avashyai-ne rasa kevili hadanna avurudu-walata (Its a bad period for this because a lot of coconut oil is needed to prepare sweetmeats for the New Year season), noted Mabel Rasthiyadu.

Mama denang hitiye-ne api pol-thel aanayanaya karanawa kiyala. Apita pol-thel deshiyawa thiyena nisa (I didnt know that coconut oil was imported, when we produce it locally), added Kussi Amma Sera. Aanayanaya karanne, pol karmanthaye adu-padu thiyena nisa pol- paavichchi karala hadana pita-ratawalata arina deval-valata (There are imports because there is a shortage of coconuts to produce coconut-based products for export), said Serapina.

While Sri Lankas efforts to drum up foreign investment in recent years have been abysmal and attracting just between US$1-2 billion a year, other countries in the region are speeding ahead. In the first nine months of 2020, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sri Lanka totalled $548 million. In the whole of 2018, it was $2.1 billion which dropped to $1.2 billion in 2019 due to the fallout from the Easter bombing attacks in April 2019.

In the region, Sri Lanka is lagging behind India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in attracting investments. For example, India witnessed a 13 per cent growth in foreign investment to $57 billion in 2020 from 2019. FDI inflows to Pakistan increased to $2.2 billion in 2019 from $1.7 billion in 2018, while FDI inflows to Bangladesh fell by 56 per cent to $1.6 billion (still higher than Sri Lanka) in 2019, compared to $3.6 billion in 2018.

In the Asian region, the success story is Vietnam, which saw FDI rise by 6.5 per cent to $4.1 billion in the first three months of 2021.

Another country that has performed better than Sri Lanka even though having a lower GDP ($77 billion vs Sri Lankas $84 billion) is Myanmar which recorded $3 billion FDI in 2019. This is despite a long-standing displacement of the minority Rohingya community and now the installation of a military junta. Investments are most likely to fall this year with more than 400 people killed in the military crackdown (so far) against growing civilian protests against the takeover.

Of course, in Sri Lanka, the government is banking on huge foreign investments coming into the new Colombo Port City but it remains to be seen whether the new centre will attract foreign investment from the West or mainly entice investments from Asia. Last week, the bill to set up the commission that would govern the activities of the port city was gazetted and would soon be presented and debated in Parliament.

This is the second significant piece of proposed legislation setting up an economic commission with wide powers that Sri Lanka is introducing after the formulation of the Greater Colombo Economic Commission (GCEC) in 1978 under which the Katunayake GCEC zone was created. The new Colombo Port City bill, however, has wider implications and far reaching provisions.

There is euphoria in government political circles that the Port City is the thing and will enhance Sri Lankas attractiveness as a destination for foreign investment, but government politicians and policymakers should tread with caution since it wont be easy to attract big-ticket investors  particularly in the aftermath of the Geneva-debacle.

As I wound up my column, Kussi Amma Sera walked into

the office room with my second mug of tea, asking,

Pol-thel thathvaya genada liyanne (Writing about the

coconut oil situation)?

I said, Ne (No), and reflected on how Sri Lanka is stumbling from one crisis to another or is it what the government proclaims: Its all opposition propaganda? Your guess is as good as mine!
SACRILIGIOUS vandals attacked a County Limerick church in the early hours of Easter Sunday.

Minister for the OPW, Patrick O'Donovan condemned the actions of the "mindless thugs" who damaged Saint Mary's Church in Askeaton.

A post on the Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes Facebook page reads: "It is shocking to open the church on Easter morning and find the church has been attacked, yet again."

It continued: "A Perspex panel was taken off a window on the north side in the chancel area, a rock thrown through the window, and glass strewn everywhere. This is the second time this has happened in Askeaton."

Minister O'Donovan said it is "scandalous that any church would be attacked and desecrated in such a fashion at any time of the year but, particularly around Easter it is mindless thuggery".

"It must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. It bears no reflection on the wider community of Askeaton," said Minister O'Donovan

He said his thoughts were with the Church of Ireland community in Askeaton.

"I would implore anybody with any knowledge of this to come forward to gardai in Askeaton to bring the thugs that have done this to justice. Somebody knows who has done this. There is knowledge there to out this thug, root them out and hand them over to the guards so that they can face justice," said Minister O'Donovan.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yesterday affirmed Bahrains full support for all decisions and actions taken by His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein, the King of Jordan, to preserve the security and stability of Jordan.

The ties between Bahrain and Jordan rest on brotherhood, belief and one destiny, and that their security is indivisible, said HM the King. Earlier yesterday, in a statement published by Jordan New Agency Petra, Jordanian army chief Yusef Huneity rejected the allegations about an ongoing investigation.

What has been published about allegations about the arrest of his highness Prince Hamza is not true but he was told to stop activities that are being exploited to target Jordans security and stability, said Jordanian army chief Yusef Huneity.

The statement said the investigation was part of a broader, ongoing security investigation. Al-Huneiti said that investigations are continuing and will disclose the results with transparency and clarity. He said that the kingdom carried out measures within the law and after extensive investigations and that no one is above the law.
One of the little birds flitting to and fro the food stations outside this country town cottage - alongside big bruiser 'Mickey Rooks' and 'Russell Crows' - tells me that our President is apparently planning to rescue a horse. Which is great news for one poor pony, while the publicity should highlight the plight of the many equines in need in this country, and welfare organisations such as My Lovely Horse Rescue that do all they can to help them.

Our President also recently acquired a new puppy - though not, to my knowledge, from among the thousands languishing in our pounds.

As a nation in general we still look down our nose at second-hand hounds - oblivious to the irony that we in turn are viewed with disdain on the global stage as a result of our reputation as the puppy farm capital of Europe where animal abuse is generally condoned.

Certainly, 9,103 abandoned or stray dogs entered the Irish pound system in 2019, of which 398 were destroyed. This is down 43pc on the previous year, but doesn't include the many unwanted dogs that are sold or given away. Let alone the thousands of greyhounds that were also put down, found dead in ditches, or shipped to Pakistan and China to a fate worse than death.

But what really keeps the figures down is the fact that an increasing number of dogs are surrendered directly to the approximately 120 rescues countrywide, most of which receive little or no funding. They are forced to ship many of them to homes abroad, so they don't end up in local authority pounds.

Contrary to popular belief, some Irish pounds are far from safe havens. The purpose of these privately run businesses is the collection and destruction of stray and unwanted dogs. As such, they are under no obligation to rehome or release them to rescues.

Thankfully, the majority are proactive in sourcing homes. But a minority seem to be in it for the money, according to those who are at the coal face of animal welfare. These folk stage regular protests outside the most controversial pounds - which, they say, are little more than concentration camps for canines. Horror stories abound of dogs kept in hideous conditions, with no bedding, cold and soiled concrete, and little human contact. Dogs are sometimes left with no food or water all weekend, or worse, put down at holiday season so they don't have to be tended to at all.

And who can blame an inexperienced animal lover if they are reluctant to take on an approximately 15-year costly commitment to a dog about which they know next to nothing, except that it is distressed and dirty? Some Irish pounds are ugly places, from the vile stench to the heartbreaking sound of stressed and scared dogs. Not exactly encouraging you to adopt one of their inmates.

Yet it doesn't have to be like this. And you sometimes wonder what is the point of the EU if we cannot take on board the better ideas of other member states. In this case Germany, with its thousands of private animal shelters called "Tierheim" - which literally means "animal home" - where both volunteers and permanent staff look after the animals, along with vets and nurses.

Adoption rates exceed 90pc, despite stringent checks on potential owners. For these happy hounds already look and feel at home. They are able to move freely in and out of individual kennels that have transparent walls to keep this social species secure.

Introductory cards on the door give their name, medical history and reason for sheltering.

The annual maintenance cost of a Tierheim is raised through funding from the public and corporations, as well as bequests and donations. They do not receive money from the government, which means they do not have to consult with it when deciding policies for protecting the animals in their care.

And with so many canine-loving citizens, nor are they put out by those who pass them over for a pedigree.
20th Amendment unable to prevent failing governance View(s):

Most critics of the Yahapalana Government attributed the indecisiveness in governance of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government to the 19th Amendment which according to them created two centres of power. What the 19th Amendment did in fact was transfer some of the powers vested in the Executive to the Prime Minister, Parliament and the independent commissions.

This was not a conspiracy to divest President Maithripala Sirisena of his powers and transfer such powers to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as alleged by his detractors. It was an implementation of the agreement by the Yahapalana outfit which was endorsed in the form of a mandate at the presidential elections of January 2015.

In fact President Sirisena himself led the effort to enact the 19th Amendment spending two whole days in Parliament to persuade the Joint Opposition led by the SLFP to provide the necessary two-third majority to amend the Constitution with a near unanimous vote of Parliament.

A deeper analysis of the Yahapalana tenure would reveal that what prevented the Government of the day from acting and speaking in one voice was the inability of the two leaders to iron out whatever differences that arose between them during their tenure. The souring of relationships between the two had a disastrous impact on the Yahapalana goals which could not be realised and eventually led to the fall of the Government and an alternative Gotabaya Rajapaksa-led Government coming to power.

Despite the many shortcomings of the Yahapalana Government, one cannot deny that democracy was strengthened during this period with the enactment of the 19th Amendment. The democratic space that was opened up contrasts drastically with the chilling effect of the pre-2015 Government rule.

Post 2015, democracy and the free expression of views has taken root in the country as evident from the protests and exercise of democratic rights that people are exercising even today. This is not to say the present Government is not attempting to curtail such rights in different ways. One of their successes was the passage of the 20th Amendment which has weakened institutions of governance on which democracy largely depends.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) received a near two-third majority at the August 2020 parliamentary elections which they used to ensure the passage of the 20th Amendment.

The justification for once again centralising all powers in the Executive through the 20th Amendment was the argument that efficiency in Government would be strengthened through a centralised form of government with the Executive President being able to take decisive action.

Under the 20th Amendment governance seems to be falling apart. The list of such governance failures is too long to enumerate in detail but suffice it to describe a few which have a current relevance and impact.

With the impending Sinhala and Tamil New Year, it is a cruel blow to have the spectre of coconut oil containing cancer causing substances entering the market. The whole episode has caused a great deal of confusion with one section of the Government claiming the contaminated coconut oil has not entered the market while there are reports of bowsers containing such products being detected in Dankotuwa.

While the Government has promised to compel the importers concerned to re-export the contaminated coconut oil, the question arises whether it is ethical to do so because unscrupulous traders could send it to some other country, thus jeopardising the lives of other unsuspecting consumers elsewhere.

The proper thing to do would be to destroy such contaminated coconut oil on the basis that it is not fit for human consumption.

In this context it is useful to flag the duty of the State to take all necessary steps to ensure that all foodstuffs that enter the market are not injurious to health. At present there are reports of many such unhealthy foods in the market without any monitoring by the health and nutritional authorities. One example is the poultry products which are said to be injected with hormones that are injurious to our health being freely available on the shelves of retail outlets. This is only one example and there could be several more.

Another example of the failure of governance in the post 20th Amendment scenario is the Sugar Scam which is said to have caused the country a staggering 16 billion rupees revenue loss. No satisfactory answers are forthcoming from the Government to explain what happened nor has any action been taken to hold anyone accountable.

The colossal extent of environmental destruction that is going on unabated in the country is further proof that the 20th Amendment has not given the Government the capacity to put a stop to this wanton harm caused to the resources of the country. The situation is so bad even pro-Government media stations are giving wide publicity to the destruction of forests, while ardent supporters of the Government are crying foul with regard to the clearing of forests which are further aggravating the human-elephant conflict.

There are several satyagrahas being staged all over the country including one in Hambantota for more than 70 days seeking solutions to this conflict with no solution being offered by the Government.

The latest episode in the post 20th Amendment saga comes with the Wennappuwa area ASP being transferred out of his station due to the intervention of a Government State Minister. According to reports the Minister was not happy with the ASP for taking action against those who were distilling kassippu.

Under the 19th Amendment no politician could directly intervene to get a Police officer transferred as the power to do so was vested with the National Police Commission. The 20th Amendment has now weakened the National Police Commission resulting in the possibility of politicians interfering with these functions.

The bottom line is that the 20th Amendment has not improved governance. On the contrary as evident from current happenings, governance has been weakened and the lives of the people have become increasingly difficult.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com).
Fishing for nothing View(s):

Five years ago, I met some activists who were organising local people and protesting against the location of a power plant in Sampur. I wanted to know why they were against the power plant, because I was involved in a related project of the government. The government had decided to shift the proposed electricity generation plant in Sampur from coal power to liquified natural gas (LNG) power. And, I was serving as the Chairman of an Experts Committee investigating the potential economic, financial, and environmental costs of the governments decision.

I was told by the activists that these areas were the traditional agricultural land and the traditional fishing sites of the poor local communities; thus their livelihood activities were going to be affected by the proposed power plant, whether it is coal or LNG.

I had a different question to ask and, in fact, I asked it sometimes from some of the spokesmen. Do they also think that their sons and daughters should continue to be poor farmers and fishermen just like their parents generation?

Generic question

My question was a generic one  whenever and wherever I see a protest as such, I cannot help myself as the same question comes to my mind again and again.

Although five years have been passed by since then, I didnt hear about any development in the Sampur area. Neither did I see any significant preparation for development in the entire Trincomalee other than opening a few tourist hotels. Untapped physical environment in the area, including the Trincomalee Harbour, continued to remain as it was except for the fact that there is now peace.

Last week I was in Trincomelee, where I met Jayanthan, a young employee serving at a tourist hotel restaurant. He seemed to have been well trained in the hospitality industry and who also seemed to be quite friendly with guests like myself. As he was explaining to me about the area, the people and their mixed culture, I asked him more details over some of the matters.

One of my questions to him was about the employment opportunities for educated youth in Trincomalee: What are the kinds of jobs available for young people in this area, particularly for those who have passed O/Level or A/Level exams?

He thought for a while and, then answered: I can see most of them going in to farming or fishing or wage-labour work. I am not sure if there is anything else.

I said: I guess, thats what their parents were doing too.

He answered with a smile on his face: Yes sir, you are right; they also did the same jobs. I cant think of new jobs available for them even if they have done O/Level and A/Levels. Few of them have found jobs in tourist hotels, but tourism is also down now.

Young fishermen

It was just after my breakfast at the restaurant by the beach; I saw about 20  25 people gathering on the beach to pull down a fishing net. As I was eagerly gazing at them, Jayanthan, who was serving me, said: Sir, you can also go there and see how they pull down the fishing net to the seashore; it might take 2  3 hours. This is the time those fishing boats are returning after fishing in the night.

I went to the beach after the fishermen started pulling the net, by standing alone two lines to pull the net from its two ends. Their moving posture reminded me of a dancing style, although they didnt sing lyrics like hela helai heleiya as in the good old days. It was now closer to 10 am and the beach on the Eastern coast was getting heated from the rising sun. The fishermen should be in the sun in order to engage in their work of pulling the fishing net. While the fishing trawler was still far away in the middle of the sea, I could also notice two other men swimming in the water and helping to balance the fishing net from that end.

To my surprise, confirming Jayanthans remark, many of the fishermen in the group were youth; they appear to be in the age of 20s or 30s. When the net was being pulled closer to the seashore, the owner of the fishing business approached the scene. He appeared to be in his late middle age and was wearing a sarong and a short-sleeved white shirt. He also came and stood nearby to see the catch of the day. In the meantime, crows too gathered on the seashore to get their share.

Surviving versus thriving

As the net was completely pulled down to the shore, with an excitement I too got closer and peeped into it. It was astonishing that the catch was very small; there was no more than 10  15 kg of small fish, after toiling overnight and pulling the net to the shore for few hours.

It seemed that the fishermen already knew about what they caught even before it was brought to the seashore. There was no excitement among them; after pulling down the net, even without looking at it many of them quietly started to attend other remaining work. The owner of the business too walked away keeping his head down. Two men collected the fish in a basket and carried it away.

I remembered what some of us in Colombo used to say: All around the country, it is the ocean; but why on earth, should we then import fish? At the same time, some us grumble about the exorbitant fish prices in this country.

In the evening as I met Jayanthan again, I asked him: How much is the daily wage of all those people who attended fishing and pulling the net today?

He replied: Only if they catch fish, they get a share after selling it. For today, they didnt get anything because there was no fish. Just like in the case of domestic agriculture, fishing too makes them just survive from generation to generation, and not thriving. After all, getting through O/Levels or A/Levels hardly makes a difference for their survival.

The other side

At the last O/Level examination, over 600,000 students from all over the country sit for the exam; half of them also sat for the A/Levels exams. It shows roughly the number of jobs that the country should create every year. I begin to wonder whether we create that many jobs in the economy every year.

However, instead of creating new jobs for the educated, we have designed policies, programmes and activities to keep them in the same livelihood activities such as agriculture and fishing, because these are important breeding grounds for politics, not economics.

From Colombo we say that the country has to be self-sufficient in agricultural produce and fish catch for our food security. In effect we justify pushing people and their children, and generations into unproductive economic activities. But they hardly come out of poverty that they have inherited from the previous generation.

We design new subsidies and government assistance programmes to keep those people locked up in the same unproductive economy. These programmes have added something to survive them throughout our history, but they have hardly contributed anything for them to thrive and escape poverty.

You might raise a valid point regarding our unemployment which is as low as 5.8 per cent even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas it is much higher in many other countries. True, but let me show you why. Those fishermen I observed on the seashore are, actually employed by the definition of employment, whether they catch fish or not. Similarly, all the people who are involved in their livelihood activities whether it is fishing or farming or any other, they are all employed by the definition even if they just survive. The issue in question is how to create productive job opportunities for educated youth in a modern economy.

(The writer is a Professor of Economics at the University of Colombo and can be reached at sirimal@econ.cmb.ac.lk and follow on Twitter @SirimalAshoka).
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 13:19:06|Editor: huaxia

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HANOI, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A house fire in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi has killed four family members, Vietnam News Agency reported Sunday.

The fire broke out in a house selling baby products in Hanoi's Dong Da district at around 11 p.m. local time Saturday and was put down as of 8 a.m. Sunday morning, the news agency cited competent authorities as saying.

The victims include an 81-year-old man, a 40-year-old pregnant woman, her 38-year-old husband and her 10-year-old daughter, local online newspaper VnExpress reported.

Local authorities have placed a temporary lockdown on the street of the incident to conduct further investigation.

In the first quarter of this year, a total of 626 fires and explosions occurred in Vietnam, killing 21 people and causing property losses of some 161.2 billion Vietnamese dong (7 million U.S. dollars), according to the country's General Statistics Office. Enditem
(Newser)  Saturday night brought an update on rapper DMX's condition, though not an encouraging one. His longtime lawyer, Murray Richman, confirmed that the rapper suffered a heart attack around 11pm Friday while at home. While TMZ has reported it was caused by an overdose, Richman said he did not know the cause. NBC News reports the 50-year-old, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was resuscitated at a hospital in White Plains, New York, and put on life support. TMZ's sources suggest paramedics initially spent 30 minutes trying to resuscitate him, and that the lack of oxygen during that time was very damaging. Though media initially quoted Richman as saying DMX was breathing on his own, he later clarified that the rapper remained on life support. "There is a little brain activity," Richman was quoted as saying.

story continues below

The AP quotes Richman as saying, "I'm very sad about it, extremely sad. He's like my son. He's just a tremendous person, tremendous entertainer, tremendous human being. And so much to offer, so much to say. Not the run-of-the-mill rapper. A person of great depth." DMX has battled drug problems for years, and NBC News flags a 2020 interview in which he discussed taking a hit from a blunt that his then-mentor gave him at age 14. He later learned there was crack in it, and said that hit launched his drug abuse. "Why would you do that to a child?" DMX said. "He was like 30, and he knew I looked up to him. Why would you do that to someone who looks up to you?" (Read more DMX stories.)
BoardPAC and IronOne Technologies wins several awards View(s):

BoardPAC and IronOne Technologies  leading software solution companies, in recognition of its unique contribution and innovative approaches towards exports, bagged three prestigious Gold Awards at the 28th Annual NCE Export Awards 2020 which concluded recently.

BoardPAC and IronOne Technologies were honoured at this years event held at the Shangri-La Ballroom, with the prestigious award for Best Brand Exporter. This award was presented as a commendation for the global branding, marketing initiatives and strategies implemented for their iconic products and services, the company said in a media release.

Additionally, BoardPAC and IronOne Technologies Co-founder and CEO, Lakmini Wijesundera, was recognised for her exceptional business acumen and thus awarded the Gold Award for the Best Woman Exporter for the fourth consecutive year. BoardPAC and IronOne Technologies clinched Gold for Best value-added exporter-service sector and the Silver Award for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) related Services Sector.

Commenting on this momentous event, Ms. Wijesundera said, We are humbled and excited to be recognised as the Best Brand Exporter once again, along with all the other accolades. This wouldnt have been possible if not for the great team effort by our staff in paving the way for these awards. Additionally, I am deeply honoured to have received the Best Woman Exporter of the Year Award in recognition of growing the company and succeeding on an international stage.

BoardPAC is a globally commended multinational company having garnered worldwide popularity as a brand that provides board meeting automation solutions to over 50,000 users across the globe, while earning the #1 market share position in Asia.

With a presence in over 20 nations including the United States, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and many others, BoardPAC serves a host of fortune 500 companies worldwide, while being the preferred choice for board meeting automation.
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.

Source:The Christian Post
During his India visit starting April 4th, Russian Foreign Minister Segrey Lavrov will be meeting his Indian counterpart EAM S Jaishankar and interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi..

Russian Foreign Minister Segrey Lavrov will arrive in India for a two-day visit on Monday. During his visit, he will be meeting his Indian counterpart EAM S Jaishankar. He is also expected to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Touted as the first visit of any top Russian government official to India this year, Lavrov will be accompanied by a Russian envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had earlier issued a statement stating that India and Russia will address issues like the current status of bilateral relations, preparation of India Russia summit meeting and cooperation in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lavrovs visit to India comes after Indias foreign secretary Harsh Shringlas visit to Moscow, wherein he had extended an offer to Segrey to come and visit India. During the visit, Harsh Shrighla and Segrey Lavrov had also discussed the impending visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India for annual India Russia summit.

It will also be significant to note if the bilateral relations between both the countries witness any shift post Quad grouping. Earlier last year, Russia had expressed that the quad would be detrimental to inclusive dialogue for ensuring peace and stability in Indo-Pacific region.
You are the king of the Jews? says Pilate to Jesus. The Roman governor addressing the Jewish street preacher is being sarcastic, or so the context of their exchange in the Gospel of John gives us reason to think. The question mark (it looks like a semicolon) in Greek manuscripts tells us that Pilate speaks the sentence in a certain cadence, to make it sound interrogative, but we might infer that much, too, from the context.

Which syllables does he stress? We dont know. Lets try some possibilities.

You are the king of the Jews?

You are the king of the Jews?

You are the king? Of the Jews?

Jesus is not yet bloodied and beaten by the Roman soldiers, but he probably looks bedraggled. He has come off an all-nighter spent in dread. He sweated something like blood. Did the posse who arrested him, outdoors, on a hillside outside the city walls, ask him whether he wanted to shower and change clothes before his arraignment at the praetorium? Ha.

You are the king?

As for that part about the Jews: Its a translation of a plural form of the Greek word Ioudaios, which can have one or more of several related meanings that, again, depend on the context:

a member of Judah, one of the twelve tribes of Israel; a person who is assumed to be descended from any of the twelve sons of Israel and therefore to belong to the ethnic community that, though geographically dispersed, looks to a single location, Jerusalem, as its spiritual and cultural capital; a Judean, a resident of Judea, territory that includes and surrounds Jerusalem and roughly corresponds to what was the southern kingdom that split from the northern kingdom, Israel, after the death of Solomon.

The second meaning in that list comes closest to the common, everyday definition of the English words Jew and Jewish in our day. Modern readers of the New Testament tend to be less mindful of the third meaning, Judean. Its based on geography and would make more sense in many instances in which translators write Jews.

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Take John 7:1, a striking example. There we read that Jesus decides to preach on his home turf in Galilee for the time being, not down south in Judea, as Judeans have designs on his life. Heres how the verse is rendered in the King James Version: After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.

Jewry?

Tension that boils over to become overt hostility between Jesus and, as the translators write, the Jews pervades the Gospel of John. The strife described there is real, but that identification of Jesuss antagonists seems baffling  he is, after all, as Jewish as they are, in our modern understanding of the word. The key is to remember that hes a Galilean, not a Judean, and therefore not Ioudaios, or Jewish, in the geographical sense, although in the ethnic and religious senses of the term he is. (He is Judean by birth, in Bethlehem, and is descended from Judah, as readers of the gospels know, but evidently most of his contemporaries dont.)

Moreover, in John we find the name Israel in many references to what modern readers understand by the term Jewish, which relates to a religion and an ethnicity encompassing more than members of one tribe and more than residents of one region. In John we read that the crowd in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday greets Jesus with shouts of Blessed is the king of Israel, not of Judea.

The geographical difference between Judea and Galilee entailed a world of social discord, religious quarrels, and political conflict. In the eyes of Judeans, Galilee was the hinterland, from which a trip to the Temple usually took several days. Galileans were suspected of being loose in their religious practice, prone to assimilate into the gentile culture of the Hellenized towns that dotted their district.

You are the king of the Judeans? is what the crowd standing outside would have heard had they been privy to the exchange between Pilate and Jesus. Is it what Pilate meant? He used the term Ioudaioi but implied the broad sense of it, to mean approximately what we mean by Jewish: Your own people, he tells Jesus, have delivered you to me.

So not in every instance would we gain a more accurate picture by substituting Judean where we find Jews or Jewish in translations of the New Testament. Given that weve been so seriously misled by older translations in which almost no instance of Ioudaioi is rendered as Judeans, the temptation to err in the opposite direction is great. Scholars and translators who succumb to it can be forgiven. We should never stop trying to refine our understanding of Jesuss ministry in light of the conflict as well as of the common bonds between south and north, between Judea and Galilee. We might think of it as a narcissism of small differences, or sibling rivalry.

Throughout his ministry, bad blood between north and south provides much of the subtext of the disputes between Jesus and his critics. Quick-witted and sharp-tongued, he wins his battles of words with them, as a rule, until now, the hour of his trial and execution. The Father, his power source, has begun to withdraw.

Fencing with Pilate, Jesus demonstrates his signature mental agility one last time. He turns Pilates question Therefore you are a king? sideways, ignoring the interrogative tone of voice and answering the literal meaning of the sentence.

You say that Im a king, Jesus notes. Touche.

From that point to his death a few hours later, his rhetorical strength continues to recede and abandon him, like air leaking from a balloon. Silence forms a large part of his response to the insults, verbal and physical, that add up to a spectacular public humiliation, by now the most famous in recorded history.

Its a convention, when meditating on the mystery of the cross, to dwell on the question of guilt  ours. Jesus assumed our sins, taking them off our shoulders, and off our souls, so that we might pass Gods judgment: I leave it to others to decide whether that understanding of atonement is sound theology. What comes to mind more than guilt when I think on the crucifixion is the shame.

Anyone who lives long enough has been accused of offenses that he didnt commit. He finds himself as well to be in general misunderstood and misrepresented, a victim of bad translations. Friends and strangers hear him express a thought thats new to them, and in their impatience they translate it into one that theyre familiar with but thats not quite what he means. He would explain himself, but when youre explaining youre losing, or written off as having already lost, so he bites his tongue and carries a burden of resentment with him to the grave. No one ever knew him, or knew him well enough, though many assumed that they did, compounding his loneliness.

Let him find comfort in the knowledge that hes in company better than himself. Jesus suffered something similar throughout his short life. On Calvary, it was taken to a new level. Pilate, in what could be read as a twisted proclamation of contempt for Jesus as well as for the Temple establishment and the local population, orders a sign to be affixed to the cross: Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Judeans. Thats how people in Jerusalem would have read it. Nazareth is a town in Galilee.

Jesus rose from the tomb, lingered for a few weeks, and then left but not before promising to return, vindicated and victorious. You who believe that you are destined for a parallel fate are destined for a parallel fate. The faith is both too deep and too exalted to be comprehended. By comparison, the consolation of Jesuss companionship in the pit of shame, whether we stumbled into it through our fault or, like Joseph, were cast into it by jealous rivals, is a minor grace, but Ill take it.

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The chief executives of Georgias two largest corporations  Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola  issued statements Wednesday opposing Georgias new voting laws.

The Republican-majority Georgia General Assembly passed legislation, signed into law by the states GOP governor, that requires stricter voter identification and forbids drop boxes for mail ballots among its multiple tentacles.

It makes it harder for people to vote, not easier, said James Quincey, Coca-Colas chief executive.

Georgia lawmakers arent the only ones saying "ballot integrity" is necessary to restore voter confidence after allegations  though baseless  of widespread fraud during last year's presidential election. Legislators in 47 states have introduced 361 bills with restrictive provisions, according to The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School.

Ten minor elections bills have been filed, so far, for the Louisiana legislative session that begins April 12.

One that hasnt been filed, yet, is an omnibus bill that state Rep. John Stefanski is said to be working. The Crowley Republican is in charge of the House committee overseeing voting procedures. Many are waiting to see if that legislation will limit use of mail ballots and embrace other Georgia-like changes that some Louisiana Republicans say their constituents want.

It remains to be seen what Leo Denault, head of Entergy, the largest corporation headquartered in Louisiana, would have to say if this states Republicans adopt Georgia-like measures. It is fairly clear that the head of the states other major employer  Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards  would likely veto any legislation reaching his desk that restricts voting rights.

One likely election-related issue, however, will pit Republicans against each other: whether to end nearly half-a-century of open primaries, in which all the candidates compete against each other with the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, and if nobody wins outright, squaring off in the general election. Some Republicans want to close the primaries, as the state briefly did in 2008-2010, to allow only voters registered with a particular party to vote in that partys primary. Then candidates of different parties would face off in the general election.

Here too, Edwards isnt on board.

The governor said in December 2018 that he believes the open primary has served our state well. Last week he added he doesnt have anything new to say about closed versus open primaries.

Louisianas so-called jungle primary system was the brainchild of then-Gov. Edwin W. Edwards, who had grown weary of getting pounded from both ideological wings of the then dominant Democratic Party, only to face an unbloodied Republican.

The GOP is now the dominant party. Republicans control both chambers of the Legislature and the only Democrat elected statewide in more than a decade is John Bel Edwards.

Now, three prominent Republicans oft-named as possible gubernatorial candidates in 2023  Attorney General Jeff Landry, state Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, and U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson  are among those spearheading the closed primary effort. They say its important to get newly elected congressmen to Washington, D.C., in November rather waiting for runoffs in December. But GOP activists also say that candidates in pure party contests would not have to modify their stances to make the general election, leading to right-wingers having a better chance of being elected.

More moderate Republicans, such as U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, both of Baton Rouge, have come out against the effort.

GOP disagreement emerges over whether to change Louisiana's unique open primary elections As the state Legislature prepares to debate whether to change Louisianas unique open primary election system and move to closed party primari

Edwin Edwards in May 1975 testified in support of Senate Bill 274, saying that the Democratic Party had dominated Louisiana politics for generations leading many to register Democratic to ensure they would be able to participate in the only election that mattered: the primary. Open primaries would increase Republican registration to about 30% of the states voters, Edwards said, adding, The remaining people in the Democratic Party would be there by choice and not by force.

The states major newspapers  including this one  organized labor, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana and the state Republican Party opposed the bill. But the new process allowed Dave Treen in 1979 to defeat a slate of prominent Democrats and become the first Republican governor elected in Louisiana since Reconstruction. Treen won with considerable help from Lt. Gov. Billy Nungessers father, William, and as the only Republican, stood aside as Democratic candidates  particularly, Lt. Gov. Jimmy Fitzmorris and Public Service Commission Chairman Louis Lambert  pummeled each other for several months.

Nungesser the younger, another potential gubernatorial candidate in 2023, testified last week before a task force that issued recommendations for legislation to close primaries. He noted that back in 1975, about 47,400 of Louisianas voters registered as Republicans. That number has swelled to 1.02 million or about 34% of the roughly 3 million registered voters as of Thursday.
SPRINGFIELD  When students return to Veritas Prep Charter School on Pine Street on Monday they will see brightly colored bulletin boards reminding them to wash their hands and remain socially distanced.

The school, like all other public schools across Massachusetts, will welcome back elementary school students on Monday.

Fifth grade math and science teacher Nannette Bowie said she is excited to finally meet the students she has been teaching virtually for months.

I would love to actually meet them in person instead of just seeing their little faces on a screen, she said. They havent been around their peers for a year now, so a lot of them are just excited to see each other and to have that social interaction.

Bowie said she plans on having her remote learners and her in-person students interact with each other in break out groups.

They wont be able to play and be in groups like they used to, but at least they can talk to each other and that will definitely help with their social development, she said.

Amy Clark, principal at Veritas Prep Charter School, said 60 percent of families have opted to have their children return to in-person learning.

We wanted to get as many kids back as possible. We have been watching the health and safety data really closely and we feel its safe to bring the kids back for a full five-day week now, Clark said. We dont know what the fall will be like, but this will be a great model for whatever happens next school year.

Each classroom has sanitation stations, fountains are off limits, replaced with water bottle stations. Depending on the room size desks will be between three and six feet apart. While students must wear masks all day, they will be given mask breaks.

We have four locations outside and four locations inside in case there is inclement weather so that kids can spread out to six feet and take their masks off, she said.

Students will go through a COVID-19 protocol with their family before they get to the school to make sure students exhibiting symptoms stay home.

Teachers will be live streaming their classes so that remote and in-person students can interact with the same teacher and with each other during class.

Were calling it Zoomers and roomers. Teachers will be doing it for the first time on Monday because so far we have had most of our teachers working remotely with students and then several academic tutors to work with the small group of in-person students who were struggling with engagement or academically, she said.

Sabis International Charter School on Joan Street is also readying to welcome back students.

COVID has put us all on our toes this year and really given us the chance to benefit from the agility that our systematic approach to education gives us, said Maretta Thompson, director at the school. Although our students have been engaged in full-day, live-streamed instruction and online assessment all year, we are more than ready to welcome them back to campus.

Justin Baker, the schools director of academics said the staff has very detailed schedules to ensure student safety.

There is not a minute of the school day that has not been mapped out to maximize student safety, and our entire Sabis family of leadership, faculty, and staff are eager to see their students, and our entire campus, Baker said.

Students in grades from K-6 at Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School in Easthampton will return Monday, while 7th and 8th grade students will return on April 26. Only 10 of the 218 students will remain remote, the rest will be in-person all week.

Deirdre Pulgram-Arthen, the schools director of Community and Family Engagement, said the school has been preparing for this since last fall.

We have been hybrid since September with students coming into the school in small groups, she said. We established a routine early and we have been very consistent about sanitizing, keeping distance, wearing masks and the students have done really well, she said.

She credited not only the school staff but also the families for helping to make the transition from hybrid to in-person instruction a success.

Families have been very interested in staying on top of things and being very collaborative and cooperative to make this as smooth as possible for students, she said.

Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School in South Hadley, which has been fully remote since September, will welcome back seventh and eighth graders on April 28. The school serves 400 students in grades 7-12.

Based on the surveys we have done so far about 60 percent expressed an interest in returning to full-time in-person learning, said Charlotte Donovan, director of enrollment and communications

The school has been updated to accommodate the mandated COVID-19 protocols.

We have a fairly small school building, which was never really meant to be a school building, so we have been focusing our efforts to update the facility to meet our current needs including new air filtration systems and sanitation protocols, Donovan said. We feel confident that our students will be onboard with the changes that need to be made this school year.

A big part of the excitement for teachers and students is getting back to the performing arts aspect of the instruction. While teachers have become creative about how to incorporate art into remote learning  from music theory courses and individual music instruction  everyone is ready to get back to using the schools outdoor spaces for live productions, Donovan said.

Its what the teachers want and its what the students want. We spend so much of our time creating and performing and we have definitely missed having that time with our students.

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9 nominations for Funny Boy at Canadian Screen Awards View(s):

Funny Boy, Deepa Mehtas adaptation of the 1994 Shyam Selvadurai novel, is among the front-runners at the Canadian Screen Awards with nine nominations in the Film category. Apart from best motion picture, Funny Boy has been nominated for best direction, best supporting actress (for Agam Darshi), best adapted screenplay, sound editing, sound mixing, achievement in music: original score, makeup and best visual effects. The news is heartening coming three months after the film was disqualified as Canadas nomination for the Oscars for Best International Feature- because it had too much English dialogue- 63% whereas at least 50% of the foreign language was required.

Funny Boy is the story of Arjie  a gay Tamil boy growing up in precarious times.

Funny Boy has also won a spot on the Toronto International Film Festivals best-of-the-year list.
The states inmates are prematurely ageing up to 15 years faster than the rest of the population, according to a new report which warns health services are struggling to keep pace with the ballooning prison population.

The report also found some inmates are refusing treatment for life-threatening conditions, including cancer, to avoid being transferred to a maximum security facility at Long Bay.

Police break up a fight at Long Bay jails hospital last year. Credit:Nine News

The Herald has been told by prison families the facility is colloquially referred to as long stay, and the report confirmed it can take months for prisoners to return to the correctional centre from which they came.

The report, examining health services in correctional facilities across NSW, has been tabled in state parliament by Inspector of Custodial Services Fiona Rafter.
Iran says it will not engage in negotiations with the United States at the planned talks in Vienna next week on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and global powers.

"We will not talk directly or indirectly with the United States in Vienna," Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on April 4, denying reports that indirect negotiations would take place between the two countries.

"Iran's policy in this regard is clear and simple: the United States must return to the Vienna nuclear agreement, fulfil the deal in accordance with the treaty, and lift sanctions against Iran," said Araqchi, who heads the Iranian delegation.

On April 3, Iran's Foreign Ministry rejected any "step-by-step" lifting of sanctions imposed against it, saying "the definitive policy of Iran is the lifting of all U.S. sanctions."

Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and Iran will take part in the EU-brokered talks in Vienna on April 6. The 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.

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.

Based on reporting by dpa, IRNA, and AP
Police are yet to determine what caused a light aircraft to crash, killing an experienced 52-year-old recreational pilot in Victorias south-east on Sunday morning.

Police say the Burwood man took off from a recreational airfield along Koo Wee Rup Road in Koo Wee Rup, 63 kilometres south-east of the Melbourne CBD, about 6.45am.

An aerial view of the scene where a man died during an aircraft crash in Koo Wee Rup on Sunday. Credit:Nine News

Acting Inspector Glen Finlay said the ultralight glider was airborne for a short period before technical difficulties caused the plane to crash about 6.50am.

The man died at the scene and was the sole occupant of the aircraft.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4)  Amid the prolonged enhanced community quarantine in Greater Manila, the government still lacks a detailed plan to curb COVID-19 infections, Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday.

In her radio show Biserbisyong Leni, Robredo called on officials to come up with its specific targets that must be achieved for another week while imposing stricter quarantine rules, as the government's current "Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, and Integrate" or PDITR campaign still seemingly falls short of crucial details to improve the pandemic response.

Para sa akin, okay naman yung sinabi sa ECQ, pero sana detalyado at saka sana nag-o-operate tayo na parating may specific objectives. Kasi kung hindi, yung sukat natin, paano natin masasabi na nagtagumpay tayo?" Robredo said.

[Translation: For me, it's ok to impose ECQ but I wish they presented a detailed plan and I hope we're operating with specific objectives. Because if not, how do we measure what we have achieved?]

"'Yung plano masyadong general. Pag sinabi mong PDITR yung plano, ano yung kaibahan dito nung nakaraan na one year na nating ginagawa?

[Translation: The plan is too general. When you say PDITR, what is its difference from what we have done for the past year?]

According to Robredo, the government must now address how many tests will be conducted daily, how healthcare workers will be deployed in much-needed areas, and how will additional isolation facilities be provided amid the variant-driven surge in the country.

Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan and Rizal were placed under ECQ for another week, after COVID-19 cases breached the 15,000 mark last Friday. Before that, new cases have reached as high as 8,000, the highest surge since the pandemic began last year.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said extending the ECQ is an "absolute last resort" for the government.

But even on the first week of its implementation, various groups and individuals took to social media their concerns about hospitals reaching full capacity, subsidy not reaching the affected workers, lack of public transportation, and slow vaccination and tracing efforts in various localities.

LIST: One-week ECQ in Greater Manila area explained

Roque noted that the Greater Manila area could only return to a more relaxed MECQ or modified enhanced community quarantine if the PDITR strategy is proven effective.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-05 01:51:18|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday urged the United States to truly respect China's core interests and take a correct view of China's development.

Wang made the remarks in response to media query about China-U.S. relations after meetings with his counterparts of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea in China's Fujian Province.

Citing that the foreign ministers have regarded China's development and growth as a historical necessity, Wang said it is believed that China's development conforms to the common expectations and long-term interests of all countries in the region, which should not be blocked.

He said the foreign ministers believed that facing the challenges of globalization and the post-epidemic era, China and the U.S. should have more dialogue and cooperation in this region, instead of game and confrontation, fulfill the obligations of major powers, and demonstrate the responsibility of major powers.

"China is willing to respond to the expectations of all parties and continue to make its own efforts to this end," Wang said.

Regarding the arguments of competition, cooperation and confrontation repeatedly put forward by the U.S. on its relations with China, Wang said China's position is consistent and clear.

China welcomes dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect, Wang said, adding that China does not approve of one-upmanship in the world, and does not accept that one country has the final say in world affairs.

"China welcomes cooperation if there is the need, but cooperation needs to take into account each other's concerns and mutual benefit. It cannot goes in the fashion of one side unilaterally raising conditions and making lists," Wang said.

China will not evade competition if it is needed, but competition should be fair and just and abide by market rules, and refrain from setting obstacles, abusing power, and depriving others of their legitimate right to development, Wang said, adding that if there is still confrontation, China will deal with it calmly and face it fearlessly.

"We resolutely resist gross interference in China's internal affairs, and more resolutely oppose unlawful unilateral sanctions imposed on the basis of lies and false information," Wang said.

He said China will not compromise or retreat, as it sticks to the basic norms of international relations and stands for the interests of many developing, small and medium-sized countries. China definitely has the right to fight back since it must defend national sovereignty and national dignity.

"Dialogue is better than confrontation, and cooperation is better than confrontation," Wang said, urging the U.S. to actively respond to the expectations of regional countries and the international community, work with China to show what a major power should be like, and jointly maintain regional and world peace, stability and development. Enditem
Extended surges in the South and West in the summer and early winter of 2020 resulted in regional increases in excess death rates, both from COVID-19 and from other causes, a 50-state analysis of excess death trends has found. Virginia Commonwealth University researchers' latest study notes that Black Americans had the highest excess death rates per capita of any racial or ethnic group in 2020.

The research, publishing Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, offers new data from the last 10 months of 2020 on how many Americans died during 2020 as a result of the effects of the pandemic -- beyond the number of COVID-19 deaths alone -- and which states and racial groups were hit hardest.

The rate of excess deaths -- or deaths above the number that would be expected based on averages from the previous five years -- is usually consistent, fluctuating 1% to 2% from year to year, said Steven Woolf, M.D., the study's lead author and director emeritus of VCU's Center on Society and Health. From March 1, 2020, to Jan. 2, 2021, excess deaths rose a staggering 22.9% nationally, fueled by COVID-19 and deaths from other causes, with regions experiencing surges at different times.

"COVID-19 accounted for roughly 72% of the excess deaths we're calculating, and that's similar to what our earlier studies showed. There is a sizable gap between the number of publicly reported COVID-19 deaths and the sum total of excess deaths the country has actually experienced," Woolf said.

For the other 28% of the nation's 522,368 excess deaths during that period, some may actually have been from COVID-19, even if the virus was not listed on the death certificates due to reporting issues.

But Woolf said disruptions caused by the pandemic were another cause of the 28% of excess deaths not attributed to COVID-19. Examples might include deaths resulting from not seeking or finding adequate care in an emergency such as a heart attack, experiencing fatal complications from a chronic disease such as diabetes, or facing a behavioral health crisis that led to suicide or drug overdose.

All three of those categories could have contributed to an increase in deaths among people who did not have COVID-19 but whose lives were essentially taken by the pandemic." Steven Woolf, M.D., Study's Lead Author, Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Population Health at the VCU School of Medicine

The percentage of excess deaths among non-Hispanic Black individuals (16.9%) exceeded their share of the U.S. population (12.5%), reflecting racial disparities in mortality due to COVID-19 and other causes of death in the pandemic, Woolf and his co-authors write in the paper. The excess death rate among Black Americans was higher than rates of excess deaths among non-Hispanic white or Hispanic populations.

Woolf said his team was motivated to break down this information by race and ethnicity due to mounting evidence that people of color have experienced an increased risk of death from COVID-19.

"We found a disproportionate number of excess deaths among the Black population in the United States," said Woolf, VCU's C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Distinguished Chair in Population Health and Health Equity. "This, of course, is consistent with the evidence about COVID-19 but also indicates that excess deaths from some conditions other than COVID-19 are also occurring at higher rates in the African American population."

Surges in excess deaths varied across regions of the United States. Northeastern states, such as New York and New Jersey, were among the first hit by the pandemic. Their pandemic curves looked like a capital "A," Woolf said, peaking in April and returning rapidly to baseline within eight weeks because strict restrictions were put in place. But the increase in excess deaths lasted much longer in other states that lifted restrictions early and were hit hard later in the year. Woolf cited economic or political reasons for decisions by some governors to weakly embrace, or discourage, pandemic control measures such as wearing masks.

"They said they were opening early to rescue the economy. The tragedy is that policy not only cost more lives, but actually hurt their economy by extending the length of the pandemic," Woolf said. "One of the big lessons our nation must learn from COVID-19 is that our health and our economy are tied together. You can't really rescue one without the other."

According to the study's data, the 10 states with the highest per capita rate of excess deaths were Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Arizona, Alabama, Louisiana, South Dakota, New Mexico, North Dakota and Ohio.

Nationally, Woolf expects the U.S. will see consequences of the pandemic long after this year. For example, cancer mortality rates may increase in the coming years if the pandemic forced people to delay screening or chemotherapy.

Woolf said future illness and deaths from the downstream consequences of the devastated economy could be addressed now by "bringing help to families, expanding access to health care, improving behavioral health services and trying to bring economic stability to a large part of the population that was already living on the edge before the pandemic." Among other research, his team's 2019 JAMA study of working-age mortality underscores the importance of prioritizing public health measures like these, he said.

"American workers are sicker and dying earlier than workers in businesses in other countries that are competing against America," Woolf said. "So investments to help with health are important for the U.S. economy in that context just as they are with COVID-19."

Derek Chapman, Ph.D., Roy Sabo, Ph.D., and Emily Zimmerman, Ph.D., of VCU's Center on Society and Health and the School of Medicine joined Woolf as co-authors on the paper published Friday, "Excess Deaths From COVID-19 and Other Causes in the United States, March 1, 2020, to January 2, 2021."

Their study also confirms a trend Woolf's team noted in an earlier 2020 study: Death rates from several non-COVID-19 conditions, such as heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes, increased during surges.

"This country has experienced profound loss of life due to the pandemic and its consequences, especially in communities of color," said Peter Buckley, M.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine. "While we must remain vigilant with social distancing and mask-wearing behaviors for the duration of this pandemic, we must also make efforts to ensure the equitable distribution of care if we are to reduce the likelihood of further loss of life."

Based on current trends, Woolf said the surges the U.S. has seen might not be over, even with vaccinations underway.

"We're not out of the woods yet because we're in a race with the COVID-19 variants. If we let up too soon and don't maintain public health restrictions, the vaccine may not win out over the variants," Woolf said. "Unfortunately, what we're seeing is that many states have not learned the lesson of 2020. Once again, they are lifting restrictions, opening businesses back up, and now seeing the COVID-19 variants spread through their population.

"To prevent more excess deaths, we need to hold our horses and maintain the public health restrictions that we have in place so the vaccine can do its work and get the case numbers under control."
SANDISFIELD  A cannabis grower seeking to operate a greenhouse and manufacturing business has given town officials additional information they had requested to inform their vote Monday on whether to grant a special permit for the project.

The company, Sama Productions LLC, provided details on the potential for noise, pollution, and proof that the company can operate its proposed business on property it owns near the state forest.

The deed attached to the company's three lots totaling 60 acres, however, has a restriction placed on it by the property's seller that Jesse Belcher-Timme, an attorney for a group of residents, says should, in part, disqualify the company from receiving the permit. That restriction says only single-family homes can be built there.

Select Board members, noting at last week's public hearing that the restriction is an issue between the buyer and seller only, said their concern is whether it would prevent Sama from operating their business.

Sama plans to build 23 organic-grow greenhouses totaling more than 100,000 square feet, and a 5,000-square-foot building for processing the plants. The operation will cover 46 acres of the total property near the intersection of Abbey and Town Hill roads.

Residents are divided; some want the town to seize an opportunity for much-needed revenue, while others don't want the woodland town sullied by the industry. At annual town meeting on May 15, voters will weigh in on the town's first set of cannabis regulations.

Company engineer and project manager Jim Scalise, of SK Design Group, said at the hearing that the deed is "not relevant under zoning [bylaws]" and "there's no debate about the control of the property."

John Heck, one of Sama's principals, told the board that during his search for land, the seller knew Heck wanted to build a cannabis operation. And in response to questioning from town resident Leslie Garwood, Heck said the permit hearing isn't the place to discuss "whatever issues arise about the deed."

Garwood told The Eagle on Friday that the seller had placed the same restriction on neighboring lots, and that recourse might only be possible if the abutters were to file a lawsuit.

"It's pitting a big company with muscle against all these little people who own land and expect to build a home on it someday," she said.

Belcher-Timme, in his letter on behalf of residents, said that Sama included an older deed in its permit application that did not show the restriction. He says that this covenant confirms that the intent of previous owners was to keep this area residential as it has been "and should remain."

Heck did not respond to messages seeking comment about the deed.

Board member George Riley had asked the company to produce the new information, which the town posted to its website Friday. It includes that proof of a real estate contract, and information about noise and the safety of equipment used to extract oils from the plants.

A letter from greenhouse supply company Horitech Direct says noise from a fan in each greenhouse will not disturb neighbors, in part, because of where the greenhouses will be situated on the property.

The company also provided an analysis confirming the safety and effectiveness of the hydroxyl air processor Sama plans to use to control odors, after Riley said he had read a study suggesting the method could create harmful byproducts.

The board will meet for a discussion and vote at 6 p.m. Monday at the town highway garage. The public can attend in person or on Zoom.
The B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus was first detected in early December 2020 in Kent, a county in southeast England. It has since spread globally with four cases currently detected in Thunder Bay District.
Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo, center, answers to questions from lawmakers during the National Policy Committee meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul in this February file photo. With him is Financial Supervisory Service Governor Yoon Suk-heun. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun



By Park Jae-hyuk



The replacement of the heads of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has become highly probable, since the administration appears to be carrying out a cabinet reshuffle if the ruling party candidates lose the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan.



FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo, who started his career as a government official at the finance ministry, has been mentioned as a successor to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who became the longest-serving fiscal chief on Thursday. Hong is said to be stepping down after the by-election and is considering running for Gangwon Province governor in the local election in June of next year.



Although the FSC chairman is guaranteed a three-year term, most former chairmen have served for about two years. Eun's predecessor, Choi Jong-ku, also offered to resign on July 18, 2019, a day before his second anniversary there, so the incumbent chairman might also leave his position before the end of the year.



Eun has been wary of such rumors, which have already spread through social media. However, he told reporters Thursday that he knows nothing about personnel affairs.





Former First Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom speaks during a press conference, after a meeting on the economy at the Central Government Complex Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Jordans Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi said on Sunday that King Abdullahs half-brother and former heir Prince Hamza had liaised with foreign parties over a plot to destabilise the country and had been under investigation for some time.

On Saturday the military said it had issued a warning to the prince over actions targeting security and stability in the key U.S. ally. Prince Hamza later said he was under house arrest. Several high-profile figures were also detained.

The investigations had monitored interferences and communications with foreign parties over the right timing to destabilise Jordan, Safadi said.

These included a foreign intelligence agency contacting Prince Hamzas wife to organise a plane for the couple to leave Jordan, he said.

Initial investigations showed these activities and movements had reached a stage that directly affected the security and stability of the country, but his majesty decided it was best to talk directly to Prince Hamza, to deal with it within the family, he said.

Safadi said efforts were underway to resolve the crisis within the royal family, but that Prince Hamza was not cooperative. Its a break from the traditions and values of the Hashemite family, he said.

The developments are likely to rock Jordans image as an island of stability in the turbulent Middle East. King Abdullah removed Prince Hamza from his position as heir to the throne in 2004, in a move that consolidated his power.

Although he has been marginalised for years, Prince Hamza has angered the authorities by forging ties with disgruntled figures within powerful tribes.

These people, members of loosely organised groups known as Herak who in addition to their domestic presence represent a vocal opposition based abroad, have in recent weeks called for protests against corruption in a country hard hit by COVID-19s impact on the economy.

Prince Hamza said in a video passed to the BBC by his lawyer that Jordans rulers are corrupt and put their interests above those of the public.

What Prince Hamza said is repeatedly heard in the homes of every Jordanian, said Ahmad Hasan al Zoubi, a prominent columnist, on his Facebook account. Its not a secret these same words are used every day in all homes.

The authorities should listen to the alarm bells rung from two different sources, from the people and from within the royal family about the real conditions of the country and prevailing corruption.

Earlier, Hamzas mother Queen Noor, the widow of Jordans late king, defended her son.

Praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander, she wrote on Twitter. God bless and keep them safe.

Safadi said the security services have asked for those involved in the plot be referred to the state security court.

The state news agency said on Saturday that Bassem Awadallah, a U.S.-educated long-time confidant of the king who later became minister of finance and also advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and royal family member Sharif Hassan Ben Zaid had been detained, along with others.

Jordans neighbours and allies expressed solidarity with King Abdullah over the security measures in the kingdom, an important ally of the United States.

Echoing statements of support by other allies and neighbours of Jordan, Moroccos King Mohammed VI held a phone call with King Abdullah II in which he expressed solidarity and support for the countrys security measures, Moroccos royal palace said on Sunday.

Some opposition figures have rallied around Prince Hamza in a move that has displeased the king, officials familiar with the situation said.

But most politicians believe Prince Hamza will be silenced, with little prospect of him posing any threat given that the army and security forces who are backbone of support for the Hashemite dynasty are firmly behind the monarch.

I think King Abdullah has confirmed himself in the saddle and his son Hussein has consolidated himself as the heir to the throne, said Jawad al Anani, who served as the last royal court chief under the late King Hussein. This is a page turner event.

SOURCE: REUTERS
The oil ministry will seeks tens of millions of dollars from Vedanta's Cairn Oil & Gas after the held that the firm was liable to pay higher profit share to the government in lieu of its Rajasthan oil and gas block license being extended beyond initial term, a top official said.

In the interim, the firm's Barmer basin block licence, whose initial 25-year term ended on May 15, 2020, has been given an eighth interim extension, the official, who wished not to be identified, said.

"Now that the has upheld the government policy, we will issue recovery notices seeking higher profit petroleum since May 15, 2020," he said. "The exact amount is being calculated but it will be in tens of millions of dollars."



When contacted, a company spokesperson said, "We are in the process of reviewing the court's order, will assess any next course of action" after that.

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendrea Modi had in March 2017 approved a policy for extension of production sharing contracts (PSCs) for oil and gas blocks beyond their initial term. This policy provided that the government's share of profit petroleum (earning from sale of oil and gas after deducting all expenses) would be 10 per cent more during the extended period.

Vedanta's Cairn sought a 10-year extension of Rajasthan PSC, which the government approved. But the firm challenged in the condition for additional profit petroleum. A single judge bench of the Delhi High Court in May 2018 upheld the company position that the extension has to be on same terms and conditions as the original licence.

The government challenged the order before a division bench, which on March 26 this year ruled that "there cannot be extension of the Production Sharing Contract unconditionally, on the same terms and conditions which were prevailing 25 years ago i.e. on 15th May, 1995, the effective date."



It set aside the May 2018 single judge order.

"In effect what the Delhi High Court has said is that the company has to pay higher profit share after May 15, 2020. So the company is now liable to pay higher profit petroleum for the period they operate the block post May 15, 2020," the official said.

Vedanta, he said, has the option to not agree to the government condition and relinquish the block.

"Even in that case, the company is liable to pay additional profit petroleum for the period they operate the block post May 15, 2020," he said.

The additional profit petroleum will be in addition to over USD 520 million that the government has sought from the company in a separate cost recovery dispute in the Rajasthan block - the the mainstay oil and gas block of

The government claims additional profit petroleum after re-allocating Rs 2,723 crore common cost between different fields in the block and disallowance of Rs 1,508 crore cost on a pipeline.

The company has challenged the demand through an arbitration.

It also had a dispute with its partner state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) over investments made in the block, which held up the computation of the government's share of profit petroleum for fiscal years ending March 31, 2019, and March 31, 2020.

ONGC holds 30 per cent interest in the block while Cairn Oil & Gas, a unit of Ltd, is the operator with a 70 per cent stake.

Sources said the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) had way back in May 2018 raised a demand for additional share of profit oil for the government after disallowing Rs 1,508 crore out of the cost incurred on laying a heated-pipeline to transport Barmer crude and Rs 2,723 crore in the reallocation of certain common costs.

These costs pertain to only Cairn's share in the Rajasthan block as ONGC has agreed to pay the government if these costs are disallowed.

In all, Rs 4,828 crore, including interest, is being sought to be disallowed for the 2017-18 fiscal.

The company had previously stated that it believes that it has sufficient as well as a reasonable basis for having claimed such costs and for allocating common costs between different fields.
Kolkata, April 4 : Days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged discrepancies during voting at the Boyal polling booth in Nandigram, the Election Commission on Sunday issued a point-by-point response refuting all the allegations.

Calling Banerjee's hand-written complaint "factually incorrect" and "devoid of substance", it said it is contemplating action under the relevant sections of the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of the People Act.

The Chief Minister, in her complaint, had alleged that no genuine voters were allowed to enter the booth at Boyal Maktab Primary School and it was done in the presence of the Border Security Force (BSF). The Chief Minister sat on her wheel-chair outside the booth before she was escorted away by the BSF.

Considering the gravity of the allegation, the EC sought a report from the Special Observers Ajay Nayak (General) and Vivek Dube (Police), who submitted their final report on Saturday evening. It cited the reports by special observers and officials "at various levels" to say that there was "no mention of either outsiders or guns and goons capturing the said booth".

The EC also said that allegations made against BSF jawans deployed at the Boyal polling station in Nandigram are "far from the truth".

A mock drill was conducted at 5.30 a.m. at the Boyal polling station in Nandigram and voting commenced at 7 a.m. on April 1. The EC also said that the polling agents of the BJP, CPI-M and an Independent were present inside the Boyal polling booth at the time of the mock drill, but the Trinamool Congress polling agent never showed up.

"The ECI cannot force any one unwilling to work as a polling agent," the Commission said in its letter.

"It is a matter of deep regret that a media narrative was sought to be weaved hour after hour to misguide the biggest stakeholders which is the voters by a candidate who also happens to be the honourable CM. ... All this was done when the election process was/is on. There could not have been a greater misdemeanor," it said.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the Election Commission's reply is biased and a reflection of the allegations made by the the party time and again that the Commission is "acting in a partisan manner".

"How can the Commission deny that though Section 144 was imposed, the BJP supporters assembled very close to the polling booth at Boyal and shouted slogans in support of their candidate. People of Bengal have witnessed what had happened on that particular day," he said.

Making it clear that the allegations made by Banerjee were genuine, he maintained that the top brass of the party will communicate their standpoint about such a reply from the Commission in due course.
Katherine Tully-McManus (TNS)

WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan said the vehicular attack Friday that killed a Capitol Police officer and injured another will prompt further evaluation of the Capitols security, which has already been under intense scrutiny after the Jan. 6 attack.

Ryan is chairman of the House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds the Capitol Police and has shared oversight jurisdiction.

I think everythings going to be reevaluated after today, Ryan told reporters at a virtual press conference Friday.

A man rammed his car into two Capitol Police officers and a barricade on Constitution Avenue and approached officers wielding a knife just after 1 p.m. The suspect was shot by USCP and died after being transported to the hospital, police said. Officer William Billy Evans died from injuries at the hospital, where the other unnamed officer remains injured, police said.

Earlier this week Ryan was briefed on the Capitol Police inspector generals reports on the departments preparation for and response to the Jan. 6 attack. He said he plans to hold a briefing for his committee in the coming weeks.

House Administration Chairperson Zoe Lofgren, who also saw the reports and was briefed, said the reports from Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton provide detailed and disturbing findings and important recommendations.

When the House returns from recess, appropriators and the House Administration panel will be convening to discuss and review the reports and evaluate the existing recommendations and new considerations after the latest attack.

The barricade that the suspect crashed into on Friday, like dozens of others around the Capitol campus, was installed after the 9/11 attacks to prevent vehicles, and potentially car bombs, from getting close to the Capitol building.

Ryan stressed that getting Capitol security right, with a balance of openness and access to the public and enough safety for lawmakers and staff, will need to be a committed bipartisan effort and separate from the partisan rancor seen daily on Capitol Hill.

I think its just a time for us to elevate the conversation, to be adults about how sensitive this is, how important it is to try to get this right, said Ryan. It cant fall into the other political arguments that were having. This is about the security of the nations Capitol, thats the temple of democracy, and weve got to make sure that it is secure.

Ryan said that he, along with House Appropriations Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro and the ranking member on his own subcommittee, Jaime Herrera Beutler, spoke with members of the Israeli Knesset about security for their buildings. He said there is a lot to be learned from capitals and governments around the world and how they tackle security challenges.

He said lawmakers are also reeling from the incident, based on calls he had with colleagues through the afternoon.

Were just been on the phone with different members of Congress and everybody really is just crushed by this, said Ryan.

Lawmakers who were forced to run, hide and crouch in mortal fear on Jan. 6 are shaken by Fridays attack at an entrance that is frequented by staff and lawmakers, often on foot. That common route now feels vulnerable.

This rips the scab off and continues to provide a level of uncertainty and worry about the workplace, said Ryan.

Ryan, who is a longtime advocate for mental health awareness and mindfulness, also addressed the morale and mental health of the Capitol Police in the wake of yet enough crisis for the department.

The department was hit hard by COVID-19, overrun and brutalized by violent rioters Jan. 6 before immediately pivoting to secure the inauguration just two weeks later. Officers have been working 12 and 16 hour shifts and coordinating with National Guard troops stationed at the Capitol.

This is a group of men and women who have been through a significant amount of trauma, over the last few months, Ryan, an Ohio Democrat, said.

He highlighted the enhanced focus on mental health within the department and additional resources being provided to officers, referencing the hurt the department already endured this year with the deaths of two officers. Officer Brian Sicknick died from injuries sustained in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Officer Howard Liebengood died by suicide in the days following Jan. 6 after being on the scene of the insurrection.

Ryan didnt have additional information on the surviving officer in Fridays vehicular attack, who remained hospitalized.

I just tried to get that for you all and I didnt, I couldnt, get an answer. So were waiting to hear just saying our prayers that hes doing okay, Ryan said.

Capitol Police said the officer was stable and in non-life threatening condition.

Ryan said USCP will be hiring almost 1,000 new officers, but that the screening and hiring takes a long time.

After all of the trauma of Jan. 6, not being able to hug your kids or see your kids because youre working so much and youre up early and you stay late  its been a lot of pressure, said Ryan.



2021 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. Visit at rollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Singapore: Already facing a worrying new COVID-19 outbreak, Timor Leste has been hit by devastating flooding and landslides, claiming the lives of at least 11 people, destroying roads, bridges and houses and leaving the capital Dili under water.

The south-east Asian nations Secretary of State for Civil Protection, Joaquim Gusmao Martins, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Sunday authorities were trying to separate the many displaced residents at evacuation centres on the advice of health officials in a bid to contain the virus.

An aerial view of the flooding in Dili, Timor Leste on Sunday. Credit:Machel Silveira

Dilis population of 220,000 was ordered into lockdown last month along with the cities of Baucau and Viqueque following a concerning surge in community transmission.

The country had previously withstood the pandemic well  and still has not recorded a coronavirus death. But on the back of a spike in cases in recent weeks the natural disaster in Dili and on the south coast poses another major challenge for Australias close neighbours.
Kenya, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines have been added to Englands red list  meaning 11 nights of mandatory hotel quarantine for anyone arriving after 4am on Friday 9 April.

The government said the four countries had been added to protect the country against new variants of Covid-19 at a critical time for the vaccine programme.

A statement said: 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 and Brazil  entering England.

So far, surveillance has found that few cases of the South Africa variant have been identified as being imported from Europe, with most coming from other parts of the world.

From 4am on Friday 9 April, international visitors who have departed from or transited through Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya and Bangladesh in the previous 10 days will be refused entry into England.

Read more:

Only British and Irish citizens, or those with residence rights in the UK (including long-term visa holders), will be allowed to enter and they must stay in a government-approved quarantine facility for 10 days. They will also be required to arrive into a designated port.

No direct flight bans from these countries will be put in place, but passengers are advised to check their travel plans before departing for England.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: Our flights between London Heathrow and Manchester to Islamabad and Lahore will be departing as scheduled until Friday 9 April.

The cost of hotel quarantine for one traveller is 1,750, covering 11 nights with three meals per day.

The move affects countries with a total population of 541 million. Many British people have family connections in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and there is now likely to be a rush to return before next Fridays deadline.

The addition of Kenya, the biggest tourist location in east Africa and heavily dependent on overseas visitors, has been deplored by the co-owner of safari camps in the Maasai Mara.

Paul Goldstein said: Kenya has had a fraction  fewer than 2,500  of the Covid-related deaths than the UK. It has locked down most of the country for 60 days. It is a distant relative to somewhere like France yet finds itself on the new arbitrary red list of countries.

This is nanny-state bullying not based on any sort of science, with no thought as to how damaging this hawkish folly will be.

Trying to distract from earlier appalling mismanagement of the virus with these sort of discriminatory policies, just succeeds in thrusting millions into penury.

All arrivals to Scotland from abroad  apart from Ireland  are required to go into hotel quarantine.

Paul Charles, chief executive of the travel consultancy The PC Agency, and an advocate for Covid-19 testing rather than quarantine, said: The red list is going to flex enormously in the coming months, with weekly updates likely to see countries added at short notice.

But its interesting to see the government giving one weeks notice of the changes. This signals their plan for the summer  consumers will get one weeks notice of a country being moved from green to amber or red under the new traffic lights system.

The chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, Julia Lo Bue-Said, said: The latest additions to the red list demonstrate how changeable the situation can be, and demonstrate the importance of workable, mitigation solutions to avoid uncertainty in the future.

Leisure travel abroad from the UK is currently illegal.

The prime minister is expected to outline a framework for resuming international travel at a news conference on Easter Monday.
Pope Francis delivers his Urbi et Orbi blessing after celebrating Easter Mass at St Peters Basilica at The Vatican (Filippo Monteforte/AP)

Christianitys most joyous feast day was celebrated worldwide with faithful sitting far apart in pews and singing choruses of Hallelujah through face coverings on a second Easter Sunday conditioned by pandemic precautions.

From Protestant churches in South Korea to St Peters Basilica at the Vatican, worshippers followed national or local regulations aimed at preventing the transmission of coronavirus.

At a hospital in the Lombardy region of Italy, where the pandemic first erupted in the West in February 2020, a hospital gave a traditional dove-shaped Easter cake symbolising peace to each person who lined up to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.

Many of the ones who came were in their 80s and accompanied by adult children.

In Jerusalem, air travel restrictions and quarantine regulations prevented foreign pilgrims from flocking to religious sites during Holy Week, which culminates in Easter celebrations.

Inside St Peters Basilica, Pope Francis sprinkled incense near an icon of Jesus and said, May the joy of Easter extend to the whole world.

The 200 or so faithful who were allowed to attend looked lost in the cavernous cathedral.

Expand Close Priests wearing face masks pray during Easter Sunday mass led by the Latin Patriarch at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (Oded Balilty/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Priests wearing face masks pray during Easter Sunday mass led by the Latin Patriarch at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (Oded Balilty/AP)

Normally, thousands would attend the popular service and a crowd would gather outside in St Peters Square, with more than 100,000 sometimes assembling to receive the popes special Easter blessing after Mass.

But this year, like last year, crowds are banned from gathering in Italy, and at the Vatican.

So Francis scheduled his noon Easter address on world affairs to be delivered from inside the basilica.

Intent on tamping down weeks of surging infections, the Italian government ordered people to stay home during the three-day weekend except for essential errands like food shopping or exercise.

Premier Mario Draghi did grant a concession, permitting one visit to family or friends per day in residents home regions over the long weekend, which includes the Little Easter national holiday on Monday.

In Jerusalem, the Easter service at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was celebrated by Latin Patriarch Pierbattista, the senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land.

Expand Close A mother and her child take part in an Easter Sunday church service at the Anglican Cathederal of St Mary and All Saints in Harare, Zimbabwe (Tsvangirai Mukwazhi/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A mother and her child take part in an Easter Sunday church service at the Anglican Cathederal of St Mary and All Saints in Harare, Zimbabwe (Tsvangirai Mukwazhi/AP)

The site in Jerusalems Old City is where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead.

Israel has launched one of the worlds most successful vaccination campaigns, allowing the country to reopen restaurants, hotels and religious sites. Israel captured the Old City, home to holy sites of the three Abrahamic religions, in a 1967 war and later annexed it in a move unrecognised by the international community.

In South Korea, Yoido Full Gospel Church, the biggest Protestant church in the country, allowed only about 2,000 church members to attend Easter service, or about 17% of the capacity of churchs main building.

Masked church members sang hymns, clapped hands and prayed as the service was broadcast online and by Christian TV channels.

Seouls Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral, the biggest Catholic church in South Korea, limited Mass attendance to 20% capacity and livestreamed the Easter service on YouTube.

In Italys southern region of Puglia, the governor and many mayors urged the faithful to stay home and watch mass on TV.

The region is one of many in Italy under the most severe red-zone restrictions due to the Covid-19 infection rate.

Expand Close Italian carabinieri, paramilitary policemen, set a cross adorned with an olive tree branch outside St Peters Square, at the Vatican with lockdown keeping pilgrims away (Gregorio Borgia/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Italian carabinieri, paramilitary policemen, set a cross adorned with an olive tree branch outside St Peters Square, at the Vatican with lockdown keeping pilgrims away (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Attending a Saturday night Easter Vigil Mass is a popular practice for many in Italy.

But with the nation under a 10pm to 5am curfew, churches moved up the traditional starting times by a couple of hours.

Church bells in Italy summoned people to services unusually early, tolling before sunset in some places.

A similar scenario played out in France, which is reeling from a frightful upsurge in Covid-19 cases that are overtaking already strained hospitals.

Some French churches held their traditional midnight Easter services just before dawn on Sunday instead of on Saturday night because of a nationwide 7pm to 6am curfew.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  In the tiny, oil-rich sheikhdom of Kuwait, the foreigners who power the country's economy, serve its society and make up 70% of its population are struggling to get coronavirus vaccines.

Unlike other Gulf Arab states that have administered doses to masses of foreign workers in a race to reach herd immunity, Kuwait has come under fire for vaccinating its own people first.

That leaves legions of laborers from Asia, Africa and elsewhere, who clean Kuwaiti nationals' homes, care for their children, drive their cars and bag their groceries, still waiting for their first doses, despite bearing the brunt of the pandemic.

The only people I've seen at the vaccination center were Kuwaiti," said a 27-year-old Kuwaiti doctor, who like most people interviewed for this story spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals. Kuwait has a citizens-first policy for everything, including when it comes to public health.

Kuwaiti authorities did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press on their vaccination strategy.

When Kuwaits vaccination registration site went live in December, authorities declared that health-care workers, older adults and those with underlying conditions would be first in line. As weeks ticked by, however, it became increasingly clear the lion's share of doses was going to Kuwaitis, regardless of their age or health. Initially, some expat medical workers said they couldn't even get appointments.

Kuwaits labor system, which links migrants residency status to their jobs and gives employers outsized power, prevails across the Gulf Arab states. But hostility toward migrants long has burned hotter in Kuwait. The legacy of the 1991 Gulf War, which triggered mass deportations of Palestinian, Jordanian and Yemeni workers whose leaders had supported Iraq in the conflict, fueled anxiety about the need for self-reliance in Kuwait that endures today  even as Southeast Asian laborers rushed to fill the void.

Story continues

A 30-year-old Indian woman who has spent her whole life in Kuwait watched her Instagram feed fill with celebratory photos of Kuwaiti teenagers getting the jab. Her father, a 62-year-old diabetic with high blood pressure, could not  like the rest of her relatives living there.

All the Kuwaitis I know are vaccinated, she said. It's more than just annoying, it's a realization that no, this is not cool, there is no way to feel like I belong here anymore.

Kuwait has vaccinated its citizens at a rate six times that of non-citizens, the Health Ministry revealed earlier this year. At the time, despite some 238,000 foreigners registering online to book an appointment, only 18,000 of them  mostly doctors, nurses and well-connected workers in state oil companies  were actually called in to receive the vaccine. Meanwhile, some 119,000 Kuwaitis were vaccinated.

With vaccine information only available in English or Arabic, advocates say that locks out scores of low-wage laborers from Southeast Asia who speak neither language.

The disparity set off a roiling debate on social media, with users decrying what they called the latest instance of xenophobia in Kuwait. They say the pandemic has magnified resentment of migrant workers, deepened social divides and hardened the government's resolve to protect its own people first. Medical professionals warned Kuwait's inoculation hierarchy damages public health.

Compared to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, among the worlds fastest vaccinators per capita, Kuwaits drive has lagged. While foreigners wait for shots, medical workers say Kuwaiti citizens remain reluctant to register because of vaccine conspiracy theories shared widely on social media. Infections have soared, prompting the government to impose a strict nightly curfew last month.

With pressure mounting on the Health Ministry, barriers eased in recent weeks, with a growing number of foreign residents 65 years of age and older reporting they were able to get vaccinated. Still, most expats insist the inequality in access remains striking.

We are waiting and waiting for the call, said a 55-year-old house cleaner from Sri Lanka. The moment I get the call, I will go. I need the vaccine to be safe.

The government has not released a demographic breakdown of vaccinated foreigners vs. Kuwaitis since the outrage over the inequality erupted in mid-February, only overall vaccination statistics. As of this week, 500,000 people have received at least one dose of either Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca, according to health authorities.

Even as the bulk of front-line workers in grocery stores and cafes remain unvaccinated, Kuwait is making plans to reopen society for the inoculated. Those who can prove they got the jab will be able to attend schools in the fall, go to cinemas in the spring and skip quarantine after flying into the country, the government announced.

Foreign workers in Kuwait have felt this frustration before. When the pandemic first struck, lawmakers, talk show hosts and prominent actresses blamed migrants for the viruss spread.

As the coronavirus ripped through crowded districts and dormitories where many foreigners live, authorities imposed targeted lockdowns and published surging virus counts with a breakdown of nationalities. When infections among Kuwaitis rose, the government stopped releasing demographic data.

It's easy for migrants to be seen as the root of all problems in Kuwait," said Rohan Advani, a researcher of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Citizens dont have political or economic power, so when they dont like whats happening to their country, blaming foreigners becomes the main outlet.

Despite having an outspoken parliament, final power in Kuwait rests with the ruling emir. Kuwaiti citizens, who are guaranteed spots on the public payroll and reap the benefits of a cradle-to-grave welfare state, increasingly have clamored for policies that limit the flow of migrants.

Earlier this year, the government banned the renewal of visas for expats over 60 without college degrees, effectively expelling an estimated 70,000 people, including many who have lived in Kuwait for decades.

This discrimination is not new for us. The pandemic has just highlighted the worst of it, said a 30-year-old Lebanese woman who grew up in Kuwait and whose older relatives are still waiting for vaccines.

But this is life and death," she said. I never really thought it would reach this point.
Quotable Quotes: Xi Jinping on national heroes, martyrs

Xinhua) 13:57, April 04, 2021

Xi Jinping straightens the red ribbons on flower baskets during a ceremony to present flower baskets to deceased national heroes at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The 4th of April this year marks the Qingming Festival, an important day on the lunar calendar when Chinese people traditionally sweep the tombs of their deceased family members and pay tributes to their ancestors.

During this day, Chinese people also pay respect to martyrs.

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has on many occasions emphasized the importance of remembering the country's national heroes and carrying forward their spirit.

The following is a selection of his remarks on the subject.

-- The accomplishments of the revolutionary martyrs will go down in history and their names shall never be forgotten.

-- In times of adversity, there have always been heroes standing forward. This reflects the great spirit of the Chinese nation.

-- Only by respecting heroes will other heroes emerge, and only by hailing them will more appear in their place.

-- The People's Republic of China has a revolutionary tradition and this tradition must not fade. Our flag has been reddened by forefathers' blood. It would be unacceptable if we cannot better develop the country for which they have longed, strived and sacrificed.

-- The purpose of learning from the heroes is to apply their spirit in everyday work and demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility toward people's lives and safety.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Bianji)
David Almond, a 14-year-old diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, was found bruised, emaciated and living in abhorrent conditions hours before his death. Just seven days prior, a Foster Care Review panel found that John Almond, and his girlfriend, Jaclyn Marie Coleman were meeting all the childrens needs.

Police arrived at the Fall River one-bedroom apartment Almond shared with his brothers, father and fathers girlfriend in October following a report of an unresponsive person. He was rushed to Charlton Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Almond is remembered as a caring boy who wore a near-constant smile and sought to make those around him laugh. He was close to his brothers, both of whom also were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

The bond between the triplet brothers was extraordinary, reads a report released after his death. The triplets had their own language to communicate, one individual describing it as their love language. "

John Almond, and Coleman, have since been indicted on charges of second-degree murder and neglect of a disabled person resulting in serious bodily injury.

Six months after his death, a 107-page investigative report was released by the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate. It details the events around Almonds death, the harm done to his brothers, and concerns about DCFs management of the familys case.

The report also outlines a series of reforms to be implemented including, additional training, better collaborations, information sharing and management support.

Similar reforms have been recommended following the high-profile deaths of other Massachusetts children with whom DCF was involved over the past decade.

After the death of two-year-old Bella Bond, there were five recommendations from OCA to DCF.

Bella Bond

After the murder of 2-year-old Bella Bond in 2015, there were five recommendations from OCA to DCF.

Bond, once referred to as Baby Doe, was found on Deer Island in June 2015. DCF had previously been involved with Bonds mother, Rachelle Bond. Two other children had been removed from her care and parental rights were terminated. Rachelles boyfriend, Michael McCarthy, was convicted of second degree murder in the case.

The report, in addition to the recommendations, found that DCF did not properly assess Rachelles ability to parent and assess Bellas risk, closing the cases early.

Avalena Conway-Coxon

Avalena Conway-Coxon

Another 2-year-olds death, Avalena Conway-Coxon, resulted in a five-step corrective action plan after she and a second toddler, who was 22 months old at the time, were found unresponsive in 2015.

Conway-Coxons foster mother Kimberly Malpass was indicted and charged with two counts of reckless endangerment of a child and one count of misleading a police investigation.

Jeremiah Oliver, 5, went missing from Fitchburg in September 2013. His body was found months later off the side of Interstate 190 in Sterling. Courtesy photo.

Jeremiah Oliver

The disappearance of Jeremiah Oliver resulted in three recommendations to DCF, after the 5-year-old was found dead in a suitcase off the highway in 2014.

The report found that the social worker assigned to the family failed to provide the most basic support services.

Chase Gideika

And the death of Chase Gideika in 2013 also resulted in three recommendations to the department.

The 3-month-old boy was addicted to drugs at birth and was fatally beaten by his mothers boyfriend in Lynn. The report said Gideika and his twin were sent home from the hospital despite risks of maltreatment from inexperienced parents with a history of drug abuse and mental health problems.

While each death is due to a different circumstance, there are similarities in the recommendations given to the state agency overseeing their well-being. Below are the latest reforms recommended to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, and how theyve been talked about in the past.

Risk assessment

One of the recommendations is for DCF to review its current processes for safety assessment and develop an evidence-based process for assessing safety, including a structured framework for examining the potential safety of a child within a family unit.

In the case of Bond, the risk assessments did not accurately reflect the risk.

DCF shall develop a protocol that provides expectations and guidance about completing the risk assessment tool, the report from 2015 states.

Six years later, the suggestion to use the tool still isnt being used.

The OCA report after Almonds death found that there was a failure to use a risk assessment tool.

This is, once again, suggested in the recommendations to DCF.

The DCF administration should review their current processes for safety assessment and develop an evidenced-based process for assessing safety that includes ... how and when safety assessment should be used as a tool for monitoring, the report states.

Training and supervision

OCAs first recommendation in the report is to revise the supervision policy and workforce training curriculum to ensure all levels of the DCF workforce receive frequent and structured supervision.

Similar wording regarding supervisors and training can be found in other OCF reports.

In the case of Bond, the OCA found that there was a lack of sufficient management structure, which they said, contributed to the poor case judgment. The report then said that as a result of the lessons learned in these recent reviews, DCF is vigorously rebuilding their management structure, revising their supervision and clinical oversight; issuing new policies for intake, assessment, service planning and case closing; enhancing their training of staff, and implementing a robust system of quality assurance.

No managerial oversight of the decision to close the case is indicated in the DCF record, the report states. A month after the case closed, Ms. Bond and Bella moved to an apartment without supportive services in place other than monthly visits from the housing specialist. Given the long history and totality of factors, DCF should not have closed the case at the end of the assessment, which it might not have if the current status of services had been checked.

In 2015, after the death of 2-year-old Conway-Coxon, it was suggested to expand management and supervisor capacity. Additional training was also required.

Following the rollout of the retraining on family resource policy and EEC licensing standards, area program managers and supervisors managing family resource units will meet regionally on a bi-monthly basis to ensure consistent application of and compliance with policy and EEC licensing standards, the case review states.

In Almonds case, a parenting support service provider expressed concerns about his fathers ability to meet the triplets needs after Almond and one of his brothers returned to living in the Fall River home as they frequently canceled appointments.

Within days of these expressed concerns, DCF area office management made the decision to begin the reunification process of the triplets with Mr. Almond and Ms. Coleman. DCF area office management made this decision without any familiarity with the case and without conducting any administrative review of the case record.

One of the triplets, Noah, was not in the care or custody of the family at the time of Davids death. He chose to remain in a group home, refusing to return to the care of his father.

In the case of Oliver, the area program manager was fired as a result of Jeremiahs disappearance and the resulting review of her work. Similarly, DCF terminated one Fall River DCF office manager as a result of this case and another manager was slated for termination but retired first, the spokesperson said.

Substance abuse

Parents which have a history of substance abuse is part of the risk factor, especially when considering young children, which was brought up when talking about Bond, Oliver and Gideika.

The Commissioner is directing the Department to screen in for investigation and intensive case management any report alleging abuse or neglect about a family with a child five years old or younger which presents any, or a combination, of the following risk factors: young parents; or parents of any age which have a history of substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health issues, or 10 unresolved childhood trauma, a report from 2014 states.

In August 2017 the case of Almond and his brothers was opened by the DCF Fall River Area Office due to Ms. Colemans substance use, and concern for Mr. Almond and Ms. Colemans ability to meet the needs of their newborn Aiden and the needs of the triplets. After Davids death, his two brothers living in the home were placed in DCF care. It was the fourth time the triplets had been removed from their fathers care for the identical pattern of abuse and neglect.

While the final recommendations for the department dont mention substance use, they do ask for a standard process for parenting assessment referrals that includes relevant DCF and family history.

Information sharing

The triplets were born in New York and were previously under the supervision of the New York Office of Children and Families from 2013 to 2016. The state awarded John Almonds custody in 2016 but there was no communication between states.

There is also no evidence that New York OCFS ever initiated contact with Massachusetts DCF, or any other state entity, to determine if Mr. Almond had the means and ability to parent these children prior to the New York Family Court placing the children with him in Massachusetts, the report states. This decision remains a mystery to the OCA as returning custody to Mr. Almond appears not to have been the appropriate legal action under the circumstances.

A lack of information sharing between states has been a problem for years.

The Oliver family had a history of serious child protective concerns in another state that did not follow the family to Massachusetts, according to the report released after five-year-old Olivers death in 2014. Although DCF investigators in Massachusetts were aware of this history and requested more information in 2011, the child protective agency in the other state did not respond.

The OCA stated that it is critical that child protection records be made available to other states in appropriate circumstances, such as during investigations so that social workers can assess the risk and safety of the child.

Yet this and other aspects in each of these cases continue to be an issue.

In 2015, an investigation by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting found that at least one-third of the 110 children whose deaths were linked to abuse or neglect between 2009 and 2013 had at some point been under DCF supervision.

There were systemic problems with the agency that prevents it from learning from child deaths, the investigation found. One example the report stated was that teams that are supposed to review fatalities do not meet regularly. The state has a system that classifies children as high or low risk, yet some of the fatalities were of children classified as low risk.

Because were not learning from these deaths, the risk is of not being able to prevent the next group, investigative reporter Jenifer McKim, said in 2015 of the investigation. Theres a growing understanding that until you look at what happens to child abuse and neglect deaths, youre not going to be able to prevent future ones.

There were 73 children with a family history with DCF that died in 2020, with 25 children having open cases or a response when they died and 18 had a prior history with the department.

_______

If you are a parent struggling with substance abuse or parenting someone with disabilities or trauma, help is available.
Ethiopia says Eritrean troops are pulling out of Tigray View Photo

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)  Ethiopian authorities said on Saturday that Eritrean troops have started withdrawing from Tigray, where they have been fighting on the side of Ethiopian forces in a war against the regions fugitive leaders.

The Eritreans have now started to evacuate Tigray and Ethiopian forces have taken over guarding the national border, Ethiopias Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Its not clear how many Eritrean troops have left, and some in Tigray assert that the Eritreans arent leaving at all. The regions leaders have charged that Eritrean troops sometimes dressed in Ethiopian military uniforms.

Ethiopias government faces intense pressure to end the Tigray war, which started in November when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed troops there following an attack on federal military facilities. The regions fugitive leaders do not recognize Abiys authority after a national election was postponed last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The G-7 group of nations on Friday issued a strong statement calling for the swift, unconditional and verifiable withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray after Abiy said last week the Eritreans had agreed to go.

That statement also urged the establishment of a clear, inclusive political process that is acceptable to all Ethiopians, including those in Tigray, and which leads to credible elections and a wider national reconciliation process.

The International Crisis Group, in an analysis released Friday, warned of the risk of a protracted war, citing an entrenched Tigrayan resistance combined with Ethiopian and Eritrean authorities determination to keep Tigrays fugitive leaders from power.

That would further devastate Tigray and greatly harm Ethiopia, the linchpin state in the Horn of Africa, the report said. With a decisive battlefield win for either side a remote prospect, parties should consider a cessation of hostilities that allows for expanded humanitarian aid access. This practical first step would reduce civilian suffering and ideally pave the way for a return to dialogue down the road.

There are increasing reports of atrocities such as massacres and rapes in the war, and concern is growing about a lack of food and medical care in Tigray, home to 6 million of Ethiopias more than 110 million people.

The United States has characterized some abuses in Tigray as ethnic cleansing, charges dismissed by Ethiopian authorities as unfounded. Officials in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capita, havent cited a death toll in the war.

The United Nations and an Ethiopian rights agency announced last week they had agreed to carry out a joint investigation into abuses in Tigray, where fighting persists as government troops hunt down fighters loyal to the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, the party that dominated national politics for decades before the rise of Abiy.

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA

Associated Press
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 19:37:56|Editor: huaxia

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by Tafara Mugwara

HARARE, April 4 (Xinhua) -- With a small hammer and a chisel in his hands, David Ngwerume, a lawyer-cum-artist, pounded on a solid chunk of Chrysoprase stone.

Brownish dust fell off and a figure of a lion took slowly shape as he repeated the procedure.

The piece of sculpture Ngwerume was working on is part of the "Thy next world collection," - a collection of artwork to inspire people to see the world differently and live harmoniously with nature.

Despite being a practicing attorney with a law firm in Harare, Ngwerume is also an internationally acclaimed sculptor with a fantastic eye for detail.

Although he said it is no easy feat to balance his creative career and practicing law, Ngwerume strives to give equal attention to both professions.

"Whenever I am not in courts and I don't have work at the law firm, I spend my other time here, so I can't call it spare time but I would also call it productive time because once I am done there I am here at the workshop," he told Xinhua in an interview at his workshop.

While law and arts might seem to be different worlds apart, Ngwerume said there are countless similarities between the two professions, which enables him to excel in both at the same time.

"Both fields deal with humanity, and if you are a very good artist who can use imagination and creativity, it also assists you in the law aspect of it because your perceptions and your views towards the world are different.

"Law moves in advocacy, you need to convince a judge, art also needs advocacy, it needs you to convince viewers who will be seeing your art and for them to understand how it comes out and what you are trying to portray," he said.

Ngwerume, who has pursued art for over two decades, has mastered the art of expressing societal issues through his art. His work is inspired by his day-to-day experiences in the legal system.

He uses mostly serpentine stone to carve pieces of art that convey emotions, events and the struggles of everyday life. Ngwerume described the artwork as an effective tool to bring everlasting positive change in society.

"So through art and through the law, it creates a harmonious order with sustenance between the two, that is how people are living in their lives and also what can we do as humans to change the world," he said.

Some of Ngwerume's famous works include "Scales of Justice" sculpture erected in front of the Harare and Bulawayo High Courts.

He has also carried out works for various organizations including the Judicial Services Commission of Zimbabwe, Office of the President and Cabinet of Zimbabwe, the Angolan government and the DRC government.

Earlier this year, Ngwerume released a work of art titled "Daring a Mustang" under a collection dubbed "Taking the Reins." The collection was inspired by the horse culture and the pieces are made of brown Chrysoprase stone, a type of stone that is found within deposits of nickel.

Ngwerume said while the pandemic hindered his work, it has also enabled him to put more effort into his artwork.

He has also used his artistic talent to create awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, he hogged the limelight after unveiling his new piece titled "The New Normal", a piece of sculpture that draws inspiration from the daily reality the world is facing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The piece, which is made up of black granite, showcases an African woman, carved in an African map design, wearing a heard scuff and a surgical mask.

As an attorney, Ngwerume has also helped many artists to navigate various legal challenges facing them such as copyright issues.

Zimbabwe's stone sculpture is world-renowned and the art traces its history to the medieval Great Zimbabwe empire which was founded in the 11th century, and from which Zimbabwe derives its name. Enditem
Page Content

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 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 results 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 reflects the rapid transmission experienced in SE England at the time of UK variant emergence.





Minister Panneflek urges all Dutch side residents to be apart 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.




ALFSnaiper/iStockBY: DAVONE MORALES AND JACK ARNHOLZ, ABC NEWS

(WASHINGTON)  Congress needs to balance making the Capitol complex secure, while at the same time maintaining its openness to the public, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" days after a knife-wielding man rammed his vehicle into a U.S. Capitol barricade, killing a Capitol Police officer.

"I don't think it does the job. In fact, the fencing was right there when the car drove through," the senator told "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos.

"I think it would be a mistake for fencing to be a permanent part of the Capitol," Blunt added.

The fatal incident on Friday occurred less than three months after the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead.

Blunt also cited retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who led a review of the security failures at the U.S. Capitol in January and told lawmakers that fencing can create a false sense of security.

"The idea that what happens next at the Capitol will be what happened last is almost certain not to be the case," Blunt said Sunday.

In a separate interview on "This Week," Stephanopoulos asked Honore about the timing for removing the fencing put up after the Jan. 6 riots.

"You say we're trying to balance security and accessibility. We know that many members of Congress have called for the permanent fencing to come down after the Jan. 6 siege. Did it start to come down too soon?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"I don't think so, George. The fencing and people we were seeing were a result of post-1/6, as well as preparation for the inauguration. It never came down because there was a lot of threat messages that came in for potential activity on 4 March," he said.

The retired lieutenant general said the scaling back of the permanent fencing perimeter around the complex was in line with a reduction of threats aimed at the complex.

And although Honore agreed the Capitol is increasingly becoming a target, he said, "From inside the Capitol, talking to many members of Congress on both the Senate and the House side, both parties, they all left us with the impression their number one mission is to secure the Capitol, but make sure it has 100% public access.

Blunt is leading a bipartisan effort to investigate the riots and he has co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and District of Columbia Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton to prevent the use of permanent fencing around the Capitol. Among the suggestions in the security review is a fence that could be quickly erected as needed.

"We've given them recommendations, the Corps of Engineers is standing by to reinforce the outer grounds of the Capitol with contractors coming in to put advanced fencing that can come out of the ground as required," Honore said.

He also stressed that the most important solution to improving security at the complex is to increase the number of Capitol Police officers and provide them with additional funding through a supplemental budget.

"It's time for Congress to work the plan. We gave them the plan. We worked hard to give it to them. Now they've got to work to make that plan come through," Honore told Stephanopoulos.

"The police in the Capitol deserve this. Our nation deserves it. And those families who have lost loved ones deserve it. And we need to up our game in support of the Capitol Police," Honore continued.

Blunt agreed with most of Honore's assessment but pushed back on increasing the size of the Capitol Police force.

"What we're doing to recruit and what we're doing to train -- I think that's maybe even more important than the size of the forces, " Blunt said.

The debate over providing more money to the Capitol Police comes as Congress prepares to take up a $2 trillion initiative on infrastructure proposed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday. With Republicans already expressing opposition to the package, Stephanopoulos asked Blunt why the GOP would resist spending that is popular with the public.

"Your leader, Mitch McConnell, has already signaled Republicans are going to oppose those proposals. But polls show that investing more in roads, bridges, high-speed rail, broadband is widely popular. Any worry that the GOP is on the wrong side of this issue?" Stephanopoulos pressed.

"Well, I'm actually for all of that. If the proposal was to do just that, I don't think there'd be a problem with the bipartisan group of supporters for this package," Blunt responded. "I've reached out to the White House a couple of times now and said, you've got an easy bipartisan win here if you'll keep this package narrowly focused on infrastructure.

Blunt said one of the problems he has with the bill is that it provides more funding to electric charging stations than roads, bridges and airports.

In a later interview with Stephanopoulos, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg directly responded to Blunt.

"I've got a lot of respect for Sen. Blunt, but I'm going to work to try to persuade him that electrical vehicle charging infrastructure is absolutely a core part of how Americans are going to need to get around in the future, and not the distant, far-off future, but right now," Buttigieg said on "This Week."

Stephanopoulos also challenged Blunt on Republican opposition to how Biden plans to fund the bill.

"The Republicans are against the tax increase and corporate tax increase that President Biden is proposing, raising it back to 28%, which is still below where it was before President Trump's tax cuts. The stock market is booming now. Corporate stocks are up. So, isn't this a good time to invest some of those profits in the future?" Stephanopoulos asked.

Blunt said that the Democrats' proposal to raise the corporation tax could negatively impact businesses looking to bring jobs back to the U.S.

"As businesses are thinking about resourcing and bringing things back to the United States -- restructuring how their companies are put together -- the corporate tax is an important element of that," the senator said.

Additionally, Blunt pointed out the unlikeliness that any Republican senator would vote for raising the corporation tax just four years after passing legislation that lowered it.

"Every Republican in the Senate who was there in 2017 voted for the 2017 tax bill. To ask them to turn around, and within less than four years, turn that around is a very unlikely thing to happen," he added.

Copyright  2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Head of Monitoring Unit of Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu says no one should pamper Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, North Tongu MP, over his resignation from the Appointments Committee in Parliament.



Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa communicated his decision in a letter dated March 30 and addressed to the Speaker of the Parliament, Alban Bagbin.



He also entreated the Speaker to consider his resignation with immediate effect.



Stating reasons, he said his decision comes after days of careful reflection and thoughtful considerations. I shall like to state that the reasons for this difficult decision is both personal and on principle.



To Charles Owusu, Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa's resignation is not a novelty and should be of no importance so far as discourse on the economy is concerned.



He stated that there are very pertinent problems affecting Ghanaians and so the focus should be on resolving them, not discussing the North Tongu MP's decision.



"That someone who resign from a Committee or not is good news; it's when somebody goes that others can have the opportunity to occupy the vacant position. He is tired. He's done his part; so if he says he cannot continue any longer, it's no matter. The Police isn't going to arrest him neither will we pamper him nor beg him for forgiveness," he said.



He also charged the North Tongu MP to concentrate on working to improve his constituency.



He said; "Remember where you started life to reach your current position".



He made these comments on Peace FM's morning show '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.

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Horrific video footage has emerged appearing to show members of the Ethiopian military carrying out a massacre in which at least 15 unarmed men were rounded up and shot in the back of the head in the war-torn region of Tigray.

Their dead bodies can be seen strewn across the mountainous terrain while the perpetrators shoot at them again to make sure there are no survivors.

The victims are then picked up and flung off the side of a ridge near the town of Mahibere Dego, northern Tigray region, it is claimed.

Evidence has emerged that the killers were wearing Ethiopian army uniforms when the senseless murders occurred, according to investigations by BBC Africa Eye and CNN.

At the beginning of the video, dozens of unarmed men are sat in rows whilst surrounded by the soldiers.

At the beginning of the video, dozens of unarmed men are sat in rows whilst surrounded by the soldiers

Evidence has emerged that the killers were wearing Ethiopian army uniforms when the senseless murders occurred, according to investigations by BBC Africa Eye and CNN

They can be heard speaking Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, in the video and saying: 'We should not free these people. Not even one of them should be spared.

'We have to get this on video, how these people die,' says another man.

The group of defenceless men are then led to a cliff edge where they are shot in the back of the head.

The soldiers then go and check to see if all of the victims are dead - and they can be seen shooting at the injured men who were still alive.

The soldiers can be heard shouting 'kill, kill, kill. Shoot him, shoot him. Shoot him or do you want me to come and do it' as they stand over the victims.

They can also be heard mocking the dead. One said: 'It would have been great if there was gas to burn these people. Burn their bodies like the Indians do.'

The soldiers then go and check to see if all of the victims are dead - and they can be seen shooting at the injured men who were still alive

The mass killing is just the latest tale of terror to emerge from Ethiopia's Tigray conflict since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a government offensive against regional leaders in November last year.

In February this year, a report was released showing satellite images allegedly of mass graves holding hundreds of bodies from a massacre in an ancient Ethiopian town that is home to the Ark of the Covenant.

In the latest massacre, analysts believe the attackers in the video were members of the Ethiopian army due to a stitching of the country's flag on their uniform as well as the clothing's distinct black pattern.

The uniforms appear to match those worn by the Ethiopian National Defense Force.

The location was determined to be near Mahibere Dego using geo-location tracking and 3D modeling software, according to analysts from Amnesty International in collaboration with CNN as well experts from Bellingcat and Newsy who were working with BBC Africa Eye.

Analysis using the SunCalc tool also suggests the killing occurred in the late afternoon.

The victims are then picked up and flung off the side of a ridge near the town of Mahibere Dego, northern Tigray region, it is claimed

A man, given the pseudonym Dawit, told CNN he believes one of the men in the video was his younger brother Alula - another pseudonym.

Dawit said Ethiopian soldiers had arrived in Mahibere Dego and dragged young men, including his 23-year-old brother, from their homes.

Dawit was able to escape after the soldiers allegedly shot at him - but he broke his leg in the process by running down a rocky path.

He said he hasn't seen his brother since - and believes he may be one of the men in the video. Dawit is still hopeful his brother somehow survived the onslaught.

'Since we didn't see his body with our own eyes and bury our brother ourselves, it's hard for us to believe he's dead. It feels like he's still alive, we can't accept his death,' Dawit said.

'We will always remember him.

The mass killing is just the latest tale of terror to emerge from Ethiopia's Tigray conflict since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a government offensive against regional leaders in November last year

Satellite imagery has been analysed by Amnesty International in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region to piece together the bloody events of last November in the ancient town of Axum. The above shows signs on newly disturbed earth near a church where many people are believed to have been buried after a massacre in November, 'likely a crime against humanity'

'I am extremely sad, it's very difficult to express my bitter sadness, there are not enough words to express my sadness, losing my brother in this way.'

Initial unverified footage of the massacre emerged on social media earlier this month after Tigrai Media House (TMH) broadcast the harrowing video.

Stalin Gebreselassie, a TMH journalist, said he was sent the footage via a source in Tigray who said the video had been filmed by an Ethiopian soldier turned whistleblower on his mobile phone.

'This crime is so egregious that it really merited properly interrogating the content to make sure we can 100% put a stamp on it to say, we know where this happened and we know that this happened. And we went to great lengths to do that,' Sam Dubberley, the acting head of Amnesty International's Crisis Evidence Lab, said.

'The fact that it is a perpetrator that's done this [filmed the video] shows a feeling of impunity, that they can get away with it. And I think it's really important that the perpetrators of these crimes are held to account by the Ethiopian government... for what appear to be extrajudicial killings.'

Laetitia Bader, the Horn of Africa director for Human Rights Watch, told the BBC: 'We see what appear to be unarmed detained men, who are being executed,' she said.

'This is absolutely an incident that requires further investigation, because what we are seeing here in these videos could amount to war crimes.'

The Ethiopian government told CNN in a statement on Friday that 'social media posts and claims cannot be taken as evidence, regardless of whether Western media report it or not'.

They added that the government 'has indicated its open will for independent investigations to be undertaken in the Tigray region'.
Hopeful. Alive. Connected. Joy.

Those were all words used to describe how a group of Bay Area residents felt during a closing circle after kayaking in Richmonds Marina Bay on a recent Saturday. Some attendees had kayaked before. For others, like Marisa Brown, it was their first time.

The group was part of a local meetup hosted by Outdoor Afro, a national organization founded in Oakland that connects Black people to nature and celebrates the contributions of Black people to the outdoors. The Bay Areas chapter of Trackers Earth, an organization that offers outdoor programs and summer camps for children, provided the kayaks for the event.

Brown, of Oakland, has been hiking and paddling with Outdoor Afro since last year. She said theres a sense of belonging at each meetup that she values.

It makes a difference when you see another person of color, said Brown, who identifies as biracial. You start to build a community, you start to see people at different events, you start bringing your friends.

Its what Rue Mapp envisioned when she first created Outdoor Afro as a blog in 2009. The Oakland native would search for groups to find other outdoor enthusiasts like herself.

I found that, especially as I got out away from the city, Id be the only Black person on those trips, Mapp said.

It was different from the experience she had as a child visiting the redwoods in Oakland with her family and her fathers ranch in Lake County on weekends. Her father, she said, would often invite family and friends from church to their ranch.

I got to experience up close and personal this wonder that people would experience when they were able to see stars at night that they wouldnt otherwise see in a polluted city, Mapp said. Or just remarks about how fresh the air was, or how quiet and peaceful it was.

I had this value of connecting to nature and hospitality that were rooted in my childhood experiences, she added.

Outdoor Afro is open to everyone, she said, but its specifically focused on the Black American experience.

Black people in the U.S. have been systematically excluded from public lands and the outdoors. According to a recent report, Black families are more likely to live in areas with less access to nature than white families.

For Mapp, the court case brought by John Harris in San Francisco in the late 1800s established the importance of access to the outdoors.

Harris, who was Black, was denied entry twice to the newly opened Sutro Baths despite paying the entrance fee in 1897  months after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld racial segregation laws under the separate but equal doctrine in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case.

Harris filed a lawsuit with the San Francisco Superior Court under the Dibble Civil Rights Act, which became the Unruh Civil Rights Act in 1959 and was recognized as Californias first civil rights act, according to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. The court ruled in Harris favor although he received significantly less in damages than what he sued for.

Its because of his sacrifice, in the similar way that I think about the Harriet Tubmans of our world, that we stand on the shoulders of and that (Outdoor Afro) is honoring, Mapp said.

After the killings last year of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery  and during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately affected Black communities  Mapp said Outdoor Afro has provided a space for Black people to heal.

The organization regularly hosts Healing Hikes, which the group started in 2014 when protests erupted after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Last year in February, Oprah Winfrey highlighted the group on her wellness tour and joined them for a healing hike at Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland.

For Julius Crowe Hampton, Outdoor Afro is a way of making Black lives matter in nature.

Its just so beautiful to have a refuge and to really do that healing work in nature, said Hampton, who identifies as Black and is a regional leader for Outdoor Afro. I love the fact that we center joy and healing and community.

Abram Jackson, who attended the Saturday meetup, said each event is an opportunity to learn about Black history.

This organization connects us to the history that we have in the outdoors space, said Jackson, who identifies as Black. Its a reminder that we are part of this and not an add-on, he said.

Participants paddled their boats from Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond Inner Harbor, which is near the historical Richmond Shipyards District. There were moments of stillness and calm when participants just soaked in the cool breeze and skyline view of San Francisco.

Abu Baker, a local leader with Outdoor Afro, gave a brief history lesson on the Kaiser shipyards and the fight to hire Black workers after World War II. Participants also paid respects to the native Ohlone people of Brooks Island, where participants kayaked nearby.

Baker said he enjoys not only teaching participants about the outdoors, but learning from them as well. A woman who is a botanist has joined Bakers hiking meetups and teaches him about plants and ecology, he said.

I like learning from others, especially people of color, said Baker, who identifies as Black. To be able to go outside safely and connect with people in a supportive social and healthy way is just priceless.

After protesters took to the streets last summer to demand justice for Black Americans killed by police, many industries and institutions in the U.S. had a reckoning on race, including environmental groups. In July, the Sierra Club apologized for its substantial role in perpetuating white supremacy, re-examined the organizations racist history and said John Muir, the clubs founder, was racist.

For Mapp, last year made it clear that Outdoor Afros work was more important than ever.

We didnt have to pivot our messaging. We didnt have to redefine who we were, Mapp said. It was a moment that helped us to understand the relevancy that weve always had, but especially in that moment.

Daria McKnight, an instructor at Trackers Earth and participant of Outdoor Afro meetups, said it had been her dream to connect both organizations. When she started working for the organization four summers ago, she said she noticed a lack of diversity.

As a result of the Black Lives Matter movement and the pandemic, the organization has been working on its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Theres some companies coming out of COVID and Black Lives Matter [protests] and not making any changes, said McKnight, who identifies as Black. Im really proud of [Trackers Earth] for the growth. I think its better late than never.

For the closing circle Saturday, McKnights words were hopeful and encouraged. She said she hopes the relationship between both organizations will continue.

Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
THE opposition MDC Alliance and political analysts say the conviction of activist Makomborero Haruzivishe last week is a strategy to silence critics and instil fear ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections.

Haruzivishe, a strong critic of President Emmerson Mnangagwas administration, was convicted on charges of inciting public violence and will be sentenced on Tuesday.

MDC Alliance youth assembly leader Obey Sithole said the conviction was a testimony of judicial capture and weaponisation of justice,

We view his conviction as a direct insult to the very existence of law, it is a clear testimony of judicial capture and weaponisation of justice wherein the law is constantly abused by the regime to suppress any voices of dissent, Sithole said.

The conviction absolutely has nothing to do with the interpretation of law, but a well-coordinated architecture of mutilating alternative voices of all those, who have been courageous to speak and act against the regimes blatant failures especially at a time like this where it is not fashionable to do so given the perpetual harsh political environment.

He said the Zanu PF government was trying to scare young people from speaking out. By convicting Mako, the regime is certainly trying to scare away the young generation from participating in political processes, Sithole said.

However, these acts of evil will not deter us from soldiering on towards the desired destination of a new Zimbabwe respectful of all fundamental rights and freedoms.

MDC Alliance youths and students under the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) banner have been leading protests against government over abductions including that of Midlands State University scholar Tawanda Muchehiwa who was abducted by suspected state security agents ahead of the planned July 31, 2020 protests against corruption.

MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzai Mahere said Haruzivishe was targeted for being vocal against the Mnangagwa administration.

He is a well-known activist, who is being targeted because he is vocal about the poverty, injustice and corruption faced by the citizens and because he is a member of the MDC Alliance, Mahere said.

Political analyst Rashweat Mukundu said: The regime is tightening screws on the opposition by moving a gear up from harassment, beatings and threats to putting people in prison.

There is no doubt that the charges against Haruzivishe, Joana Mamombe and Cecelia Chimbiri are politicised to set an example and frighten the rest of opposition activists from confronting the regime.

He added: Unbeknown, the regime is creating struggle heroes. United Kingdom-based lawyer Alex Magaisa said: But it was only a matter of time before the Mnangagwa regime started to convict and lock up political opponents.

It will only get worse. Standard
New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the decision by the United States to lift sanctions and visa restrictions against officials with the International Criminal Court (ICC)
The Netherlands temporarily suspended AstraZenecas COVID-19 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, according to a report.

The announcement to pause the British-Swedish pharmaceutical companys vaccine was made in a government statement on Friday, which said that due to a new report on side effects, health officials decided not to vaccinate people under the age of 60 in the coming days.

The womans death was reported by the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareba research center that tracks the risks associated with the use of medicines.

These are women between 25 and 65 years old. Three patients had extensive pulmonary embolisms. One died and one also had a brain hemorrhage, Lareb said.

Health officials said a link between the vaccine and the side effects has not yet been established but is being investigated. The complications arose about 7 to 10 days after the people received the vaccine.

It is the first time someone died in the Netherlands after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was previously suspended temporarily in multiple countries in the European Union over blood clot concerns, including in the Netherlands.

Last month, the Netherlandss Health Ministry halted the administration of AstraZeneca for more than two weeks after serious side effects arose in a small number of people.

Germany on Tuesday became the latest European country to also stop injecting people with the AstraZeneca vaccine under the age of 60 amid fresh concerns over unusual blood clots reported in a number of those who received the shots.

France, meanwhile, also said in mid-March it decided to limit the vaccine to people for those aged 55 and older.

The precautionary measure has no impact on planned vaccinations with AstraZeneca for people 60 and older because reports of possible side effects are mainly seen under 60 years of age, health officials wrote in the Dutch government statement.

About 10,000 scheduled appointments for vaccinations have been scrapped as a result of the suspension of the vaccine, news agency ANP reported.

There have been 400,000 AstraZeneca injections performed in the Netherlands. The country has recorded about 1.2 million cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, in total and more than 16,500 deaths.

Public Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said it is very important that recent reports in the Netherlands will be properly investigated.

There should be no doubts whatsoever about the safety of vaccines, he said. The crucial question is still whether it concerns complaints after vaccination or due to vaccination. I think it is very important that the Dutch reports are also properly investigated.

Reuters contributed to this report.
added 2,802



new COVID-19 cases and ten more deaths on Sunday, pushing the infection count to 11,35,233 and the toll to 4,668.

A total of 2,173 people recuperated from the disease today, taking the total cured in the state to 11,02,359.

There are 27,893 people under treatment and 1,42,854 under observation of which 4,403 are in isolation wards of various hospitals.

The State health department said the government has tested 45,171 samples in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 6.20 per cent.

The state has tested 1,33,54,944 samples till now.

Among the districts, Kozhikode reported 403 cases, the highest in the state, followed by Ernakulam with 368 and Kannur (350).

"Out of those infected on Sunday, 132 reached the state from outside while 2,446 contracted the disease through their contact. The source of infection of 208 is yet to be traced and 16 health workers are also among the infected," a department release said.

Currently there are 359 hotspots in 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.)
Neymar has put the brakes on his contract renewal talks with Paris Saint-Germain, as he is beginning to think that Lionel Messi will stay at Barcelona.

The 29-year-old has been open in his desire to reunite with the Argentine, with many reports at the turn of the year linking Messi with a move to PSG.

However, the Catalan newspaper Ara report that Neymar not only believes that Messi will put pen to paper on a new deal at the Camp Nou, but they also note that the Brazilian has informed Barcelona that he would be willing to return to the club.

This is in line with the statements made by former Barcelona scout Andre Cury.

"Neymar will play with Messi again, not at PSG but at Barcelona," Cury told El Litoral.

Neymar's return to Barcelona would be difficult given the club's financial situation, although he would be willing to make sacrifices in order to push the move through.

The Blaugrana's directors, meanwhile, are not ruling out his return, but they are also keeping a close eye on Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland and Inter forward Lautaro Martinez.
Indonesian authorities are looking for 17 people who went missing after their fishing boat capsized following a collision with a cargo ship. According to The Associated Press, a fishing boat carrying 32 people capsized after hitting a cargo ship MV Habco Pioneer off Java islands coast. The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday. Indonesian authorities have deployed search and rescue teams to look for the missing people. So far, emergency responders have rescued 15 people.

According to the report, cargo ship MV Habco Pioneer, which is registered in Indonesia, was carrying crude oil when it hit the fishing boat. The accident occurred after the fishing net from the boat that capsized got caught in the propeller of the cargo vessel. All 32 onboard the fishing boat went down after the collision but 15 were later evacuated by divers, who are still looking for the remaining 17 people. Crew members onboard the huge cargo vessel are safe and no reports of casualties have been reported so far.

Flight 182 crash

Earlier in January, an Indonesia passenger aircraft abruptly went missing from the radars a few minutes after take-off. The plane later crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 62 occupants, including crew members. The planes flight data recorder showed the plane reached an altitude of 10,900 feet and then began descending quickly before vanishing off the radar. The flight data recorders (FDR) of Sriwijaya Air's flight 182 have been recovered from the sea and are currently being analysed by investigators to establish the cause of the accident.

(Image Credit: AP)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Democrats will 'soon' pursue legalizing marijuana even if President Joe Biden remains against the move.

'We will move forward,' Schumer said in an interview with Politico that was released Saturday. 'He said he's 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. But at some point we're going to move forward, period.'

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last month that Biden's views on marijuana remain where they were during the 2020 campaign - he's for decriminalizing the drug, but not for federal recreational legalization.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (left) told Politico that he plans to have the Senate vote on a bill that would essentially legalize marijuana despite President Joe Biden (right) not being for full legalization

A New Yorker happily lights a joint in Washington Square Park. Recreational marijuana was recently legalized in New York state. Now New York Sen. Chuck Schumer wants to pursue federal legalization

Legalization would remove prohibitions against pot, while if it was decriminalized, it would still be illegal, but users wouldn't be prosecuted.

Schumer has used the term 'decriminalization' when talking about the Senate legislation, but told Politico what he was pursuing would be headed in the direction of legalization.

He didn't want to release the details of the bill yet.

'I am personally for legalization,' he added.

Politico asked Schumer if he was concerned Biden could veto a pot legalization bill.

'Well, he said he'd like to see some more information on the issue,' Schumer said. 'I respect that. I certainly will have an ongoing conversation with him, and tell him how my views evolved. And hope that his will too.'

Before a bill would ever get to Biden's desk, Schumer will likely need to attract some Republican support.

He said Senate Democrats would introduce a comprehensive bill and then sit down with members of both parties who express objections to it.

'And A.) try to educate them. B.) see what their objections are. And if they have some modifications that don't interfere with the main thrust of the bill - we'd certainly listen to some suggestions if that'll bring more people on board,' Schumer said. 'That is not to say we're going to throw overboard things like expungement of records - [thing that are] very important to us - just because some people don't like it.'

He also argued the difference a Democratic majority makes is that he'll put the bill on the floor - something Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell prevented when the Republicans were in power - so that Americans are aware how their home state senator votes on the issue.

'Probably the most important power of the majority leader is the ability to put bills on the floor,' Schumer said. 'And the fact that I am introducing a bill, and the fact that people will know that there will be a vote on this sooner or later - that's the big difference.'

'Even when states were for this, if [then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell wouldn't bring the bill up, their senators were never challenged: "How are you going to vote?" And they could say, "Well ... I don't know." They don't have to say anything,' Schumer argued. 'And so the fact that every member will know once we introduce this legislation - not only that it has my support, but that it will come to the floor for a vote - is going to help move things forward in a very strong way.'

Schumer said his own thinking 'evolved' on pot, when terrible predictions never came to light after states like Oregon and Colorado legalized the drug.

'All the opponents talked about the parade of horribles: Crime would go up. Drug use would go up. Everything bad would happen,' Schumer recalled. 'The legalization of states worked out remarkably well. They were a great success.'

'The parade of horribles never came about, and people got more freedom. And people in those states seem very happy,' he added.
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.

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

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

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.

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 Governments 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.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 06:57:01|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and four others injured during a house party shooting in Wilmington in U.S. southeastern state of North Carolina early Saturday morning, the Wilmington Police Department tweeted.

The injured victims were hospitalized in unknown conditions.

No one was in police custody as of early Saturday, and at least one person suspected of firing shots was believed to have fled, local media reported.

"In my more than two decades as a prosecutor this is one of the worst crimes we have ever had in the Port City," said District Attorney Ben David.

Major U.S. cities saw a 33 percent hike in homicides last year, according to a CNN report, noting the crime surge continued into the first quarter of this year. Enditem
Laois Offaly Gardai had to intervene in recent days to break up a 'large gathering was in breech of Covid-19 restrictions.

Gardai dealt with what they called a 'large gathering' at Derryounce Lake near Portarlington on Tuesday, March 30.

Pictures showed empty alcohol cans bottles abandoned at public benches beside the lake which is maintained by a local committee.

Gardai remained at the scene for a time after the people had dispersed. It is not clear if Fixed Charge Notice fines were issued under Covid-19 laws.

Read also: EASTER DRIVER ENDS JOURNEY IN JAIL

It is not the first time that Gardai have had to intervene during the Covid-19 pandemic at Derryounce. Gardai ordered the temporary closure of the amenity last year after a large crowd gathered on a sunny May bank holiday.

Gardai urged the public to please work with us in keeping your families and communities safe.
But at the same time Google Maps is also evolving to align with the changing trends in the automotive industry, and the implementation in Android Automotive is just the living proof in this regard.On Android Automotive-powered cars, such as the Polestar 2 for example, Google Maps is capable of so much more than on a mobile phone, as it can also provide drivers with information on charging station, real-time mileage, and even calculate a route based on vehicle specifics and current battery charge.So overall, Google Maps is evolving fast, and Google has recently announced a series of new features that provide the app with modern capabilities. And just like in the case of Android Automotive, its an update thats supposed to help Google Maps align with the new trends in the car industry.This time, Google Maps is getting a new setting to change how it determines the best route for a driver.At this point, Google Maps is configured to automatically suggest the fastest route to a destination, and as weve told you before, this particular setting has long been a controversial default behavior And its because in some cases, drivers just want to use a different route, and not even manually defining it works, as Google Maps runs a periodical re-routing, once again suggesting the fastest way to reach a destination.To determine the fastest route, Google Maps looks into data like traffic trends, the maximum speed allowed for each road, the distance, and other factors that would have an impact on the time youd need to reach a destination.So theoretically, users define their destination in Google Maps, the system calculates the shortest route, looks into the slowest sectors and then adjusts the route accordingly.Google Maps is now changing the default setting, so instead of calculating the fastest route, itll now suggest the most fuel efficient one The change will be first implemented in the Android version of Google Maps but will then make its way to iPhones at a later time too.So now when you provide a destination in Google Maps, the app doesnt look only at the maximum speed and the travel distance, but also at road incline and traffic congestion. Using a complex algorithm, Google Maps will try to estimate the fuel efficiency for your route, so in the end, itll provide only the option with the lowest environmental footprint.With insights from the U.S. Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Lab, were building a new routing model that optimizes for lower fuel consumption based on factors like road incline and traffic congestion. This is all part of the commitment we made last September to help one billion people who use our products take action to reduce their environmental footprint, Google explains.The good news is that the new system wouldnt be mandatory, as youd still be allowed to switch to the fastest route configuration from the settings screen. But keep in mind that by default, Google Maps will now suggest the most efficient route for all drivers on Android.When it does, before starting the navigation you should see a message that looks like this:Most fuel efficient route, the usual traffic. 8% lower CO2 emissions than the fastest route.If you agree with the suggestion, you can just press the Start button to begin the navigation to the defined destination.
Chandigarh: Punjab's home department has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to take custody of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari from Rupnagar jail by April 8.

Ansari, who is wanted in various cases in Uttar Pradesh, has been lodged in Rupnagar district jail in connection with an alleged extortion case since January 2019.

In a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home), the home department of Punjab asked for suitable arrangements to be made for the transfer of undertrial prisoner Ansari.

"The said handover is to be made at district jail Rupnagar on/before April 8," the letter stated.

Ansari suffers from certain medical conditions and the same may be kept in mind while making arrangements for his transport from Rupnagar jail to Banda jail in UP, it said.

The Punjab home department referred to the March 26 Supreme Court order that had directed the state government to transfer the MLA from Mau to Uttar Pradesh's Banda jail in two weeks.

Delivering the order, the apex court had also noted that Mukhtar Ansari was allegedly involved in various cases of attempt to murder, murder, cheating and conspiracy apart from offences under the Gangsters Act, lodged in Uttar Pradesh and 10 of these cases are at different stages of the trial.


A procession of floats carried the mummified remains of 22 pharaohs, including Egypt's most powerful ancient queen, through Cairo Saturday evening, in an eye-catching parade to a new resting place.

Under hefty security, the mummies were driven on floats seven kilometres (four miles) across the capital from the iconic Egyptian Museum to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation.

Dubbed the "Pharaohs' Golden Parade", the 18 kings and four queens travelled in order, oldest first, each aboard a separate vehicle decorated in ancient Egyptian style.

Both pedestrians and vehicles were barred from Tahrir Square, site of the current museum, and other sections of the route.

Images of the slick parade and an equally carefully choreographed opening ceremony were broadcast live on state television, to rousing music.

The mummies entered the grounds of the new museum to a 21-gun salute, after a slightly shorter than expected journey time of around half an hour.

The mummified remains of Pharaoh Seqenenre Taa II, 'the Brave', who reigned over southern Egypt some 1,600 years before Christ, are the oldest of the 22 mummies being paraded through the streets of Cairo. Photo: AFP

"This grandiose spectacle is further proof of the greatness... of a unique civilisation that extends into the depths of history," said President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi just ahead of proceedings.

Seqenenre Tao II, "the Brave", who reigned over southern Egypt some 1,600 years before Christ, was on the first chariot, while Ramses IX, who reigned in the 12th century BC, brought up the rear.

Another great warrior, Ramses II, who ruled for 67 years, and Queen Hatshepsut, the most powerful female pharaoh, were also on the short voyage.

Emblazoned with the name of their allocated sovereign, the gold and black coloured carriages were fitted with shock absorbers for the trip, to ensure none of the precious cargos were accidentally disturbed by uneven surfaces.

The remains of four female pharaohs are among those being moved, including the most powerful, Queen Hatshepsut, who declared herself pharaoh after the death of her husband-brother Tuthmosis II. Photo: AFP

'Upgraded cases'

Discovered near Luxor from 1881 onwards, fascinating new details of the pharaohs' lives -- and deaths -- are still emerging.

A high-tech study of Seqenenre Tao II, involving CT scans and 3D images of his hands and long-studied skull fractures, indicate he was likely killed in an execution ceremony, after being captured in battle.

For their procession through Cairo's streets, the mummies were placed in special containers filled with nitrogen, under conditions similar to their regular display cases.

The new resting place, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in the Fustat district of Old Cairo, consists of sleek, low-rise buildings topped with a pyramid amid expansive grounds.

Mounted ceremonial policemen stand in waiting along the parade route near the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, in the capital Cairo on Saturday, ahead of the march of the mummies. Photo: AFP

The mummies will undergo 15 days of laboratory restoration before they are showcased individually in their new home, in an environment redolent of underground tombs.

They will be accompanied by a brief biography.

In their new home, they will occupy "slightly upgraded cases", said Salima Ikram, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo.

Temperature and humidity control will also be enhanced.

The "museum has what it takes to preserve (mummies), the best laboratories... it is one of the best museums we have," Waleed el-Batoutti, adviser to the tourism and antiquities ministry, told state television.

The carriage carrying the remains of Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, daughter of Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao II, advances as part of the parade of 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies in Cairo Saturday. Photo: AFP

'Curse of the Pharaoh'

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation opened its doors to limited exhibits from 2017 and will open fully on Sunday, before the mummies go on display to the general public two weeks later.

In the coming months, the country is due to inaugurate another new showcase, the Grand Egyptian Museum, near the Giza pyramids.

It too will house pharaonic collections, including the celebrated treasure of Tutankhamun.

Discovered in 1922, the tomb of the young ruler, who took the throne briefly in the 14th century BC, contained treasures including gold and ivory.

A so-called "curse of the pharaoh" emerged in the wake of Tutankhamun's unearthing in 1922-23.

A key funder of the dig, Lord Carnarvon, died of blood poisoning months after the tomb was opened, while an early visitor likewise died abruptly in 1923.

The carriages carrying 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies advance past the Obelisk of Ramses II along Tahrir Square as they depart from the Egyptian Museum to their new home. Photo: AFP

With the parade coming only days after several disasters struck Egypt, some inevitably speculated on social media about a new curse provoked by the latest move.

The past days have seen a deadly rail collision and a building collapse in Cairo, while global headlines were dominated by the struggle to refloat the giant container ship MV Ever Given which blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week.

The mummies' re-housing "marks the end of much work to improve their conservation and exhibition," said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, who was in Cairo for the parade.

"This raises emotions that go much further than the mere relocation of a collection -- we will see the history of Egyptian civilisation unfold before our eyes."
Algiers, 3 April 2021 (SPS) - Algerian Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum on Saturday called for "direct and serious" negotiations between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and Morocco with a view to reaching a settlement of Western Sahara conflict, as the hostilities which resumed in November shattered a 30-year-old ceasefire.



"The personal envoy is not enough, there must be a process. We continue to say that direct and serious negotiations are necessary between the parties to the conflict, Morocco and the Polisario Front," the minister told the press on the sidelines of the Cultural Economy Forum.



"For almost two years, we have been demanding the appointment of a new envoy for Western Sahara," said Boukadoum.



Ten candidates proposed to hold this vacant position since 2019, have "all been rejected by a party in the conflict".



Asked about the next briefing to the Security Council, scheduled for April 21 on developments in Western Sahara, the minister said that this year's meeting takes place in a "new context marked by the breaking of the ceasefire".



Algeria is discussing this issue with the 15 members of the Security Council, he said, describing these discussions as "good". According to Boukadoum, this is an important issue both for the security of Algeria and for the peace in the region.



Asked to comment on the US State Department damning report on the human rights situation in the occupied Sahrawi territories, the minister said that Algeria continues to call for the extension of the Minurso mandate to human rights monitoring.



The UN said recently that it was still looking for an envoy for Western Sahara, citing "difficulties" in finding the right profile to fill this post vacant for nearly two years. (SPS)



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The Archbishop of York has come under fire for hiring a 90,000-a-year chief of staff and 'sending out all the wrong sort of messages at a time of huge financial pressure for the Church'.

The position will see the new member of staff assist the Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell, formerly bishop of Chelmsford, in 'conducting his ministry' and will be based at Bishopthorpe Palace, which sits just outside York.

However the role, which has been advertised on the Charity Job site, has since been criticised for its competitive salary amid a time of financial crisis.

The advert states: 'As Chief of Staff to the Archbishop of York, you will report directly to the Archbishop of York and provide the Archbishop with assistance to conduct his ministry within the life of the nation, the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.

The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell has been criticised for hiring a 90,000-a-year chief of staff

'You will support the Archbishop in his priorities of Mission, Teaching and Pilgrimage to the Diocese, Province and Nation.

'You will work with existing stakeholders and seek new partnerships to amplify the ministry priorities and work with colleagues at Lambeth Palace, coordinating the work of the Archbishops' commissions and task forces.

'You will be the Archbishop's chief companion, support and critical friend for developing and refining this vision, aligning his work with the dioceses and central structures of the Church of England, ensuring his time is used effectively and strategically, and making it happen.'

Will Pearson-Gee, Rector of Buckingham parish church, said the money should instead go towards 'a couple of clergy posts'.

He told The Sunday Telegraph: 'We should be spending that money on a couple of clergy posts. Surely the Archbishop could get a ''critical friend'' for a lot less than that.

'It's like buying a pair of Gucci shoes  if you can get a perfectly good pair for 50, why spend 500?

'It's sending out all the wrong sort of messages at a time of huge financial pressure for the Church. We only survived because of the Government's furlough scheme.'



The role, which is advertised on the Charity Job website, offers 90,000 per year and is based at Bishopthorpe Palace

The move comes after the Mr Cottrell said in February the church should have a louder political voice. Pictured: York Minister

It comes after the Mr Cottrell, 62, said in February the church should have a louder political voice.

He told the Observer: 'I simply don't accept a separation between the Church and politics, faith and politics or, for that matter, anything and politics.'

The father-of-three has been a longtime advocate for the church's participation in social causes.

Since 2011, he has served as chairman of the board of Church Army, an organisation based in Sheffield committed to evangelism and social justice.
Photo: Western Investor

The numbers and the anecdotal evidence are clear: while Metro Vancouvers housing market has been on a surprising tear during the COVID-19 pandemic  with sales up 73 per cent year over year as of February  the market for foreign buyers looking to enter the Lower Mainland has nearly vanished.

While local real estate industry representatives and urban development analysts agree that COVID travel restrictions have limited international interest in Vancouver-area homes, they disagree on whether the foreign-homebuyers market faces a longer-term correction.

According to municipal residential real estate data, there were five months out of 12 in 2019 in which there were more than 30 foreign-involved transactions that triggered the 20 per cent provincial foreign-buyers tax in Vancouver.

Since March 2020, that monthly number of transactions has not surpassed 15  and failed to break single digits for six of 2020s last 10 months, when monthly sales averaged nearly 2,000 homes a month.

In March 2020, we had 24 foreign-involved transactions in the city of Vancouver. The next month, we went down to six, said Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University and one of the citys leading urban-planning researchers.

Mike Stewart, who works with corporate rentals for out-of-town executives, said the pandemic has really put the crimp on corporate rentals, because people are not travelling.

Brian Higgins, founder of YVR4Sale, which has clients from the U.S., Europe and Asia, agreed that the real estate market boom is driven locally. But Higgins said foreign-buyer activity in Vancouver has lagged behind as far back as 2016, when former premier Christy Clark introduced the foreign buyers tax.

Property transfer data from the B.C. Ministry of Finance, showed that, as of mid-2018, foreign homebuyers in Metro Vancouver had fallen to just 1 per cent of transactions, down from 3 per cent a year earlier.

Higgins added that Vancouvers empty home tax and the additional speculation tax implemented under the John Horgan BC NDP government also scared a lot of people onto the sidelines.

Yan, however, noted that even as the number of transactions fluctuated in the market since 2016, their overall value has stayed relatively stable in the $20 million-to-$60 million range every month. That indicates that the taxes have not dramatically shrunk the total dollar value of transactions  just the number of buyers who can afford the extra 20%.

You have to remember, the nature of the foreign buyers tax wasnt to prevent more buying, Yan said. It was just to capture value for the B.C. taxpayer. Its essentially increasing the fee for [international buyers] to access the clubhouse. And youve also got to remember: Its very specific to where and what. Its a very particular type of property in specific regions that are moving up.

He added that the B-20 mortgage rules introduced in 2018 that have been credited with spurring the current real estate boom have instead discouraged foreign buying, because the requirement for non-Canadians to get a mortgage makes the process more difficult.

What is also clear, observers say, is that international demand has not gone anywhere. Both Stewart and Higgins said they anticipate a surge in buying from abroad  mostly from Canadians living outside Canada in places like the United States, Hong Kong, Great Britain or Europe  as soon as vaccinations become widespread and travel restrictions are loosened.

Higgins said Ottawas plan to bring in as many as 400,000 immigrants annually in the next few years to boost the Canadian economy means the Metro Vancouver market will likely see another wave of cross-border buyers soon after the pandemic ends.

If you are coming out of an unstable situation, people are willing to put a little more money into a more stable country. And Canada is a stable country  and Amazon coming in 2024. The tech coming out of that will be an immense economic boom for the city.

But Yan urged caution. He noted that while the demand has not gone away abroad, how strong and consistent that foreign demand will be is hard to determine.

Of course, the rest of the world has changed. Lets face it, one of the main sources of growth had been coming in from China, and the Chinese rules  from the people Ive talked to  have certainly tightened up. That brings a complication that we may not see the [previous high levels of] demand come back in.

We dont know what happens globally. And a lot of things that drive foreign buyers happen outside of Canada. The world in 2021 is vastly different than what it was in 2016.
According to the Vietnamese Governments decree No. 43/2017, Vietnam bans images and contents on brand names which infringe the national sovereignty of Vietnam and badly affect the countrys socio-economic activities. Mr. Hung stressed that many countries in the world including the US, Malaysia, and Indonesia have condemned Chinas violations of international law in the East Sea.



The Swedish retailer has betrayed the love of Vietnamese consumers when it agreed to change the online map. Therefore, he said that a boycott of the H&M products in social networks is understandable.

The Vietnam Standards and Consumer Rights Protection Association petitioned related competent departments and agencies in Vietnam to require H&M to recall its products violating the international law in the domestic as well as international markets.

The Swedish retailer opened its first store in Ho Chi Minh City in September 2017 and then expanded its stores in Hanoi. So far, 12 H&M stores have been set up in Vietnam including five in the capital city, four in HCMC, three facilities in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho, the Central City of Da Nang and the Northern Province of Quang Ninh.

Right after the Swedish retailer H&M agreed to change its online map following Chinese authorities unreasonable request of the illegal nine-dash line in the East Sea map, scores of Vietnamese consumers voiced their criticism of the Swedish retailers act yesterday in social networks.

For instance, nick name Tuan Phi Luong posted his opinion on H&Ms fan page that despite being a big brand name, H&M cant distinguish between right and wrong. He added that if H&M does not rectify the map, the retailer should leave Vietnam because it has not respected the principles of the country's national sovereignty. Nick name Vu Binh Minh announced that he would stop purchasing H&M products though he has been a faithful consumer of the brand name for years.

A lot of Vietnamese consumers ordered H&M to correct the online map in social network as well as called for a boycott of the Sweden product. Some even told H&M to close its stores in Vietnam if it does not make an apology and re-correct the wrong map.
Malik Younas Fazal is jeopardising lives and the vaccine rollout by selling fake invoices to help UK arrivals dodge Covid tests

A teenage scammer is jeopardising lives and the vaccine rollout by selling fake invoices to help UK arrivals dodge Covid tests while quarantining.

Malik Younas Fazal, 17, charges 80 for the bogus versions of the paperwork that is compulsory for entry into the UK.

The document falsely shows the passenger has registered for the tests used by the Government to track incoming mutant strains.

Last night, health experts warned the fraud could put hundreds of lives at risk. They said it could undermine the vaccination programme as the jabs may be less effective against some of the variants arriving from overseas.

It comes after police warned of the widespread sale of fake negative test certificates online and even at airports amid concern about how easily they can be forged.

Since mid-February, everyone arriving in the UK has been required to quarantine for ten days.

Arrivals from countries on the red list have to go to a Government-approved hotel.

But those arriving from countries off the list can self-isolate at home, taking two postal tests before they can go out again.

Fazal, from Birmingham, offers to help them get around the tests by selling fake invoices for the compulsory travel test package.

The real package includes the quarantine day two test, which the Government says is used for Covid variant surveillance, and the day eight test.

Fazals invoices are rip-offs from the company CTM, one of many genuine firms offering the tests. He charges 80 to fake the documents for the 210 CTM package.

Fazal told an undercover reporter posing as a customer that he is also using a franchise scheme with another scammer, where he takes 80 per cent of the profit.

He said one client arriving from Germany had successfully used the fake certificate, simply showing a copy on a phone to airport border staff.

Pictured: An example of the type of invoice supplied by Fazal to those entering the UK which 'proves' they've booked the necessary tests that are legally required to enter the country

You just show them, thats it, he said. Visual confirmation, nothing else.

He added: If you do the actual CTM theyre going to track your phone, theyll track if youve done the tests or not. But without this, they cant do anything.

For the invoice, he adds various details from the client to a template from a real CTM invoice, which had been used by a relative.

Those returning to the UK are also required to fill in a passenger locator form, including their booking reference number for the travel test package.

Fazal advised the undercover reporter to have a hard copy of the form showing the number from the fake invoice, which he said would be enough to pass border checks.

He began offering the false invoices after using Facebook to sell fake negative PCR tests, which are also mandatory before entering the UK.

Anyone giving false or deliberately misleading information when filling out their passenger locator form faces a potential 10,000 fine and ten years in jail. Failure to take the tests also carries a penalty of up to 2,000.

Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at University of East Anglia, said: This is extremely worrying.

Any move to undermine control measures could undoubtedly lead to more people dying and potentially a lot more people dying.

If we got a lot of cases resistant to the vaccine, all of a sudden it would certainly reduce the impact of the vaccine on stopping the spread of the infection.

That could lead to a further surge of infections that could ultimately lead to hundreds of more deaths.

Contacted by the Mail, Fazal, who is studying applied science at college and hopes to go to university, said he regretted selling the bogus documents and that his parents, who had been unaware, were ashamed of what he had done.

Im glad that this happened because it stopped me, he said. He claimed he had sold only a handful of fake test results and was working as a middleman for someone who had contacted him on social media, but said he did not know this persons name.

He denied having previously sold a fake invoice to someone coming from Germany.

A Department for Health spokesman said: Attempting to circumvent measures at the border, designed to keep the UK public safe, is reprehensible and illegal.

'Our strengthened border and enforcement regime was introduced to reduce risks and ensure compliance.
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale

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51.2 km S of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vertical swinging (up and down) / 15-20 s : I thought there was a truck passing by. I woke up with confusion but I quickly discovered it was an earthquake since we're familiar with such situations around our area and started praying. Yohhhh it was scary and too strong this time around | 6 users found this interesting.

Oppi koppi lodge - Kamanjab / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / vibration and rolling / 5-10 s : All three woke up. First ever earthquake, so first thought it was a huge pack of large animals running just outside the small house. Lasted for about 8-10 sec. | 5 users found this interesting.

Kamanjab (52.3 km ENE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : I felt it. The house was shaking with my daugther running from her bedroom to mine . I could hear the glasses and plats in the kitchen. The sound is hard , like thunderstorm underground . I am certain that if we felt it so hard in Kamanjab , where it started should be worse with damages on property . My opinion is that Kunene is too rocky and it is a sign of oil and gas occurance . . | 3 users found this interesting.

Twyfelfontein country Lodge / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating : I felt terified and shaky,it wakes up all the people as the shaking and sound was on going for 2- 3 minutes. i can feel the moves and the confusion while on my bed as i was trying to switch on my light. | 3 users found this interesting.

Kamanjab / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s : We woke up from the Vibration and later on, we feel a lightee vibration. We can atill hear it far away. | 3 users found this interesting. We felt the vibration on the 04 April 2021around 03 am ,an is still continues till nw / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s

123.4 km E of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating : A huge bumped acompanied with rattling and earg shaking..even my dog felt it was very nervous and gave short growls when something is amist..and did not stop until the shaking subsided..i could not hear it but my dog continued with this nervous behaviour and then stopped proseeded to lay down and sleep feeling at ease again. | 4 users found this interesting.

Walvis Bay / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s : I just got in bed and a minute later,the bed and other staffs in the room where vibrating. It felt like a huge truck was passing by. It was weird and scary. | 4 users found this interesting.

Malansurs tented camp / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Woke up and thought it was either a troop of elephants stomping near our tent, or an eathquake. It was an interesting experience. Who knew after living in America an travelling across Asia, Namibia would be the first place I experience an earthquake | 2 users found this interesting.

Kamanjab (38.1 km NNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / vibration and rolling : My room and bed,all properties in the room were shaking. And after the shaking there was still sound decreasing and increasing until until few minutes to six. I'm In Kamanjab | 3 users found this interesting. My bed shaken too, roofing sheets vibration, shaken as wind swirls sound, I'm located from 20km south of Etosha fence. / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / vibration and rolling

Oppi koppi lodge - Kamanjab / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / vibration and rolling / 5-10 s : All three woke up. First ever earthquake, so first thought it was a huge pack of large animals running just outside the small house. Lasted for about 8-10 sec. | One user found this interesting.

Farm Sebra / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s : I was about 10 miles from the episentrum, when it woke me up. I got up immediately to evacuate the house as I could feel considerable shaking, but it quickly faded away. Have since been hearing frequent rumbling throughout the day, but no noticeable shaking. The last five or six years light earthquakes have been frequent, with multiple very light earthquakes yearly, but this is only the second one of this magnitude that I have felt. | 2 users found this interesting.

175.6 km SSW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s : I felt it Walvisbay. Table and chairs were vibrating. | 2 users found this interesting.

Walvisbay / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vertical swinging (up and down) / 5-10 s : Was in my bed and could see my clothes shake as if the wind was blowing. | 2 users found this interesting.

Otjiwarongo (182.1 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating : Heard windows rattling softly then it becoming louder and louder...suddenly there was a loud noise on the roof like it was cracking and a loud noise like a truck was approaching and the roof started shaking lightly as well for a few seconds. | One user found this interesting.

Ondangwa (245.3 km NNE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s : Was waken from bed which was moving/jolt very short was 03:42, nothing fell off shelves etc | One user found this interesting.

Kalkfeld / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s : The shaking was more intense than the previous two we felt in the last two months here. Happened while I was sleeping and I cannot explain the sound because I've never heard anything like it. I could say almost like low volume thunder that went on and on.. I couldn't feel my bed shaking but my body was definitely shaken | One user found this interesting.

Farm 32 km from Kamanjab / Strong shaking (MMI VI) : At 19h30 on the 3rd there was the first shake like thunder and then the strong one at 3h41 we nearly ran outside. The dogs barked alot. There were alot of after shocks stll this morning after sunrise. | One user found this interesting.

Walvis Bay / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Shelves vibrating | One user found this interesting.

Twyfelfontein country lodge / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s : It was like a huge passing by earth moving truck with a rattling sound and wall hangers shaking. | One user found this interesting.

In Outjo a a lodge / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / complex motion difficult to describe / 10-15 s : First I felt that the building moved with sounds then shortly after I felt a wave on the floor it was scary

Damara Mopane Lodge (46.5 km SSE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s : Windows and beds shaking

Brandberg White Lady Lodge 23 km north from Uis (127.4 km SSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 15-20 s

343.2 km S of epicenter [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating : My bed and dressing table was shaking.

Anker Outpost, Kamanjab area / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s : Was worked up by very noisy, rattling noise at around 03h40. Walls, roof, windows and bed was shaking. Dogs outside started yelping. All animals including birds in the trees were making noise. After that we all couldn't sleep as the vibrations and rumblings continued for more than 24hrs.

Khorixas / Light shaking (MMI IV) / complex motion difficult to describe

Malansrus / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s

Windhoek, Namibia (358 km SE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / very short : I was sleeping, but i awoke from a single very faint "boom" which i sensed through my pillow.

Uis / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s

Henties bay / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : Building was shaking as well as everyone in the house

Omuntelr / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s

268.3 km N of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 5-10 s

Oppi koppi lodge - Kamanjab / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / vibration and rolling / 5-10 s : All three woke up. First ever earthquake, so first thought it was a huge pack of large animals running just outside the small house. Lasted for about 8-10 sec.

Walvis bay, Erongo (341.9 km S of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s : I feld a shaking of my bad that I'm sleeping on an unusual vibration.

Kalkfeld / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s : The shaking was more intense than the previous two we felt in the last two months here. Happened while I was sleeping and I cannot explain the sound because I've never heard anything like it. I could say almost like low volume thunder that went on and on.. I couldn't feel my bed shaking but my body was definitely shaken

75.5 km WNW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling : It was a scary experience. I am from Windhoek was there just for a weekend. I never experienced something like that before. Was awake since that incident

309.5 km S of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Otjiwarongo (180.4 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s

Tsumeb / not felt

khorixas / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating : Hi.the bed and windows were shaking.it took longer than any earth quake we had in the past years.it was very strong

In Outjo a a lodge / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / complex motion difficult to describe / 10-15 s : First I felt that the building moved with sounds then shortly after I felt a wave on the floor it was scary

Khorixas / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating : At first I thought it was a strong wind but later on it started shaking a bit for several minutes,let me say maybe for 3 or 5 minutes. it really felt uncomfortable

Otjiwarongo, Namibia / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 15-20 s : Confused a bit. Windows shook a lot as I was busy studying?

Tsandi Omusati Region (241.2 km N of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating : My body and walls were shaking

Khorixas / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / horizontal (sideways) swinging : I was very scared as this was my first experience...because the vibrations were really heavy

Hentiesbay / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s : Light vibration, hear it on the roof, bed shaken.

38.1 km NNW of epicenter [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / vibration and rolling : My room and bed,all properties in the room were shaking. And after the shaking there was still sound decreasing and increasing until until few minutes to six. I'm In Kamanjab

Uis / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Outjo / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s : I heard a rumble, followed by a horizontal movement of the bed, the house creaking. Then the rumble passed. Time was 03h42

Kamanjab / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Woke up around 3:41am with rumbling, rattling noise. Felt slight vibration.

Hentiesbay / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating

Kamanjab / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating : Sounded like a massive lorry passing then distant rumbling sound. Came back after 10-15mjns. Woke me from sleep

368.2 km SE of epicenter [ Map ] / not felt

Farm Georg-Ferdinandshohe, Kalkfeld, District Otj / Very weak shaking (MMI II)

Namibia khorixas / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / complex motion difficult to describe : I was scared

Afrodite Beach, Walvis Bay (331.6 km S of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 10-15 s : First we felt vibration then our furniture started to rattle against the wall.

27.2 km SW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) : Weak shaking

khorixas / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging

Otjiwarongo (180 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / not felt

Otjiwarongo (182.7 km ESE of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating

Walvis Bay / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Was lying on top of blanket reading that time and felt slight vibration. My African Grey flew out of his cage that moment.

40km from Kamanjab, Namibia / Weak shaking (MMI III) / vibration and rolling / 10-15 s

19.97 S 14.47 E / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 10-15 s : 4 or 5 light aftershocks heard . Similar to previous events

Kamanjab Safari Farm House / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating : We woke up from sleep due to the rattling of the house windows at the farm. It lasted for a few minutes. We thought it might have been some kind of strong wind.

19.97 S 14.47 E / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 10-15 s : 4 or 5 light aftershocks heard . Similar to previous events

264.7 km S of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s

Swakopmund / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s

Swakopmund (320.5 km S of epicenter) [ Map ] / not felt

Omaruru / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 s

70km north of Khorixas, Malansrus Tented camp. / Light shaking (MMI IV) / simple rolling (tilting sideways along one direction) : First time in my life I have experienced it this strong, long and heavy. It started off strong and ended softly. Was supernatural and beautiful though...

Khorixas / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating : Very scared

51.2 km S of epicenter [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s

Kamanjab Safari Farm House / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating : We woke up from sleep due to the rattling of the house windows at the farm. It lasted for a few minutes. We thought it might have been some kind of strong wind.

Walvisbay, Namibia / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s : More shaking and vibration

Khorixas / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating

Onesi, Omusati Region, Namibia / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Bed shaking

306.9 km S of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating

Otjiwarongo / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s

157.1 km S of epicenter [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 15-20 s

68.1 km ESE of epicenter [ Map ] / not felt : Only heard the rumbling

257.3 km SSW of epicenter [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s

175.3 km SSW of epicenter [ Map ] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 10-15 s : Bed vibration

Hentiesbaai / Light shaking (MMI IV)

Henties Bay (257.1 km SSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : 2 light lateral jolts

Vreugde Guestfarm, 60 km north north west of Outj / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 5-10 s

Outjo / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s
Months after the killing of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests, additional videos of the agonizing moments surrounding his death have been released.

During this week's trial of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer facing charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's May 25, 2020, death, jurors and the nation were shown nearly an hour of bodycam footage from former policemen Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.

They were among the officers responding to a call accusing Floyd of using a fake $20 bill at convenience store.

The footage shows two perspectives of the events before and after the nine minutes and 29 seconds Chauvin and two other officers knelt on Floyd's neck and body.

Lane's bodycam is up-close and personal, capturing Floyd's fear and increasing panic as he struggles with officers trying to put him into a police car: "Don't do this to me," he pleaded repeatedly. "I'm claustrophobic!"

Agonizingly clear are Floyd's struggles to breathe and cries for his mother as Chauvin continues to kneel on Floyd's neck.

Thao's bodycam shows the panicked reactions of a growing crowd at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue as they plead with officers to stop.

"Does he have a pulse?" yelled off-duty firefighter and certified EMT Genevieve Hansen when the officers refuse to let her examine Floyd. "Tell me what his pulse is right now!"

And then a chorus of anguished voices: "What are you doing, he's dying!" "He's not moving!" "Get off his neck, bro!" "He's f**king dead!"

If you and your loved ones haven't already, should you watch these traumatizing videos and follow the trial as it unfolds? What role might your race, ethnicity or prior experience with trauma play in your decision? If you have viewed them and are struggling with emotions, what can you do to help yourself and those you care about?

CNN reached out to four trauma experts for their opinions: psychology professor Janet Helms, the director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston College; Dr. Cheryl Singleton Al-Mateen, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University and medical director at the Virginia Treatment Center for Children; and clinical psychologists Michele Cosby and Leslie Kimball, who are both assistant professors of psychiatry at the Virginia Treatment Center for Children.

Here are their thoughts, edited lightly for clarity.

Leslie Kimball: For adults who have had similar traumatic experiences, I think it's advisable not to watch the video or trial without some opportunity to get support or to talk with someone else about it -- isolation is dangerous.

But everyone may be deeply disturbed by these videos -- that's our humanity, our empathy -- and that's a wonderful thing. It's also an awful thing that we are able to put ourselves in his shoes and feel his terror and helplessness. It was clear he knew what was happening and what was about to happen. It's secondary trauma -- we are witnessing someone else's trauma, and so we experience a form of trauma.

Be aware if you experience intrusive memories, or even flashbacks. And if you notice that starts to interfere with your daily activities -- your sleep, your appetite, and certainly if you start having any unsafe thoughts about death or dying or hurting yourself -- the first step is to talk with someone you trust, such as a mental health professional.

When it comes to children, parents need to be careful. We can't protect children entirely from these realities, but we want their exposure to be developmentally appropriate. No, we would not want young children to watch these tapes, but we may want to have a conversation with them about what they may be hearing. For older children, maybe they watch a news story about it, but if an entire tape is being played, say "Hey, let's not watch this part."

Janet Helms: I think White people have a duty to watch the videos, because if you don't watch as a White person, then you never know these things are happening in your name. So I think you have a duty to watch, to bear witness, to say, "This is not who I am; it's not who you are."

It's a different experience for Black and Indigenous people, because they are watching similar experiences with respect to violence in their own lives every week, and so this is just building trauma, upon trauma, upon trauma for Black people.

In retraumatization, whatever symptoms were experienced the first time, are going to be aggravated a second time, and perhaps more strenuously than the first time. It's racial PTSD, and my team has resources and a tool kit people can use at #racialtraumaisreal.

I also think even people of color did not expect to see what happened to Mr. Floyd.

Although people of color, particularly Black and Indigenous people, grow up knowing that they are likely to be victims of police violence, we don't typically see (police) spend such a prolonged amount of time killing a person.

Watching them drain a person's life is particularly traumatic and not being able to help or prevent that yourself adds additional trauma to the situation.

Now there's multiple trauma, reoccurring trauma, and also the knowledge that in these situations, no matter how many people are there, Black people are essentially helpless to prevent violence against one of their own.

What I often recommend to Black people is that they recognize that they've been traumatized, and that they need to take care of themselves by not watching those videos over and over again, if they can avoid it.

They can choose not to be a witness to this particular incident, to try to keep it out of their minds because it's more traumatizing to them.

I say to them, "It's okay to get help. You don't have to be strong in this situation. This is an inhuman situation, so seek therapy to help you get over your symptoms." It's really important that if they talk, they are with people who can understand the trauma, their feelings of anger and guilt -- and not with someone who's going to discard it.

Or with someone, if I may say, who's a White person who feels bad and wants the Black person to help the White person feel better. It's not a Black person's job to do that, it's the White person's job to do that for themselves.

Dr. Cheryl Singleton Al-Mateen: Understanding some of the issues related to structural racism in America is a process. People have to appreciate that it's there, and then understand more and more about how it impacts others as well as themselves.

If someone is really saying "Well, what's the big deal. I don't know why should I care," then maybe they should watch. And if somebody feels it's part of their journey in that process to see this, then OK. But if somebody feels like "No, I don't want to see it because it's going to be painful for me," then I'd say OK with that as well.

And if someone's curious because they want to know about it, then "Fair warning, this could be traumatic for you to watch." But it may be something that's necessary for some people to see to understand what is happening.

It should not be necessary for someone to watch something that's traumatizing, because you don't know what their personal history of trauma is. What is a necessity is to listen, understand and believe.

Michele Cosby: I would encourage any person of color to take emotional inventory of what they can handle. For me as a trauma therapist, I know I dare not watch something that is triggering for me in the middle of my workday when I may not be emotionally resourced to handle it.

I encourage Black people to seek their own support. That could be structured or professional therapy. It can also be seeking out your spiritual leader or talking to loved ones who are seeing and experiencing very similar things.

It's vicarious trauma. By hearing stories or witnessing and feeling the pain and the fear and the terror, it's as if you are going through the trauma yourself, because you're bearing witness to how that was for someone else. And especially for people of color watching, it also triggers their own life experiences, dealing with generations of racial trauma.

As a Black woman, I think what is often triggering is that it makes you think of your son, your uncle, your grandfather -- all those people in your life that might encounter that situation.

There isn't a way to avoid it completely, but I think part of this is taking inventory of emotions, recognizing what your emotions are. So if I have no emotion, if I'm numb, if my life experiences I associate with this leave me hopeless -- that's something I probably need to deal with. If I'm triggered with anger or guilt or desperation, then I need to figure out how to channel that for my own healing.

As a collective, this is not new for us, so having that shared experience can be helpful if it's being channeled in a way that doesn't cause you to self-destruct. Because it can easily trigger sadness, depression. Anxiety and fear are based out of not having control, and what those videos show is feeling out of control.
The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, has again hit at the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government over the grave security situation in Nigeria.

Mr Kukah, a vocal critic of the administration, delivered the new criticisms in his Easter message.

Easter is the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is observed by Christian faithful across the globe.

In the message titled Nigeria: Before our glory departs, Mr Kukah reflects on the current realities of Nigeria and its citizens.

He said Nigerias predicament reminded him of Israels situation that led to the death of Eli, the great high priest of Israel.

According to the Bible, Israels defeat in the hands of the Philistines led to the death of 30,000 soldiers.

The two sons of the 98-year-old priest, Hophni and Phinehas, died in the battle. Elis two sons had foolishly carried the Ark of the Lord into the battlefield for protection, only for it to become a trophy for the victorious Philistines.

The high priest, Eli, collapsed and died after hearing this horrible news. Elsewhere, on hearing about the death of her husband, her father- in-law, and the loss of the Ark, Elis daughter-in-law went into premature labour. She was delivered of a baby boya call for great celebration in Israel! Strangely, she responded by naming her newborn son Ichabod, meaning, The glory has departed!

Taunted by Boko Haram, ravaged by bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, and other merchants of death across the nation, there is collective fear as to whether Nigerias glory is about to depart! Retired military and intelligence officers lament over what has become of their glorious profession as they watch the humiliation of our military personnel. Traumatised citizens are tortured daily by bandits.

Mr Kukah said Nigeria has become a massive killing field, as both government and the governed look on helplessly.

A thick and suffocating cloud of desperation, despondency, desolation, gloom, and misery hangs in the hot air. We have no message and have no idea how long this will last. Our people seek solace and protection, but frustration and darkness threaten to drown them. Is their government on AWOL?

The religious leader also recalled the statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria which addressed similar concerns.

Part of the statement read: The very survival of the nation is at stake. The nation is pulling apart. Widespread serious insecurity for long unaddressed has left the sad and dangerous impressions that those who have assumed the duty and authority to secure the nation are either unable, or worse, unwilling to take up the responsibilities to their office. Patience is running out. Sadly, all of these warnings are still falling on deaf ears.

Citing some episodes from the trial of Jesus by Pilate, he said when governments face legitimacy crises, they fall back on serving the populace propaganda, half-truths, and outright lies.

They manufacture consent by creating imaginary enemies, setting citizens against one another by deploying religion, ethnicity, region, and other platforms while appealing to the base emotions of patriotism. We forget the reality that without truth, the throne of power often turns into a cage, and the occupant is turned into a prisoner. In reality, the truth needs neither a judge nor a witness. The truth is its own judge and witness. Without the truth, as the old song says, all else is sinking sand!

Recently, according to the World Happiness Report, we are one of the unhappiest nations in the world. This is unacceptable but understandable. Our clay-footed fight against corruption has not moved the needle of transparency forward. Of course, being the poverty capital of the world comes with its rewards such as banditry, violence, death, sorrow, blood, poverty, misery, and tears. Our cup of sorrow is permanently full; hence the exponential rise in the frustration curve across the country.

Mr Kukah also said that human life is haemorrhaging in Nigeria.

Mysteriously, the government is investing billions of naira in rehabilitating so-called Boko Haram repentant members and their other partners in crime in the belief that they want to turn a new leaf. These criminals have waged war against their country, murdered thousands of citizens, destroyed infrastructure and rendered entire families permanently displaced and dislocated. Why should rehabilitating the perpetrator be more important than bringing succour to the victims?

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When kidnapped or killed, victims and their families are left to their wits. They cry alone, bury their loved ones alone. And our government expects us to be patriotic? The victims of violence need empathy, which the dictionary defines as the ability to understand and share the feelings of the other. A critical deficit of empathy on the side of the government makes healing almost impossible for the victims. We have not heard anything about a rehabilitation programme for the thousands of schoolchildren who have been victims of abduction.

We seem to assume that their return to their schools is sufficient. Left unaddressed, the traumatic effect of their horrors will haunt them for a long time. Tomorrows parents, military generals, top security men and women, governors, senators, and ministers will come from todays pool of traumatised children. The security quandary is the greatest indictment of this government, he stated.

He also recalled Mr Buharis statement at his swearing-in on May 29, 2015, highlighting the failure to meet up with expectations.

President Muhammadu Buhari, at his swearing-in as President of Nigeria, said: Boko Haram is a typical case of small fires causing large fires.

Now, before his watch, the fires are consuming the nation, and in many instances, they indeed start small. The rumblings over the wearing of a hijab in Kwara State suggest that we have not seen the end of individuals sacrificing national cohesion to feed their personal ambitions by starting small fires. Most politicians hardly think through the long-term effects of these pyrrhic victories of using religion. What started as a small fire with adoption of Sharia in Zamfara in 1999, spread across the northern states. Ordinary people broke into ecstatic joy. Today, what has become of the north? What are the lessons?

The clergyman concluded that as Nigerias troubles are growing by the day, the citizens should intensify their prayers.
Next Story : Moheys Wedding Collection Sets The Tone For The Bridal Season

The bralette, a piece that manages to add oodles of oomph to any outfit instantly, always leaves a lasting impression. Taken from the runways, it has become a common street-style piece and is extremely versatile. From lovely lace designs to chic and minimal styles, todays bralette can make the perfect addition to any outfit. It is the latest bold trend that has taken the fashion world by storm, giving the women an opportunity to express their personality in a stylish and sensual manner.The bralette is not just feminine and chic, but also mostly suits all body types. However, the trick to creating an extremely stylish look is to be comfortable in what you wear. This summer, some of the major trends incorporate the bralette, as the piece can be dressed down in various ways, from teaming it up with a summer dress or a plain T-shirt, for the day to teaming it up with a sequence crop top, sheer poncho or a formal pant suit, for the night.Need some inspiration to get you started? Heres a round-up of some of the best celebrity bralette looks to incorporate into your wardrobe this season.Image: @shaleenanathani Deepika Padukone has been killing it back-to-back with her Cannes look. Demonstrating a formal attire, exuding the power of a boss lady, the actress donned a sheer shirt teamed with a super chic white lacy halter neck bralette paired with linen pants. Bookmark this edgy white bralette to make your overall look classier than usual.Image: @stylebyami While attending the Katy Perry event, Ananya Panday donned a lacy sheer top with a sizzling black bralette teamed with a pair of black leather pants. The actor looked totally gorgeous in an all-black, goth-chic ensemble from Judy Zhang. Check out this staple black bralette to look extra chic for all your night outs.Image: @aliaabhatt If youre wondering how to pair your bralette up with a formal pant suit attire, look no further, Alia Bhatt knows how to make it happen. The star stepped out in a playful printed blazer and fiery red pants pairing it up with a simple black bralette that took the look to a different level of stylish. The contrasting shades work well together making the bralette the most versatile styling silhouette to amp up your look without making any efforts at all.Image: @malaikaaroraofficial Always up to taking risks, Malaika Arora looked absolutely ravishing in a black bustier bralette teamed with black formal pants, topping it off with a sunshine yellow coat. This was a crisp look, which was right up Malaikas alley and we cannot imagine anyone else rocking that black PVC bralette better than the actor, who absolutely set the stage on fire with the stunning ensemble.Image: @tarasutaria Tara Sutarias sartorial meter runs the gamut between all extremes, right when you thought you couldnt pair up the modern bralette with an Indian ensemble, the actor proves you wrong. The star donned Manish Malhotras famous sequined sari worn with a solid grey sexy strappy blouse offering just the right amount of oomph for all kinds of festive occasions and making a statement in the most effortless way possible.Image: @alayaf Looking all kinds of chic in a bronze-red bralette with lacework all over, paired with black biker shorts and beige oversized blazer, Alaya F. gives us lessons on making the predictable streetwear look absolutely fresh and quirky. Cracking the style up a notch with a sexy lace bralette, she definitely transformed the most basic look to a not-so-basic, statement making ensemble.Image: @shanayakapoor02 Always making statements through her absolutely fashionable looks, Shanaya Kapoor takes the internet down with her latest sultry ensemble. Donning a super chic brown bralette teamed up with a matching beige pantsuit she set the temperatures soaring with the quirky outfit. A perfect choice of bralette for anyone who wants to up their fashion game, like the soon-to-be-debutante herself.Image: @kriti.kharbanda When in doubt, lace it up! The ever-so cheerful Kriti Kharbanda left her denim shirt open to show off her elegant white lacy bralette and paired her look with a pair of ripped boyfriend jeans, doesnt she look like a dream in this super comfy summer outfit? Well, we cant keep calm, get your hands on this bookmark worthy bralette now, to make a statement in style.Also Read : Colour Blocking: A Beginners Guide To Get It Right
E-commerce giant Amazon has apologized to a congressman after falsely denying that some of its workers are forced at times to urinate in plastic bottles.

The e-commerce giant also has admitted that some of its employees do in fact urinate in bottles but claimed it's a problem faced by its drivers alone.

The argument started last week with a tweet from Mark Pocan, a Democrat from Wisconsin.

'Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a 'progressive workplace' when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles,' Pocan tweeted, in an apparent reference to Amazon's opposition to efforts to unionize a major facility in Alabama.

Amazon's official account quickly responded, saying: 'You don't really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us.'

But several news media then cited numerous Amazon employees who said they had, in fact, been left with little choice but to use plastic bottles.

Amazon has apologized for a tweet it sent to a congressman more than a week ago denying that its employees work so hard they must urinate in water bottles

The argument started last week with a tweet from Mark Pocan, a Democrat from Wisconsin

And the website The Intercept said it had obtained internal documents showing Amazon executives were aware of the practice.

The workers' testimony underlined the complaints of many Amazon employees -- both in its processing facilities and among its drivers -- about what they say is a relentless work pace.

'We owe an apology to Representative Pocan,' Amazon said in a statement late Friday.

Initially, Amazon had falsely claimed that their workers did not pee in bottles

Amazon's apology did not satisfy Pocan, who responded Saturday on Twitter

'The tweet was incorrect. It did not contemplate our large driver population and instead wrongly focused only on our fulfillment centers,' each of which, it said, had dozens of restrooms that employees could use 'at any time.'

Amazon continued: '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.'

It described the problem as 'a long-standing, industry-wide issue,' adding, 'we would like to solve it.'

The apology did not satisfy Pocan, who responded Saturday on Twitter, saying:

'Sigh. This is not about me, this is about your workers - who you don't treat with enough respect or dignity.

'Start by acknowledging the inadequate working conditions you've created for ALL your workers, then fix that for everyone & finally, let them unionize without interference.'

Amazon admitted that some delivery drivers might have had to urinate in bottles and it vowed to improve their working conditions

Amazon wrote in its blog post that urinating in bottles is an industry-wide problem. To try and prove its point, it shared links to news articles about drivers for other delivery companies who have had to do so.

"Regardless of the fact that this is industry-wide, we would like to solve it," the company said. "We dont yet know how, but will look for solutions."

Amazon's treatment of workers has been a hot topic recently as it faces the biggest union push in its history at an Alabama warehouse.

Organizers there are pushing for more break time and better pay, with many complaining about the back-breaking 10-hour workdays that include only two 30-minute breaks. The result has not yet been announced.

Amazon has successfully fended off unionization efforts elsewhere in the US, though most of its facilities in Europe are unionized.

The company insists its workers enjoy good pay and benefits by US standards.

The issue was raised after an Amazon executive that said the company was a progressive workplace
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One lucky person can become the king of their own castle at a $1.3million New York residence that has more than 30 rooms and features 360-degree views of Manhattan and the Hudson River.

The property, which just hit the market, is located in Yonkers, New York, and is dubbed 'The Castle of Park Hill'.

According to Realtor.com, the American shingle Victorian mansion was built in 1892 as the residence of E. K. Martin, the president of the American Real Estate company who developed Park Hill.

The home features six levels, 31 rooms, nine bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, eight fireplaces, and two 80-inch wrap-around porches with 'gorgeous views of the Hudson River'.

One lucky person can become the king of their own castle (pictured) for a cool $1.3million New York residence that has more than 30 rooms and features 360-degree views of Manhattan and the Hudson River

There's also a massive central tower that goes all the way up to level six and includes a large bedroom and an observatory with 'panoramic 360 views down to the Manhattan skyline'

According to Realtor.com, the American shingle Victorian mansion (interior) was built in 1892

The home was built for E. K. Martin, the president of the American Real Estate company who developed Park Hill

The home features six levels, 31 rooms, nine bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms and eight fireplaces (pictured)

The main floor, which is technically level two, is fitted with four spacious rooms (one room pictured)

The property, which just hit the market, is located in Yonkers, New York, and is dubbed 'The Castle of Park Hill'

The residence sits on an acre of land, including a 'buildable lot on 34 Undercliff Avenue'

It sits on an acre of land, including a 'buildable lot on 34 Undercliff Avenue'. The main floor, which is technically level two, is fitted with four spacious rooms.

On levels three and four, a lucky homeowner can find a total of eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, a chapel, two central corridors, and two bonus rooms.

According to the New York Post, the fourth floor's chapel once held more than 200 Masses on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

That was before Dr Paluel Flagg, who was the founder of the Catholic Medical Mission Board in 1912, had it moved and reassembled in the castle.

There's also a massive central tower that goes all the way up to level six and includes a large bedroom and an observatory with 'panoramic 360 views down to the Manhattan skyline'.

According to Realtor.com, there's a laundry room, workshop, a 1 bedroom with a full bathroom and kitchen on the ground level.

The home is fitted with 6.5 bathrooms (one pictured) on each floor

The listing broker said the home's future owner would have the opportunity to remodel parts of the home, including the bathrooms and other outdated aspects

The home features several spacious rooms (one pictured) that has plenty of natural lighting

The residence has a total of nine bedrooms (one pictured) across the six levels

The 6,000-square-foot home has been listed on Realtor.com for eight days

The home has an attic with pull stairs for accessing it, according to the listing

On levels three and four, a lucky homeowner can find a total of eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, a chapel (area pictured), two central corridors, and two bonus rooms

One of the bedrooms in the homes appears to be mostly circular (pictured)

Artwork and sculptures are seen in one of the home's more than 30 rooms

Listing broker, Bryan Dale, of Exp Realty said the home doesnt have central air conditioning, and for the next buyer, the small kitchen (pictured) could be an opportunity to update all of the outdated appliances and wooden cabinets

The home is also about 30 minutes from Grand Central.

The property was last sold in October 1983 for $140,000 to Carl and Colette Tiktin, an author and teacher respectively.

According to the Post, the Tiktins along with their daughter found the house advertised in a newspaper after their old home had been destroyed in a gas explosion.

The Tiktins purchased the house with Colettes sister, Michele Shapiro, and her husband, as well as the sisters' parents.

Listing broker, Bryan Dale, of Exp Realty told the Post that the family repaired the home to its current state.

'When they initially purchased it, the house was in disrepair. They completely restored and renovated it to its original condition. Since then, they have maintained the property,' Dale said.

Dale said the home doesnt have central air conditioning, and for the next buyer, the small kitchen could be an opportunity to update all of the outdated appliances and wooden cabinets.

The property (pictured) was last sold in October 1983 for $140,000 to Carl and Colette Tiktin, an author and teacher respectively

The Tiktins along with their daughter found the house (pictured) advertised in a newspaper after their old home had been destroyed in a gas explosion

The home is equipped with two 80-inch wrap-around porches (pictured) with 'gorgeous views of the Hudson River'

The listing broker said the Tiktin family repaired the home (porch pictured) to its current state
The Bay Area has yet another coronavirus variant to contend with.

Through genomic sequencing, the Stanford Clinical Virology Lab has detected five cases of an emerging variant that originated in India, according to lab director Dr. Benjamin Pinsky and news reports.

The first confirmed case was a patient from a Stanford Health Care clinic and likely occurred in Santa Clara County. County health officials said they are not yet monitoring the new variant because it is not yet on the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions list of concern.

The variant is being dubbed the double mutant because it carries two mutations in the virus that helps it latch itself onto cells. It could possibly be responsible for the troubling new surge in cases in India. It is not yet known if the variant is more infectious or resistant to vaccine antibodies.

Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, said it appears the variant could be more infectious because it accounts for 20% of cases in the heavily hit state of Maharashtra. Chin-Hong said cases have increased more than 50% there in the past week.

It also makes sense that it will be more transmissible from a biological perspective as the two mutations act at the receptor binding domain of the virus, but there have been no official transmission studies to date, he wrote in an email.

One of the mutations, E484Q, is similar to the E484K mutation found on both of the variants first detected in Brazil and South Africa. The other mutation, L452R, is also found in a variant first detected in California. Pinsky said both mutations could possibly reduce neutralization by antibodies, therefore making vaccinations less effective against the strain.

This Indian variant contains two mutations in the same virus for the first time, previously seen on separate variants, Chin-Hong said. Since we know that the domain affected is the part that the virus uses to enter the body, and that the California variant is already potentially more resistant to some vaccine antibodies, it seems to reason that there is a chance that the Indian variant may do that too.

He said so far no studies have confirmed any of this. Still, Chin-Hong said it appears this variant may be more regional, as the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the U.K. is the more dominant strain in India. And while its not certain if the variant is resistant to vaccines, he is optimistic that vaccinations will work given what is known about their efficacy against the variants originating from South Africa and California.

The latest discovery adds to the list of worrisome variants that have made their way to the U.S., including the widely spreading B.1.1.7. variant, which is 50% more infectious. The P.1 strain that originated in Brazil and a variant from South Africa have both been found in the Bay Area, and both are believed to be somewhat resistant to vaccines.

There are many cases statewide of the variants originating in California that are more infectious and could possibly be resistant to vaccines, and ones from New York identified in Santa Clara County that could also be potentially vaccine-resistant.

Pinsky said there is still much to be learned about the variant from India, but nobody should panic, especially because case numbers are down in California and large numbers of people are getting vaccinated.

Its important for us to continue to monitor the emergence of these variants, he said. The point is to keep getting vaccinated and to keep monitoring for the emergence of variants. I dont think it is of significant concern yet. We just have to be vigilant.

Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang
Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party, Yaw Buaben Asamoa has described the recent intermittent power outages in the country as a different one as opposed to that from former president John Mahamas era.



According to him, the infrastructure for the transmission lines have come under huge pressure hence the reasons for the outages.



Speaking on JoyNews' NewsFile programme, Yaw Buaben Asamoa urged citizens to be patient with the government and energy sector players as they find workable means to solve the problem.



This 'dumsor' is a different kind of 'dumsor.' We must accept it and move on because the infrastructure for transmission has come under huge pressure. It is important that we accept that there is a problem and that the problem is going to be worked on the communications director said.



Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director at the African Center for Energy Policy on his part called for critical attention to be paid to the indebtedness owed to power transmission and distribution companies like the Ghana Grid Company Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana.



Indebtedness to GRIDCo has been worsening over the years and it is important that we pay special attention to it. If the government continues to use the power sector to play politics, then we are going to be in this situation for a long time. We need a whole strategic look at our power sector, Boakye cautioned.



For almost 3 years beginning 2015, Ghana experienced a persistent and irregular power crisis.



This was caused by power supply shortages from transmission and distribution firms.



Ghana at the time had a power generation capacity of only 400-600 megawatts, a figure which was less than what the country needs and this resulted in a long-standing load shedding exercise across the country.

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reported 1,321 fresh



COVID-19 cases, the highest single day spike so far this year, pushing the tally to over 3.12 lakh, while the toll rose to 1,717 with five more fatalities.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 320, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri 144 and Rangareddy 121, a government bulletin said on Sunday providing details as of 8 pm on April 3.

The total number of cases stood at3,12,140, while 293 patients were cured, taking the total recoveries to 3,02,500.

The state has 7,923 active cases and62,973 samples were tested on Saturday.

Cumulatively, nearly 1.04 crore samples have been tested.

The samples tested per million population was over 2.79 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 was 96.91 per cent, while it was 93.1 per cent in the country.

a separate release said as many as 11,82,020 people in the statehave received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 2,56,808 got their second shot also as of April 3.

(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 is expected to visit France in May during his visit to Europe for the Indian EU summit.

PM Modi will be in Portugal for the India EU summit on May 8, and France will be part of it. The Prime Minister had last visited France in 2019, when French President Emmanuel Macron had invited him for the G7 summit in Biarritz.

Ahead of the visit by Indian PM, the French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will be on an India visit from April 13 to 15.

During his India visit the French minister will take part in the Raisina Dialogue and India-France-Australia foreign ministers trilateral meet. Both Paris & Delhi have increased engagement at multiple levels - from dealing with COVID-19 crisis to defence.

Indian Ships will be part of France lead La Perouse exercises in Bay Of Bengal from 5th to 7th April. The exercises will involve France plus Quad Naval ships coming together for the first time.

France has also delivered 21 out of 36 contracted Rafale jets to India. More deliveries are expected in April, and May.

India's focus on Europe will continue in the coming months as the PM is expected to visit Denmark in a few months time for the 2nd India Nordic Summit.

The first such summit took place in 2018 in Stockholm. Meanwhile Italy will be hosting the Health Summit in May, but the summit could take place virtually considering the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Italy is also host of the G20 and will hold a summit on October 30-31 in Rome. It's not known yet if the summit will be physical or virtual.

Last year's G20 summit under Saudi Arabia's leadership was virtual due to covid pandemic. India is a member of G20 and will hold the summit in 2023.

It is well known that India has high level engagements with the UK this year. While UK PM Boris Johnson will be visiting India on April 26, Indian PM Modi will be going to the UK for the G7 summit from June 1113. He has already been invited for the United Nations Climate Change Conference summit to take place in Glasgow in November.

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Police divers have been seen searching a pond as part of the investigation into the disappearance of 19-year-old student Richard Okorogheye.

Mr Okorogheye has not been seen by his family since 22 March when he left their home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London.

The 19-year-old, who has sickle cell disease, took a taxi to Loughton, Essex. He was reported missing two days later.

He was last seen in CCTV footage recorded near Epping Forest the day after his disappearance.

The Metropolitan Police said the search of the woodland continued for a fourth day on Sunday but nothing of relevance to the investigation has been found.

Police divers have been seen searching a pond in Epping Forest as part of the investigation into the disappearance of 19-year-old student Richard Okorogheye

Mr Okorogheye has not been seen by his family since 22 March when he left their home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London

Police divers have been deployed and were seen in one of the bodies of water in the woodland in north-east London.

Scotland Yard previously said that detectives continue to keep an open mind about the Oxford Brookes University student's whereabouts.

Initial police inquiries identified Mr Okorogheye leaving his home address and heading in the direction of Ladbroke Grove at around 8.30pm.

He did not take his medication or any money when he left home.

In a previously confirmed sighting on Monday March 22, Mr Okorogheye was seen boarding the number 23 bus southbound in Ladbroke Grove at 8.44pm.

CCTV footage shows he was wearing all black and had a black satchel bag with a white Adidas logo, worn across his lower back.

Police said further inquiries have established that he then took a taxi journey from the W2 area of London to a residential street in Loughton.

The 19-year-old, who has sickle cell disease, was last seen in CCTV footage recorded near Epping Forest the day after his disappearance

Police divers have been deployed and were seen in one of the bodies of water in the woodland in north-east London

Mr Okorogheye's mother Evidence Joel previously said the Oxford Brookes University student had spoken of 'struggling to cope' with university pressures

He was captured on CCTV walking alone on Smarts Lane, Loughton, towards Epping Forest at 12.39am on Tuesday March 23.

Mr Okorogheye's mother Evidence Joel previously said the Oxford Brookes University student had spoken of 'struggling to cope' with university pressures and had been shielding during the Covid-19 lockdown.

In a statement, 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.'

On Thursday, police said Mr Okorogheye's phone has not been in use since his disappearance.

Yesterday, police made a direct appeal to the missing student to get in touch and 'let us know you are safe'.

Yesterday, police made a direct appeal to the missing student to get in touch and 'let us know you are safe'

Detective Superintendent Danny Gosling said in an appeal: 'My message to Richard is clear. Our only concern is your safety. You are not in trouble and have done nothing wrong'

Detective Superintendent Danny Gosling, Head of the Mets 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.

'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.'

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting 21MIS008134.

Mr Okorogheye's mother Evidence Joel previously said that her son had spoken of 'struggling to cope' with university pressures and had been shielding during the Covid-19 lockdown.

As someone with sickle cell disease, Mr Okorogheye would only leave the house to go to hospital for regular blood transfusions for his condition.
Seguin, Texas (78155)

Today

Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. High 78F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Veteran Actress Shashikala Known For Films Like Badshah, Mujhse Shaadi Karoge Dies In Mumbai

Veteran actress Shashikala died on Sunday, April 4 in Mumbai at the age of 88. The actress started her journey in Bollywood at an early age in the 1950s and has been a part of over 100 films.

Known for popular films Daku, Aarti, Anupama, Gumra, Khubsoorat where she was seen in supporting roles, Shashikala was later seen in films like Badshah, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.

The actress had later ventured into television with popular shows like Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, Sonpari, and Apnaapan. In 2007, her contribution to cinema earned her a Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honor in the country. She has been the recipient of two Filmfare awards for her supporting roles in films Aarti and Gumrah.

Many fans are mourning her demise on social media after the news broke out.

The family of the late actress is yet to release a statement on her tragic demise and the cause of her death still remains unknown.

We extend our condolences to her family.
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Healthcare eDiscovery Market Overview:

According to a report published by Market Presearch Future (MRFR), the global healthcare eDiscovery market is anticipated to grow exponentially at a CAGR of 11.5% over the forecast period of 2017 to 2023.

The global healthcare sector, due to its, litigious and regulated nature, has been facing a need for an intelligent information governance solution, a reliable healthcare data management system such as an eDiscovery platform to maintain the security of information of the patients, such as patients billing, radiological images, and medical history combined with management of healthcare data.

The healthcare eDiscovery market is driven majorly by the growing demand for a data management system for the electronic health records, increasing the use of software for healthcare system for data management, and strict regulation of storage of clinical and patient data on a cloud-based platform. Risks of managing healthcare data comprise of the use of pirated software, data security issues and the threat of cyber-attacks, which restrains the growth of the global market for healthcare eDiscovery platforms. The high expenditure of healthcare data management solutions and lack of awareness among the medical staff may also act as a restraining factor.

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Healthcare eDiscovery Market Key Players:

Some of the key market players of the healthcare eDiscovery market are Google (U.S.), Commvault (U.S.), IBM (U.S.), Actiance, Inc. (U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), Barracuda Networks Inc. (U.S.), Allscripts (U.S.) Global Relay Communications Inc. (U.S.), and others.

These macroeconomic expansions attract major medical device & IT companies looking for a geographical extension for growing their sales and achieving market growth. The acquisitions, new product launches, partnerships are various strategic approaches of these market players that subsequently lead to massive market growth .

Healthcare eDiscovery Market Segmental Analysis:

The global Healthcare eDiscovery Market solutions is segmented based on deployment, application, and end-user.

Based on deployment, the healthcare eDiscovery market is bifurcated into the on-premise systems, and cloud systems. Based on application, the market is segmented into communication, application audit trail via metadata, EHR-hosting, and other applications. By end-users, the market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, healthcare IT companies, pharmacy, and others.

Based on the region, the global healthcare eDiscovery market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.

Healthcare eDiscovery Market Regional Analysis:

North America has been assessed to account for the largest market share, which is attributed to the growing importance of storage and archival, retrieval of clinical data, the rising demand for quality healthcare, extensive use of software solution for healthcare management and data storage, growing demand of genuine software solutions, and growing awareness about eDiscovery platforms and clinical data sharing.

Europe has been assessed as the second largest market for healthcare eDiscovery, due to the growing use of data management solutions and regulations prevailing the use of healthcare information by hospitals and health insurance companies.

The Asia Pacific has been assessed as the fastest growing region with India, Japan, and China being the leading countries towards market growth. Increasing patient pool, awareness concerning the significance of medical records in legal matters and the increasing demand for lucrative healthcare IT solutions for management are the major driving factors for the growth of the healthcare eDiscovery market in this region. Additionally, governments' focus and initiatives to promote healthcare IT, the increasing use of healthcare software solutions, and technological advancements, among others, are additional drivers of the market in the Asia Pacific. moreover,

The Middle East & Africa is has been estimated to showcase gradual and steady growth in the global healthcare eDiscovery market due to the low technological penetration and comparatively poor healthcare infrastructure, especially in the economically under-developed Africa. In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia are the major contributors to the market growth owing to the increase in the availability of specialty healthcare diagnostics and proper treatment services and increasing demand for software solutions for patient care. But growing regulatory initiatives towards improving the healthcare sector in this region is estimated to be a driving factor for the market over the forecast period.

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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.
Right behind Joey Espinozas home on McAnn Street in downtown Greenville stands Ella Mae Logan Park.

The small and well-maintained pocket park is located between the Haynie-Sirrine neighborhood and The Greenville Housing Authoritys Preserve at Logan Park, an affordable housing complex for seniors.

There are swings, a playground and a gazebo. A monument recognizes Ella Mae Logan, an educator who taught for more than 30 years at Sterling High School and was a fixture of the community. She worked to get the park established.

But if the developers of Greenville Countys County Square project get their choice, the park would be moved and a new high-volume traffic exit would take its place right behind the heart of the Haynie-Sirrine neighborhood. That was the leading proposal made by RocaPoint Partners, the Atlanta-based real estate investment firm handling the master development of County Square, at a quarterly update meeting in March.

The County Square project is a planned $1 billion redevelopment of 40 acres in downtown Greenville that currently hold multiple county offices and services. Construction is under way on the first step  a 5-story, $66.8 million administrative office building for the county that will rise at the intersection of Church Street and University Ridge.

The developers said they already had discussions with the housing authority about the recent traffic proposal, which would require land from GHA and the city to create a main artery for traffic to enter and exit the county site at an existing traffic light onto Augusta Street, while creating a four-way intersection with Dunbar Street.

RocaPoint had not talked to Haynie-Sirrine residents about the proposal. Neither had the county. Neighbors first found out about it at the developers meeting with county officials, and received details later that night at a neighborhood meeting hosted by the city of Greenville, which holds final approval authority over the developments traffic mitigation plans.

Thats when Espinoza learned of the plan, which would replace the peaceful park behind his backyard with a traffic-heavy street. His home, which he rents, would become a peninsula surrounded on three sides by roads.

Residents, including Espinoza, werent happy.

He said the city has told them it is the responsibility of the county and developer to come up with traffic solutions. But he felt like those solutions were being dictated to the neighborhood without its input. That left him and others with questions.

Where do we go? Who do we turn to? Espinoza said. We feel kind of powerless with this.

The Haynie-Sirrine community and Greenville City Council members were further frustrated by what they perceived as a continued lack of communication by RocaPoint and the county with the neighborhood. Multiple City Council members during a neighborhood Zoom meeting said they shared residents' concern about a lack of communication in the process.

I think we can all agree that theres room for improvement on how this has been handled on the side of the county and Roca(Point), said Councilwoman Dorothy Dowe. That communication breakdown with the community began more than a year ago and hasnt improved, she said.

Councilman Ken Gibson, who represents the neighborhood and was also on the call, said the neighbors shouldnt expect to hear from RocaPoint and that they needed to take their concerns straight to the county. Councilwoman Lillian Flemming said she didnt want the community to be blindsided like it was during the design approval process.

Each of them also mentioned that the countys permits needed the citys blessing for approval. That requires a traffic solution that works for everyone.

Where are they? Why arent they in this meeting? one resident asked.

No county or RocaPoint representatives spoke on the call.

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Asked later by The Post and Courier about the frustration community members felt, RocaPoint Partner Phil Mays said they are committed to working with all stakeholders.

"Traffic mitigation is something that can be examined differently through multiple stages, and thats where we are now, Mays said in an emailed statement in response to questions. Communications will continue between RocaPoint, the county, the city and neighbors, and we hope any frustrations will be alleviated.

The county spokesman didnt return a phone message left April 2 seeking comment.

City engineer Duane Cooper presented four plans that have been proposed so far. Each was designed to create a four-way intersection at the Dunbar Street traffic light. Cooper said the state Department of Transportation wont allow the traffic light to be moved or permit another light at any of the other entrances to the development along Augusta Street.

Three of the four options would create a new street from Dunbar Street to Howe Street running through what is now a parking lot beside The Preserve at Logan Park as well as Logan Park itself and a small detention pond.

The new street could create a new connection to Church Street and would serve dual purposes: to redirect more than 2,500 cars per day that use the small neighborhood Haynie Street now and to create a third main exit from the County Square project, which would be required once the project added 1,100 trips per day to the citys roads.

Moving the park would allow the city to expand it, Cooper suggested. The park has been moved at least twice before, said Felsie Harris, the Haynie-Sirrine Neighborhood Alliance president who knew Logan and was adamant she didnt want the park moved again.

Anyone knows that I do not want Miss Logans park to be moved, Harris told the city officials. She didnt like any of the plans because they would cut the community off from the rest of Haynie-Sirrine, adding heavy traffic behind and beside the main section of the community along McAnn Street.

To me, it just makes us less than a neighborhood, she said.

A fourth option presented by the city would sweep across the front part of the Greenville Housing Authority site to connect to the traffic light at Dunbar Street. In that model, Thruston Street would become the main artery. It wouldve been the choice of the Haynie-Sirrine neighbors, but GHA CEO Shawn Williams said it was a non-starter because it would put senior citizens in the path of traffic. Some cross the street there or wait at the bus stop on Thruston Street.

Residents have since drafted their own proposal, a compromise that would save Logan Park and add the new street, bending it away from the park at its intersection with Howe Street, said Becky Warth, the neighborhood groups vice president. They dont know if it is possible but are trying to figure out the best path forward, she said.

RocaPoint has said it plans to spend much of the next six months working on engineering plans for the project, including its traffic plans. Initial concepts show other main arteries at University Street near the Governors School for the Arts campus and at University Ridge and Church Street.

Bradshaw, Harris and Claussen streets would all remain as connections to Augusta Street, but none of those has a traffic light. Plans may also seek to redirect traffic at the intersection of Church and Haynie streets to send it behind or away from the Haynie-Sirrine neighborhood.

Greenville city manager John McDonough prefaced the neighborhood meeting by saying no decisions have been made yet.

This is a work in progress, he said. Were just getting started.

Later, city spokeswoman Beth Brotherton said she was not aware of any updates to the plans in the past two weeks since the neighborhood met with the city. She said the frustration apparent during the meeting showed the ongoing need for the county and its developers to over-communicate with neighborhoods when developing plans.

In early 2020, Warth spoke in favor of the County Square project on behalf of the neighborhood. She said the group voted to lend its support with conditions. One was a formal process of ongoing communication about the project. They supported the project because the neighborhood wanted to be in the discussion and the county would work with the neighborhood on the citys new South Downtown Master Plan, which is ongoing.

She said they had not heard from RocaPoint or the county since that meeting more than a year ago.
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.

Source:The Christian Post
PARADISE, Calif. - 33-year-old Martina Marie Garcia of Paradise is being charged with a hate crime in addition to DUI and assault charges stemming from a Mar. 30, 2021 incident, Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said on Saturday.

Garcia made racially derogatory slurs as she drove her vehicle toward an African American traffic flagger, according to Ramsey.

The D.A. said Garcia is alleged to have driven her Ford Explorer SUV north through a traffic-controlled work zone in the 5500 block of Scottwood Road in Paradise at approximately 40-50 miles per hour while workers were present trying to clear trees. Ramsey said the area has a speed limit of 25 mph.

Ramsey said the traffic control flagger was holding a slow sign as Garcia sped through the work zone with a beer to her mouth while making an obscene gesture. Ramsey said other workers saw a passenger in the front seat making a similar gesture. That man, said Ramsey, was later identified as Garcias brother.

The District Attorney explained that workers have claimed that Garcia returned a few minutes later driving the other direction in the same vehicle. He said this time the flagger was holding a stop sign.

Ramsey said the flagger had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck by Garcia as workers claim she accelerated to 50-60 mph and swerved her vehicle at the flagger, all while yelling racial epithets at him.

The D.A. said another member of the work crew called 9-1-1 and then followed Garcia to her home. He said Paradise police arrived and arrested Garcia for driving under the influence and assault.

Ramsey said Garcias brother, 43-year-old Antonia Burgos, was arrested for being drunk in public and for violating his parole, which involved alcohol use.

The D.A. added the hate crime allegation after police reports came in and it appeared the assault was motived by hate directed at a minority.

Ramsey explained that if Garcia is found guilty of the hate crime allegation an additional three years of state prison time could be added to her sentence.

She faces up to four years of state prison time for the assault without the hate crime allegation, he explained.

Garcia was arraigned in Butte County Superior Court on Friday and will return again on April 7, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. for further arraignment and entry of her plea. Ramsey said she was released on $55,000 bail.
Parliament has approved the setting up of an academy aimed at addressing capacity building and training needs of legislators and its staff.

This was said by Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda during the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding between Parliament and Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit last week.

Adv Mudenda said this would be achieved through collaboration with development partners that would provide research and identify training needs and ensure that Parliament played its legislative, oversight and representative roles effectively.

In keeping with its vision of being a strong, independent, people-driven, world class Parliament and consequent to its previous Committee on Standing Rules and Orders meeting, Parliament approved the establishment of the Zimbabwe Parliament Training Academy.

That Academy seeks to address the capacity building and training needs of Parliament. This is a virgin area of compelling cooperation between ZEPARU and our Parliament wherein ZEPARU would be expected to provide research materials for the academys modules that would be relevant for the capacity building of Members of Parliament and their staff, said Adv Mudenda.

Depending on the ZEPARUs quality of research over time, Parliament may engage ZEPARU to extend its research excellence to Parliament so that the curriculum of the academy may be upscaled to diploma and degree programmes in Parliamentary studies akin to other similar institutions elsewhere in the world such as in Pakistan.

He said the signing of another MoU with Zeparu testified the two institutions mutual commitment to achieve greater heights in fulfilling a shared vision and goals.

As ZEPARU is an economic policy analysis and research institution that seeks to promote evidence based and informed policy decision making by the public, private sector and civil society in Zimbabwe, it is hoped that ZEPARU will proffer a critical mass of knowledge to the Parliament of Zimbabwe as it endeavours to actualise its constitutional roles of oversight, legislation and representation, he said.

Parliament, said Adv Mudenda, had unwavering confidence in ZEPARUs intellectual research capacity as proven by its production of an incisive baseline survey on economic literacy for parliamentarians.

The institution had also crafted the economic literacy handbooks that were distributed for study by Parliamentarians.

The handbooks have been utilised by legislators to effectively improve their economic literacy as they embark on tailoring the annual National Budgets in the context of implementing the National Development Strategy 1.

In 2017, Zeparu, was also commissioned by the Zimbabwe Women and Resource Center to produce the Gender Budget Monitoring and Expenditure Tracking Tool Kit for Parliament.

Such a commendable track record must be extolled, especially as we renew the MoU in order to leverage on past symbiotic relationship between Parliament and ZEPARU, he said.

He implored both Parliament and Zeparu to conduct research into those areas that will bring quick wins to the economy such as curtailing illicit financial outflows from the country.

Zeparu executive director, Dr Gibson Chigumira pledged to enhance cooperation between his organisation and Parliament. Herald
The University of Connecticut has placed residents of five campus dormitories under quarantine after 35 students tested positive for Covid-19.

School officials blamed March parties for the outbreak and elevated its main campus in the village of Storrs to "yellow" restrictions that include online instruction for quarantined students.

"This spike in positives may be related to large off-campus gatherings that were reported this past weekend," said Dean of Students Eleanor Daugherty, in a letter.

The quarantine means students in the Eddy, Middlesex, Windham, Rogers and Russell dorms cannot attend classes or events. All campus dorm dwellers will be denied visitors, Daugherty said.

Residents of the five dorms have to either remain on campus through spring break, which is scheduled for the week of April 11, or complete the quarantine at home, Daugherty said.

Connecticut State Police broke up a house party near campus on March 27 that was attended by an estimated 100 guests, the agency said in a statement.

"It was reported that the people at the gathering were not social distancing," the department said.

Two people were arrested, one on suspicion of hosting the event despite pandemic restrictions and the other in connection with throwing a beverage at a state officer, state police said.

Daugherty warned against partying.

"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," she said.
If we had known a year ago what Britain and the world were about to go through, it would have been hard to sustain any spirit of hope or renewal  the proper spirit of Easter. It is probably a good thing we did not know.

The British people have endured an astonishing ordeal with amazing patience and fortitude for far longer than their leaders ever imagined they would, in the cause of defeating the pandemic and returning to normal life. But nobody could have believed how long, and how cruel, the ordeal would eventually be. Now, as we mark the second Easter of the Covid crisis, there are good, hard reasons for hope  far more than there were in April 2020.

It is now all but certain that the Government's target of giving the first of two vaccine jabs to the 32 million most at-risk citizens by the middle of this month will be met before time. Production of vaccines is accelerating in British factories. The Prime Minister's much-expressed desire for a night-and-day effort to produce and administer the vaccine has largely been met.

Can it be that the ordeal is almost over at last? We fervently hope so. File photo of a vaccination centre at Newmarket Racecourse

The effort is reminiscent of the early days of the Second World War, when the tireless Lord Beaverbrook, always refusing to take no for an answer, drove aircraft production by sheer force of personality to meet the needs created first by the Battle of Britain and then by the German blitz of our cities.

Another good side-effect of this has been a hastening British approach to self-sufficiency in vaccine supplies, a civilised and constructive answer to the selfish and sometimes spiteful folly of the European Union.

This increasingly sclerotic body simultaneously sought to hamper supplies to the UK, while spreading needless fear about the Oxford vaccine among continental populations, and refusing to use it when it had it. This foolish episode is still not over, and what a pity that is for the people of the EU, who would have been far better served if their governments had been free of Brussels interference. Those who continue to decry Brexit have a hard task in explaining exactly why it is that centralised, supranational bureaucracy is such a good way to run a society or an economy.

As if to prove that flexibility and enterprise are flourishing again in an independent Britain, the resources and opportunities which led us to vaccine success are now being deployed and exploited in the search for an effective drug to treat Covid in those who still catch it. A taskforce, modelled on the one that made us a world leader in immunisation, has every hope of a breakthrough, taking full advantage of the hard experience in treating the virus, gained by our hospitals in the past year.

Let us hope they are swiftly successful, so providing another reason to get the country back to freedom.

And as a first step to that liberation, the Government's commitment to reopen foreign travel on May 17 still stands, and must still stand.

This is not in any way a frivolous issue. As The Mail on Sunday has pointed out before, travel and air transport are key sectors of our economy. They are engines of business, and providers of employment. As it happens, they also have the power to make people happy, joyfully reuniting separated families and rewarding hard work and patience with well-earned pleasure.

Can it be that the ordeal is almost over at last? We fervently hope so.
Investigations editor

Larry Parnass, investigations editor, joined The Eagle in 2016 from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, where he was editor in chief. His freelance work has appeared in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant and CommonWealth Magazine.
Op-Ed: Session Features Spend-O-Rama

By Jim Waters, Bluegrass Institute

LEXINGTON -Before this years General Assembly, Frankfort GOP insiders joked that Secretary of State Michael Adams might end up signing more bills into law than Gov. Andy Beshear.That didnt quite end up happening.Still, Adams, whos responsible for signing vetoed bills overridden by the legislature, was kept plenty busy. He signed 29 bills and one joint resolution into law as the pre-session rancor over Beshears excessive use of executive power during the COVID-19 crisis spilled into the session.The results were some real liberty boosting and busting moments during this years General Assembly.Liberty Boosters: Lawmakers who voted for  and then overrode Beshears veto of  House Bill 563, school choice legislation opening the door to more public and private educational opportunities for Kentucky students, especially those from low-income homes.Legislative leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers in both the state House and Senate not only allowed school choice legislation to move forward but also made passionate statements supporting educational liberty despite withering pressure from the anti-choice teachers union and their legislative allies.Those opponents leveled spurious charges in both chambers contending that giving parents without financial means the right to choose a better school for their children somehow translates into hatred of public education. Unsurprisingly, a veto was issued by those opponents ideological twin in the governors office.Its a real stretch for opponents to charge this effort with being anti-public education when a major part of the bill gives parents the option of enrolling children in a public school outside the district where they reside, with state SEEK dollars to follow students who transfer.Weve yet to hear from those same opponents how giving parents options between public schools destroys public education.Liberty Busting, Big-Spending Style: If Monday (March 29) could be called Override-O-Rama, then Tuesday (March 30), the session's final day, was a splendid display of an all-out spendalooza as lawmakers spent $1.25 billion, much of which is made possible by federal coronavirus aid dollars.Not all the spending was necessarily ill-advised. Fully $750 million was directed toward paying off Kentuckys unemployment insurance debts, a huge problem for too long.Still, the practice of passing such bills with limited debate and scrutiny in the final hours  like this years push of legislation containing a troublesome tax increment financing (TIF) project aimed at revitalizing Louisvilles West End  must end.The legislation allows the West End Opportunity Partnership to issue debt and then stick taxpayers with the bill if the TIF doesnt produce the revenue needed to cover the service on that debt, or if the agency decides its going to forgive loans, which also isnt prohibited.It also doesnt require competitive bidding for contracts, meaning the process could easily be abused as friends get taken care of while taxpayers get bamboozled.Senate leaders crowed about spending six months working on this project. Why, then, did it take so much arm-twisting of rank-and-file legislators to push it through during the 30-day sessions final minutes?Liberty Booster: Rep. C. Ed Masseys masterful shepherding of legislation created a new pension plan for new teachers, offering them a defined benefit while protecting taxpayers. The bill, which keeps Kentuckys pension-deficit hole from getting deeper and is projected to save the state $3.5 billion over the next 30 years, got better each time he advocated for it, including his statement on the House floor blistering Beshear for vetoing it.Massey noted the governor vetoed the bill without any input into the process which weve been doing over a year, including painstaking efforts to educate policymakers and garner the support of various stakeholder groups, including the Jefferson County teachers union.Fellow lawmakers rewarded Masseys work and impassioned presentation with both a hearty ovation and an overwhelming 63-30 vote overriding Beshear, a past and continuing liberty buster.
Chief Border Patrol agent Jason Owens speaks to Border Patrol Processing Coordinator trainees at the Border Patrol training facility in Artesia, New Mexico, on April 1, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

New Staff Deploy to Border Processing Facilities as Crisis Worsens

ARTESIA, N.M.As illegal border crossings continue to escalate, a crop of newly trained processing coordinators are being sent to El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to help get Border Patrol agents back out on the line.

The 39 Border Patrol processing coordinators spent eight weeks training in first aid, processing, transportation, basic firearms, detainee care, and other skills. The new role was developed under the Trump administration in response to large numbers of Border Patrol agents being pulled away from border security to deal with humanitarian issues.

The new coordinators are trained specifically to be able to care for the detainee populationidentifying the sensitive populations, the at-risk populations, making sure that the medical care that is needed is open to them, said Jason Owens, chief patrol agent of the Border Patrol training academy in Artesia, New Mexico.

The coordinators wont be armed or have arrest authority, as its not a law enforcement position, but some of the graduates, such as Marco Mena, have a desire to eventually train as an agent.

Mena, 27, is one of 19 graduates who will begin work inside the El Paso temporary processing facility on April 5. The other 20 will deploy to the Donna, Texas, facility.

Mena was working in IT for Best Buy when a friend told him about the job.

Ive always liked working with people, Mena told The Epoch Times on April 2. And that caregiver side of me, I want to go ahead and help. Theres a lot of unaccompanied minors, and Id like to be able to lend a helping hand in making sure that they feel safe, that they have somewhere where they are sheltered, where they have meals, where they can rest.

A record high of more than 19,000 unaccompanied minors crossed the border illegally during the month of March, according to reports of preliminary numbers from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

By law, unaccompanied children are meant to be processed through CBP facilities within 72 hours, before being transferred to Health and Human Services (HHS). However, the facilities are so overwhelmed that some children remain in CBP custody for a week or more.

On April 2, CBP was holding more than 5,380 unaccompanied minors, while HHS had more than 13,000 minors in custody.

The Biden administration has opened emergency HHS facilities in San Diego; Fort Bliss, Texas; and several other locations.

Karina Garza, 31, heard about the processing job from her neighbor, whos a Border Patrol agent in the Rio Grande Valley.

Garza has a bachelors degree in psychology, majoring in child psychology, but she was working in retail management before being accepted into the processing position.

Its something that I know is beneficial to our country. Its just something that I look forward to, to just help assist our country, Garza told The Epoch Times. From what were seeing and what were being told, were very much needed at the moment because of the influx.

She said the instructors and other agents have told her how instrumental her role will be in alleviating the pressure at the facilities.

Owens said agents are now going to be able to return to patrol duty quicker.

Youre about to hit the field at a time when we need you the most, Owens said during the class graduation on April 2. Were going to be able to do a better job at border security. We are better able to serve the American people.

Owens said five more classes are scheduled to be completed this fiscal year at a facility in Charleston, South Carolina. In total, Border Patrol hopes to train 1,200 processing coordinators within the next four years. The job is guaranteed for 13 months but can be extended for up to four years.

The federal training facility in Artesia trains about 1,750 Border Patrol agents per year.
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









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Chandigarh, April 4 : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday hit out at the Central government for spreading "misinformation" about the state's farmers with its "grave and incorrect allegations" of bonded labourers working in the fields.

Terming it yet "another conspiracy" to defame Punjab's farmers whom the Central government and the ruling BJP have been "persistently trying to malign by dubbing them terrorists, urban naxals, goons, etc., in a bid to derail their agitation against the farm laws", he said that the Union Home Ministry's March 17 letter in this regard was a "bundle of lies", aimed at "undermining" the farmers' protest and "denigrating" the state's Congress government.

"A careful analysis of the whole episode reveals that highly sensitive information pertaining to national security regarding the arrest of some suspicious persons, apprehended by the BSF from close to the volatile Indo-Pak border, has been unscrupulously twisted on baseless conjectures to malign and tarnish the farmer community," he claimed.

This "reality has been further substantiated by the fact that a selective leakage of the contents of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) letter to some leading newspapers and media houses has been done without waiting for an appropriate response from the state government", he added.

Asserting that his government and Punjab Police are totally competent and committed to safeguard the human rights of the poor and the downtrodden, Amarinder Singh said suitable action has already been initiated in each case and most of the persons are residing with their families.

"If anything comes to notice at any stage, suitable legal action will be initiated against the culprits," he added.

Amarinder Singh was reacting to the Home Minister's letter claiming that the Border Security Force (BSF) had apprehended 58 Indian nationals in 2019 and 2020 from border areas of Punjab, and the detainees had purportedly revealed that they were working with state's farmers as bonded labourers.

"It has been further informed that illegal human trafficking syndicates exploit these gullible labourers and Punjabi farmers hook them to drugs to make them work for long hours in their fields," the MHA had said in the letter.

Rejecting the letter as totally "unwarranted and factually incorrect", the Chief Minister said neither the data nor the said reports submitted by the BSF authorities were in tune with the content of the letter.

"The MHA letter talks of Abohar also while the fact is that there is no case of Abohar or Fazilka districts," he pointed out, adding that "none of the conclusions of the Centre were borne out by facts".

Further, it was not the job of the BSF to investigate such matters, and they were only responsible for detaining any person found to be roaming along the border in suspicious circumstances, and handing them over to the local police, he added.

"Before shooting out such a letter and making it public through the media, the MHA should have checked the facts and verified the information from the state government instead of making false accusations against farmers, and charging them with indulging in bonded labour and converting the labourers into drug addicts," he added.

"All the 58 cases alleged by the Centre have been investigated thoroughly and nothing of this kind has been found," said Amarinder Singh.

Giving details, he said of the 58 detainees, four belong to different areas of Punjab and were found roaming near the Indo-Pak border by the BSF, while three were found to be mentally disabled.

"Nothing on record suggests that these persons were forcibly infused drugs to keep them working for long hours, and moreover, it is incorrect to conclude that the intellectual disability of these person is drug induced," said Amarinder Singh.
It was a short but active week in the small-cap oil and gas sector.

88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E, ASX:88E) investors are counting down to the next well results from the Merlin-1 exploration well.

This week it confirmed wireline logging operations are now underway and the hotly anticipated preliminary results are expected over the weekend, it said.

This morning the company also confirmed the remaining conditions to its acquisition of the Umiat oil field, also in Alaska, are now complete  following cement work to plug and abandon two historic wells on the site.

88 Energy said further remedial site work will be finalised in the near-term. Umiat is located close to the Project Peregrine acreage, which contains Merlin. It was discovered in 1945 and saw eleven wells drilled by 1953.

Harbour Energy Plc (LON:HBR) - Premier Oils port in the storm - began trading on the London Stock Exchange.

Harbour is a combination of Premier and private-equity backed Chrysaor to create the largest UK listed independent oil and gas company. It is a producer with a portfolio comprising some 200,000 barrels oil equivalent per day from operations in the North Sea and South East Asia.

The company boasts a new management, a strong and flexible balance sheet giving it the potential for further growth.

For 2021, Harbour is guiding for 200,000 to 215,000 boepd of production with operating costs averaging less than US$15 per barrel, free cash flow breakeven is stated at US$30 to US$35 per barrel.

Zephyr Energy PLC (LON:ZPHR) completed the acquisition of non-operated working interests in producing and near-term production wells in the Bakken Formation in North Dakota, US.

The deal, first announced earlier this week, transforms the company into a producer and provides it with a source of cash flow, with first payments to Zephyr expected before the end of April. Presently, production comes from one well and in todays statement Zephyr highlighted that completion of four wells drilled last year is expected in May.

The acquisition was supported by a 10mln equity fundraise, which included the issue of 500mln new shares to institutional investors, family offices, Zephyr board members and other investors. The new shares were priced at 2p each, marking a 2.5% discount to last Fridays closing share price.

Westmount Energy Ltd (LON:WTE, OTCQB:WMELF) announced the final repayment against convertible unsecured loan notes, which became due on March 31 2021. The final payment amounted to 456,547.94 comprising 400,000 residual principal and 56,547.94 of accrued interest.

All loan notes issued in October 2018 have been repaid and the company is now debt-free, Westmount highlighted in a statement. The company said it had 1.3mln of cash following the repayment.

Shares in Advance Energy PLC (LON:ADV) resumed trading on Thursday as it advances a reverse takeover to acquire an interest in the Buffalo oil field in Timor-Leste, southeast Asia. It was previously suspended in December as the deal was initially announced and today the company notes the publishing of an admission document for the enlarged company.

The company is acquiring a 50% interest in Carnarvon Petroleum Timor Unipessoal Lda, a subsidiary of ASX-listed Carnarvon Petroleum, which owns 100% of the Buffalo field. At the same time, it is raising 21.84mln of new capital in a share placing.

Buffalo is host to 34.3mln barrels of contingent oil resources and under previous operators (BHP and Nexen Petroleum) it produced some 21mln barrels over a five-year period.

Touchstone Exploration Inc (LON:TXP, TSX:TXP) provided an update on exploration at the Ortoire block, onshore Trinidad and Tobago.

It completed and tested the third interval at Chinook-1 encountering 35-degree API gravity crude oil - a light crude - and said further evaluation is required to determine commerciality. Chinook-1 will be placed on pump for an extended production test to evaluate the reservoir and guide future development. All three Herrera thrust sheets in Chinook-1 encountered light oil indicating the structure is predominantly oil charged.

The Cameroon authorities are supporting Tower Resources PLC (LON:TRP) companys plans for the Thali license and it is working with its contractors to organise a schedule for the NJOM-3 well.

The licence has been under force majeure since March 2020 amidst the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic though today the company said the Government of the Republic of Cameroon has now notified the company it will provide an extension of the licences first exploration period. Logistics necessary for a drill programme remain challenging, Tower said, but the company intends to deliver the NJOM-3 well safely in the present circumstances.

Union Jack Oil PLC (LON:UJO) expects the first phase of evaluation at the WNB-1Z well at the West Newton project will get underway in April. The company, in a stock market statement, said it received a draft environmental agency permit for the completion, clean-up and extended test of the well.

The first phase of evaluation will include a cased hole logging programme and vertical seismic profiling. This is expected to take two weeks to carry-out, after which the findings will inform the completion and testing operations. Additionally, the company added data from the testing programme will feed into a new competent-persons report to assess the project.

Deltic Energy PLC and Shell UK Ltd decided to drill the high impact Pensacola prospect on Licence P2252 in the UK Southern North Sea. Shell and Deltic have subsequently confirmed to The Oil and Gas Authority the contingent well commitment is now firm.

The drilling of this key well on Pensacola has the potential to be transformational for Deltic and is a vital step in evaluating the highly prospective Zechstein reef play which in turn has the potential to revitalise exploration in the Southern North Sea.

Following re-interpretation of the new 3D seismic data acquired over the prospect, Deltic estimates the Pensacola prospect contains gross P50 prospective resources of 309 billion cubic feet of gas, which will rank Pensacola as one of the highest impact exploration targets to be drilled in the gas basin in recent years.
Irish Grand National day at Fairyhouse is one of the highlights of the entire National Hunt season in Ireland.

In addition to the feature race, it has attracted a deep card of competitive races and I'll try to pull a winner or two out of it.

We like what Kev is thinking regarding Cromwell runner

The Fairyhouse Steel Handicap Hurdle (15:15) is a fiercely-competitive race and the one I'm siding with is the Gavin Cromwell-trained Ilikedwayurthinkin.

Cromwell was having a difficult 2021 up until Flooring Porter's victory in the Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, having had just five winners from 126 runners in 2021 up to that point. However, his team picked the perfect time to turn it around, as including that memorable victory with Flooring Porter he has had eight winners from his 31 runners since then up to before racing on Sunday.

Ilikedwayurthinkin proved to be very progressive over hurdles in the 2019/20 season, winning twice at the Galway Festival and running a big race in the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival having been hampered in the early stages. He has transitioned to fences this season and has showed subtle promise, though it should be noted that Cromwell was out of form and the ground was softer than ideal for him for most of his runs.

With Cromwell having very much turned the corner and with his preferred sounder surface now prevailing, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him make a winning return to hurdling in this contest.

Sounder surface the key to a big run from Brace Yourself

The main event of the whole meeting is the Irish Grand National (17:00) and as always, it represents an extremely difficult puzzle to solve. Historically, unexposed novices have fared particularly well in the race and those with that profile tend to be my focus.

The top of the market is dominated by horses with profiles such as that, with Latest Exhibition, The Big Dog, Sempo, Run Wild Fred and Coko Beach all fitting the bill. However, I'm looking for a less obvious one at a bigger price and the one I like is the Noel Meade-trained Brace Yourself.

The eight-year-old started off his career in very promising fashion, winning a bumper at Down Royal by 24 lengths and finishing third to Blackbow in a Grade 2 bumper at Leopardstown. Having made a winning hurdling debut, he missed over a year due to an injury and when he got back to the track last season, he was a bit disappointing.

However, he returned to chasing this season and has performed notably well, winning a maiden chase at Gowran Park and finishing third to Pencilfulloflead and Latest Exhibition in a Grade 2 novice chase at Punchestown. It was his latest run that was particularly promising in the context of this race, as he proved his stamina for this trip when second to Court Maid in the Porterstown Handicap Chase over this course and distance in November.

His trainer has confirmed that he has been trained with this race in mind and he will find himself notably better off at the weights with many of those he met earlier this season such as Court Maid and Latest Exhibition. The real key to his chance could well be the sounder surface, as he has performed particularly well on such a surface on the few occasions he has run on it.

While Brace Yourself is a very big price, a big run can be expected from him and hopefully he can reach the places at least with the Sportsbook paying six places.
Contemplating the 266 shootings and 25 homicides in just the first three months of this year, Antoinette Edwards was struggling to understand how Portland city commissioners could oppose the mayors proposal to restart a Portland Police gun-violence team.

What more do commissioners need to know to understand the trauma neighbors feel about repeated shootings on their street, Edwards, who headed the citys office of violence prevention for 10 years, asked at a Thursday press conference. What daily data report can bring the reality of the threat home to commissioners? How many more loved ones need to die before commissioners match the urgency of this crisis with courageous action of their own?

This, she later told The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board, is a moral moment.

Unfortunately, most of City Council appears to be stuck in a political one.

The councils three newest commissioners told Mayor Ted Wheeler that they oppose the $2 million proposal to revive the gun-violence unit that he developed with members of the Interfaith Peace & Action Collaborative, as The Oregonian/OregonLives Shane Dixon Kavanaugh reported. Instead, City Commissioners Mingus Mapps, Dan Ryan and Carmen Rubio countered with their own plan to tap Portlands former fire chief to lead the citys gun violence strategy; hand out $3.5 million to unspecified community groups who work with communities affected by gun-violence in some manner; and add park rangers  armed only with the authority to ban those who dont follow their rules  to patrol the citys parks around-the-clock.

While well-meaning, the commissioners proposal reflects a startling lack of seriousness, if not outright naivete, and fails to show the urgency or understanding of the scope of this crisis. These shootings and murders are happening now  on streets, in convenience stores, in homeless camps as well as in parks, with homicides occurring at a pace to reach a record-busting 100 this year. Many shootings are tied to retaliatory violence between rival groups  a complex dynamic of relationships, families and history that was well understood by the disbanded Portland Polices gun violence team but whose connections now go largely unrecognized as investigations are handled by whoever is on duty.

Even the commissioners proposal to immediately increase funds to city-contracted organizations working with the communities affected by gun violence betrays a lack of strategic planning. The proposal does not describe who these current contractors are or what specific services they provide. In fact, despite requests from the editorial board, none of the commissioners offices could explain how increasing investment in these organizations will demonstrably change the trajectory of gun violence that neighborhoods are seeing now. While community organizations must be a part of any solution, and can help change the long-term picture, the commissioners so far have failed to offer the slimmest argument for why this approach is better than a restructured gun-violence team that operates under community oversight and with data-reporting requirements.

There are other unknowns. Its unclear whether the proposal to increase patrol hours will necessitate bargaining with the union representing park rangers. Regardless, expanding the corps of park rangers as part of a gun-violence reduction plan raises safety questions about what the city would or should expect rangers to do and merits thorough conversations with their employees.

But perhaps whats most concerning is that the commissioners would resist the deeply-informed views of people like Edwards; victims family members who have called for greater investigative and police resources for months; and several Black leaders, including longtime police reform advocate former state Sen. Avel Gordly, who recognize that police must play a role in the citys anti-violence strategy. Black Portlanders make up a disproportionately high percentage of victims.

Certainly, restarting a gun violence team at Portland Police that was disbanded just last year, is not an easy step to take. Like many across the country following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Portlanders examined how to root out racism in policing and other institutions. Under the leadership of Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, the council resoundingly voted to cut the Portland Police Bureau by $15 million, disbanding programs including the specialty gun-violence team of officers whose disproportionate stops of Black Portlanders generated deep resentment.

While we supported the move at the time, we  and all Portlanders  should recognize what has also been lost. The gun violence reduction team responded to every shooting, identifying incidents that were connected and helping disrupt potential retaliatory action. Officers had established relationships with many of those considered high-risk for being involved in gun-violence, connecting people with resources in the community as well as communicating with them about ongoing disputes to keep violence down. And as part of their work, they took dozens of guns off the street.

Somehow, weve landed in a moment that paints everything as a zero-sum game in which support for one thing translates into rejection of another. But as many community leaders have noted, we can both fund a police team to focus on gun violence and build up the community supports that address the underlying factors contributing to gun violence. We can invest in a reformed police structure and show our commitment to racial equity, accountability and fairness in policing. What we cannot do is fail to take common-sense measures to respond to and disrupt this historic level of violence. In a city that is otherwise at a loss for good ideas, a reconstituted gun violence team that operates under strong community oversight is a measure worth trying.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

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Pro-independence parties could win a 'super-majority' in May's Scottish Parliament elections, according to a new poll today that will put more pressure on Boris Johnson.

The Scottish National Party, the Scottish Greens and Alex Salmond's new Alba Party are forecast to win 79 of the 129 Holyrood seats between them, according to a survey by Panelbase for the Sunday Times.

Nicola Sturgeon's SNP are set to gain two seats to take it to 65, a narrow outright majority. The poll also found that the Greens will add six seats to their current two.

And in its most surprising finding it found that Alba, which only launched last week, could win six seats on the regional list.

An analysis of the poll by Sir John Curtice of Strathclyde University put the Scottish Conservatives on 24 seats, Scottish Labour on 20 and the Liberal Democrats on five.

George Galloway could enter the Scottish Parliament as his pro-union Alliance for Unity group may take a single seat.

But it means that the pro-independence parties are way ahead, which will buoy their efforts to force the Prime Minister to allow a rerun of the 2014 referendum.

He has refused to allow it, saying the 2014 vote, which went 55-45 in favour of Scotland remaining in the UK, was a 'once in a generation' poll.

Nicola Sturgeon's SNP are set to gain two seats to take it to 65, a narrow outright majority. The poll also found that the Greens will add six seats to their current two.

And in its most surprising finding it revealed that Alba, which was only launched by Mr Salmond last week, could win six seats on the regional list.

SNP candidate sorry for Theresa May 'Hitler' tweet A tweet from an SNP candidate for Holyrood comparing the actions of Theresa May in rejecting an independence referendum to the actions of Adolf Hitler has been described as 'disgraceful' by anti-Semitism campaigners. Stephanie Callaghan is currently standing to be the MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, replacing the retiring Richard Lyle, and is sixth on the party's regional list. In 2017, Ms Callaghan tweeted about the decision of then prime minister Theresa May to refuse an independence referendum. First reported in the Scottish Sun, the now deleted tweet said: 'Tory propaganda provides a window into future plans: stamp on democracy. 'Hitler did same: set scene 4 Jewish Holocaust to lower opposition.' The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said: 'There is no comparison between political tensions in the UK today and Nazi Germany's systematic destruction of democracy and murder of six million Jewish men, women and children. 'Politicians must set an example by learning the lessons of the Holocaust - not diminishing the memory of those innocents who were slaughtered by using the Holocaust to score political points 'To make such a comparison is disgraceful and wounding, showing incredible ignorance.' Ms Callaghan told the newspaper: 'The words in this old tweet were poorly chosen and I apologise for the offence caused. 'I have deleted the tweet.' Advertisement

Panelbase surveyed 1,009 adults in Scotland between March 30 and April 1.

It is the second opinion poll to include Alba since the party was launched by the former first minister to contest the regional list seats.

In the constituency vote, the SNP was on 49 per cent, with the Tories on 22 per cent, Labour on 20 per cent and the Lib Dems on 6 per cent.

For the regional list vote, the SNP was on 39 per cent, with the Conservatives on 21 per cent, Labour on 17 per cent, and the Greens on 8 per cent and the Lib Dems on 5 per cent.

The poll had Alba on 6 per cent for the regional list vote, with All for Unity on 4 per cent.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir John said Panelbase's results were 'good news' for the Alba Party, though a drop of just 2 per cent in support would mean their tally would fall to one MSP.

The polling expert said: 'Alba may be on the cusp of recording a creditable performance and coming away largely empty-handed.

'Although most of the seats the party could win with a 6 per cent tally look as though they would be secured at the expense of the unionist parties, our projection suggests that a couple might otherwise have been won by the SNP or the Greens.

'Even with an estimated 49 per cent of the constituency vote, that is not a possibility the SNP will regard with equanimity.

'Such a result in the constituencies could still leave the party a seat short of an overall majority and reliant on winning a vital list seat to achieve what has come to be regarded as a crucial target.'

He said that despite Nicola Sturgeon's call for 'both votes SNP', 9 per cent of those who back the SNP in the constituency vote indicated they would vote Alba on the list and as many as 10 per cent would opt for the Scottish Greens on the list.

He continued: 'Alba is appealing to a section of the nationalist movement that wants a rapid timetable for indyref2 and which still admires Salmond.

'As many as 70 per cent of Alba supporters want a referendum within 12 months compared with 48 per cent of SNP list voters and 35 per cent of Green voters.

'While 93 per cent of those who back Alba believe that Salmond is 'a fit person to stand for election', only 13 per cent of SNP supporters and 15 per cent of Green voters take the same view.

'Salmond's personality has enabled him to create a new party out of nothing.

'However, it may now also constrain what the party can hope to achieve.'

Responding to the poll, SNP depute leader Keith Brown said: 'This is the most important election in Scotland's history - every single vote will count, and this poll shows that giving anything less than both votes to the SNP means gambling with Scotland's future.

'These serious times require serious leadership, and people across the country can put their trust in the experience of Nicola Sturgeon as we move through the pandemic and towards a strong, secure recovery.'
Brian Gowan sang hymns and prayed to an empty temple on Friday.

But he wasnt alone. His Easter message was broadcast into rooms across Methodist Hospital, where he is a chaplain. It was his attempt to help his patients find some sense of normalcy on Christianitys holiest days.

Weve been ministering to a lot of Jobs, he said a few days earlier, referencing the Old Testament character whose faith God tested by taking his family, wealth and health. Its heart wrenching. It really is.

Faith is what drove Gowan to this line of work. But its not his job to evangelize or persuade. Chaplaincy is more than anything about listening, about providing a nonjudgmental ear to those wrestling with deep questions that so often lack answers.

The coronavirus has complicated that work. The highly infectious virus has meant fewer face-to-face interactions with patients and more time spent with grieving and, at times, guilt-ridden families whose final goodbyes have been relegated to iPads, letters and FaceTime.

And the deluge of daily trauma has only exacerbated the burnout and emotional exhaustion that has always accompanied the job.

Research from chaplains associations shows that those in the field are significantly more likely than most to report feelings of burnout or, worse, emotional numbness. Gowan said that while he and other chaplains have developed coping mechanisms over the years, the ever-present threat posed by COVID has made it harder to unwind or unpack the vicarious trauma they experience each day.

You can only take so many bubble baths to wash away what you see each day, said Dawn Malone, a chaplain with the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

Shes seen countless deaths in the last year, has ministered to too many grieving families, nurses and doctors. And yet, days before the start of the second Easter in pandemic, her faith and hope are unshaken.

Were not all the way there yet, Malone said. But there is light shining out of the tomb.

Nobody here

Enrique Contreras Martinez has stopped counting the number of patients hes lost to the virus at St. Lukes Hospital, fearing his daily tallies would turn him more cynical in a time and place so desperate for hope.

It became overwhelming, he said. There were a couple of weeks where I had two deaths every day.

And so he did what he knows best  he empathized.

One of the things that we as chaplains know how to do is to allow ourselves to feel, he said. To allow ourselves to experience the feelings and allow ourselves to let them be.

It hasnt been easy: Martinez grew up Catholic in Mexico, where hugs and physical touch are embedded into daily interactions.

Hes thought often of his parents, both of whom are around the same age as many of the patients he watched wither away in solitude.

Cooking nightly meals gave him some sense of control but did little to diminish the fear looming in his off-hours.

I cant escape COVID even when I leave the hospital, he said. You go to the store and youre reminded. You cant see your own family. It was like there was no way out.

Narjess Kardan, at Methodist Hospital, felt the same. She is Muslim and often works with international patients, consoling families through video screens separated by thousands of miles.

It often reminds her of the distance of her own family in Iran, where she lived until immigrating to the United States a few years ago.

Many times when Im coming out of their rooms, I get broken, she said. Cracked and broken. Really broken.

She started journaling and writing poetry about patients she lost as a way to process her own grief.

I needed to remember them, she said. That was my way.

They had nobody here.

My peace

Its a feeling Alex Chamorro has known all too well since checking into Methodist last year. Her husband had been dead for a month by the time she awoke from a six-week coma in November.

Chamorro, her husband, brother and elderly mother all were hospitalized with COVID last summer. Chamorro was the last of them to fall into a coma and the last to wake up.

When she did come to, it was to a hospital room filled with family, friends and members of her church  but not her husband of 16 years.

Her brother broke the news to her shortly after. Chamorro couldnt speak or move, and she spent the next month intubated, unable to do more than read and silently process her loss as chaplains prayed or sat quietly with her at Methodist Hospital.

They reaffirmed my faith, she said. And that is the source of my strength. It is the source of my peace.

Gowan, the Methodist chaplain who led worship services on Friday, was among those who worked with Chamorro and her family.

He still gets choked up when he thinks about her and others hes met, or lost, over the last year.

Its been basically a 9/11 every day, he said. Weve never had to deal with these kinds of feelings or emotions before.

And yet, his work feels more important now than ever. Many of Gowans patients are waiting on transplants, and some have been unable to see family members for months at a time.

They cherish Gowans random check-ins and conversations. The only thing else I can do is wait, joked Kiven Leday, a 55-year-old truck driver who has been at the hospital on and off for the last six months as he waits for a new heart.

Gowan, meanwhile, said hes felt closer to many patients and hospital staff during the pandemic. Hes more prayerful these days, he said, and has found deeper meaning in the scripture that already guided his life.

He does not deny the darkness of the last year.

But light is coming, he said.

robert.downen@chron.com

twitter.com/robdownenchron
Multimedia Specialist

Anthony Zilis is a multimedia specialist at The News-Gazette. His email is azilis@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@adzilis).
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

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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.
At least 26 people have been arrested after clashes between officers and demonstrators at a "Kill the Bill" protest in central

Projectiles were thrown around as Metropolitan Police officers pushed protesters away in an effort to disperse crowds and 10 officers are said to have received injuries during the operation on Saturday.

The Met Police said 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 vast majority of people who turned out in central 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, said Commander Ade Adelekan, who led the policing operation in Parliament Square in on Saturday.

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, he said.

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, he added.

The so-called Kill the Bill demonstrations also took place in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle, Brighton, Bournemouth, Weymouth and Luton to protest against the Police and Crime Bill which propose to give police in England and Wales more power to impose conditions on non-violent protests, including those which are deemed too noisy or a nuisance. Anyone refusing to follow police directions about a protest could be fined up to 2,500 pounds under the law.

Former Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those who addressed the protest in London and said the bill would prevent protest without police approval.

"Stand up for the right to protest, stand up for the right to have your voice heard," he told the crowds.

Protesters also carried anti-sexism placards and chanted "women scared everywhere, police and government do not care" as they marched past Downing Street.

In Bristol, more than 1,000 people gathered for a peaceful protest, after demonstrations on March 23 and March 26 ended in clashes with police, and in Manchester, people were seen sitting on tram tracks before police moved in.

Large gatherings and demonstrations continue to remain restricted under the coronavirus lockdown rules in the UK.

(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.)
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Asians are a diverse group in the U.S. but they all share a similar response to possible hate crimes. Activists spoke with VOA's Virginia Gunawan for this report.
Mumbai, April 4 : Bandish Bandits actor Ritwik Bhowmik has tested COVID-19 positive.

Ritwik took to Instagram story on Sunday to share his health update. The actor wrote: "I have tested Covid positive this morning. I have isolated myself and am under home quarantine. Hoping to be up and about soon." Ritwik garnered pan-India recognition for his starring role in the web series "Bandish Bandits" last year. He featured alongside the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni and others in the Amazon Prime Video web series.

Earlier on Sunday, Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar announced on social media that he has tested positive for Covid-19.

"I wish to inform everyone that earlier this morning I tested positive for Covid-19. Following all the protocols, I have immediately isolated myself. I'm under home quarantine and have sought necessary medical care. I would sincerely request all those that have come in contact with me to get themselves tested and take care. Back in action soon," he tweeted.

This was followed by Bollywood star Govinda announcing that he has also tested positive.

"I have been testing myself and taking all the necessary precautions to keep the coronavirus away. However, I tested positive today following mild symptoms. All others at home have tested negative. I am under home quarantine and under able medical guidance. I request everyone to please follow all the necessary precautions and please take care," Govinda told IANS.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has officially announced the Bihar 12th Compartmental Exam 2021 date. According to the official announcement, the BSEB Class 12 compartment exam will be held from April 29 to May 10, 2021.

Along with this, the online registration process for BSEB Inter Compartmental/Improvement Exam 2021 has also started via exam portal seniorsecondary.biharboardonline.com.

As per the details shared by the BSEB, the application process for Bihar 12th Compartmental cum Special Exam 2021 will commence from today i.e. 5th April and will continue until 10th April 2021.

Who can Appear for BSEB 12th / Inter Compartmental Exam 2021?

The compartmental exam that is being held from 29th April by the Bihar Board is for the students who have received compartmental results in the Bihar 12th Result 2021 announced recently.

More specifically, those students who have failed in one or two subjects in the recently announced Class 12 final exam result are eligible to apply and appear for the Bihar Class 12 Compartmental Exam 2021.

In addition to this, as a special measure, those students who failed in BSEB Class 12 final exams in 2020 have been allowed to appear in the 2021 compartment exam as a second chance.

Special Exam along with Compartmental Exam

Along with holding the Compartmental / Improvement Exam, the Bihar Board will also be holding BSEB 12th Special Exam 2021 from 29th April 2021.

The special exam for Bihar Inter class is being held for those students who applied for Class 12 final exams but their exam fees were not submitted by schools. Such students would be allowed to appear for the special exam for all the subjects.

Such students will be provided all the facilities and options that were provided as per the final exam including holding of practical exams.

Students who could not appear in the Class 12 final exams due to errors in their exam forms will also be allowed to appear in the special exam, after correcting the errors in their forms.

Following the completion of BSEB 12th Compartmental Exam and Bihar Board Intermediate Special Exam 2021, results for both are likely to be announced in May 2021.

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New Delhi:

The "eternal German Chancellor" Angela Merkel has been re-elected for the fourth term in federal elections.

With nearly 33 per cent of the votes, Angela Merkels conservative Christian Union (CDU/CSU) remained the single largest party in Germanys parliament.

Merkel's nearest rival and former coalition partner, the social democratic SPD came a distant second with 21 percent vote and decided to end the alliance with conservative Christian Union (CDU/CSU).

The results also shocked the German establishment as the anti-immigration nationalist AfD won 13 percent to become countrys third biggest party.

After the shocking 13 percent win, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel told supporters "millions of voters have entrusted us with the task of constructive opposition work in parliament".

It was the first time, a hard-right nationalist party with so many seats shall enter the German parliament since World War Two.

Also Read | Bodies of 28 Hindus killed by Rohingya militants discovered from mass grave: Myanmar Army

After the exit polls declared Merkel a clear winner, she vowed to win back voters from the AfD and admitted the party's entry into parliament poses "a big challenge".

In her victory speech, Merkel told supporters in Berlin, "Of course we had hoped for a slightly better result. But we mustn't forget that we have just completed an extraordinarily challenging legislative period, so I am happy that we reached the strategic goals of our election campaign.

"We are the strongest party, we have the mandate to build the next government - and there cannot be a coalition government built against us," she said.

Meanwhile, the results were a big disappointment for, the social democratic SPD who fall to a new low post-World War Two.

Expressing his disappointment, SPD leader Schulz said the result was the end of the "grand coalition" with Merkel's alliance.

"It's a difficult and bitter day for social democrats in Germany," he told supporters. "We haven't reached our objective," said Schulz.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
STAR ANNOUNCES SHE IS LEAVING JAPAN & MORE: 4/4 STARDOM YOKOHAMA DREAM CINDERELLA 2021 IN SPRING PPV RESULTS

By Shannon Walsh, WrestlingwithDemons.com on 2021-04-04 08:26:00

STARDOM results of U-REALM presents YOKOHAMA DREAM CINDERELLA 2021 in Spring pay-per-view from Yokohama, Japan at Yokohama Budokan on 4/4/21 live on PIA Live Stream: https://ticket.pia.jp/piasp/inbound/u-realm21ydc-engpls.jsp

This event is only available on PIA until 4/7/21 then it will be posted eventually on STARDOM WORLD.

Yuzuki Aikawa is the female commentator on the broadcast.

Hina won a 3-Way Match over AZM and Lady C by pinning Lady C with a clutch in 7:06. Good opener. AZM hit a diving double stomp and tried to pin both. Lady C delivered a choke slam to AZM to take her out of the match before the finish.

Momo Watanabe pinned Mina Shirakawa after the B Driver followed up by a the Tequila Sunrise in 11:54. They had an explosive and intense exchange in the closing moments with Shirakawa giving a series of palm strikes to the face and Watanabe giving her a stiff kick in return a little later on. They shook hands and showed respect afterwards.

Saya Kamitani pinned Unagi Sayaka after the Star Crusher in 13:42. Kamitani give Sayaka a springboard plancha to the floor and it looked like she landed on her low. Sayaka looked shaken up a bit for a few seconds but managed to finish the match and even do a frog splash. Kamitani taunted her after the match.

The Elimination Match with Rina, Ruaka, Konami, Saki Kashima, and Natsuko Tora (Oedo Tai) vs. Gokigen Death, Hanan, Saya Iida, Starlight Kid, and Maya Iwatani (STARS) is next. The loser of the final fall must join the winning teams unit.

Ruaka eliminated Iida first after a Freezer Bomb for the pin.

Hanan eliminated Ruaka with an arm bar submission.

Konami eliminated Hanan with a roundhouse kick to the head.

Starlight Kid eliminated Rina after a moonsault for the pin.

Tora and Kid eliminated each other by Over The Top Rule by fighting on the apron and sending each other feet first down to the floor.

Mayu Iwatani eliminated Konami by Over The Top Rule after giving her a German Suplex on the apron which knocked Konami down to the floor.

Ever eliminated has remained at ringside and they are surrounding the ring to try to stop each other from interfering.

Saki Kashima pinned Mayu Iwatani in an upset after Oedo Tai members on the floor pulled the referee out of the ring just as Iwatani gave Kashima a tombstone and a moonsault to almost gain the fall.

Saki Kashima pinned Gokigen Death to win the match in 25:30. Gokigen Death must join Oedo Tai now based on the stipulation. Tora gave Gokigen the new name of Fukigen Death. It set up another STARS vs. Oedo Tai match for 5/29 at Ota City Gymnasium. If STARS wins, Death gets her old name back.

Wonder Of STARDOM Champion Tam Nakano pinned NatsuPoi with the Twilight Dream suplex in 18:50. Excellent match that had a mix of brawling, wrestling, and high impact moves. NatsuPoi cried afterwards and laid on the mat as a trainer checked on her. Nakano was calm but emotional. They showed each other respect. NatsuPoi said she will come after the title again one day.

World Of STARDOM Champion Utami Hayashishita vs. Bea Priestley is next. Its going right up against IWGP World Champion Kota Ibushi vs. Will Osprey (Priestleys boyfriend) on the New Japan Pro Wrestling Sakura Genesis show on NJPW World.

Momo Watanabe joined in as guest commentator. The announcers are separated by thick clear shields at the broadcast table because of the virus pandemic concerns.

World Of STARDOM Champion Utami Hayashishita pinned Bea Priestley in 20:53 after two BT Bombs. After the match, Priestley said Hayashishita was very strong and she called Momo Watanabe to the ring. Priestley then stunned everyone by announcing this was her last match in STARDOM and she was also leaving Japan. She didnt say where she was going but its assumed she will return to the U.K. for now. It was another very good match. They left it all out there and a fitting way for Priestley to exit.

For the record, Will Osprey defeated Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP World Title so it was a very emotional and historic night for him and Priestley. It was Ibushis first defense after the IWGP Heavyweight Title and the IWGP Intercontinental Title became unified to create the new title.

Main event is next.

Giulia and Syuri won the Goddesses Of STARDOM Tag Team Titles from fellow Donna del Mondo members Himeka and Maika when Syuri pinned Maika after a Buzzsaw Kick in 28:57. Another excellent match with many near falls and saves being made by both teams.

Syuri called Utami Hayashishita to the ring and wants a World Title shot. All of Donna del Mondo (Syuri, Giulia, NatsuPoi, Himeka, and Maika) were united in the ring to close the show.

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!
Apr. 4ALPHA  A New Jersey man is set to appear in court next week on a criminal charge that alleges he stole a car from a home in Alpha in September 2020.

The homeowner reported the vehicle stolen on Sept. 3, giving a description to law enforcement and saying that they had seen the suspect driving the car on the road. It was determined that the keys to the car had been inside the home, so whoever stole it had to have gone inside to get them.

Later, a person matching the description given by the victim was seen riding a bicycle now Interstate 90 in Jackson County. A sheriff's deputy identified the driver as Juan Ortega, 23, of Pennsauken, New Jersey, and cited Ortega for disregarding highway rules.

Police listed the vehicle as stolen. While looking into Ortega's background, they learned that he had had contact with law enforcement in Madelia the previous day and that he was listed as a missing person from St. Paul.

On Sept. 4, Ortega turned himself in to the Fontana Police Department in Fontana, California. He was charged with theft of a motor vehicle, a felony that carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. If convicted, Ortega will be sentenced based on criminal history.

His first court appearance is set for Wednesday morning. Because Ortega received a summons rather than being booked into jail, he does not have a mug shot.
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo surely knows better than to use public employees for his private gain. Thats not mind-reading. Thats right from an agreement he made with Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

Now, though, Mr. Cuomo wants to split hairs. The employees were on their own time. His use of them was incidental. The rules dont mean what they explicitly say.

When public officials start parsing ethics rules, its a pretty safe bet that a whole lot of rule-breaking is going on. And so it seems to be in the governors case.

Surely Mr. Cuomo knows the sordid and not-too-distant history of such ethical abuses in the upper echelons of state government.

There was Alan Hevesi, a state comptroller, who had an employee drive his wife around and serve as a personal aide  and didnt reimburse the state for those services, in violation of an agreement Mr. Hevesi had made with the states ethics watchdog. That, and a graft operation involving the state pension fund, led to Mr. Hevesis very public downfall in 2006.

There was also Antonia Novello, a state health commissioner (and former U.S. surgeon general), who also ended an admirable public career in disgrace in 2006 after she was found to have had state employees tending her house plants and doing other personal chores.

And now we have Mr. Cuomo, apparently using state employees for abuses of the public trust both petty and substantially more serious. All, it seems, in service of a book deal whose value he has yet to reveal, but which is said to have been in the millions of dollars.

Last year, Mr. Cuomo sought to cash in on the accolades he was getting for his handling of coronavirus by writing a book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. His special counsel, Judith Mogul, told JCOPE that the governor would abide by nine long-standing rules for officials in such undertakings, including a provision that no state property, personnel or other resources may be utilized.

Yet there are now reports from various newspapers, including the Times Union and The New York Times, that the governor and high-level people in his administration jumped those guardrails, as Ms. Mogul called them, on numerous occasions.

Junior aides are said to have helped with tasks like photocopying and delivering material to or from the Executive Mansion. More senior aides are said to have assisted as well, including Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa, who helped pitch and edit the book.

A spokesman for the governor, Rich Azzopardi, insists there was nothing amiss here, since any work the staffers did to help the governor with his book was voluntary. If that exception doesnt appear in any of the ethical conditions the governor was supposed to be adhering to, well, thats because its so obvious it doesnt need to be on paper, Mr. Azzopardi suggests. Its just like staffers who work for a politician helping with that persons campaign, he offers.

Perhaps so  though there seems to be a vast difference between volunteer political work and having your boss ask you to do unpaid work to help him earn millions of dollars on the side of his public job. Just how voluntary can that be, really?

And no one seems to be arguing that anyone was off the state clock when Mr. Cuomo had public employees scrambling to block information that might have harmed the governors image  and his big book deal. That information concerned the thousands more deaths of nursing home residents from COVID-19 than the administration had reported. The months-long cover-up of those numbers included top aides rewriting an official report, and multiple state public information officers making false statements about the data and its unavailability.

Thats been a disturbing pattern in itself  taxpayer-funded information officials blocking or delaying the release of public information that might not be in Mr. Cuomos political or private financial interest, only to suddenly produce it when they can no longer keep it hidden.

We saw it with the Health Departments release in January of nursing home death data just as Attorney General Letitia James was issuing a report that included numbers contrary to what the administration had been claiming. We saw it again this past week when, just as a New York Times story about the governors use of staff on his book was about to go online, the administration finally released Ms. Moguls letter to JCOPE and the ethics panels response after delaying a Freedom of Information request by the Times Union for five months.

Whether its having state employees serving as the governors personal editors, pitchmen or gofers, or engaging them in a cover-up to tamp down public information that might and tank an apparently multi-million-dollar book deal, this is exactly whats not supposed to go on when theres a rule against using state property, personnel or other resources.

Or, more precisely, abusing them  and with them, the public trust.

Add all this to the growing list of scandals for the Assembly Judiciary Committee to investigate as it weighs whether there are grounds to impeach Mr. Cuomo.

Or, more precisely, just how many grounds there are. As it did with Alan Hevesi and as it did with Antonia Novella, it just keeps getting worse the more New Yorkers learn about your behavior, Mr. Cuomo.

Resign.
A truck collided with a passenger bus on an expressway in east China's Jiangsu Province early Sunday, killing at least 11 people and injuring several

The accident took place when the truck crossed the divider and crashed into the passenger bus on the Shenyang-Haikou expressway.

The bus then overturned and collided with two other trucks.

The injured have been sent to a nearby hospital. Their exact number is yet to be confirmed, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Further investigations are underway, the report said.

are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced.

(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.
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Gay Hollywood actors are keeping their sexuality secret as they fear it will destroy their careers and stop them being cast in straight roles, Kate Winslet claims.

The Oscar winning actress said she was aware of 'at least four actors' who weren't making their sexuality public as they were 'terrified' it will 'stand in the way'.

Winslet, 45, told The Times' Culture Magazine: 'I cannot tell you the number of young actors I know - some well known, some starting out - who are terrified their sexuality will be revealed and that it will stand in the way of their being cast in straight roles.'

The Titanic actress also told of a 'well-known actor' who was told not to 'publicise' the fact they were bisexual by their American agent.

Kate Winslet (pictured in Ammonite with Saoirse Ronan) said she was aware of 'at least four actors' who weren't making their sexuality public

Winslet said the film industry harboured 'judgment, discrimination and homophobia' and said the secrecy was 'painful' for the actors who fear their careers will be compromised if they come out.

The Titanic actress also told of a 'well-known actor' who was told not to 'publicise' the fact they were bisexual by their American agent

The comments come as both the BAFTAs and Oscars failed to nominate anyone openly gay or bisexual in the main acting categories - the BAFTAs takes place this weekend, the Oscars in three weeks.

Last year, the BAFTAs were the subject of controversy, after it was revealed that all of the major category nominees were white. Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive of BAFTA, admitted she was 'very disappointed' over the lack of diversity following the 2020 nomination announcement, which saw not a single actor of colour honoured.

Jose Arroyo, a film studies professor at Warwick University, told The Times: 'People arent in the closet because they want to be [but] because theyre safer there. Hollywood is commercial, it is about selling ideas and desires ... If an audience sees you with disgust or disdain, it is obviously an inhibition to the money men.'

In her most recent film, Ammonite, directed by Francis Lee, Winslet plays the role of real-life English paleontologist Mary Anning, which sees her embark on a secret relationship with Charlotte Murchison, played by Saoirse Ronan.

Winslet revealed she has been asked more about the lesbian love scenes in her new film Ammonite than any heterosexual roles she has taken on.

Winslet told Digital Spy: 'I definitely feel a sort of a duty to serve Mary Anning. Still. And of course, the story.

'The story is so much about her, and her remarkable achievements that were unsung, unknown, reappropriated by men, taken from her wrongfully.'

In February It's A Sin writer Russell T Davies urged Hollywood stars to turn down gay roles in films and instead encourage producers to instead cast an LGBT actor.

Ammonite: Mary Anning played by Winslet's character seen in a lesbian relationship with her fossil-hunting protegee (played by Saoirse Ronan). Set on the Dorset coast of the 1840s

The 57-year-old producer said famous gay actors 'don't exist to lead blockbusters' and straight actors must 'step aside' to help them get more opportunities.

All the gay characters in his Channel 4 drama, which chronicles the lives and deaths of a group of friends in the 1980s AIDS epidemic, are played by LGBT actors.

But Swansea-born Davies, who is gay, admitted his house was 'built off straight people who played gay parts' and said any change has to begin at 'ground level'.

It comes after Davies caused much debate after claiming only gay actors should play gay characters in film and TV to ensure an authentic portrayal.
On May 4, 2014, then BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, distinguished Bangladeshi Hindu migrants from the Muslim ones by using the word 'refugee' for the former  those who celebrate Durgashtami  and infiltrators for the latter, "who are pouring in due to vote-bank politics". The former must be given protection and the latter driven out, he had said.



The cites the data from Census 2011 to point to the increase in the state's Muslim population share, attributing it to infiltration from Bangladesh. It projects this share will be around 30% in the next census. It also claims the government has allowed rampant infiltration since 2011 and turned infiltrators into voters. A senior leader has dubbed the Mamata Banerjee government the "tees pratishat ki sarkar (a government for the benefit of the 30%)".



All the infiltrators from Bangladesh are sitting here and harming the interests of the country. Didi has turned them into voters, the BJP's Bengal unit President Dilip Ghosh had said in December 2020. In the absence of more recent data, changes in the demographic pattern during the Mamata Banerjee rule since 2011 can only be known after the publication of the census of 2021.



The Bengali nativist organisations, on their part, also cite numbers from Census 2011: Since native and Hindus of Bangladesh are predominantly Bengali-speaking, they question why the purported influx of migrants from Bangladesh has not increased the state's Bengali-speaking population. Both sides are using decade-old data and misinterpreting the same to create a volatile political atmosphere, said political activist Prosenjit Bose. "Those who talk about the in-migration of Hindi-speaking people do not mention the out-migration of Bengali-speaking people who have settled in other states ," he said, adding, "(This) is the key reason for Bengali-speaking population not recording any significant increase."



Bengali nativist personality Garga Chatterjee is one of the most vocal activists questioning the Hindu nationalists' Muslim infiltration theory by citing no significant increase in Bengali-speaking population. "The question is how massive is the migration of Hindi-speaking people who are eating into our resources?" he said.
VENTURA, Iowa - When a boat capsized at a Hamilton County lake with five Iowa State University students onboard last weekend, Ventura Fire & Rescue sprung into action to aid in the search of one of the students.

The department utilized their rescue boat, nicknamed Goose, during the search overnight Sunday into Monday, and firefighters have been getting training time on it to get familiar with the new gear.

Firefighter Jim Sholly says the department got the boat after taking part in a search on the Winnebago River, upgrading from a smaller boat.

"There are better tools that exist to look for something that is underwater that is not supposed to be there. Let's work towards what it's going to take to make that happen."

To make that happen, the department spent time researching what similar boats contain, and contacted the Hanson Foundation, the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa and other business partners to help with the cost. In addition, Stellar Industries helped provide 3D printed parts for the vessel.

He adds that Goose's new sonar equipment is vital to have in emergency situations like these.

"A lot of departments out there have sight-scan sonar, a lot of vessels have that. The generation of sonar that we have on the front of this boat has been out for about a year now. It gives us a very high resolution image."

Sholly is also emphasizing that other towns can utilize the boat's services, not just Ventura.

"Yes, we're a small town department in North Iowa. But that doesn't diminish from the fact that we have a very professional responsibility to provide to this area."

As the summer tourism season is in sight, Sholly stresses to lakegoers to be safe and wear a life jacket.

"For every emergency responder, we never want to take our gear out of the station unless if it's to train with. One of the ways folks can help with that is every time you're on the boat out on the water, wearing a life jacket is one of the easiest things to do. It's a simple thing, but it's something a lot of folks gloss over when we're having fun."
London, April 4 : The Directors General of Military Operations of both India and Pakistan took a bold decision in February to establish ceasefire across the Line of Control. Since then, it has been all quiet on the Kashmir front and the blazing guns have gone silent. This demonstrates the willingness of Pakistani Army chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, to sincerely refrain from any future cross-border firing, at least for now.

Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza London, April 4 (IANS) The Directors General of Military Operations of both India and Pakistan took a bold decision in February to establish ceasefire across the Line of Control. Since then, it has been all quiet on the Kashmir front and the blazing guns have gone silent. This demonstrates the willingness of Pakistani Army chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, to sincerely refrain from any future cross-border firing, at least for now.

However, at this point in time, a ceasefire simply is not enough to promote mutual trust between India and Pakistan to a level where diplomatic level negotiations or international mediation could be rushed into. More practical measures need to be taken by the Pakistani Army chief to mend the trust deficit.

Currently, there are 13 military brigades stationed in Pakistani-occupied Jammu Kashmir alone - two of which were added only recently. The whole occupied region is dotted with military check-points. All hospitals in the occupied territory of Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are under the direct command of the Pakistani military.

The hydroelectric power projects in PoJK and PoGB are being guarded by the military as well and at least 6,000 Chinese personnel, who claim to be engineers and skilled labour, are stationed in PoJK alone. Last but not least, PoJK is dotted with jihadi terrorist training camps where local as well as Punjabi and Pashtun youth receive jihadi terrorist training including learning, among other skills, making of 'sticky bombs' and IEDs.

Hence, a simple gesture of Gen Bajwa's "magnanimity" might not enough to convince the Indian public and the broader world community of the Pakistani military establishment's sudden craving or sincere desire for regional peace. In order for the Pakistani military's gesture to be taken seriously, it has to match its words with actions.

First and foremost, the Pakistani military has to begin unfailing withdrawal of anti-India rhetoric on domestic and international public forums.

Secondly, extension of a hand of peace, as General Bajwa said in his address to the Islamabad Security Dialogue seminar on March 18, needs to be reciprocated with an all- encompassing withdrawal of jihadist infrastructure including the training camps and launch pads dotted across PoJK and the Line of Control.

And finally, desire for peace cannot be conditional.

Gen Bajwa also said in his address of March 18 that it was time to "bury the past". Well, the past cannot be buried without the withdrawal of Pakistani troops and aliens from all Indian territories that have been occupied by her since October 22, 1947.

Hence, it is necessary for the Pakistani Army chief to admit the folly of the then military establishment of his country for attacking the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is rather crucial for Gen Bajwa to show his willingness to establish a truth and re-conciliation commission which would properly investigate the atrocities committed by the raiders of Kashmir against the civilian population of Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Bhimber, Rajauri, Baramulla and other cities where thousands were massacred only because they did not share the same religious faith with the invaders.

The past cannot be buried unless investigations into Operations Gulmarg, Data Khel, Kargil War are conducted and unless an apology is officially issued by the state of Pakistan for breaching the peace of our region for the past 73 years.

Once Pakistan sheds its anti-India stance and sincerely recognises its wrong-doings only then could Gen Bajwa's statements be taken seriously. Negative propaganda against India and time and again attempts made to stir unrest in the Vale of Kashmir has only helped to strengthen the resolve of the Indian nation but it has left Pakistan a divided and broken country.

Fanatical Jihadi narrative has eaten up Pakistan's internal national homogeneity like a moth. It has sunk Pakistan into an economic crisis from which it seems impossible to pull out. China has not only made Pakistan a victim of her debt trap but has physically encroached its territory from Gilgit-Baltistan to Gwadar.

And now, the worst is happening as Pakistan is about to lose its control of the State Bank.

Today, IMF loans, especially the recent one released only this week of $500 million, come with the harshest conditions ever. According to the conditions laid down by the IMF, any money the Pakistan economy generates will first be used for repaying the loan and other IMF-related debts and interests.

This means that the Cabinet or even the Parliament cannot guarantee Pakistan's sovereignty any longer.

Pakistan, slipping into negative growth, will soon find herself unable to pay the salaries of her soldiers and I would not be surprised one bit if Pakistan army starts issuing IOUs to its staff.

The insurgency in Baluchistan is steadily gaining momentum and seeing better coordination. Similarly, the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army has geared up its offensive against Pakistani law enforcing agencies, specially the Rangers which is, after all, a para-military force headed by an army general. Pashtun Tahafuz Movement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is also becoming progressively vocal in its criticism of the role of the Pakistan military in killing and abducting innocent Pashtuns in South and North Waziristan. There is not a single day that go passes without protests, strikes and sit-ins in both PoJK and PoGB.

Finally, Punjab, which provides the bulk of recruits for the Pakistan military has witnessed a sharp rise in dissent. The Pakistan Democratic Movement, an alliance of 9 political parties, has politicised the Punjabi urban lower and middle class to an extent that in case of any attempt of adventurism by the Pakistan army could push the country towards civil war.

In the final analysis, the Pakistani military leadership has good reason to extend hand of peace towards India and make an appeal to burying the past. Pakistan is in dire need of economic resuscitation. The coffers of the state are nearly empty and what is available is already been pledged to those from whom Pakistan has borrowed money.

Political, Pakistan has become the most unstable country in the region and the state only continues to exist due to the patience of its people but which they are losing fast. If, however, Pakistani military establishment fails to match its words with actions as suggested earlier in this write up, then it will only have to blame itself for the impending degeneration and finally, breakup of its state.

In a nut shell, when it comes to Pakistan's aforementioned desire for regional peace and burying the past, she has to dismantle its terrorist infrastructure completely. And last but not least, Pakistan must hand over those who have been responsible for carrying out attacks on Indian soil from Delhi to Mumbai and from Pathankot to Pulwama.

Past will be buried once Gen Bajwa musters up enough courage to take a leap of faith and disassociate himself and the Pakistan Army, as an institution, from all forms of saboteur norms designed to undermine India's territorial sovereignty.

India hold no grudges against her neighbours or the wider world. She never has. The Indian nation is always willing to help their neighbours. However, when it comes to Pakistan, it is our neighbour who has to show that she is ready to change. Therefore, just a simple gesture of magnanimity from Gen Bajwa might not enough.

( is an author and a human rights activist from Mirpur in PoJK. He currently lives in exile in the UK.)
Hollywood actor Dev Patel is the latest star to arrive Down Under.

The Oscar-nominated Slumdog Millionaire star, 30, was recently spotted at a local supermarket in Adelaide alongside Australian actress girlfriend Tilda Cobham-Hervey, 26.

According to the Adelaide Advertiser on Sunday, Dev and Tilda completed quarantine before confirming to a fan they will spend 'five months' in the city.

Here to stay! Hollywood star Dev Patel and girlfriend Tilda Cobham-Hervey are set to spend 'five months' in Australia according to a report in the Adelaide Advertiser on Sunday

'He said we've done amazingly well with the virus, we've got everything under control. He said ''You'll be seeing a lot of me'',' an excited fan told the publication.

The fan went on to say they were very 'sweet' to her after they were spotted at Frewville Foodland in the city.

'He was very accommodating and so was Tilda. She was sweet and quiet and they were so loving towards each other.'

Relocation, relocation: 'He said we've done amazingly well with the virus, we've got everything under control. He said ''You'll be seeing a lot of me'',' a fan said. Here: London, 2019

The stars join a growing list of A-list celebrities relocating Down Under to ride-out the covid pandemic.

Hollywood royalty Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Matt Damon, Nicole Kidman have all been staying Down Under.

British actor Dev recently made his directorial debut on Monkey Man in Indonesia. Tilda recently starred as Helen Reddy in Stan Original biopic, I Am Woman.

Down Under! The celebrity couple join other Hollywood stars including Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron-Cohen, who have relocated to Australia during the pandemic

The couple have been going strong after meeting in the city while filming South Australian-made terror drama, Hotel Mumbai, in 2016.

The Australian-American thriller is based on the 2009 documentary Surviving Mumbai about the attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in India in 2008.

The couple were previously based in the American city of Los Angeles.
THE Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has urged the public to look on Easter as the ultimate message of hope as they try to stay the difficult covid course.

As we prepared to mark Easter Sunday, Bishop Leahy said the message of hope is perfectly timed this year with many feeling beaten down by covid. And while we appear to be swinging from despondency to hope, the latter is, at least, now most definitely with us, he said.

Bishop Leahy, who will celebrate Mass at St John's Cathedral this Sunday, said that while the faithful may be frustrated by not being to gather as normal for the second year running for this special time, it will not stop the pilgrimage.

The big invitation that comes to us this week is to name the various faces of suffering in our lives. Theres no point in denying pain if its there. But, remembering Jesus wants to shoulder our Cross with us, we can hand over to him whatever it might be that is weighing us down.

Then, and heres the Easter part, make a decision to always try to poke the embers of hope in your life, any time you feel the fire of hope is going out. Its so vital we all keep hoping against hope at this difficult covid time.

Hope can be a challenge for many to achieve right now, he said.

We seem to be on a pendulum swinging between despondency and hope. But its not just that Easter is powerful, its timing is powerful this year. We have all flagged from the weight of covid, but Easter, which is the greatest message of hope, dawns. Yes, just like the journey to Easter, we too have had our falls and we have had many moments of weariness along this covid journey. Nevertheless, with Easter just around the corner, we can also hope that we are rising, moving into a new time of hope.

He added: Easter is hope. And the great way to fan the flames of hope in our lives is to put aside, as much as we can, our own worries and go out to love one another. Every time we do an act of love for someone, we give them a reason to hope.

Bishop Leahy is reminding the faithful that while they cannot celebrate together, there are still resources at hand to make this Easter special. For Christians all over the world Holy Week and Easter are a special time. Even if covid restrictions mean we cant join for ceremonies in churches, that doesnt stop us going on a spiritual pilgrimage. Nothing can stop us from being creative ourselves at home or simply joining in the online events during the week. Dont forget the church buildings are actually open so its possible to make a private and family mini-pilgrimage to your local church.

Bishop Leahy pointed the public to Limerick Dioceses range of resources on its Diocesan website, including a Three Bridges Prayer Walk, Parish Prayer Walks, Flag Templates for Children, A Liturgy of Solidarity, A liturgy of Forgiveness, Family Retreat, Letters to God.
Kenya stops the private importation of COVID-19 vaccines View Photo

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Kenya has ordered an immediate suspension to the private importation of coronavirus vaccines, citing fears that otherwise counterfeit inoculations may get into the East African country.

To ensure the transparency and accountability in the vaccination process, and to protect the integrity of the country, the government is effective today closing the window of private sector importation, distribution and administration of vaccines, until such a time there is greater transparency and accountability in the entire process, Kenyas National Emergency Response Committee on coronavirus said in a statement Friday evening.

Private health facilities have been charging about $80 apiece for Russias Sputnik V vaccine, while Kenyan institutions are giving out free AstraZeneca vaccines the government received from the global COVAX initiative.

In recent weeks, government has been working to improve the reluctant uptake by frontline workers of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine. So far around 160,000 people have been vaccinated in more than a month.

After announcing new restrictions on movement due to a surge of coronavirus infections and deaths, President Uhuru Kenyatta on March 26 led his cabinet in getting vaccinated publicly.

Kenyas government says the countrys positivity rate jumped from 2.6% at the end of January to 19.1% on April 2.

Separately, the British government says beginning on April 9 it will ban most travelers from Kenya, since a significant amount of them are testing positive for variant first found in South Africa. Only U.K. citizens and those holding residency permits will be allowed to enter Britain from Kenya, it said.

The British High Commission stressed that these are temporary measures.

Kenya responded Saturday by making it mandatory for all passengers originating from or transiting through U.K. airports to undergo 14 days of quarantine at a government facility at their own cost. Exemptions were given to cargo flights.

This unilateral decision (by the U.K) does not reflect prevailing logic and scientific knowledge of the disease or the spread of the pandemic. Rather the decision seems to be motivated by a discriminatory policy against certain countries and peoples, Kenyas Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

By TOM ODULA

Associated Press
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Less than three blocks from the New Orleans jail, a new mural depicts the struggles that can go along with the cash bail system in a city where 1 in 4 people live in poverty.

The two-panel mural by art teacher Journey Allen and students from the Living School was unveiled Saturday at 422 S. Broad Street, within sight of a row of blinking bail bonds signs across from the gothic Orleans Parish Criminal District Courthouse. Called Innocent Until Proven Guilty, the artwork was commissioned by the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition and installed on the fence in front of Addis Ethiopian Kitchen.

+2 Bail helps keep New Orleans safer? This new analysis calls that into question For years, jail-reform advocates and bail bondsmen have argued over whether making defendants post bail while awaiting trial keeps New Orleans safer.

Ultimately, the art is meant to spur more questions about the cash bail system, which keeps many criminal defendants jailed pending trial unless they have enough money to post bond. Although the City Council passed an ordinance a few years ago virtually eliminating money bail for people charged with municipal offenses, bail is still a cornerstone of the justice system at the felony level in New Orleans, in a way that has long been questioned by jail reformers. The Vera Institute of Justice found in 2019 that one third of the defendants in New Orleans' jail were there solely because they couldnt afford to post bond.

In other places that have reformed their bail systems, a defendants outright release is the default; only those defendants who pose a danger to the community -- as determined by a judge -- are be released with other conditions, such as daily check-ins or electronic monitors attached to their ankles.

But that sort of systemic turnaround requires new systems of support for those defendants and buy-in from many parts of the justice system, from bail bonds agents who say that their very business model is centered around getting defendants out of jail and keeping them on the right track, to prosecutors and judges who are accustomed to the current system.

+2 A look at Jason Williams' plan as New Orleans DA: Cuts on case backlog, culture change, more The boxes of old case files heaped in the grand jury room at the Orleans Parish District Attorneys Office represent a small slice of Jason Wi

There are no perfect answers, said Sade Dumas, executive director of reform coalition. But we know what happens now it not the way it should work.

As is often the case, the truths behind those complexities may be best revealed through art. On its front side, facing South Broad Street, Allens two-panel mural shows a happy New Orleans scene.

Its basically people enjoying themselves, said sophomore Kaia Preston, Allens student at the Living School in New Orleans East, as she gazed at brush strokes depicting brass bands, Black masking Indians and Carnival parades. Along the parade route, a little girl perches happily on her older brothers shoulders while, next to them, their mother is dressed in purple, hands in the air, ready to catch beads.

Until something happens and she goes to jail, said Kaia, rounding the corner to the murals other panel, which can be seen by Tulane Avenue drivers heading toward Canal Street. In the second panel, the mother, in an orange jumpsuit, is talking over the telephone to her daughter. Both have pained expressions on their faces. Shes stuck in jail, without money to pay bail.

Keeping people locked up because they cant pay to get out is asinine, said City Council member Jay Banks, who spoke at the unveiling.

Allen, 39, hopes the mural makes the point that the legal system preys upon New Orleans poorest. Ive seen how little kids tap-dancing in the Quarter are looked at differently once they pick up their tips bucket to walk away, Allen said, adding that, if arrested, Black children and their families are most likely to languish in the jail, unable to scrape up enough money to pay bail. The Vera Institute report found that 88% of the cash paid for money bail in New Orleans came from Black families.

Before Allens students began painting, Kaia studied the issue extensively and discussed it with relatives. She thinks art can draw attention to the issue in a way that can move it forward. We see whats going on, and were not going to stop drawing about it, she said.
Apr. 3Tri-State District mines were dangerous places. Accidents of all kinds were common from the earliest days. Rockfalls, cave-ins, equipment failures and dynamite mishaps caused many deaths. However, there was a silent danger, ever present and downplayed, even ignored, for decades: dust.

Dust plagued district mines. The invention of the pneumatic hammer drill in 1897 increased production and dust. The longer miners worked underground, the more likely they were to contract miners' consumption. In the first two decades of the 20th century, the term covered both silicosis and tuberculosis. Silicosis is inflammation and scarring of the lungs from inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It led to tuberculosis.

Dr. Anthony Lanza, of the U.S. Public Health Service, and Dr. Alice Hamilton, an expert in industrial toxicology, published a study in 1914 of area mine fields. They estimated between 50% and 60% of miners had some kind of lung problem. The silica dust here was particularly dangerous for its flint content, which made it finer and sharper.

Mine operators led by Frank Wallower instituted new ventilation methods. Lanza recommended a new water drill that sprinkled the rock face as it drilled.

Those innovations improved conditions, but practices changed little after 1920.

Unions and health

The district had been very resistant to union organizers. The Great Depression slowed mine operations and laid off many miners. In 1935, the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers conducted an unsuccessful strike in Ottawa County, Oklahoma.

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Frances Perkins as the secretary of labor.

She made her reputation championing working women and children and investigating safety and health issues, one of which was silicosis.

A well-publicized West Virginia outbreak where 760 of 1,200 men died after working only two months underground led to the Department of Labor producing "Stop Silicosis" in 1938. The film described how to protect workers from dust.

Story continues

In 1938, photographer Sheldon Dick worked with the Farm Security Administration. He was assigned a visit to the Tri-State District.

When he wanted to make a film about mine conditions, his supervisor rejected the idea. Dick and his wife, Lee, decided to produce it themselves. They worked with the Tri-State Survey Committee, which was trying to revitalize the union movement by publicizing the district's poor health and living standards.

Their "Men and Dust," a 13-minute documentary, with narration by Will Geer, was shown in several major cities in 1940. Eleanor Roosevelt saw the film and alerted Perkins to it.

Perkins visits the district

Perkins announced a fact-finding tour to the district on mine practices and living conditions in April 1940. The announcement was very politely received by mine operators. "Men and Dust" had been seen and rejected by the Tri-State Zinc and Lead Ore Producers Association as a "smear."

On Tuesday morning, April 23, she and her party arrived in Joplin, and she was whisked to the Connor Hotel, where she met with her escorts for a tour of the Ballard mine at Baxter Springs and the Picher mine field. While the tour was arranged by the International Union, producers played along treating her with kid gloves, viewing her as leading a hostile scouting party.

She donned a hard hat, miner's slicker and overshoes to go down in a mine safety can to the 315-foot level of the Ballard mine. For 45 minutes, she met miners and watched drills at work. Then her bus stopped in Treece, Kansas, where she met a group of miners with silicosis and six widows who described their lives. Next, the bus drove through Picher for a quick look at housing but didn't stop, as her conference was scheduled to begin at the Connor at 1 p.m.{span class="print_trim"}

040421 Frances Perkins 2

U.S. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins visited the Ballard mine, 1 mile southwest of Baxter Springs, Kan., during her whirlwind trip to the Tri-State District in April 1940. She donned a hard hat, miner's slicker and overshoes before she entered a mine safety can ready to descend to the 315-foot level of the mine.GLOBE FILE

Credit  Globe-News Herald photo

About 300 people attended the conference. She began by telling her experiences in New York. Her purpose was to find a uniform federal approach to the problems, with the district being a "national laboratory."

The Rev. Cliff Titus, of Joplin, spoke next as a concerned member of the public.

He asserted, "All the laborers are Americans, not foreigners, that they are independent and prefer to choose their own methods of living. That many people who can afford better homes prefer to live in small unpainted two- or three-room shacks and spend their surplus funds on automobiles and radios cannot be charged against the mining industry."

Next, Evan Just, producers association secretary, in a prepared statement gave a lengthy history of mining practices, noting adoption of wet drills and the numbers of TB cases that had decreased to 22% of miners in a 1929 study. It took miners 12 years to develop silicosis. He went on to say that tailing piles were not a source of dust, as the chat was too coarse to be picked up by the wind.

Concerning housing conditions, it was true Picher had poor housing, but he said it was not typical. The industry couldn't be held responsible for how people lived, as that was a social problem, although he noted a public nurse for workers and families had been provided since 1915.

040421 Frances Perkins 4

U.S. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins visited the Ballard mine, one mile southwest of Baxter Springs, Kansas, in April 1940. She was in the Tri-State District on a fact-finding mission concerning silicosis, mine practices and miners' health. She is shown examining the face of ore in a drift, flashlight in hand, as S.C. Sandusky, general mine superintendent of the St. Louis Mining and Smelting Co., which operated the Ballard mine, looks on and explains the zinc and lead ore deposits.

Credit  Globe-News Herald photo

Public health officials from the three states spoke about their own work. However, it was Hamilton who delivered a closing, trenchant comment. Yes, there were now some prosperous towns she had not seen in 1914. But overall the landscape was little different, save the tailing piles were much bigger. She said, "I should have supposed that wet drilling would solve this silicosis problem and having all your muck heaps wet would solve your dust problem. But if you have been doing that for 20 years and the cases of silicosis and tuberculosis haven't been prevented, even if they take 12 years to develop  why, it is obvious that wet drilling isn't enough. So that there you have a problem that is still to be solved."

With that, the conference ended. Perkins promised to appoint a committee to find a possible "state compact" for a uniform approach to the problems.

Afterward, "Men and Dust" was shown to a group of about 100 people in the Connor's Empire Room.

Just assailed the film as "a vicious distortion of the truth" and "a clever misuse of facts and is pure poison."

In an editorial, the Globe sided with mine operators on the film and its union origins.

It did not think the union representatives were "real working people."

Attempting to smooth any ruffled federal feathers, it concluded by lauding Perkins as able, intelligent and "actuated by the very highest humanitarian motives."

Unfortunately, she never named a committee. Campaigning for Roosevelt's unprecedented third term and preparations for a war looming on the horizon pushed silicosis aside. Mining briefly recovered during World War II but just as quickly halted once peace was declared, solving the silicosis problem.

Bill Caldwell is the retired librarian at The Joplin Globe. If you have a question you'd like him to research, send an email to wcaldwell@joplinglobe.com or leave a message at 417-627-7261.
In 1947, the sleepy town of Roswell, N.M., became known around the world because of an alleged UFO crash landing. Now, the town will have a new distinction by holding what it expects will be one of the first destination festivals in the United States since the pandemic closed all events across the country.

The 25th anniversary of the UFO Festival is scheduled for July 2, 3 and 4 in Roswell, the self-proclaimed UFO Capital of the World. The City of Roswell and event organizers are gearing up for record numbers amid the post-pandemic booming travel economy.

People are looking to get out and have fun in a safe, family-friendly environment, says Stephanie Mervine, tourism manager with the City of Roswell. Our attendees will enjoy three days of UFO-themed activities geared for kids, teens and adults, as well as live music.

The city is ready to handle the influx of weekend travelers enjoying their new RVs and camping equipment. Matthew Spencer, In Depth Events co-founder and part of the event management team notes, So many other locations across the country are already reserved or at capacity. We are opening up spaces for RVers and campers to come, visit this historic area, and have some fun over the July 4th weekend.

Visit the website at http://www.ufofestival.com or find more information about the event on the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/roswellnmufofestival
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4)  For Vice President Leni Robredo, responding to the derogatory remarks of an Interior undersecretary against her would simply be a "waste of time,"  but the issue leaves an important lesson about the "competency" of public officials under the current administration.

"Ayoko na 'yang pag-aksayahan ng panahon. Kasi kung ganoon, bumababa yung conversation. Baka nakukulangan ng trabaho," Robredo said Sunday, referring to the recent "non-essential" remark of Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III against her.

[Translation: I do not want to waste my time on that anymore because the quality of the conversation will deteriorate if I join in. But maybe he has run out of tasks to do.]

"Pero para sa akin may lesson 'yun. Kasi marami akong kilala sa DILG (Department of Interior and LocalGovernment) na mga career, mga professional, napakahuhusay. Nalulungkot ako para sa kanila kapag nahahaluan ng ganitong klaseng public oficial," Robredo added.

[Translation: But to me, there's an important lesson on that. Because I know a lot of people in the DILG who are under the career, professional level, and are competent. I am saddened that this type of public official gets mixed in with their ranks.]

Robredo noted that while she understands that some public officials are directly appointed by the President, there is still a need to look into their actual capabilities to serve.

"Obligasyon natin na siguraduhin  dahil ang pagsweldo sa kanila pera ng taongbayan  'yung ia-appoint natin maninilbihan ng maayos," she said. "Hindi nandiyan para sa kapangyarihan pero nandyan para pagsilbihan yung tao kahit kakampi siya sa politika o hindi."

[Translation: It is our obligation to ensure  because their salaries come from the people  that those whom we appoint can serve well. They should not just be there to simply acquire power but rather to serve the people, whether they share the same political preferences or not.]

In a previous television interview amid the implementation of stricter quarantine rules, Densing said "ang lugaw" counts as an essential item, but added in jest that "si lugaw" is not. She was referring to Robredo, whose community initiatives included bringing rice porridge to typhoon victims and poverty-stricken areas.

Densing also accused the vice president of only making unfounded criticisms against the Duterte administration amid the pandemic.

Robredo's spokesperson Ibarra "Barry" Gutierrez earlier commented that Densing has been busy making jokes and playing politics instead of actually responding to the pandemic.

The lugaw issue first made headlines last Wednesday, following a viral video of a Grab rider being prohibited from delivering the said food item during curfew hours, with a barangay personnel insisting that it is non-essential.
In spite of their public anguish over drive-thru voting, expanded early voting and efforts to allow more people to vote by mail, Texas Republicans were happy with the results of the states 2020 elections.

They held steady in the Texas House, with 83 of 150 seats both before and after the election. They lost a seat in the Texas Senate, one that they were lucky to have won in the first place, but still have the majority there, too. And they won all of the statewide races, continuing a streak that is now more than a quarter of a century long. Donald Trump won in Texas, too; the streak of Republican wins in that category extends all the way back to Ronald Reagans 1980 victory. And they did it all with the kind of high turnout they had feared would favor Democratic candidates.

RELATED: Texas Senate advances bill limiting how and when voters can cast ballots, receive mail-in voting

Even so, the partys legislators are working hard to make voting in Texas more difficult. Legislation approved by Senate Republicans over the unanimous objection of Senate Democrats in the wee, small hours of Thursday morning would prohibit drive-thru voting, make it illegal for election officials to send vote-by-mail applications unless people ask for them and block the kind of 24-hour early voting offered in Harris County last year. It would prohibit voting in tents and other temporary structures. It allows poll watchers  usually people brought in by the political parties  more freedom at polling and vote-counting locations.

Whats to worry about? They got the results they wanted.

Its the 2018 election that alarmed the states majority party. The legislation theyre pushing would arguably tilt the table their way in the 2022 elections that are up next.

Those two non-presidential election cycles are when most of the statewide seats in Texas are on the ballot  and where a number of the this-is-supposed-to-be-a-layup contests turned into close calls.

The promoters of the new law say they want to protect election integrity, a premise with two problems. First, they havent produced evidence of widespread or election-changing voter fraud in Texas elections. Second, though the idea is popular with Republican voters, recent polling finds Texans suspicious about voting practices elsewhere, but not in Texas.

READ MORE: Texas Senate approves bill to stop social media companies from blocking political views

In the February University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, 52% of Texas voters said they think the official U.S. election results are accurate  a number that included 89% of Democrats and just 23% of Republicans. But when asked about Texas elections, 78% said they think the results are accurate, including 88% of Democrats and 76% of Republicans. Only 40% wanted election laws left alone, but the proponents of change were not in agreement: 46% of Republicans think they should be stricter, while 50% of Democrats would make the laws less strict.

Turnout is almost always higher in presidential elections. Months of national attention and advertising and the general din all raise voter engagement. A race for governor or lieutenant governor just doesnt do that, although the pitched battle between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and then-Rep. Beto ORourke in 2018 raised turnout to near-presidential levels.

The big swing in the 2018 election was down the ballot, where Democrats won a dozen House seats and two Senate seats that had been held by Republicans.

The statewide races all went to the Republicans. But Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller all won close races  each within 5 percentage points of their Democratic foe. Four years earlier, Patrick won by 19.7 percentage points; Paxton and Miller each won by more than 20 percentage points.

Some might attribute the shift to national politics: When a Democratic administration was in power in Washington D.C., Republicans in Texas did well; when a Republican was in the White House, Democrats did better. But turnout was dramatically different in those two elections, too, raising Democratic hopes and Republican fears of a change in the Texas electorate.

In 2014  the year all of the statewide Republicans were winning so easily  33.7% of the states registered voters turned out. In 2018, when the margins were so thin and Republican legislative strength waned, 53% turned out.

They apparently liked 2014 better.

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Ayodhya, April 4 : The body of a sadhu, Mahant Kanhaiya Das of the Hanuman Garhi temple was found at Gaushala of Charanpaduka temple on Sunday.

He had been apparently bludgeoned to death in his sleep by unidentified assailants.

The Mahant was also the head of Gulchaman Baag of Basantia Patti.

Senior police officials rushed to the spot on hearing the news to begin an investigation.

News of the murder of Mahant Kanhaiya Das spread like wildfire in the temple town.

Angry over the killing, several Naga sadhus and their followers assembled at the Charanpaduka temple to lodge their protest against the murder.

Extra police force was deployed to maintain peace and law and order.

Superintendent of Police V.P. Singh said that primarily personal enmity seems to be the motive behind the murder of the sadhu.

Forensic experts were called in to take fingerprints from the crime scene. The body has been sent for the post mortem examination.

"In addition to the personal enmity, the police is also working on all possible angles behind the murder. We will arrest the accused shortly," said the SP.

His mentor Ramanuj Das told the police that Kanhaiya Das was having a property dispute with Golu Das a.k.a. Shashikant Das and a case was pending in the local court.

The police have detained Golu Das for interrogation.
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After a long time since Independence, democratic India is taking to a kind of sovereign policy framework that rests on the two fundamentals of 'economic advancement' and 'national security' -- providing a goal to the state at all times for serving the interest of every citizen of the country. This two-fold national objective has guided the Modi regime providing a refreshing contrast to the muddled approach earlier of pushing in 'ideology' in development and giving in to belligerent neighbours for lack of confidence in India as a major power of South Asia.

A pervasive corruption running through the system of governance -- that even produced a funny debate on whether it flowed from the top as JP movement alleged or was to be tackled 'from below' as Prime Minister Gujral contended -- surely inflicted the national government's strategic management, as well. The ability to think of the 'big picture' of how to get Indian democracy rapidly moving towards the goal of becoming a powerful state that would boldly engage the world, both for the cause of promoting economic development and safeguarding India's national security, was marred by a rudderless policy. The main reason why the force of popular will installed Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister in 2014 was his reputation as a leader of personal integrity as far as the trend of 'money making in politics' was concerned and his image as a ruler who 'governed with a strong hand'. People were looking for these twin virtues and voted Modi in with even greater enthusiasm in 2019 after seeing how he had devoted himself personally to the cause of 'development' and lost no time in showing an iron fist to the adversaries who had been taking advantage of the ambiguous responses of India to threats to national security, earlier.

The terror attack on Mumbai on November 26, 2008 perhaps set the benchmark of indecisiveness borne out of a lack of political will that the government of a major country like India would bring to bear on its responses to the known enemy and it was only natural, therefore, that in Modi's time much later, the air strike at Balakote -- in return for the Pak-sponsored terror attack on CRPF at Pulwama -- brought in a big popular endorsement for his government in the 2019 General Election. To describe the surgical strike only as the success of our defence forces, without giving credit to the political decisiveness that had gone into the act, only presented the opponents of Modi in poor light.

This kind of opposition response has since become the marker of India's domestic politics in which the desperate critics of the government are beginning to fault the Prime Minister more for his 'style of governance' than for the policies set out by him. There is talk more of 'authoritarianism' and 'lack of secularism' of the leadership in power -- and only vague criticism of policies -- their injurious content from the angles of 'economic growth' and 'security of India' was never convincingly defined. The charge of 'ulterior motive' against policy makers -- even though some decisions of the Modi regime produced difficulties for the people -- did not hold water nor was it established beyond rhetoric that the BJP-led government had violated Constitutional provisions or gone against the federal scheme of things.

If anything, the Centre under Prime Minister Modi, it can be said, should have been more tough in chastising the states like Maharashtra, West Bengal and some others -- under its Constitutional obligation -- for not adequately managing the law and order front. Same protection of law for all, apart from 'development without discrimination', is the sine qua non for a secular democracy and the Modi government would do well to become stricter about the former -- undeterred by political side-effects since serious failures of law and order damaged the image of India before the world and marred the prospects of investment as well.

The policy framework of Prime Minister Modi can be deciphered easily: an approach to international relations that was free of the ideological baggage of the past and was based on bilateral or multilateral initiatives serving the economic and security interests of India within the mandate of this country's commitment to world peace, a clear message to the adversaries that their hostile moves would be countered with all the might that India could command and raising the pace of development at home in order to lift the economic status of the average citizen through bold policies and conscious efforts to eliminate corruption.

It is amazing that the Prime Minister is personally involved so deeply in policy formulation and delivery -- handling of the Corona crisis with particular reference to the vaccination layout and a multi-pronged launch of schemes to ensure economic revival 'from below' while facilitating the advance of global players of Indian business, are illustrative of how his government was taking the country forward on both economic and defence fronts in a difficult situation. One positive outcome of the untiring efforts of policy makers to kickstart economic revival is that the country has today the largest number of entrepreneurs at the base of the economic pyramid. Covid has caused massive unemployment and the government has rightly focused on reviving MSMEs and investing in infrastructure. There may be varying degrees of success achieved in different spheres -- this is quite acceptable so long as the intentions of the government were not faulted.

People judge a leadership on its performance and the Indian voter has shown an exceptional ability to record his or her disapproval if a regime did not live up to its promises. The opposition cannot grudge the political success of the Modi government in this context -- it has to offer a competitive model of good governance. Encroachment on personal freedom and human rights cannot be a subject of mere propaganda -- the reality about this does not go unnoticed as the history of our elections had proved so well. It is the legitimate work of the opposition to question the merit of a policy and the lack of efficiency in the implementation of government decisions but distorted narratives would not help. On communally motivated violence there has to be a zero tolerance and the opposition must speak with one voice with the Centre against it, irrespective of the political complexion of the state government concerned that was to take primary responsibility on the law and order front.

The domestic scene in India has always been a major challenge for governance because of the diversity of interests, economic inequalities, state-centre conflicts on division of power, a generally vulnerable law and order management on account of corruption and political interference and, last but not the least, the surreptitious operations of the enemy agents and anti-India lobbies that had found enough endorsement from politically motivated elements inside. The parliamentary system based on a fair electoral protocol resting on the principle of 'one man one vote' has performed well and produced political executives at the Centre and the states that ruled without carrying any denominational stamp on their governance. Indian democracy will remain inherently 'secular' so long as there was development of all and equal protection of law was extended to every citizen.

Indian politics must be constantly tested on these criteria for that will ensure that in spite of India being a Hindu majority country, it had no fear of a community-controlled dispensation because any kind of majority would not be able to subvert the constitutional base of governance. India should rise above 'minority politics' and this can happen when Hindus led Muslims and Muslims politically spoke for Hindus -- all that this needs is to stop projecting religion into politics. If India has to become strong, it has to take to economic growth as an instrument of secularism. Prime Minister Modi has to be given credit for speaking that language and not mixing community questions with the cause of national advancement. Raising the voice of dissent against the concept of 'nationalism' is an outcome of weird politics. By indulging in such tactical manoeuvres, the opposition is only giving strategic advantage to the other side.

It is only because of the nationally sound and internationally bold set of policies enunciated by Prime Minister Modi that India has in a short spell of a few years acquired the respect of the world community as a major democratic power of Asia whose opinion on global issues now counts significantly. Foreign policy is a product of national economic and security concerns which the Modi government had spelt out with great firmness and clarity. The policy that there could be no resumption of dialogue with Pakistan since 'talks and terror do not go together' has been accepted by the world as a legitimate stand.

Since the integral state of Jammu and Kashmir was an inseparable part of India, the abolition of the temporary Art 370 made it an 'internal' measure that was taken for the cause of development of the state under the direct monitoring of the Centre. The move of the Modi government was viewed in this light by the world community -- barring a hostile response from the Sino-Pak axis that was on expected lines. China's concern emanates from its anxiety to safeguard the high investment project of CPEC that it had built on the disputed territory of POK. Internationally, the democratic credentials of India remain strong and the successful exposure of Pakistan by India as a fomenter of 'Islamic' terrorism in Kashmir has not gone unnoticed.

An extremely important gain in the area of foreign policy is the continuity of strategic partnership between India and US, the two largest democracies of the world, through the change in American administration. This has been further strengthened by the fullscale participation by India in the QUAD marked by the presence of Prime Minister Modi in the first summit of the multilateral group that aimed at the maintenance of 'rules-based order in Indo-Pacific' imperilled by the Chinese aggressiveness. The bold moves of the Modi government to counter the Sino-Pak axis on land and at sea reflect the self-confidence of the present leadership and consistency of its policies on both development and security -- befitting a nation of India's status. At the QUAD summit, India presented its humane face by demonstrating its will to help the world on the Covid front. India has kept up its defence dealings with Russia and special friendship with Japan and struck an equation with both Israel and Saudi Arabia.

And finally, India has demonstrated its keenness to build relationship with its neighbours notwithstanding the hostility of Pakistan and its 'all-weather friend' China -- that was so evident on the borders in recent months. Prime Minister Modi's two-day visit to Dacca from March 26, on the occasion of the golden jubilee of liberation of Bangladesh, has been extremely successful in strengthening India-Bangladesh relationship. The historical and cultural bonds between the two neighbours overtook any discordance that vested interests might have tried to create in the name of that country's Muslim identity --India's demonstrable generosity also fitted the atmospherics of the visit very well and gave the right message of India's open arm approach to all friendly neighbours. All of this has reaffirmed the soundness of the policies of the Modi regime at home and abroad. It also goes without saying that a constructive opposition should endeavour to fill the important slot that democratic governance gives it, in Parliament and outside, without indulging in disruptive narratives and agitational politics.

(The writer is a former Director Intelligence Bureau)
Alex Salmond's new pro-independence party has received a boost after longtime SNP supporters The Proclaimers urged their fans to back it.

The Edinburgh musical duo threw their weight behind the new outfit as a Panelbase poll showed pro-indy candidates winning a large outright majority in Mays elections.

The Scottish National Party itself would win a narrow majority of 65 seats in the 129 seat legislature, but would also be bolstered by eight seats from the Greens and six from Alba.

If the two smaller parties both pass the threshold to enter parliament, pro-independence forces are likely to benefit from Scotland's hybrid PR electoral system and hoover up seats.

An analysis of the poll by John Curtice of Strathclyde University for The Sunday Times also put the Tories on 24 seats, Labour on 20 MSPs and the Liberal Democrats on five.

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And there is a chance that George Galloway could make a return to elected office with his new anti-independence Alliance For Unity group on the verge of winning a single seat.

Alex Salmond, who led the SNP before Nicola Sturgeon, is subject to a number of sexual harassment complaints concerning his behaviour while he was first minister. In March 2020 he was found not guilty on 12 charges including attempted rape, indecent assault, and sexual assault, and not proven on a further charge.

Alba, Mr Salmond's new party, released a short video over the Easter weekend featuring Craig and Charlie Reid of The Proclaimers urging people to support the outfit with their list vote in the May election.

Charlie Reid said: Were the Proclaimers and were backing Alba for the Scots parliamentary elections in May.

We want to build as big a majority as possible towards putting pressure on Westminster to grant IndyRef 2.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA UK news in pictures 26 April 2021 A red panda rests on a tree at Manor Wildlife park, which reopened its doors as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, in Tenby, Wales Reuters UK news in pictures 25 April 2021 Sheep climb the hillside as flames from a moor fire are seen on Marsden moor, near Huddersfield AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 24 April 2021 Supporters protest against Manchester United's owners, outside English Premier League club Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium in Manchester AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 23 April 2021 People enjoy the warm weather at City Hall near Tower Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 22 April 2021 Uyghurs during a demonstration in Parliament Square, London, which is being held ahead of a House of Commons debate, bought by backbench MP Nus Ghani, on whether Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide PA UK news in pictures 21 April 2021 People walk at the Taihaku Cherry Orchard in Alnwick REUTERS UK news in pictures 20 April 2021 People stand in front of anti Super League banners outside Anfield as twelve of Europe's top football clubs, including Liverpool, launch a breakaway league Reuters UK news in pictures 19 April 2021 Women enjoy sunny weather in Greenwich, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, Reuters UK news in pictures 18 April 2021 Stephen Maguire (right) of Scotland interacts with Jamie Jones of Wales during day 2 of the Betfred World Snooker Championships 2021 at The Crucible, Sheffield PA UK news in pictures 17 April 2021 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburghs coffin, covered with His Royal Highnesss Personal Standard arrives by Landrover Defender at St Georges Chapel carried by a bearer party found by the Royal Marines during the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle Getty Images UK news in pictures 16 April 2021 Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, checks the teeth of "Dentosaurus" during a visit to the Thornliebank Dental Care centre in Glasgow, as she campaigns ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliamentary Election AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 April 2021 Myanmar's former ambassador to the UK, Kyaw Zwar Minn, outside his residence in north west London. The ambassador has been barred from entering the Myanmar embassy in Mayfair after he was removed from office PA UK news in pictures 14 April 2021 People take part in coronavirus surge testing on Clapham Common, south London. Thousands of residents have queued up to take coronavirus tests at additional facilities set up after new cases of the South African variant were found in two south London boroughs. 44 confirmed cases of the variant have been found in Lambeth and Wandsworth, with a further 30 probable cases identified PA UK news in pictures 13 April 2021 The core of the Milky Way becomes visible in the early hours of Tuesday morning as it moves over Bamburgh Lighthouse at stag Rock in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 12 April 2021 Rebecca Richardson (left) and Genevieve Florence, members of the Aquabatix synchronised swimming team, during a practice session in the swimming pool at Clissold Leisure Centre in north London, which has reopened to the public. Many facilities have reopened in the latest easing of lockdown include pubs and restaurants who can serve outside, non-essential shops, indoor gyms and swimming pools, nail salons and hairdressers, outdoor amusements and zoos PA UK news in pictures 11 April 2021 A pub staff pins up a sign announcing the reopening of the Fox on the Hill pub on Denmark Hill in London EPA UK news in pictures 10 April 2021 The Death Gun Salute is fired by the Honourable Artillery Company to mark the passing of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the The Tower of London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 9 April 2021 A man arrives to lay a bunch of flowers outside Buckingham Palace in central London after the announcement of the death of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. - Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip, who recently spent more than a month in hospital and underwent a heart procedure, died on April 9, Buckingham Palace announced. He was 99. AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 8 April 2021 Cousin Pascal ridden by James King clears the chair on their way to winning the 4:05 Pool via REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 April 2021 Deliveroo riders from the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain outside Deliveroo headquarters in London, as they go on strike in a dispute for fair pay, safety protections and basic workers rights PA UK news in pictures 6 April 2021 Waves crash over the walls next to Seaham Lighthouse in Durham PA UK news in pictures 5 April 2021 Lusamba Katalay (third from left), the husband of Belly Mujinga joins activists at a vigil at Victoria station in London to mark the first anniversary of the death of railway worker Belly Mujinga who died with Covid-19 following reports she had been coughed on by a customer at London's Victoria station PA UK news in pictures 4 April 2021 People spend Easter Sunday at Hengistbury Head, Bournemouth Jake McPherson/SWNS UK news in pictures 3 April 2021 A woman looks into the camera as she attends a 'Kill the Bill' protest in London EPA UK news in pictures 2 April 2021 Members of the Bamburgh Croquet club play a game following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Northumberland, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 April 2021 A family walks in St Nicholas' Park in Warwick, the hot weather which baked much of the UK this week is set to give way to a chilly Easter weekend. PA UK news in pictures 31 March 2021 A woman adds a heart to the National Covid Memorial Wall in London EPA UK news in pictures 30 March 2021 Jamie Klingler from Reclaim These Streets speaks to the media in Clapham Common, south London, after a review by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor concluded that Metropolitan Police officers did not act inappropriately or in a heavy-handed manner at the vigil PA UK news in pictures 29 March 2021 An aerial photo shows people playing tennis at the Mersey Bowman Lawn Tennis Club in Liverpool northwest England on March 29, 2021, as England's third Covid-19 lockdown restrictions ease, allowing groups of up to six people to meet outside. - People in England rushed outside Monday to enjoy sports, picnics and other previously prohibited activities, as the nation entered the second phase of its coronavirus lockdown easing thanks in large part to a successful vaccination drive AFP via Getty Images

Craig added: Vote Alba on your list vote.

In the Panelbase poll's constituency vote, the SNP was on 49 per cent, with the Tories on 22 per cent, Labour on 20 per cent and the Lib Dems on 6 per cent.

For the regional list vote, the SNP was on 39 per cent, with the Conservatives on 21 per cent, Labour on 17 per cent, the Greens on 8 per cent and the Lib Dems on 5 per cent.
British Olympian Tessa Sanderson has revealed she sat down her eight-year-old twins to explain the Black Lives Matter protests because she is aware they may suffer racist abuse in the future.

The sportswoman, 65, adopted brother and sister Cassius and Ruby Mae seven years ago when they were four months old and she was 58.

They are mixed race, with Irish and Jamaican heritage, and were severely ill initially because their parents were drug users.

Tessa said she made sure that she explained their ethnicity to them because she is aware people might make cruel comments related to their heritage in the future.

British Olympian Tessa Sanderson, 65, has revealed that she has sat her eight-year-old twins down and explained racism and the Black Lives Matter protests to them

Tessa, a six-time Olympic javelin star whose career spanned 20 years, said: 'They do realise that ethnicity can be a problem because they're darker than a lot of people.

'They are aware of racism and they do know about racism and I'm glad they do know.

'We have talked to them about the colour of their skin. And I say, "You know what, if you do get called names and things like that, if it hurts you, come home and talk to Mummy or you talk to your teacher about it."

'I'd tell them, "Don't ever judge people by the colour of their skin" - straight up, like that.'

She went on: 'When the Black Lives Matter marches were on and they asked, "Why's that happening Mummy?" and I would explain.

'We talked about unfairness as well. All this different language is what me and my husband use to our kids to make them understand.

The javelin star and her husband, judo Olympian Densign White, 59, adopted brother and sister Cassius and Ruby Mae, who have Irish and Jamaican heritage, seven years ago when they were four months old

'We have always taught them that you may get some name-calling, you may get people saying, even about adoption, "Oh they're not your real mummy and daddy", they understand all of that.'

Tessa underwent three rounds of failed IVF before the age of 50. She and her husband, judo Olympian Densign White, 59, decided to adopt because Tessa longed to be a mother.

Tessa arrived in Britain as a six-year-old child a year after her Windrush parents left Jamaica to look for work.

The family settled in Wednesfield, West Midlands, and Tessa went on to become the first black British woman to win an Olympic gold after her 69.56-metre javelin triumph at the 1984 games in Los Angeles, US.

She is also the first Briton to represent her country at six Olympic Games and is still the only person, man or woman, to win a throwing gold for GB.

Tessa was the first black British woman to win an Olympic gold after her 69.56-metre javeline triumph at the 1984 games in Los Angeles

She said adopting Cassius and Ruby Mae made her world complete, but the transition hasn't been without some stresses.

Tessa said someone had already told the twins that she and Densign 'weren't their real mum and dad', but the children were prepared as she had explained that they were adopted when they were four or five years old.

Tessa, who lives in London, said: 'Somebody said that in the playground, but they were fine because by then they knew about adoption and to them it didn't matter. Because as far as they're concerned we are their mummy and daddy.'

She said Cassius had begun reading texts by Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, adding: 'When I talk about racism to my kids it's not just about being black or white, I have even taken them back to Windrush Days and I said there were things written on the wall that black people were not allowed here and they'd ask, "Well why Mummy?" and I'd say "Well that's the way some people are, some people can be very hurtful".

'I've said people should be treated equally, on a level. I've said to them that some people just don't like the colour of other people's skin and it shouldn't be like that.

Tessa said said adopting Cassius and Ruby Mae made her world complete, but the transition hasn't been without some stresses, as a child in the playground told them they weren't their 'real parents', but she had already told the twins about their adoption

'I said be proud of your skin and be proud of what you do and it has driven home to them, it's given them the power to realise that they might be a little bit different colour from other people but inside they're OK.

'I don't know in the future if they will have a problem, but what I'm fairly confident about is that they would address that problem in the right way and hopefully they will have the confidence to find the right things to do about it.

'I tell them I'm proud of being me and you must be proud of being you whatever the consequences. We talk about the hard truth. I say to them that there are a lot of people that are jealous, unkind, don't want to treat you fairly and this is what happens, but as long as you take onboard your education and your confidence and respect other people's skin colour then life will be a little bit better.'

Tessa and Densign's adoption journey also wasn't easy, as they were turned down for a five-year-old girl before the twins. And when Cassius and Ruby Mae joined their family, they had to have HIV tests due to their parents' background.

But Tessa says being an older mother has helped her be a better one - and she describes adoption as 'brilliant'.

She said being an older mother has helped her to be a better one and is now modelling into her 60s, enjoys motivational speaking and hopes to do more TV presenting in the future (pictured: Tessa winning the gold medal in the Women's Javelin event in 1984)

She is now modelling into her 60s, enjoys motivational speaking and hopes to do more TV presenting in the future, especially with the Commonwealth Games coming to Birmingham in 2022.

She added: 'Bringing my children into my word has really made my life complete. I knew I couldn't have children, there were always children around in my family and I got downhearted.

'I thought adoption is what I really want to do and it's brought a lot of happiness to me, even more confidence I've got back, it's made me feel younger. It's lovely to go forward and create your world.

'My body's in good nick, I feel great, my husband is positive so I've got the support there, I am healthy enough. Age isn't a barrier. Do I feel different from 35? Yes of course I bloody do.

'But I'm a lot more confident even in myself and over 50 started all of that. I jog three times a week, I exercise with my kids when I want to. I really keep myself healthy. I'm not 25 or 35 but I don't have to be.'
Syracuse, N.Y.  The positive test rate for Covid-19 is three times lower in Central New York than the state average, according to data published today by the state health department. Only the Southern Tier has a lower positivity rate than CNY.

Over the past seven days, an average of 1.2% of Central New York residents tested for the coronavirus tested positive. Statewide, the average positive test rate was 3.6%. The lowest rate in the state was 0.8% in the Southern Tier.

Most regions of the state have seen the positivity rate rise slightly in recent weeks. In Central New York, for example, the rate rose from 0.8% to 1.2% over the past three weeks.

In Western New York, the increase has been sharper than average. The positivity rate there is 4.4%, more than double what it was three weeks ago.

State officials urge residents to continue wearing masks and observing safe distancing while officials race to vaccinate people. Roughly one out of every three state residents has received at least one dose of vaccine, and one in five is fully vaccinated.

The state today reported 59 new deaths from Covid-19, bringing the total to 40,756 since the pandemic arrived last year.

There were 4,373 Covid-19 patients in hospitals as of today, 882 of whom were in intensive care.

Do you have a news tip or a story idea? Contact reporter Tim Knauss of syracuse.com/The Post-Standard: email | Twitter | | 315-470-3023.
Justin Bieber recently paid a visit to California State Prison in Lancaster, California to 'support faith-based programs' at the correction center.

And his wife Hailey Bieber, nearly a week later, took to Instagram to reflect on the 'life changing day,' while also sharing three snapshots - taken by photographer Rory Kramer - of herself and the 27-year-old music star.

'Had the opportunity to visit the California State Prison in Lancaster. An incredible life changing day,' began the 24-year-old model, who boasts nearly 34million followers.

Life changing: Hailey Bieber took to Instagram on Saturday to reflect on the 'life changing day' she and husband Justin had at California State Prison in Lancaster, California on March 23; Justin and Hailey captured by Rory Kramer

Bieber stressed that she 'will never forget the amazing people we met and their incredible stories.'

'Thank you to everyone involved who made this possible!' she concluded.

One particularly noteworthy shot that Hailey chose to include in her post was a photo of her and Justin holding hands as they approached the state prison.

Another showed the couple and their crew listening to staffers and inmates seemingly discuss the prison's 'faith-based programs,' etc.

Never forget: Bieber stressed that she 'will never forget the amazing people we met and their incredible stories'; Justin and Hailey captured by Rory Kramer

Good listeners: Another showed the couple and their crew listening to staffers and inmates seemingly discuss the prison's 'faith-based programs,' etc.; Justin and Hailey captured by Rory Kramer

The daughter of Stephen Baldwin kept casual for the visit, wearing her hair in buns and looking comfortable in a black puffer jacket.

Justin also opted for comfort in tan suede jacket and brown joggers. The couple also made sure to don face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday, March 23, a spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation told TMZ that Bieber had paid a brief visit to the facility to support faith-based programs.

Faith-based: Justin and Hailey are among the high-profile celebrity members of evangelical Christian organization Churchome run by Judah and Chelsea Smith

Justin and Hailey are among the high-profile celebrity members of evangelical Christian organization Churchome run by Judah and Chelsea Smith.

They were also active members of the megachurch group Hillsong until it became the subject of scandal, firing pastor Carl Lentz for 'moral failures' and his admitted infidelity.

When Hailey is not lending her platform and voice to the issues that matter most to her, she is providing fashion inspiration to the masses with her daily Instagram posts.

Before grabbing dinner at a swanky Santa Monica restaurant with her husband of two-years on Friday night, Hailey appeared on Instagram in an idyllic little black dress.

Fashionista: When Hailey is not lending her platform and voice to the issues that matter most to her, she is providing fashion inspiration to the masses with her daily Instagram posts

LBD: Before grabbing dinner at a swanky Santa Monica restaurant with her husband of two-years on Friday night, Hailey appeared on Instagram in an idyllic little black dress

'weekend,' she captioned the slideshow showing the star in the revealing garment as she took a sip of a libation.

The tight-fitting dress hugged every curve on her body, perfectly cinched at the blonde bombshell's waist.

Her cleavage could be seen peeking out of the top of the look, while her toned arms and legs were on full display.

Hailey's beachy blonde waves hung over her shoulders as she went for a more natural look with her makeup.
Two months into lockdown, 29-year-old Ella left the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community that she was raised in near New York, started wearing trouser pants for the first time and contacted an organization that helps 'leavers' adapt to life in wider society.

United States groups like the one she approached report increased demand for their services since coronavirus, from people with more time for soul-searching to others troubled by social distancing violations and some who have already left needing counseling and financial support.

Ella, an alias because she has yet to tell her parents that she has quit Orthodoxy, said she was always interested in the world outside her 'extremely religious family.'

When she was younger she hid romance novels under her mattress and sometimes 'pushed' the limits of her community's strict dress code.

In the summer of 2019, she and her husband took their first steps towards breaking away by moving a couple of miles down the road to a community whose adherence to Jewish law was not quite as strict.

Members of New York's Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn ahead of last week's Passover celebrations. There has been a sharp increase in people trying to leave the Orthodox community in New York, according to groups that assist people adapt to life on the outside

People visit Central Park with masks on on March 30

An Orthodox man walks maskless in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn on Oct. 10, 2020

When lockdown happened in March 2020, they found themselves cut off from friends and family, which gave them space and months to think about whether they wanted to take the next step and leave their community altogether.

'We had time to cement our new identity and feel confident that we made the right decision before having to face anybody,' said Ella.

She was one of more than 150 people in 2020 who joined the New York-based organization Freidom, which supports former ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, Jews, primarily Yiddish speakers, navigate culture and language in secular US society.

The group saw a 50 percent increase in participation in events - which typically include hikes, cinema and restaurant trips but are currently virtual - from new members last year, according to founder Gene Steinberg.

Not all newly left: like 25-year-old Ben, who received counseling after he separated from his wife, a marriage that had been arranged, shortly before lockdown and found himself living alone without his kids.

The non-profit Footsteps has seen its membership increase by around an 18 percent over the past year, according to one of its officials, Yael Reisman.

For her, large weddings and funerals organized by some Orthodox rabbis last summer despite distancing restrictions coupled with a devastating death toll in Hasidic communities early on in the city's outbreak, contributed to the questioning.

Young Orthodox Jews celebrate in Times Square in December, 2020. During lockdown, some community members found themselves isolated from friends and family, leading some to 'restructure their priorities'

Areas of Brooklyn with a large Haredi population, such as Borough Park, resisted some measures, including through protests, prompting authorities to intervene and sparking controversy that they were being unfairly targeted.

'You start to think that the people you rely on and trust maybe aren't doing it the right way,' said Reisman.

Footsteps has also seen acute need from long-time members due to food insecurity, housing instability and mental health issues brought on by the COVID-19, says Reisman.

Shaya Schtroks, a 34-year-old former rabbi who left Hasidism nine years ago, said he received a 'critical' $10,000 after the pandemic scuppered his real estate finance business.

The swelling of online events has made it easier to join the groups, especially for people outside the New York region, home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, with some two million people from secular to Haredi.

At the same time, many of the tempting pleasures of a less religious life, such as shows or bars, are on hold.

A New York police officer stands in front of a Satmar synagogue in October 2020, after a wedding in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn of Brooklyn that was due to host 10,000 people was banned. Some people leaving the Orthodox faith say they were disillusioned by protests against lockdown measures

Crowds gathered outside the Yetev Lev Synagogue in Kiryas Joel for a wedding in November despite a cease and desist order from the state

The state's Health Department mandated that the wedding be canceled

'I think it's bringing more people out. But I also think it's slowing down their process,' said Reisman.

The idea of leaving ultra-Orthodoxy was the subject of the hit 2020 Netflix series 'Unorthodox.'

No concrete numbers exist to assess how many leave, says sociologist Schneur Zalman Newfield. The communities themselves remain silent and many who leave do so in secrecy.

'I do think it's more common. People on the inside are more aware of the process,' said Newfield.

Members of Orthodox groups stress sense of solidarity and belonging that exists in the tight-knit communities.

Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, spokesman for the Brooklyn-based Chabad Lubavitch Headquarters, said there were 'many resources available' to people in need during the pandemic.

Project Makom, an initiative that helps former and questioning Haredis find their place within Orthodoxy, has seen membership almost double from 85 in 2019 to 160 in 2020.

'A lot of people are sort of restructuring their priorities right now, and so this group is not different,' said founder Allison Josephs.

Ella enjoyed a low-key Passover this week as she contemplates her new life.

'I finally have the chance to think for myself but I'm not exactly used to doing it. So I'm trying to explore what I want for my future,' she said.
State health officials on Monday will begin testing Taconic High School students and staff to determine if the coronavirus is being spread on campus. Pittsfield Public Schools interim Superintendent Joseph Curtis says the spike in positive COVID 19 cases among students (four since Friday, 12 overall) is due to some students not wearing masks or practicing social distancing off campus.
Sri Lanka Ilmenite tender flaws expose corruption and fraud By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

Sri Lankas latest sale of mineral sands mainly ilmenite in a flawed tender process conceals more than it reveals depriving the state of millions of rupees in revenue benefiting middlemen and racketeers, according to an Industries Ministry probe.

Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd (LMSL) had called for bids from prospective foreign and local bidders for the sale of heavy mineral sands including ilmenite with a security bond of Rs. 57 million or US$ 306000 in June last year .

Whilst the global best practice for any tender is to receive bank guarantees as bid bonds from registered suppliers, this state-owned company was in the practice of requesting cash bid bonds from the bidders. This created a firm entry barrier for credible foreign buyers since the process to remit cash for a tender and then to take it back if they fail to win the tender is very tedious, time consuming and LMSL has made it a habit in the past to delay any refund, a senior ministry official said.

This practice being carried out for many years, effectively entertains a few favourite bidders of some corrupt officials, industry sources alleged.

They noted that top foreign companies will never apply for such tenders and this move of the LMSL has neither benefitted the government nor the company during the past several years.

The bids for the sale of heavy minerals including ilmenite were being called in the latter part of every year to coincide with the Chinese New Year, an industry official said, adding that during this period the ilmenite price will go down due to less demand.

At the time of calling bids for the sale of ilmenite the price was around$145-$147per ton.

LMSL has awarded the tender of 85,000 metric tons ilmenite at $147 per ton to the third-placed bidder rejecting the prospective bidder who had quoted the highest price of $165 per ton, a COPE report revealed recently.

It was also revealed that the current price of a metric ton of ilmenite is close to $260. The committee focused its attention on the decline in sales in 2020 compared to the total sales in 2018 and 2019.

According to official calculations, the real loss for the state is over $8 million, the reason being, if not for the malpractices and bad governance, the tender should have been called after the Chinese new year and any credible buyer would have bought the entire lot for over $ 260 per ton.

It was revealed that as a result of still storing the 85,000 metric tons of ilmenite sold to a buyer in October 2020 in the Pulmoddai deposit, the company is incurring losses due to minimising the space available for the institution to store further minerals.

Payments had been made only for 65,000 metric tons from this stock and payment for another 20,000 metric tons is to be recovered.

COPE Chairman Prof. Charitha Herath directed the Secretary to the Ministry of Industry, Anusha Palpita, to inquire into the matter immediately and submit a report within a month.
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Adam Wilson Custom Homes can build on your lot or help you select a home site that best meets your needs. Our vast knowledge of the San Antonio and Austin areas will allow us to find the perfect lot for your future home. If you are thinking about buying a lot, we will be happy to give you a free lot evaluation which includes feedback on construction, topography, orientation, trees, size and shape of the lot.
Veteran actor Rekha is one of the most iconic women to have ever featured on the silver screen in India. Renowned for her beauty, her talent and her ability to reinvent herself, the actress has also had her fair share of media controversy. In the past, there were rumours that she was seeing Amitabh Bachchan, who was already married to Jaya Bachchan at the time. The trio also starred in Silsila which was not only a casting coup but a blockbuster hit. Years have passed since then but the supposed 'scandal' still manages to come up in conversation every now and then. Such was the case when Rekha made an appearance on a television show. The host, Jay Bhanushali, asked the judges - Rekah and Neha Kakkar - if they have ever noticed a woman falling madly in love with a man even if he is married.

"Muhse puchiye na (Ask me)," Rekha quipped, leaving Bhanushali astounded. She followed it up with a "maine kuch nahi kaha (I didn't say anything)". The audience and the other judges, Kakkar and Vishal Dadlani burst into applause and laughter at her comment even as the Umrao Jaan actress smiled.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah



on Sunday said a befitting reply will be given to the in Chhatisgarh at an appropriate time.

He also said search operations are continuing in following the encounter.

''As far as the numbers are concerned, both sides have suffered losses and exact casualty figures cannot be ascertained immediately'', Shah said, after cutting short his election campaigning in Assam. The home minister is flying back to Delhi to take stock of the situation.

''Our securitymen have lost their lives, we will not tolerate this bloodshed and a befitting reply will be given at an appropriate time'', he added.

Bodies of 17 of the 18 jawans missing after the encounter were recovered on Sunday, taking the death toll to 22, police said separately.

Shah, addressed his first rally of the day at Sorbhog. Though he arrived at Sualkuchi, in Jalkubari constituency, to campaign for NEDA convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, he left the area, without making any speeches to take a chopper back to Guwahati en-route to Delhi on learning of the

The home minister said that he was appealing to people to vote for Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to ensure Sarma's victory by a huge margin.

He added that the vote would strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his work for Assam and the North East.

Shah said that both Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Sarma are working to develop the state and ''we want this to continue''.

(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.)
Kosovos parliament failed to confirm a new president, despite backing from the reformist camp that swept this years elections, with politicians resuming the vote Sunday after a night of deadlock.

Albin Kurti and his leftist movement Vetevendosje claimed more than 50 percent of Februarys vote, promising to eradicate corruption in the poor nation that has been undermined by political instability.

The election of Kurtis candidate  law professor Vjosa Osmani  was kiboshed after the opposition and Serbian minority boycotted the vote leaving the PM and his candidate short of the 80 out of 160 MPs needed.

Due to the lack of a quorum, the session will continue tomorrow, Parliament speaker Glauk Konjufca announced after several hours of stalemate.

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 declaring independence in 2008, in a move still not recognised by Serbia.

Ahead of parliaments adjournment Kurti and Osmani were able to count on 58 votes plus several MPs from minor parties.

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.
 Flash

Western cultural supremacism and imperialism have caused many catastrophes in the human history, Canadian scholar Taylor C. Noakes said in an article recently published on National Post, while lashing out at domestic retrograde understanding of Indigenous history.

"Far too many Canadians have held on to the belief that some cultures and societies are better than others and therefore have a right to impose their will on anyone they deem subpar," Noakes, an independent journalist and public historian, said in his article "A reply to Conrad Black: On Indigenous history we cannot ignore inconvenient truths" on March 26.

These beliefs led to globe-spanning empires, the transatlantic slave trade, the wholesale devastation of Indigenous civilizations in the Americas, Africa and much of Asia, to say nothing of most of the bloodiest conflicts in the human history, he said.

In Canada, these "pseudoscientific" ideas are at the root of the Residential Schools and genocidal campaigns against Indigenous people since the colonial era, he added.

"Something like a slow-motion genocide occurred here," he pointed out.

Among the reasons behind the genocide the historian listed are the full support of governments from long ago, both foreign and domestic, and fundamentally flawed and inherently racist beliefs that unfortunately continue to this day.

Only by abandoning obsolete, demonstrably incorrect interpretations of the past, could a nation achieve a meaningful reconciliation, Noakes said.
FILE PHOTO: New U.S. Ambassador to United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield holds a news conference in New York

(Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday expressed concern over a standoff in Somalia on holding new elections, the United States' top U.N. diplomat said.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's four-year term ended last month without a successor and Somalias parliament was supposed to elect a new president on Feb. 8, but the exercise was delayed because new lawmakers have yet to be picked.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a virtual press briefing following a closed-door session that the 15-member Security Council "noted ongoing efforts to find agreement between leaders of the federal government of Somalia and the federal member states" on implementing a revised electoral model.

"They expressed concern over the ongoing impasse and called for Somalia's leaders to engage in a constructive dialogue at the earliest opportunity without precondition to resolve outstanding issues," she said.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; editing by Grant McCool)
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan held talks in Kinshasa on Sunday over Addis Ababa's contested giant dam on the Nile, seen as vital by Ethiopia and a threat by downstream Egypt and Sudan.

"These negotiations represent the last chance that the three countries must seize to reach an accord," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Egyptian media.

He said the accord should allow the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to be filled in time to begin operations in the coming months, before the next rains.

The dispute over the GERD, built across the Blue Nile, has been simmering for around a decade.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, who became chairman of the African Union in February, urged the foreign ministers as he opened the talks "to launch a new dynamic".

"I ask you all to make a fresh start, to open one or several windows of hope, to seize every opportunity," he said.

He welcomed the willingness of the participants "to seek African solutions for African problems together".

Egypt and Sudan this month called on Kinshasa to steer efforts to relaunch negotiations on the contested dam.

For Tshisekedi, "The human dimension must be at the heart of these tripartite negotiations."

The people of all three countries have a right to water, food and health, he stressed.

The US ambassador to DR Congo, Mike Hammer, attended the start of the talks, which were set to wrap up on Monday.

The Nile, the world's longest river, is a lifeline supplying both water and electricity to the 10 countries it crosses.

Upstream Ethiopia says hydroelectric power produced by the GERD will be vital to meet the energy needs of its 110 million people.

Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, sees the dam as an existential threat.

Sudan, also downstream, fears its own dams will be compromised if Ethiopia proceeds with filling the GERD before a deal is reached.

Last Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed his country's concerns, warning, "Nobody will be permitted to take a single drop of Egypt's water, otherwise the region will fall into unimaginable instability."

bmb-st/hba/gd/har
PW Power Systems has been an innovator and global leader of on-demand energy solutions for 60 years, providing flexible, fast-track, customized aero-derivative gas turbines to meet critical energy needs around the world.

Use of the Mitsubishi Power brand is part of a broader effort to integrate the global manufacturing, sales, marketing, finance, service, and project execution footprint of Mitsubishi Power.

LAKE MARY, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, PW Power Systems officially changed its name to Mitsubishi Power Aero. Adopting the Mitsubishi Power brand is part of a larger effort to apply synergies that will benefit aero-derivative gas turbine customers. The strength of the aero-derivative product and services portfolio will be enhanced by further leveraging the resources and technologies of Mitsubishi Power Aeros parent company.

We are utilizing Mitsubishi Power supply chain assets around the world to support new equipment manufacturing as well as aftermarket services, said Mitsubishi Power Aero President and CEO Raul Pereda. Our Engineering teams are collaborating to make our gas turbines more competitive, including applications with hydrogen fuel, remote monitoring, and TOMONITM artificial intelligence. The financial resources of the broader group also allow us to offer more flexible commercial solutions to our customers. We are eager to collaborate with our customers to deliver power when the world needs it most.

As electrification expands and the demand for reliable energy grows globally, the role of aero-derivative on-demand power has become even more critical. The socioeconomic cost of power shortages is significant and rising, and power system complexity is increasing due to factors such as rapid expansion of renewables, extreme weather events, electrification of transportation, energy storage, and alternative fuels, including hydrogen. The flexible power generation solutions provided by Mitsubishi Power are essential to helping customers balance their diverse energy requirements.

On-demand power is a key component in how Mitsubishi Power brings total solutions to our customers, Paul Browning, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Power Americas, said. The FT8 MOBILEPAC unit offers fast, turnkey power on short notice, and the FT4000 SWIFTPAC gas turbine provides super-flexible power to customers who want to increase their use of intermittent renewable power, such as wind and solar. As the pace of decarbonization of energy increases across the globe, aero-derivative power is crucial to ensuring resource adequacy. Were excited about integrating our supply chain, manufacturing, engineering, marketing, sales, service, and financial capabilities with the strong products, services, and turnkey project capabilities of Mitsubishi Power Aero. Together, we will work with our customers to create a Change in Power.

About Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc.

Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida, employs more than 2,000 power generation, energy storage, and digital solutions experts and professionals. Our employees are focused on empowering customers to affordably and reliably combat climate change while also advancing human prosperity throughout North and South America. Mitsubishi Powers power generation solutions include natural gas, steam, aero-derivative, geothermal, distributed renewable technologies, environmental controls, and services. Energy storage solutions include green hydrogen and battery energy storage systems. Mitsubishi Power also offers digital solutions that enable autonomous operations and maintenance of power assets. Mitsubishi Power, Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI). Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, MHI is one of the worlds leading heavy machinery manufacturers with engineering and manufacturing businesses spanning energy, infrastructure, transport, aerospace and defense. For more information, visit the Mitsubishi Power Americas website and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Mitsubishi Power Aero LLC

Mitsubishi Power Aero LLC, headquartered in Glastonbury, Connecticut, USA, is a leader in the supply of fast-track, on-demand power solutions to global power producers and industrial and O&G customers. We provide flexible and customizable products and services, including aero-derivative gas turbine packages that generate 30 to 140 MW, tailored and responsive aftermarket services, turnkey EPC expertise, and battery storage. As the demand for electricity expands, and more renewables are added to power grids, Mitsubishi Power Aero will continue to play a vital role in providing energy security to customers around the world. Mitsubishi Power Aero is a group company of Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. Connect with us at aero.power.mhi.com and LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210401005180/en/

Communications Contact

Stefan L. Zavatone

+1 860-368-5499

stefan.zavatone@aeropowermhi.com

Source: Mitsubishi Power Americas
Kabul, April 4 : At least 82 militants have been confirmed dead as warplanes pounded Taliban hideouts and positions in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, the former stronghold of the militant group, a top police official said on Sunday.

The sorties began on Saturday night in parts of the restive Arghandab district, Xinhua news agency quoted the provincial police spokesman as saying.

Besides killing 82 armed insurgents including Taliban's key commander Sarhadi, two tanks and several vehicles of the insurgents have also been destroyed, the spokesman said.

Without hinting at possible casualties of the security personnel, he said the clean-up operations backed by warplanes were still continuing in parts of the troubled district.

Taliban militants who are active in parts of Kandahar province are yet to comment on the airstrikes.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4) -- Former President Joseph Estrada, who was confined in hospital due to COVID-19 infection, has been sedated and moved to the intensive care unit, said his son former senator Jinggoy Estrada.

While he needed to be placed on high flow oxygen support, we are thankful that there has been no need to put him on a ventilator, said the younger Estrada in a Facebook post.

However, he is being sedated to lessen his anxiety which may affect his heart and aggravate his condition, he added. Thus, he has been moved to the ICU for closer observation.

The 83-year-old former chief executive was rushed to the hospital last March 28 and has tested positive for COVID-19.

Jinggoy also said currently his father is "in a stable but guarded condition."
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Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

New Mexico leads the nation in overall COVID-19 vaccine distribution, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state fell short in vaccinating some of its most vulnerable residents during the initial rollout.

In a report published late last month, the CDC ranked New Mexico 37th-lowest among 48 states in vaccine coverage for residents living in counties with high vulnerability, which is based on residents socioeconomic status and factors such as household composition, education and the number of people 65 and older.

The CDC reported that the majority of states, including New Mexico, needed to step up efforts to achieve equity in vaccination coverage for those who have been most affected by COVID-19.

Improving COVID-19 vaccination coverage in communities with high proportions of racial/ethnic minority groups and persons who are economically and socially marginalized is critical because these populations have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19related morbidity and mortality, the CDC said.

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In New Mexico, Cibola and Luna counties top the list of counties with the highest overall Social Vulnerability Index scores, with McKinley, San Juan and Dona Ana counties rounding out the top five spots, according to a March 24 report by the New Mexico Community Data Collaborative at the Center for Health Innovation.

As a subset, Bernalillo, Cibola, Curry, Luna and McKinley counties each have one or more areas with overall high SVI scores.

Nationally, Arizona, Alaska and Montana topped the CDC list when it came to achieving higher vaccination coverage in high-vulnerability counties. That compares with New Mexico, where vaccines disproportionately went to moderately vulnerable residents instead of those at higher risk.

The CDC report said states that achieved equitable coverage took steps early to reach out to underserved communities, and some offered free transportation to vaccination sites. Ensuring equitable COVID-19 vaccine access is a priority for the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program, the CDC wrote. Nationwide, vaccination coverage was lower in high vulnerability counties.

The report reflects vaccinations given from Dec. 14 to March 1 in all states except Hawaii and Delaware.

DOH spokesman David Morgan told the Journal on Friday, New Mexico has been making steadfast progress in vaccinating our most vulnerable communities.

State Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins said her team is very committed to equity.

So our lens for addressing how we get the word out about the vaccine is through an equity lens, Collins said during an online discussion with the American Medical Association in late January.

Social vulnerability

First developed in 2011 to guide hazardous event response, the CDC index considers 15 indicators to assess socially vulnerable populations.

The indicators include poverty, unemployment, income, lack of a high school diploma, the number of those 65 and older, those ages 17 and younger, single parent households, crowded housing, and lack of access to transportation.

In its report on COVID-19 vaccinations, the CDC noted that some disparities may be rooted in vaccine hesitancy or in the priorities states gave various groups for vaccinations.

For instance, New Mexico put people 75 and older into a high priority group when the vaccine rollout began. But unlike most other states, the state was slow to lower that minimum age to 65 years old. New Mexico didnt open vaccinations for those 60 to 74 as an age group until two weeks ago.

Beginning Monday, all adults in New Mexico will be eligible for vaccinations.

The state also created an online centralized registration system to schedule vaccinations, requiring eligible registrants to wait for the state to give them a vaccination appointment through a randomized system.

As of Thursday, New Mexico had the nations 14th-highest COVID-19 death rate, with 188 fatalities per 100,000 population. Among nearby states, Arizona had 233 deaths per 100,000, Texas had 167, Oklahoma had 125, Colorado had 107 and Utah had 66.

But New Mexico has led the nation in the percentage of population that has received at least one dose. Fifty percent of New Mexicans had been at least partly vaccinated as of Saturday, with more than 30 percent fully vaccinated.

Vaccine equity plan

Department of Health officials announced a vaccine equity plan in late February. The plan includes considering the CDCs social vulnerability index and rates of positive cases in its vaccine allocation system.

The states vaccine equity plan also calls for the DOH to develop alternate ways for people to register for a vaccine, and permit walk-in or locally scheduled clinics, and mobile vaccination teams.

The DOH also said the state would monitor vaccine coverage with reference to the social vulnerability index and COVID-19 outbreaks.

Collins told a state Senate committee in mid-February that she was aware of the low vaccination rate of minority populations in New Mexico and said, one of the issues  the initial rollout did not address equity appropriately.

She didnt elaborate.

DOH spokesman Matt Bieber said in an Instagram update in February, What changed over time was that in some places, some providers were more aggressive about distributing vaccine, filling up their schedules, getting folks in the door, getting shots in arms, and where providers were a little bit more aggressive, we then sent more vaccine.

Morgan told the Journal that DOH has made strides in getting vaccines to minority populations and the underserved.

For example, he said, the state held an event to reach out to New Mexicos African American population and an additional 1,044 African Americans registered online to receive a vaccine.

Similarly, after our town hall meeting (in Spanish) to specifically address questions from Hispanics, an additional 23,652 Hispanics registered for the vaccine, he said.

Another example: The border community of Columbus, which has the second-highest SVI among 265 New Mexico communities (for which there is SVI data), has a relatively high vaccination rate of 74%; as of March 30, 760 of 1,031 residents 16 and older have had at least one shot, Morgan said.

Dona Ana County

Dona Ana County, which is about 68 percent Hispanic and the second-most populous county in the state, had the fourth-lowest percentage of residents vaccinated of any of the states 33 counties one month ago.

The county has been hit hard by the virus. It has had the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases, 24,089, and deaths, 421.

The issue of equitable distribution arose when the Las Cruces City Council in mid-March approved a resolution calling on the state to send more vaccine to the city and Dona Ana County.

The region remains in the highest risk level in the states framework (for reopening), yet Dona Ana County has received proportionally fewer vaccines than all but a few counties in New Mexico, the resolution said.

Bieber of the DOH was quoted as saying, In Dona Ana, some of the providers (of vaccines) were a little less aggressive than in other places in the beginning. Its not to place blame at all. Its just to name a fact. As a result, in these early days, DOH did send more vaccine to other places.

Collins and her DOH equity task force have since pushed additional vaccines to the county, so as of Friday, Dona Ana County had moved up to 16th place, with 39 percent of its residents at least partly vaccinated, surpassing even Bernalillo County, which had nearly 38 percent receiving at least one dose, according to the state vaccine dashboard. The percentages dont reflect vaccines distributed by federal agencies.

Meanwhile, Bernalillo County includes ZIP codes that consistently rank in the top 10 for new positive COVID-19 cases each day.

For instance, in the 87121 ZIP code in Southwest Albuquerque, where 20 percent of residents live below the poverty line, more than 10,000 cases have been reported  the highest of any ZIP code in the state.

Collins said at a recent update on vaccine distribution that the DOH planned to drill down to reach out to residents in certain ZIP codes as part of its equity program.

Federal assist

To address equity, the Biden administration launched a health center vaccine program in February to directly allocate COVID-19 vaccine to federally supported health centers. Thats a departure from the norm, in which shipments are sent to the states to allocate to providers.

The program seeks to accelerate delivery of vaccines to medically underserved communities and disproportionately affected populations.

Of the 16 federally qualified health centers in New Mexico invited to participate, only four are enrolled, but more may join this month, said Scott Kodish, a spokesman for the federal Health Resources & Services Administration.

The participating clinics are Clinica de Familia Inc. in Las Cruces, Southwest C.A.R.E. Center in Santa Fe, Las Clinicas Del Norte Inc. in El Rito, and the Ben Archer Health Center Inc. in Hatch.

At the Ben Archer clinic, which is receiving both state and federally directed vaccines, about 130 people, including farmworkers, received at least one dose in late March.

As soon as the state allowed essential workers, they were here, one clinic staff member said. They wanted to be vaccinated.
A political tweet by Bengaluru (South) MP and BJP Yuva Morcha Chief Tejasvi Surya after breakfast at a restaurant in Coimbatore in poll-bound Tamil Nadu has caused him much embarrassment.

After the sumptuous breakfast, Surya took to Twitter not to talk about the food at Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar, but to take a dig at the DMK, the principal Opposition party, to narrate his experience at the famous restaurant.

Today after breakfast at restaurant, I naturally went to pay. Cashier hesitated to accept money. With great hesitation he accepted after insistence. I told him that we are from BJP. A party that respects all and protects all. Not DMK to do roll-call even from small businesses, Surya wrote on his verified Twitter page on Friday, by posting a photo of him settling the bill.

Today after breakfast at restaurant, I naturally went to pay. Cashier hesitated to accept money. With great hesitation he accepted after insistence. I told him that we are from BJP. A party that respects all and protects all. Not DMK to do roll-call even from small businesses. pic.twitter.com/SvSrff49if  Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) April 2, 2021

A day later, the restaurant took to Facebook to clarify that the waiter hesitated to take money from him because they sometimes refrain from taking money from people who work for our society and not due to any other reason. Surya had his breakfast on Friday at the Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar restaurant, known for its roast dosas of different varieties in the industrial city.

Dear Tejasvi Surya. We are glad to have served you at our restaurant. At Annapoorna, we greet everyone with the same love and gratitude, in fact everyone comes forward to pay their bills. No one has forced us for anything free. As a token of love and respect we sometimes refrain from taking money from people who work for our society, the restaurant wrote on its Facebook page.

Dear Tejasvi Surya we are glad to have served you at our restaurant. At Annapoorna we greet everyone with the same... Posted by Sree Annapoorna Sree Gowrishankar on Saturday, 3 April 2021

The response by the restaurant management went viral on social media with many criticising Surya, who was in Coimbatore to campaign for party candidate Vanathi Srinivasan, for politicising a simple breakfast.

On the same day, Surya was trolled on Tamil Twitter for saying that the BJP will try to put an end to Periyarism in Tamil Nadu.

The BJP has made the DMK's high-handedness and rowdyism during 2006-2011 a major issue of its campaign with almost all top leaders of the party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, talking about these issues in their campaign.
Twenty-two pharaoh mummies walked the streets of Cairo on Saturday evening in a stunning royal procession from the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat., marking the official launch of NMEC.

Against the backdrop of fireworks, the mummies  18 kings and four queens  travelled in order of age on purpose-built gold-colored pharaonic chariots, equipped with an air ride suspension system to absorb vibrations, and bearing the name of their occupants in Arabic, English, and hieroglyphics. Seqenenre Tao II, who reigned over Upper Egypt around 1,600 BCE, led the parade, while Ramses IX, who ruled in the 12th century BCE, brought up the rear. In line with strict international standards for the transport of artifacts, the royal remains were placed in state-of-the-art sterile display cases to guarantee their immaculate preservation.

Accompanying the mummies were 60 motorcycles, 150 horses, and a pharaonic music ensemble conducted by renowned Egyptian maestro Nader Abbassi. The procession commenced with a 21-gun salute, circled the obelisk at the nearby Tahrir Square, and then proceeded along the Nile to NMEC, where Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi personally welcomed the mummies to their new permanent home in Fustat, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. The 40-minute parade drew participation of 12 Egyptian celebrities, being broadcast by 200+ global TV channels.

The priceless artifacts will spend the next two weeks in NMECs laboratory, where they will be prepared for installation inside the Royal Mummies Hall, modeled on the Valley of the Kings. The Royal Mummies Hall will open to visitors on April 18, coinciding with World Heritage Day.

To promote its launch, NMEC offers a 50 per cent discount on entry ticket prices to the Central Exhibition Hall for all visitors from April 4 to 17. In addition, representatives of local and international media have the opportunity to photograph and film the artifacts inside the Central Exhibition Hall for free on April 4 and 5.

Overlooking Ain Al Sira in the heart of the historical city of Fustat near the Babylon Fortress, NMEC is one of the largest and most important archeology museums in the world, and the first to span the entirety of the Egyptian civilization. - TradeArabia News Service
While Pinarayi Vijayan is on a roll, the Congress-led UDF is fighting hard to wrest the state from its chief political rival

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.
During the Bahrain Grand Prix Max Verstappen had a brilliant battle with Lewis Hamilton but ultimately fell short. Now it appears he had to do so with a lot less power than expected because the Honda engine had to be downsized.

After the winter test and free practice sessions, Red Bull Racing looked like the team to beat in Bahrain and in qualifying Max Verstappen showed that. The Dutchman outpaced Lewis Hamilton by a whopping four tenths to start from pole position.

From that moment on, it looked like it was going to be a piece of cake for Verstappen in the desert, but that certainly wasn't the case. Due to an alternative strategy, Hamilton suddenly found himself ahead and Verstappen had to start the pursuit. According to Helmut Marko, the Dutchman had a lot less power at his disposal for this.

"We had to reduce the power of the Honda engine, because of problems with the temperature," the Red Bull Racing advisor told Motorsport-Total.com. Despite the problems, Verstappen managed to catch up with the World Champion, but after the off-track action, he saw victory slip away from him.

No worries about problems

The problems with the Honda engine immediately lead to concerns for the upcoming races and the reliability of the engine. According to Marko there is just no reason for that.

"The problems we had are mainly related to the software. Nothing in the hardware, so those are things we can solve with a few adjustments." Whether the problems have actually been solved, we will find out at the Imola Grand Prix in two weeks time.
New Delhi, April 5 : As West Bengal prepares for its third round of polling, the Congress is feeling the heat of lack of star campaigners in the state so far, with the only exception being Jitin Prasada who is also the state in-charge.

Congress candidates are struggling to find leaders to campaign for them in the high-pitch fight. Prasada is criss-crossing the state as the party did not have much resources at its disposal and struggling for leaders to to come and canvass in the state. The only big names from Delhi coming to campaign were Salman Khurshid and Jaiveer Shergill. The other person who is holding the fort is party leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Prasada, who was on way to Falta, told IANS that "my job is to oversee and manage the elections and I am camping in the state travelling at least 500 km a day".

Asked why no big leaders came for campaigning, he said: "Soon a battery of leaders will descend to West Bengal and the Congress alliance is getting good response in the state." Congress insiders say that lack of positive feedback is stopping leaders from coming to the state. While the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are in direct contest, the Left is trying to win back its rural support, and the Congress is trying to retain its last tally of 44 in 2016 elections. The Congress' vote share had declined to 4 per cent in the 2019 General Elections, but it still remains an important factor in some districts such as Purulia, Malda and Murshidabad.

Congress leaders also say for the party, it was a problem to join the dais with the Left in the states till elections in Kerala get over. Congress cannot go full throttle in West Bengal as it is difficult for the party to praise the Left in Bengal and criticise it in Kerala.

In Kerala, former party president Rahul Gandhi has been attacking the Left.

Polling in West Bengal will be held in eight phases till April 29 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
My suspicions about you have been confirmed, Richard Blumenthal.

Speaking to the Retired Mens Association of Greenwich, a group that includes Lex Luthor, Roy Cohn, Loki and Hans Gruber, the senator from Connecticut said: I have heard nothing that would change my views on UFOs. I cant say whether it would change yours. ... I havent heard of anything reliable or credible that would lead me to think UFOs are a threat to our country or our world right now.

Notice how carefully worded that was?

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I have heard nothing that would change my views on UFOs. That would not exclude the possibility that he knows they exist, that he has been abducted and probed by them, that when he did Ancestry.com he turned out to have 2.3 percent Silurian Reptoid DNA. All he said was that his views had not changed.

I cant say whether it would change yours. This is where he foot-faults. Theres apparently an it. And it could conceivably change the views of someone who was not already aware that the British Royal Family are shape-shifting reptilian humanoids from the Alpha Draconis star system, which is why they say such weird, detached-sounding things about Meghan Markle, who is definitely onto them. (Prince Andrew claims that, for part of his life, he could not sweat. Space lizards also do not sweat.)

I wish Greenwich Time reporter Ken Borsuk had followed up on this. Id like to think I would have, but that may just be what Lemurians call lesprit de lescalier (literally, things you Earth creatures dwell on after we have erased 99 percent of your memories.)

And finally: I havent heard of anything reliable or credible that would lead me to think UFOs are a threat to our country or our world right now.

Why did he say those last two words? Not right now implies later, doesnt it?

Reading between the lines, Blumenthal essentially said, Based on what I already know, nothing these space aliens do would surprise me, including it, but if you knew about it youd maybe be screaming in terror. Anyway, youve got three to six months to get your affairs in order.

I would ask Borsuk about this, but he has disappeared. No one has seen him for several minutes. I would use exclamation points, but I am not allowed to. Why do you think that is?

Why was a Retired Greenwich Man (I believe it was Pennywise the Clown) asking Blumenthal this question? Because tucked into last years 5,500-page $2.3 trillion appropriations bill is a requirement that the government produce a report divulging everything it knows about anomalous aerial vehicles.

We had to pay $2.3 trillion to pry loose the truth.

When that report comes out, according to what former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe told highly reputable Fox journalist Maria Bartiromo, it will have big news about even more sightings than were currently aware of.

And though Ratcliffe was voted by his high school classmates as Least Likely to Ever Hold a Job Title Containing the Word Intelligence, I think we have to take him seriously because he supports my theory.

Anyway, its not just a theory. Last April, the U.S. Navy confirmed three UFO incidents and released video of them shot by jet fighter planes.

That should have been really big news, but as Nate Bargatze, who has a new Netflix comedy special but is probably also a principal research scientist with Northrup Grumman, says: 2020 was so crowded with news that they said there were UFOs and nobody cared.

As Bargatze notes, it wasnt even a lead item. More like, And thats the news for tonight. Also, alien spacecraft are here. Well see you tomorrow.

Bargatze says he told his wife that UFOs are officially real and she just went about her day.

Now, I know some of you are going to try to pick apart my ideas, and I just want to say that, as an American, I am entitled to crackpot beliefs just like everybody else.

I keep tabs on the anti-vaccine movement here in Connecticut, and, believe me, I am making way more sense in this column than they do. On Tuesday, one of them posted on the CT Freedom Alliance Facebook page an article headlined Government of Norway indicted for crimes against humanity.

Did you miss that story? The one where the whole government of Norway was indicted for its COVID policies? And theres a 2nd Nuremberg tribunal, because this is so much like the Third Reich?

So dont tell me I cant ask perfectly valid, rational questions about space aliens. In fact, let me make one final observation. Im not pointing any fingers. Ill leave that to E.T.

But I have seen Dick Blumenthal go jogging. More than once. Including in Los Angeles in the summer.

I have never seen him sweat.

Do the math.

Colin McEnroes column appears every Sunday, his newsletter comes out every Thursday and you can hear his radio show every weekday on WNPR 90.5. Email him at colin@ctpublic.org. Sign up for his newsletter at http://bit.ly/colinmcenroe.
David Cameron's financier friend Lex Greensill was able to push through a Government loan scheme from which he benefited by citing the authority of the then-prime minister, according to a new report today.

The Sunday Times reported that a cache of leaked emails showed how Greensill, a controversial banker at the centre of a lobbying row, told officials in 2012 that 'the PM' had requested that he implement his ideas 'across government'.

He was said to have sent his proposed loan plan for NHS pharmacies to senior officials but was so confident he told them: 'We are not seeking your approval'.

The latest disclosures will add to the pressure on Mr Cameron who brought Mr Greensill into No 10 as an unpaid adviser on supply chain finance.

After leaving office he then went to work as an adviser for Mr Greensill's firm, Greensill Capital, and lobbied ministers on its behalf for support through the Government's corporate Covid finance scheme.

The firm subsequently filed for insolvency after its application was rejected.

The fresh report in the Sunday Times comes as:

Jesse Norman was named as the second Treasury Minister approached by Mr Cameron in a failed bid to get access to Covid loans to help Greensill Capital;

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to reveal the full list of ministers lobbied by David Cameron on behalf of Greensill;

Chancellor Rishi Sunak admitted Mr Cameron contacted him to ask for the loans;

Labour and Lib Dems have insisted the government reveals the full list;

Mr Cameron and former Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood are said to have given Greensill unprecedented access to No10 and 11 Whitehall departments

David Cameron's (left) financier friend Lex Greensill, a controversial financier at the centre of a lobbying row (pictured right in 2017 after receiving a CBA at Buckingham Palace), was able to push through a Government loan scheme from which he benefited by citing the authority of the then-prime minister, a new report has said

The Greensill saga: How Australian banker 'gained access to No10 and Whitehall' May 2010 - David Cameron becomes prime minister. Jeremy Heywood is appointed No10's top civil servant. July 2011 - Heywood starts pushing for Lex Greensill to become an adviser on 'supply chain finance' - a method of speeding up payments between a company and its suppliers using the finance of a third party (ie. bank). The Government has claimed his position as adviser was unpaid. November 2011 - Greensill creates his own finance firm, Greensill Capital. January 2012 - Greensill tours Whitehall, pitching his proposals to 11 departments or agencies including the Department of Health. He is given a team of officials, security pass and a desk in the Cabinet Office. Summer 2012 - Greensill's proposal to pay NHS-affiliated pharmacies using private finance make their way to David Cameron, who signs it off. An official alleges the report was edited and that the first draft did not support Greensill's idea. Greenshill has reportedly denied that he had any part to play in this if found to be true. October 2012 - Cameron announces the scheme, first run by Greensill's ex-employer, Citibank. Six years later it is taken on by Greensill Capital. December 2013 - Greensill is appointed as a Crown Representative, an official adviser from the private sector to the government. August 2016 - Greensill is bailed out by trader Sanjeev Gupta, who temporarily takes a stake in the finance firm. June 2017 - Greensill is awarded a CBE for 'services to the economy'. November 2018 - Cameron joins Greensill as an adviser, acquiring share options worth tens of millions. May 2019 - Japan's Softbank pumps 580million into Greensill. March 2021 - Greensill collapses, exposing years of complex finance deals and threatening 50,000 jobs. Advertisement

Greensill's collapse put the future of 5,000 steel making jobs in the UK at risk while tens of millions of pounds of share options which Mr Cameron was reported to have received became worthless.

According to the latest disclosures, civil servants were so alarmed by Mr Greensill's proposals for a system of supply chain finance - fast-tracking funds vulnerable to late payments - they warned it could leave the Government open to 'legal challenge'.

One official described him as a 'semi-private sector agent', adding: 'Rein him in - stop him approaching departments unilaterally.'

The paper said that a deal was reached with Mr Greensill's former employer Citigroup to run the scheme for pharmacies without a tender.

The financier was said to have shocked officials by writing that there was 'no formal contract with Citigroup', adding 'this situation is entirely normal in the private sector'.

Neither Mr Cameron nor Mr Greensill has commented publicly over any of the claims that have appeared in recent weeks.

For Labour, shadow cabinet office minister Rachel Reeves said the Conservatives must make clear how they were going to tackle the problem of 'cronyism' in government.

'The allegation that billions of pounds of taxpayer and NHS cash was put at the mercy of Lex Greensill without so much as a contract signed is shocking, and Conservative cronyism down to a tee,' she said.

'We need Cameron to come out of hiding and apologise, but we also need answers.'

A Government spokesman said: 'Lex Greensill acted as a supply chain finance adviser from 2012 to 2015 and as a crown representative for three years from 2013.

'His appointment was approved in the normal manner including registering any potential conflicts of interest.

'There are robust processes in place for the award of government contracts.

The pharmacy early payment scheme, which benefits over 2,000 pharmacies, was initially financed through the government banking service as part of its portfolio of services for government departments.

'Following an open competition in 2018, the service has been provided through a direct contract with Taulia Inc, with no additional cost to the taxpayer.'

This comes as the Premier comes 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.

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

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

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.

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

Sources now suspect Mr Cameron (pictured) lobbied other Ministers on behalf of controversial businessman pal Lex Greensill's financial services firm

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 (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?
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Bern, 04.04.2021 - As part of his official visit to Iraq, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis met with his counterpart from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein, Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi and the Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq Mohamed al-Halbousi. Discussions focused on the MENA Strategy 202124, in particular Switzerland's commitment to promoting dialogue and regional stability. Iraq is the first stop on Mr Cassis's tour of the region, which will also take in Oman and Lebanon.

Promoting peace and security in the Middle East is one of the main priorities set out in the Federal Council's MENA Strategy. During the talks, Mr Cassis reaffirmed Switzerland's commitment to reducing regional tensions. "In the past, Iraq has often been the first casualty of any confrontation between the United States and Iran. Switzerland will continue to play a constructive role in Iraq and the region in promoting dialogue," explained Cassis. The Iraqi government officials welcomed Switzerland's commitment to the country, particularly in the area of water diplomacy. With its Blue Peace initiative, Switzerland aims to encourage cooperation between countries in the region on the joint management of water resources.

Humanitarian aid and strengthening bilateral relations

While in Baghdad, the head of the FDFA underlined Switzerland's humanitarian commitment to Iraq. After the devastation caused by the 'Islamic State' group, there are still four million people in need of assistance in the country. Since 2014, Switzerland has contributed more than CHF 80 million. The official talks also addressed migration issues and the two countries' wish to strengthen bilateral cooperation in this area.

During the visit, Mr Cassis and his counterpart Fuad Hussein signed a memorandum of understanding establishing political consultations between Switzerland and Iraq, signalling their intention to strengthen bilateral relations. Mr Cassis also discussed the possibility of reopening a Swiss embassy in Iraq. Switzerland closed its diplomatic liaison office in Baghdad in 2008 for security reasons.

Finally, the head of the FDFA met with Cardinal Louis Raphael I Sako, Patriarch of Babylon and head of the Chaldean Catholic Church. Discussions focused on interfaith dialogue and the situation for minorities in the region.

Young people and innovation

Iraq has a young, well-educated population, which nevertheless is desperate for career opportunities. While in Baghdad, Mr Cassis met a number of young entrepreneurs from the Iraqi start-up scene. Discussions focused mainly on innovation, vocational education and the obstacles faced by young entrepreneurs. "For me, youth is synonymous with new beginnings and optimism. Talking to young Iraqis, so full of ideas and potential, makes me optimistic that this country will recover from all the crises it has had to face," stated Cassis. The meeting took place in a stadium designed by Swiss architect Le Corbusier in the 1950s.

Address for enquiries

FDFA Communication

Federal Palace West Wing

CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland

Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53

Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55

E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch

Twitter: @SwissMFA

Publisher

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html




Parents of students in a Meath secondary school have been asked to get their their children to delete any footage they may have of two of its staff kissing.

The principal of the school sent a letter to parents last Monday after a student recorded a teacher briefly kissing their boyfriend, who is another member of staff.

It was taken after the teacher forgot to turn off her camera following a virtual class, and she was seen sharing a quick kiss with her partner.

After the student recorded the footage it was then sent onto other pupils in the school. The principal said this is a breach of its user policy for devices - and the student who took the image has received a lengthy suspension.

Read More

"The footage itself shows the teacher getting a brief kiss from her boyfriend who happens to be another member of staff, the principal wrote in the letter.

"This in itself is not a major issue but there is a very clear breach of our acceptable user policy for devices, a breach of our online class policy and a clear and gross invasion of privacy.

"This has caused a great deal of embarrassment for the two teachers involved and a level of annoyance and anger amongst the rest of the staff.

The principal has urged parents to ask their children to delete the footage if they have it, despite saying it is perhaps too late to prevent circulation which has become widespread.

He added: It is unfortunate that so many young people feel the need to either show or resend images which are unacceptable without ever considering her or offence they may cause.

This case should be a lesson on what to do in future if such a situation arises, and students need to think about their responsibilities to their teachers as well as respecting the privacy of everybody.

The impact of online teaching, and how it could potentially breach privacy, has been a worry for teaching unions in Ireland.

Last spring the GAA warned its clubs about using the online tool as a childrens training session was hijacked by someone sharing explicit images.

Since last April Zoom, one of the most popular video calling sites, made waiting rooms for participants and passwords an automatically enabled setting to try and curb this issue.

The principal of the Meath school did not wish to comment on the incident when contacted by Independent.ie.
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Niamh Walsh as Jenny, Dervla Kirwan as Val, Seana Kerslake as Gemma and Leah Devereux as Anna on RTE drama Smother

Smother actor Lochlann O' Mearain has said the harsh weather conditions in Co Clare worried the cast while filming but provided amazing footage.

O'Mearain, who plays Rory in the hit RTE show, said filming was abandoned for six months in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the stormy weather created headaches when filming finally resumed.

It was filmed in Lahinch, with the crew taking advantage of the harsh storms blowing in from the Atlantic to create the dark and mysterious atmosphere for the murder mystery thriller.

Read More

If you watched the show last week, you would have seen amazing footage of huge waves crashing up against Lahinch, OMearain told the Irish Sun.

That was footage our cameraman took it upon himself to go out and get in the storm.

But the actor admitted the severe weather was challenging and at times dangerous.

I had to drive back to Mayo and we were worried if we would even get there because of the incredible storms.

It was so wet and windy and dark and dangerous.

When filming resumed after the six-month break. OMearain said the different weather conditions provided challenges for the editors to make it look unbroken and seamless.

Some of the scenes are shot in storms and you have interiors done in November.

But youd never notice, such is the clever editing work being done, he said.

Meanwhile, James O'Donoghue, who plays Calum in the show, said he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Paul Mescal.

The American born Dublin actor said he sees Normal People star Mescal as one of his inspirations and hopes his role as Calum Dywer in Smother will lead him to similar success in the US.

Paul Mescal has definitely become a huge inspiration to me. Going into Smother knowing that this would be one of the next shows following on from Normal People - I want to do that justice because Normal People was such a big thing," he told RSVP Magazine.

Only 17-years-old, the rising star hopes the success of Smother will allow him to follow his dream in the US.

I would love to head over to the States. I was actually born there so that has always been my plan, acting or not - I would love to go to college there.

Viewers may recognise OMearain from Finding Joy with Amy Huberman, or as the voice as Gaeilge for SpongeBob SquarePants. While ODonoghue previously played Ben Fahey in Fair City.
Chinese vessels anchored at Whitsun Reef, some 175 nautical miles west of the Philippine island province of Palawan in the South China Sea, March 27, 2021.

The Philippines on Sunday claimed that the continued presence of Chinese vessels in Manilas maritime territory in the South China Sea revealed that Beijing plans to occupy more features in the disputed waterway.

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzanas latest statement came after the Chinese Embassy in Manila a day earlier defended the presence of Chinese boats at the Whitsun Reef saying it was part of Chinas Nansha Islands  Beijings name for the Spratly Islands.

China should respect Philippine sovereignty over the Kalayaan Islands, and its sovereign rights over its Exclusive Economic Zone as defined by UNCLOS and affirmed by the arbitral award, Lorenzana said in a statement, referring to the Spratly Islands by its Philippine name, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Whitsun Reef is about 175 nautical miles off the Philippine island province of Palawan and within the countrys 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The continued presence of Chinese maritime militias in the area reveals their intent to further occupy features in the West Philippine Sea, Lorenzana said, referring to the South China Sea by its Philippine name.

The Philippine defense secretary was citing a July 2016 U.N.-backed tribunals ruling that affirmed the Philippines sovereign rights in the waterway.

China claims the Spratly Islands in addition to almost all of the South China Sea and rejects the tribunals ruling.

The Philippines had said last month that 220 Chinese ships were seen moored at Whitsun Reef on March 7, and showed no actual fishing activities. Manila on March 22 lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing over the presence of the vessels.

Lorenzana said that as of Saturday, 44 of those Chinese vessels were still near the reef and ought to leave. Beijings earlier explanation that the vessels were fishing boats sheltering in bad weather was not true, he claimed.

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, Lorenzana said.

"The Chinese Ambassador has a lot of explaining to do."

Niu'e Jiao part of China's Nansha Islands

The Philippine defense secretarys statement was part of an escalating war of words between him and the Chinese Embassy in Manila over the weekend.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Saturday denounced Lorenzanas demand from earlier in the day that the Chinese vessels must leave our sovereign territories. It also called Lorenzanas Saturday statement perplexing.

The Niu'e Jiao is part of China's Nansha Islands. The waters around Niue Jiao have been a traditional fishing ground for Chinese fishermen for many years, the Chinese Embassys statement on Saturday said. Niue Jiao is the Chinese name for the Whitsun Reef.

The Chinese fishermen have been fishing in the waters for their livelihood every year. It is completely normal for Chinese fishing vessels to fish in the waters and take shelter near the reef during rough sea conditions. Nobody has the right to make wanton remarks on such activities.

But Lorenzana said on Sunday that he didnt buy that explanation and that China had used similar tactics to occupy Scarborough Shoal and Mischief Reef, which the Philippines calls Panatag Shoal and Panganiban Reef, respectively.

They have done this before at Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc and at Panganiban Reef brazenly violating Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights under international law, Lorenzana said.

In 2012, the Chinese seized Scarborough Shoal, a traditional fishing ground within the 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines in the South China Sea, after a two-month standoff with the Philippine Navy

Mischief Reef is one of several submerged natural features in the disputed waterway, which China has reclaimed and transformed into military installations.

Summon the Chinese ambassador

Renato Reyes, secretary general of Bayan, or the New Patriotic Alliance, a grouping of left leaning organizations in the Philippines, said Manila needs to get an explanation from the Chinese ambassador.

Malacanang should summon the Chinese ambassador and ask him to explain his recent statements that insult the Philippines ... and disregards our sovereign rights in our EEZ, Reyes said in a statement, referring to the presidential palace in Manila.

If he does not change the statements made, he should be expelled from the country. Chinas overweening arrogance is an affront to our nation. It has illegally annexed Juan Felipe Reef, claiming it as part of Chinas territory and effectively disregarding our EEZ.

According to Reyes, President Rodrigo Dutertes actions in the past few years and Manilas dependence on COVID-19 vaccines from China had placed Philippines EEZ in a precarious position.

Duterte is perceived to have been soft on Chinas intrusions in Philippine territorial waters in the South China Sea since he assumed office in 2016.

After years of soft-pedaling on the issue, Duterte in September declared that the 2016 international arbitration courts ruling in favor of the Philippines claims in the South China Sea were beyond compromise.

A Philippine defense historian and analyst said the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic would also hamper Manilas response to the Chinese ships.

Even though the Philippines is mounting a more aggressive response, complete with protests and sorties and patrols, the dire economic situation of the country may make it difficult for the Manila to sustain such operations, Jose Antonio Custodio, of the Institute of Policy, Strategy and Development Studies, told BenarNews on Saturday.

Thus, the Chinese expect that once the Philippine activities peter out against them, they will just tighten their hold on the area. Given the pro-Beijing posture of Duterte, he may consider these initial actions as face saving.

Custodio said the Chinese vessels' presence at Whitsun Reef is characteristic of Chinas grey zone tactics through its maritime militia to enforce Beijing's outrageous and illegal claims on the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea.

The analyst was referring to China escalating its military build-up in the disputed waterway, by deploying ships and aircraft to the region.

Six other Asian governments  Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam  have territorial claims or maritime boundaries in the South China Sea. While Indonesia does not regard itself as party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesias EEZ.
Travis Scott, the superstar rapper and Missouri City native, announced his new line of agave-spiked seltzer called CACTI in December 2020.

CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS: Travis Scott signs creative deal with Playstation

Now, I initially stated that the spiked drink sounded good, but if history is any indicator, I'm not sure why I allowed myself to believe that. After accepting defeat with the Travis Scott meal at McDonald's, I held out a little more hope for this.

Scott  along with Anheuser-Busch  debuted his new drink CACTI back in March. The drink comes in three flavors, and the brand prides itself on using "100% premium blue agave from Mexico."

Here's why you should steer clear of this failure at ranch water.

The fanfare behind the new popular drink is that it's flying off the shelves off the strength that Travis Scott's name is attached to it, not because the drink is actually tasty. Like most of his creative output, music or otherwise, its given monumental hype by fans, but actually has very little substance.

This also brings me to my next point: Another issue in getting a taste of this drink was actually being able to get my hands on it. Getting something with Travis Scott's name attached to it in the city of Houston was an adventure in itself.

GIVING BACK: Travis Scott gives back to Houston with winter relief drive

When I finally got my hands on the latest Travis Scott collaboration, I first cracked open a can of the lime-flavored drink, and I was immediately met with the smell of alcohol. It's important to note that while all spiked seltzers are bound to have a smell, the 7% ABV was definitely going to make an appearance.

After getting past the overbearing smell of alcohol, I was then met with a hard-to-place-my-finger-on aftertaste. What I struggled with most in trying to enjoy the drink was the "100% premium blue agave from Mexico," which attempts to make the drink sweeter but is drowned out by the alcohol.

I thought the forthcoming buzz from the drink's higher alcohol content might help me get over the aftertaste, but the buzz never came. I began to question myself: is it just me?

The other flavors  strawberry and pineapple proved to be a little tastier than the lime, but the drink itself was very underwhelming. To have such a high profile name attached, I would've expected some out-of-this-world, astronomical flavor. Alas, it was very basic.

Once you separate the big name from the drink, you'll realize that CACTI is very ordinary.
WKCTC's Virtual Justice Run Going on This Month

By West Kentucky Star Staff

WESTERN KENTUCKY - West Kentucky Community and Technical College's 10th annual Justice Run is a virtual event this year. The community is encouraged to walk or run any time during the month of April.The annual event sponsored by the college's criminal justice club, Alpha Epsilon Beta, is held in honor of National Child Abuse Awareness Month. Proceeds from the run are donated each year to Paducah's Child Watch for the prevention and treatment of child abuse."Due to the pandemic, we can't hold the race on campus again this year, but we're not going to let that stop us from continuing our mission to offer participants a way to race and raise money for the children who need it most," said Gary Reese, AEB advisor. "We encourage everyone to walk or run on their own or with family and friends, any time, any place in April."Registrants will receive a certificate of completion. Results should be reported to Gary Reese at garyl.reese@kctcs.edu.Registration is $25 and includes a t-shirt. The registration form can be found below.On the Net:
The has



approved a sum of Rs 231 crore for disbursal to tribal families in the state under its 'Khavti' grant scheme.

The tribal development department issued a government resolution (GR) to this effect on March 26.

In view of the problems arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state cabinet in August last year decided to provide an assistance of Rs 4,000 to families under the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category in the state, as per the GR.

On March 26 this year, the government approved the disbursal of Rs 2,000 to such families through direct cash transfer into their bank accounts, it said.

Former MLA Vivek Pandit, who heads a government committee on tribal welfare, told reporters here on Saturday that they are hopeful the assistance would reach the eligible beneficiaries.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For 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.
Amber Randall and Robin Webb; South Florida Sun Sentinel (TNS)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  Orange cones lined the sand at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, marking off a section of beach closed for several hours Sunday after a deputy on patrol found that a possible explosive training device had washed ashore, the sheriffs office said.

No evacuations were ordered in the area, near the 4600 block of Elmar Drive, where a small section of the beach had temporarily been closed, said spokesman Carey Codd.

The Broward Sheriffs Office Bomb Squad arrived at the beach at about 2:30 a.m. to examine the device, which turned out to be a sea mine, according to the sheriffs office. The word inert was painted on its side.

Deputies and the bomb squad secured the area until United States Air Force personnel arrived and inspected the mine.

By 10:45 a.m., the mine was removed, turned over to the Air Force and the beach was reopened.

No further information was immediately available.

2021 South Florida Sun Sentinel. Visit at sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiered in March, nearly a year after the COVID-19 pandemic started. But it was one of many big productions greatly impacted by the pandemic and shut down due to it. They were filming in Prague at the start of everything shutting down, and the show itself fell victim to Marvels rescheduling of its Disney+ content. Now that its here, fans are of course excited. And the showrunner shared that its actually not a bad thing that the pandemic affected it so much. [Spoiler alert: Spoilers ahead for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier].

The Falcon and the Winter Solider was mid-production when COVID-19 first happened and shut it down

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Episode 2 | Marvel Studios

RELATED: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Hilarious Couples Therapy Scene Was Improvised

According to ComicBook.com, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier began filming in October of 2019. Like many Marvel projects, they filmed in Atlanta, GA but they also headed to Europe to film in Prague, Czech Republic.

They were supposed to film there for a few weeks into March 2020, but as we all know by now, the COVID-19 pandemic struck at that point in time. Deadline reported that production on the series officially halted on March 10, 2020.

That shutdown lasted longer than anyone anticipated as is the case with most of the pandemic and filming in Atlanta started up again in September 2020 according to ComicBook.com. They went back to Prague to finish filming there in October as well.

These delays, along with all other Marvel shutdowns, changed Phase 4. Prior to the pandemic The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was supposed to be the first Disney+ series from Marvel to drop. When the lineup was announced in 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was slated for a Fall 2020 release date according to Consequence of Sound. WandaVision wasnt supposed to come out until Spring 2021 after The Eternals and Shang-Chi premiered and right before Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The showrunner said that the pandemic actually made the show relevant in a way they had only hoped for before

With all that said, the showrunner doesnt see the pandemic as an actual bad thing for the show. In fact, he sees a lot of good to come from the pandemic for the series.

The best thing that could have happened to the show was us being shut down, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showrunner, Malcolm Spellman, said on The A.V. Clubs podcast Push The Envelope on March 24. Because from the beginning of doing this project, wed wanted to make something that felt super, super relevant. And we wanted conflicts and characters and stories and sub-stories and things and all of that to feel very of today, and of now.

He explained that even before they were shut down, the spirit of post-Blip thats prevalent in the show is all about how everythings in chaos. That Blip, and then everyone coming back, really messed things up.

In the Marvel universe, every single living being is dealing with this same problem, he said. Then we get shut down by a global pandemic that is forcing every single living being on this planet, rich or poor to deal with the same problem. And since wed already staged that in the Marvel universe it was an opportunity for us to create connectivity and I would subtly mirror our two realities.

Sam Wilson and Bucky are dealing with adversaries with a really loyal following

"What's up with Madripoor?" Don't miss the latest game-changing episode of Marvel Studios' The Falcon and The Winter Soldier now streaming on @DisneyPlus. #FalconAndWinterSoldier pic.twitter.com/piqOqKZj5I  The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (@falconandwinter) April 3, 2021

Even though Spider-Man: Far From Home took place months after Avengers: Endgame, the repercussions of the Blip werent really talked about. And the real-life, negative effects of it, which resulted in people like the Flag Smashers and Karli Morgenthau, definitely werent touched upon.

Not only do they have these adversaries, but this group has a very loyal following. In Episode 3, John Walker went to Germany trying to find Karli and use force to get information out of the people harboring her or who helped her in the past. Lemar Hoskins, aka Battlestar, told him that Karli and the Flag Smashers are bringing vaccines and resources along with hope to people in dire need of it. That creates very strong loyalty among hurting people. Whether they disappeared in the Blip or not.

Its not quite clear yet what the Flag Smashers want other than open borders and unity although theres a lot of tension and destruction right now. It doesnt seem like they want everyone who was Blipped to go away, but its unclear. It looks like the GRC might be displacing them or non-Blipped people and if every GRC or authority figure since Endgame acts the John Walker does, then its no wonder a ton of people are turning toward the Flag Smashers.

RELATED: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: John Walkers Insecurities are Bubbling Underneath the Surface
The Cabinet Panel which studied the recommendations of the Presidential Commission into the Easter attacks will be submitting its reports to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday, April 5. While speaking to the media, Sri Lankan Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that the report will be released to the public after it is handed over to the President. According to the reports by ANI, the committee is chaired by Minister Chamal Rajapaksa and comprises Minister Udaya Gammanpila, Prasanna Ranatunga, Johnston Fernando, and Rohitha Abeygunawardena.

Shocking revelation

Earlier, a report from Sri Lankas Parliament Select Committee (PSC) made a shocking revelation that Indian High Commission and a hotel frequented by Indians were one of the targets of the Easter bombing that killed more than 250 people including 40 foreigners. The reports said, intelligence information received indicated that the Indian High Commission was to be one of the potential targets. The report has also blamed the President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena for undermining the national security and failing to prevent the Easter attack, as the intelligence agencies had prior information on a possible terror attack.

Excerpts from the reports read, Testimony received by the PSC demonstrates that intelligence teams were aware of the potential threats by Zahran, his associates and the NTJ (National Thowheed Jamaat) prior to the Easter bombings. Testimony also indicates several intelligence agencies being aware of increasing extremism in Sri Lanka and the role of Zahran and his associates in this regard. The report also slammed President Maithripala Sirisena for failing on "numerous occasions to give leadership" and "actively undermining government and systems having ad hoc NSC meetings and leaving out key individuals from meetings".

2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings

On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, suicide terrorist bombings that took place in three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka killed around 277 people (including 8 suicide bombers) and wounded more than 400 people as per the information in the report. At least 40 foreign nationals and at least 45 children were reported to be among the dead. Investigators identified Zahran Hashim, the founder of the National Thowheed Jamaath, as the mastermind behind the execution of these coordinated attacks. Subsequent to the attacks, incidents of ethnic violence and tension targeting the Muslim community occurred in several parts of the country. Ahead of the Easter bombings, An explosion took place in Palamunai, Kaththankudy, on the night of April 16, where a two-wheeler (actually a Scooty) was destroyed. Subsequent investigations revealed that this was a dry run to test timers and detonators.

(Image Credits: PTI)
The Myanmar Death Toll reached 550; all the deaths happened after the military seized power on February 1, 2021. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) in Thailand confirmed the fatalities killed by the military Junta since it grabbed power.

At the start of the Junta, dissenters were captured by security forces to silence the opposition. One reason for staging a coup is that the elected leaders were accused of rigging the elections.

Myanmar Death Toll increases as citizens are silenced

Myanmar Security personnel silenced thousands of protestors against their takeover since February 1. Last Friday, 11 protestors were arrested in Yangon City, as reported by CNN thru MSN.

The media went to the Ten Miles bazaar in Yangon's Insein township that day. They spoke with locals, including two women who raised the three-finger protest salute among the interview subjects.

According to eyewitness accounts, a group of security officials captured the women who informed the foreign press. The detained women worked in the market at a shop. Sources close to the victims say they took them to Shwe Pyi Thar Interrogation Center.

An interview on Sunday with army spokesman, Major General Zaw Min Tun, confirmed the two women's arrest. He added that three people were already detained after talking to the press in Insein. Many of the detained might be part of the Myanmar death toll.

Myanmar's Military Grabs Power, Imprisons Aung San Suu Kyi Accused of Election Fraud

The media team in Mingaladon was approached by a relative of the two detainees who reported their disappearance. According to the military source, eight people were arrested after talking to the foreign press there.

Military officials told local security forces in Yangon to release those who have been detained. They mentioned that all released detainees would be sent home on Sunday.

Last Sunday, at least five people are still held in the Shwe Pyi Thar interrogation center, according to people familiar with the prisoners.

On the day of the coup on February 1, the military Junta cut all the internet services, causing an information blackout. It was a pivotal move to control vital communications and messaging to grab power effectively, keeping the opposition quiet.

For two months after the military toppled the government, pro-democracy demonstrators have frequently filled streets across the country. Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's ousted civilian leader, is charged on Thursday with violating its Official Secrets Act. However, security forces have attempted to suppress protests.

Since the coup, quoting Human Rights Watch (HRW), last Friday, "forcibly disappeared hundreds of people," including politicians, election officials, journalists, activists, and protesters. The AAPP (Assistance Association for Political Prisoners) reveals that since the start of the military takeover. As many as 2,751 people have been captured since April 2 in Burma.

Many of these people were arrested in night raids that led to many arrests. To date, the Myanmar death toll of 550 is an indicator of how far the military junta will silence anyone against them in Burma.

Experts Warn: China Imposes a Threat to All Countries in 15 Years

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A fortune once lay beneath the Sierra Azul, the southern side of the Santa Cruz Mountains at San Joses edge. With one of the rarest elements on Earth marbling its ridges in deep veins of vermilion and rust, for more than a century, mining operations pummeled the hillsides and hoovered up its wealth. Today, this stretch of the Sierra Azul is treasured for another reason altogether: the hiking, biking and horseback riding trails that crisscross its landscape.

The Ohlone harvested this site, later named New Almaden after a famous Spanish mercury mine, for its cinnabar, an alluring pigment they traded with communities as far north as Walla Walla, Washington. But cinnabar, also called mercury or quicksilver, wasnt just beautiful, it was useful, too. When combined with gold or silver, mercury could free precious metals from their ore carapaces. So when gold was discovered less than 200 miles away just a few years after mining operations began at New Almaden in 1845, the quicksilver bonanza was on.

Shoshi Parks

Its been 173 years since the first gold was discovered in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains  nearly two centuries since New Almaden transformed from minor outpost to bustling center, complete with three settlements and a population of more than 3,000 men, women and children. In those days, a wagon-rutted road connected the village of New Almaden to the settlements of English Camp (Englishtown) and Spanishtown on the ridge. Now theres only the Deep Gulch Trail.

In the 90s, the former mine was opened to the public as Almaden Quicksilver County Park with nearly 40 miles of hiking, biking and horseback riding trails. You can stumble on remnants from the parks quicksilver days on any of them, but only one route, the seven-mile Historic Trail, meanders through its most ghostly remains.

I trudge up it, through the oak and manzanita forest that has reclaimed the New Almaden mine, to English Camp and Spanishtown at the top of the hill. Both villages are gone now but their bones remain, embedded in the ridges along with discarded mining equipment and long sealed entrances to the tunnels that honeycomb the mountain beneath my boots.

Shoshi Parks

A little more than a mile in and the trail opens into a wide clearing. Its English Camp  or whats left of it. To the right, a crumbling mining office, to the left a decaying barn. A stone chimney stands at attention, the four walls it once warmed long gone. So, too, are the Methodist-Episcopal church, company store and schoolhouse. English speakers, mostly those from Englands Cornwall region, lived in this section of New Almaden where a house cost just $5-10 per month in rent.



Fifteen hundred Spanish speakers, mostly those from Mexico and Chile and their families, resided around the bend in Spanishtown. There was a school in Spanishtown, too  a one-room deal that taught grades one through four (after fourth grade, kids had to commute to English Camp for their lessons). A Catholic church, St. Anthonys, had stained glass windows and an organ. Two cemeteries, the Guadalupe and the Hidalgo, received the dead.

Shoshi Parks

Chinese miners, cooks and launderers lived on the hill, too, arriving in the 1870s and early 1880s before the Chinese Exclusion Act cut off immigration from China to the United States. Never having established their own enclave, its unclear whether Spanishtown or English Camp was the more welcoming village.

If it werent for the ruins, you might never know that Almaden Quicksilver Park was once the largest mercury mine in North America. In a word, its beautiful. The ridges of the Sierra Azul ripple blue and green into the distance and, along the second half of the Historical Trail, the entire Silicon Valley comes into view.

But Almaden Quicksilver is as much a ghost town as it is a park. As the trail curves towards the hulking rotary furnace and on to the powderhouse and April tunnel trestle, its not hard to imagine what this hillside looked like denuded, scarred and swarming in workers. During its years of operation, New Almaden was the most valuable mine in the entire state of California. It cranked out far more treasure, more than $70,000,000 worth, than any gold mine ever did.

Shoshi Parks

Those who earned their fortune on the backs of the mostly immigrant miners who pulled the mercury from the ground lived at the base of the mine in Hacienda, so named for its palatial, three-story, 27-room Casa Grande, built in 1854. The building housed the mines general manager and visiting luminaries like landscape architect John McLaren, designer of San Franciscos Golden Gate Park, who put his talents to work at the five-acre Casa Grande, too. A neat row of cottages lined the road and Californias first two-story hotel served up hot meals and beds to weary miners and less affluent visitors. Today, its the home of La Foret, a pedigreed French restaurant on Alamitos Creek, while the Casa Grande houses the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum (temporarily closed due to COVID).

Throughout most of the remaining 19th century, New Almaden thrived or, at least, those in charge did. The rest of the workers, who were ruled by an authoritarian structure of management that meddled in everything from their health to their social lives, not so much. So when demand for quicksilver began to decline around the turn of the 20th century, the mines three villages deflated, slowly at first then all at once when, in 1912, the Quicksilver Mining Company declared bankruptcy. While mining operations later resumed and continued until 1971, within a few years Spanishtown and English Camp had been all but deserted. Hacienda, though, lives on as New Almaden Village, a quaint community thats about as isolated as anything a few miles from the busy Almaden Expressway could possibly be. Its at its edge that the Historic Trail comes to an end. I climb in the car and head north through the village, past the Casa Grande and out into the suburbs of Silicon Valley dragging nearly 200 years of history in my wake.

Almaden Quicksilver County Park, 21785 Almaden Rd, San Jose. Open daily year-round, 8am-sunset.
Take your laptop to the bedroom, he said. I wasnt expecting this

Ive gone mad. I was lulled into a false sense of security: you know how men always want you to get on top, and you do it, even though you know you look terrible from that angle, because he promises he will keep his eyes closed, and then he peeps? Well, something similar happened. I was persuaded to do a Zoom call with the man Im trying to win back. It took a strange turn.

I agreed because I now have a lovely new sofa, and a bookshelf filled with only intelligent tomes (ie, the ones left behind when my husband moved out); my pony books (extensive) are stashed in a cupboard. Also, the column where I write about wanting him back and setting out to do so is looming ominously, so I figured it was good to get in early before he takes out a restraining order. So it was either a Zoom call, given restrictions are still in place, or take down the internet and close all the newsagents. I considered the former slightly less work.

I was ready. Several inches of make-up: primer, tinted moisturiser, foundation, concealer, powder. Tonged hair. Eyelashes separated with a pin: difficult with lots of collie noses poised to jog. Candles lit. Id even defrosted my fridge: I kept reminding myself this was Zoom not Through the Keyhole. He sent the link. The thrill of that email was like the one I got when He first contacted Me*. The one that read, I hear youve gone off me. (Id written a column about how all my pin-ups were now gay/dead/fat.)

I clicked, and he loomed into view. I hadnt activated my mic, or the video, so I could just observe for a few seconds, as though he were behind a two-way mirror. I was positioned a long way from the camera, in the hope Id be a dot with Michael Jacksons hair, but then discovered I couldnt reach the keyboard. Id hidden my wine glass behind Mini. I noticed he was in a kitchen, but not one I recognised. I know the brands, though, having studied Alicia Silverstones Clueless at Advanced Level: Sub-Zero fridge and wine cooler (I thought he no longer drinks? Or is that me?). Wolf cooker with red knobs (I remember the surprise Id got the first time we slept together, given Id only slept with one white man before him, and as that took place in a suite in the Dorchester Id pushed a button and lowered blackout blinds; he could have been anyone, really). He didnt look nervous. My stomach lurched. I remembered the first time wed met in the flesh, in the mid-80s. Id gone to his after-concert party with my friend Sue Needleman. Id queued for the buffet and then, spotting my moment, had gone over to talk to him. My knees actually buckled. I lost my risotto ball. I clicked. He smiled when he saw me. Sat up.

You havent changed, he said.

Where are you calling from?

He told me.

Are you locked down with anyone?

Him: No. So. Where were we?

Me: Um. I chose another man over you. In fact, the reason I pursued you in the first place was that you remind me of him.

Him: Oh, great. I knew that.

Me: I always make bad decisions. I chose my husband over the Osama Bin Laden lookalike because I felt sorry for him. (I was giving a Christmas party the night before we flew to Thailand and Osama rang me, saying he wanted to have dinner. My future husband looked ashen when he realised who was calling.)

Him: Unplug your laptop and take it up to the bedroom.

I was shocked. I wasnt expecting this. And isnt Zoom easily hacked? What if my podcast producer suddenly pops up? What if Gracie has put herself to bed and made a muddy nest in the pillows, as is her wont?

I panicked. This was turning into Through the Keyhole after all! He hadnt even noticed my bookshelf!

*You see, Im not a stalker

Contact Liz at lizjonesgoddess.com and stalk her @lizjonesgoddess

Everyones talking about Liz Joness Diary: The Podcast! 

Join Liz and her trusty (long-suffering) assistant Nicola as they dissect her weekly YOU magazine diary and delve into the archives to relive the bust-ups, betrayals, bullets and so much more in this brilliant podcast. Theyre outspoken, outrageous and utterly hilarious. Find it now at mailplus.co.uk/lizjones, iTunes and Spotify.
LONDON (AP) - British police say 107 people were arrested in London during demonstrations the previous day against government plans to increase police powers.

Thousands marched in towns and cities across the country on Saturday to protest the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, defying coronavirus restrictions.

Police said the Kill the Bill protests were mostly peaceful and most of those taking part observed social distancing.

They said a small number of people were intent on causing disruptions.

The proposed legislation would give police in England and Wales more powers to impose conditions on non-violent protests, including those deemed too noisy or a nuisance, with those convicted liable to fines or jail terms.

Meanwhile, police in Northern Ireland have appealed for calm after officers were attacked and cars were set on fire during a second night of unrest.

Three cars were hijacked and set on fire Saturday night in Newtownabbey, an area on the outskirts of Belfast. North Area Commander

Chief Superintendent Davy Beck said 30 petrol bombs were thrown at officers in an orchestrated attack on police.

On Friday night, 27 police officers were injured and eight people were arrested during riots in Belfast and Londonderry.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland called for an end to the violence, saying it was not the way to protest or vent.

Tensions have flared after officials said they would not prosecute Sinn Fein lawmakers for attending a large-scale republican funeral.
Raymond McQueen of Santa Fe receives a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfc. Marisa Miranda of the New Mexico National Guard last month at Santa Fe High School. Some vaccination clinics are assisted by Guard members, while others have volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps, a group that includes nurses, doctors, retirees and nonmedical volunteers.
CORRECTS NAME TO PRINCE HAMZAH -- FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2006 file photo, Prince Hamzah Bin Al-Hussein, right, and Prince Hashem Bin Al-Hussein, left, brothers King Abdullah II of Jordan, attend the opening of the parliament in Amman, Jordan. Prince Hamzah, the half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah II, said he has been placed under house arrest in a videotaped statement late Saturday, April 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Mohammad abu Ghosh, File)
A counterintuitive proposition sent our way but one of the BEST & BRIGHTEST TKC READERS.



Moreover, the social media giant is far more effective at perpetuating rivalries amongst family & friends rather than fostering political opinion.

Read more . . .
New Delhi, April 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held a high-level meeting to review Covid-19 related situation in the country as India recorded 93,249 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since September 2020, taking the total tally to 1,24,85,509, sources said.

All senior officers including Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Principal Secretary to PM P.K. Mishra, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, and Vinod Paul, NITI Aayog member and chairman of government's empowered group on Covid management are participating in the meeting.

The country has been recording an unabated spike in cases from over three weeks. Daily cases the country peaked on September 16, 2020, with 97,894 people testing positive for the virus in a single day.

The active cases have now increased to 6,91,597 comprising 5.54 per cent of the total infections, while a total 1,16,29,289 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours with the recovery rate reported to 93.14 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry reports.

The active caseload was the lowest at 1,35,926 on February 12 and comprised 1.25 per cent of the total infections.

Meanwhile, the death toll increased to 1,64,623 on Sunday with 513 new fatalities and the fatality rate was reported 1.32 per cent.

A total of 11,66,716 samples tested for Covid-19 as of Saturday taking the total sample tests so far 24,81,25,908.

The Centre has advised high-burden states and union territories to take stringent measures for containment of the surge. Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Haryana are the states of grave concern.

So far, 7,59,79,651 doses of the corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for Covishield and Covaxin. On April 1, the third phase of the vaccination drive began under which anyone 45 or older is allowed to get a shot.
Elon Musk has tweeted a call for engineers to work at SpaceX, following the launch - and failure - of the SN11 rocket.

"Please consider moving to Starbase or greater Brownsville/South Padre area in Texas & encourage friends to do so! SpaceXs hiring needs for engineers, technicians, builders & essential support personnel of all kinds are growing rapidly," the CEO tweeted.

Starbase, Mr Musks name for the Boca Chica Village in Cameron Country, Texas, will grow by several thousand people over the next year or two, he added. The CEO has said that he wants to build a city around the existing SpaceX facility, where the company is testing its prototype rockets.

There are currently over 1000 vacancies for positions in SpaceX, many of which located in Brownsville. Mr Musk has tweeted that over 10,000 people are needed for Giga Texas between now and 2022, and is donating $20 million to Cameron County schools, and an additional $10 million to Brownsville for downtown revitalisation - as it is likely that improvements to the local area will make it more attractive for prospective workers, and therefore beneficial for Mr Musk in the long-term.

Unfortunately for international fans of the company, this offer is only available to US citizens. This is because of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which states that military technology can only be operated on by citizens and US-based companies. The regulations have been criticised as stifling the United States potential benefits from foreign experts, and lauded for national security reasons.

A career at SpaceX, and Mr Musks other venture, Tesla, has historically not been a smooth experience, however, with damning reports of a difficult workplace environment.

Mr Musk has addressed criticism of his management style in the past. Responding to an article in the Wall Street Journal that noted Tesla is one of Silicon Valleys most in-demand employers, despiteor because ofElon Musk, Mr Musk seemed to defend the long working hours at the companies, suggesting it was about getting things done.

There are way easier places to work, but nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week, he wrote. But if you love what you do, it (mostly) doesnt feel like work.

Neither SpaceX nor Tesla responded to a request for comment when contacted byThe Independent before time of publication.

Mr Musks workplace announcements comes after Starship SN11 exploded upon its decent after a test, with pieces of debris falling in at least one kilometre radius around the craft. The video stream did not show the explosion, as the official video from a camera on board the craft froze before SpaceX ended the stream.

Cameras and equipment from companies including NASASpaceflight and Everyday Astronaut were seemingly damaged in the blast.
Turkey may be seeking a way to ease its economic turmoil by wooing Egypt for more business and bilateral trade. Egyptian economists and Turkish affairs experts say Ankaras recent efforts to reset relations are meant to help counterbalance its isolation from the European Union and a number of Arab countries, Middle East Eye reports.

Theres some pacification from the Turkish side, but theres no rapprochement, Karam Said, an expert on Turkish affairs at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor.

On March 8, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans spokesman Ibrahim Kalin spoke about Ankaras wish to turn a new page with Egypt.

Earlier, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said his country has many historical and cultural values in common with Egypt.

The recent Turkish approach indicates there might be good developments in the near future. However, there havent been any clear-cut statements made by the Turkish authorities regarding all the disputes. The Turkish statements are merely gentle and friendly, but they do not touch on the crux of the problem or tackle the cause for disagreements, Said said.

However, when it comes to business, the situation has been different as the trade flow has continued since the June 30 Revolution that ended the Muslim Brotherhoods rule in Egypt in 2013.

The business communities in both countries have maintained bilateral trade intact. The Turkish investments in Egypt, currently estimated at $2.5 billion, have remained the same, he said.

Turkey was the fifth-largest exporter to Egypt in 2020, accounting for 5% of the most populous Arab countrys total imports, data from the Cabinets Media Information Center show.

Egypts exports to Turkey totaled more than $1.6 billion in 2020, down from more than $1.7 billion a year earlier, according to the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics ().

Meanwhile, Egypts imports from Turkey fell by $405 million to $3.1 billion in 2020, according to the statistics agency.

Egypts total imports and exports fell to $27.6 billion and $69.6 billion respectively in 2020, down from $30.5 billion and $76.4 billion in 2019, according to the statistics agency; repercussions from the coronavirus cast a shadow on Egypts foreign trade in general.

Said said Turkish and Egyptian businesspeople agreed to separate business from politics.

Turkey has already lost a number of Arab markets such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya and Yemen. Ankara has had political and economic tensions with the European Union and the United States. Egypt has remained a big market of great potential for Turkey. From a pragmatic point of view, Ankara wants to keep the status quo, Said said.

He said the outlook of bilateral trade would highly depend on how the two countries see the future of economic cooperation.

For Turkey, Egypt is a gateway from the Arab and African markets. That could be a common ground for business for the future. In my opinion, a rapprochement would accelerate joint investment and lead to a qualitative leap in bilateral trade, he said, pointing out that Turkish investors may increase their business portfolios in Egypt.

Trade between Arab countries and Turkey stood at $22.4 billion in 2020, said Ahmed Goweily, secretary-general of the Council of Arab Economic Unity.

He was quoted as saying by the Al-Mal daily as saying that Turkish exports to Arab countries totaled $14.5 billion and that that Turkeys imports from Arab countries were $7.9 billion.

Turkey is betting on approaching African markets through Egypt. That could open up win-win opportunities for both countries, he said.

Rashad Abdo, head of the Egyptian Forum for Economic and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor, Investment is pragmatic and sees no borders. Therefore, the businesspeople maintained trade and investments on track. However, the Turkish economy has been in the doldrums in recent years due to Erdogans mismanagement with many investors pulling out.

Abdo said that politics and economics are two sides of the same coin, where good economics reflect good politics and vice versa. Fitch Ratings said Feb. 21 that sanctions and other geopolitical risks continue to weigh on Turkeys rating.

With the lira crash following the [March 20] sacking of Turkeys central bank governor, Ankara is seeking to boost exports by opening new markets. The Turkish economy relies heavily on exports and tourism. For Turkey, new markets are a must, especially as many countries in the Gulf region slashed bilateral trade on the back of Ankaras hostile politics, Abdo said.

Turkeys exports fell by 6.3% to $169.5 billion in 2020, according to the state-run news agency Anadolu Agency. The countrys trade deficit jumped 69.1% to nearly $50 billion. Turkey's inflows of foreign direct investment declined by 16.5% to $7.7 billion in 2020, Anadolu Agency said Feb. 15.

Turkeys hard currency revenues have been significantly decreasing on the back of EU and US sanctions. Wooing Egypt and the Arab world is an attempt to loosen the noose on Ankara, Abdo added.
News

Newark, New Jersey - A New York man and Alabama woman were arrested Wednesday at a seaport in Newark, New Jersey on criminal charges related to their alleged attempt to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS).

According to court documents, James Bradley, 20, of the Bronx, New York, and Arwa Muthana, 29, of Hoover, Alabama, are ISIS supporters who attempted to travel to the Middle East to join and fight for ISIS. As alleged in the complaint, Bradley has expressed his support for ISIS and his desire to join the group overseas or commit a terrorist attack in the United States. Bradley and his wife, who has also expressed her support for ISIS, were arrested while attempting to travel together by cargo ship to the Middle East to join and fight for ISIS. Bradley and Muthana were presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman in Manhattan federal court today.

As alleged, the defendants planned to travel overseas to join and support ISIS, said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Departments National Security Division. The threat of terrorism at home and abroad remains, and the National Security Division is committed to holding accountable those who would provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations. I want to thank the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this case.

James Bradley allegedly pledged devout allegiance to ISIS, expressing his desire to fight among the rank[s] for the Islamic State. Suspecting he may be unable to travel, Bradley instead allegedly discussed conducting terrorist attacks along with his wife, Arwa Muthana, also an ISIS supporter, against the US Military Academy at West Point or another area university where Bradley knew military recruits to be training, said U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York. But in an alleged attempt to evade the watchful eye of law enforcement, the two ultimately planned to travel to Yemen by cargo ship to fulfil their wish to fight with the terrorist organization. As Bradley suspected, he and his wife were indeed on law enforcements radar  he was confiding in and planning their journey for terror with an undercover officer  and their plans to wage attacks against the United States have been thwarted.

Todays announcement underscores the commitment of the FBI and its JTTF partners that anyone who chooses to turn their backs on the United States of America in support of ISIS and its violent agenda will be held accountable, said Assistant Director Jill Sanborn of the FBIs Counterterrorism Division. The charges alleged that both defendants were attempting to travel overseas to join and fight for ISIS and one even expressed desire to commit a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. In doing so, both are accused of betraying this country and will now face the consequences of these actions in the U.S. justice system.

Like others who followed a similar path before them, Mr. Bradley and his wife Mrs. Muthana have now learned their alleged attempts to fight on behalf of ISIS, inside the U.S. or overseas, instead begin with two pairs of FBI JTTF handcuffs and court appearances in lower Manhattan, said Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. for the FBI New York Field Office. Our goal is to interdict violence before it occurs, and once again I commend the work of the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force personnel who work 24/7 to keep their fellow citizens safe."

James Bradley and his wife Arwa Muthanas alleged determination to join ISIS and carry out terrorism against Americans overseas or here in New York is well documented in this multi-year investigation. It is yet another example of the effectiveness of the undercover operatives, detectives and analysts of the NYPDs Intelligence Bureau working in seamless coordination with our partners at the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, said Commissioner Dermot Shea of the New York Police Department.

Bradley and Muthana are charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which also carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Since at least 2019, Bradley has expressed violent extremist views, including his desire to support ISIS by traveling overseas to join the group or committing a terrorist attack in the United States. In May 2020, Bradley stated to an undercover law enforcement officer (UC-1) that he believed that ISIS may be good for Muslims because ISIS was establishing a caliphate. Bradley further expressed his desire to conduct a terrorist attack in the United States and discussed potentially seeking to attack the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Bradley explained that if he could not leave the United States because he might be on a terrorism watch list, he would do something in the United States instead, referring to carrying out an attack.

In June 2020, Bradley stated to UC-1 that his plan to attack a military base was something he really wanted to do and that it would be his contribution to the cause of jihad. In January 2021, Bradley mentioned to UC-1 another university in New York State where he frequently saw Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets training. Bradley stated that he could use his truck in an attack, and that he along with Muthana could take all of the ROTC cadets out.

In late January 2021, Bradley married Muthana in an Islamic marriage ceremony. Beginning before and continuing after their marriage, Bradley and Muthana discussed, planned, and ultimately attempted to travel to the Middle East together in order to join and fight with ISIS. In or about early March 2021, Bradley traveled from New York to Alabama to visit Muthana. Bradley and Muthana subsequently traveled together to New York in order to begin their journey to join ISIS. Thereafter, Bradley raised the possibility of UC-1 helping Bradley and Muthana get on a cargo ship to travel to Asia or Africa for the purpose of ultimately joining and fighting for ISIS. UC-1 subsequently put Bradley in contact with a purported associate who could assist Bradley in making arrangements for Bradley and Muthana to travel to the Middle East via cargo ship. In reality, the purported facilitator was a law enforcement officer acting in an undercover capacity (UC-2).

Later in March 2021, Bradley met with UC-2 and expressed his desire to travel via cargo ship and to fight among the rank[s] of the Islamic State. In a subsequent meeting with UC-2, Bradley provided UC-2 $1,000 in cash as travel costs for Bradley and Muthana to take a cargo ship to Yemen. Bradley told UC-2 that he and Muthana both planned to be fighting after arriving in the Middle East. Bradley also told UC-2 that he had a dream that he had given bayah, an Arabic term meaning the oath of allegiance, to Abu Ibrahim al-hashimi al-Qurashi, the current leader of ISIS.

On March 25, 2021, UC-2 told Bradley that the cargo ship would be leaving on Wednesday, March 31, from a seaport in Newark, New Jersey. Bradley praised Allah and confirmed he and Muthana planned to travel on the ship.

On March 31, 2021, Bradley and Muthana met with UC-2 en route to the seaport. During the course of this meeting, Muthana confirmed to UC-2 that she was traveling to the Middle East to fight for ISIS. Bradley and Muthana were arrested as they walked on a gangplank to board the cargo ship. After Muthana was arrested, she waived her Miranda rights and stated during an interview that she was willing to fight and kill Americans if it was for Allah. Also on March 31, 2021, in connection with a court-authorized search, the FBI seized from a bedroom previously used by Bradley what appears to be a hand-drawn image of a jihadi flag commonly used by ISIS and a hand-drawn map of the Pakistan region.

U.S. Attorney Strauss praised the outstanding efforts of the FBIs New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, HIS, the NYPD and over 50 other federal, state and local agencies; the NYPDs Intelligence Division; and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol New York Field Office Director of Field Operations (DFO) Marty C. Raybon. Ms. Strauss also thanked the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justices National Security Division, as well as the FBIs Birmingham, Alabama Field Office, and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Alabama.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew J. DeFilippis and Jason A. Richman of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Trial Attorneys Jennifer Burke and Andrew Sigler of the National Security Divisions Counterterrorism Section.
Islamic Extremists Kill at Least 15 in Somalia; Military Targeted

MOGADISHU, SomaliaSimultaneous large explosions were heard in and around two Somali army bases on Saturday, with the military confirming that at least nine staffers were killed but asserting the attackers had heavy losses of dozens of dead. The al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility.

In a separate attack Saturday evening, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive at a tea shop in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing at least six people, police spokesman Sadiq Ali Adan told The Associated Press. Four other people were wounded. No one immediately claimed responsibility.

Residents said the attacks at the army bases occurred in Bariirre and Awdhegleh villages of Lower Shabelle region, 75 kilometers (46 miles) south of Mogadishu.

Speaking to the local media, Gen. Odawa Yusuf Ragheh, the commander of the Somali National Army, confirmed the twin attacks but said al-Shabab had been repulsed with heavy losses among the extremists.

They even left some of the bodies of their slain commanders, he added, saying his forces were still chasing fleeing fighters.

Gen. Mohamed Tahlil Bihi, the commander of the governments infantry forces, told the AP that we lost nine of our soldiers and 11 others got wounded from our side.

He added, from the Shabab, we killed 60 of their militias on one spot and 17 others near the other base, he said.

An al-Shabab spokesman, Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Musab, asserted that the group had killed 47 government fighters. In a statement on the extremists radio, he said the simultaneous attacks began with suicide car bombs.

There have been fears that the al-Qaida-linked group would be emboldened by Somalias current political crisis as President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is under pressure to step aside. Elections meant for February have been delayed.

Mogadishu on Saturday witnessed the opening of a meeting between the federal government leaders, including the president, and the leaders of the five federal member states. They were expected to discuss the way forward.

By Hassan Barise
A woman who was groomed by a paedophile teacher as a teenager has opened up on the years of sexual abuse she suffered at his hands.

Sarah* was just 15 years old when she met Design and Technology teacher Darren Clinckett at a school in Redlands, Brisbane's south-east, in 2008.

The young schoolgirl had been juggling bullying taunts from her peers and trouble at home when Clinckett took advantage of her vulnerable position and began to groom her.

It began with an exchange of notes and five months later Clinckett had gained Sarah's trust, Courier Mail reported.

He convinced her family that he would organise for their daughter to be placed into a church family, before secretly moving her to his Redland Bay unit.

It began with an exchange of notes and five months later Darren Clinckett had gained the teenage schoolgirl's trust

Sarah was just 15 years old when she met Design and Technology teacher Darren Clinckett at a school in Redlands, Brisbane's south-east, in 2008

Sarah dropped out of high school and Clinckett banned her from ever leaving the unit and set up a false bedroom to hide her when visitors came over.

'Everything was locked up, the windows were closed, doors were closed, blinds were closed, I wasn't allowed to open the door for anyone,' Sarah said.

'The first night I moved in with him, he made me shave his pubic region and masturbate him and perform oral sex on him.

'The taste and texture and smell of it made me throw up  and he would laugh.'

Sarah fell pregnant when she was just 16.

It wasn't until 2016, eight years after meeting Clinckett, that Sarah finally worked up the courage to leave him.

She made a formal complaint to the Queensland College of Teachers and made a statement for police.

Clinckett then told officers the relationship had started when Sarah was 16.

Clinkett was deregistered as a teacher in 2019 and then sentenced to three-and-a-half years jail, suspended after 10 months, in March 2021

Years before, he and his mother had told Sarah to sign affidavits that the relationship had not begun when she was underage.

Officers took the complaint no further and Sarah almost lost hope of ever bringing Clinckett to justice.

Wynnum Child Protection and Investigation Unit's Bill McIntyre then took up the case and gathered enough evidence to throw him behind bars.

Clinkett was deregistered as a teacher in 2019 and then sentenced to three-and-a-half years jail in 2021 after pleading guilty to having a relationship with a child and nine counts of indecent treatment of a child.

*Sarah's name has been changed to protect her identity.
A 39-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was stabbed to death in south-east London.

Police were called shortly after 2.15am on Sunday morning to a seriously injured woman inside a block of flats in Ravine Grove, in the borough of Greenwich.

Officers and the London Ambulance Service found the woman with stab wounds. She died around an hour later.

The man was arrested at the scene and remains in custody in a south London police station.

Police are establishing the identity of the woman and say a post-mortem examination will be conducted in due course.

Police were called shortly after 2.15am on Sunday morning to a seriously injured woman inside a block of flats in Ravine Grove, in the borough of Greenwich, south-east London

Cordons remain in place as inquiries continue to establish the full circumstances of the woman's death.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police on 101, quoting reference number 914/04APR.

The killing comes after a 23-year-old man was fatally stabbed in south London earlier this week.

Reece Young was pronounced dead at the scene after police were called to reports of three men fighting on Alpha Road in Croydon at 9.10pm on Tuesday.

Two men suffering from stab wounds left the scene in a vehicle and later attended a hospital where they were both arrested on suspicion of murder.

One of the suspects, thought to be aged in his 30s, assaulted officers and staff before fleeing from hospital following his arrest.

The stabbing took place on the same street where 19-year-old Tai Jordan O'Donnell was stabbed to death on March 3, with a woman later charged with murder.

Multiple attacks also took place in Croydon on February 5 with 10 stabbings in the space of two hours, leaving one man dead and 10 others injured.
The states Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson is reassuring West Australians the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and the most effective way to protect against infectious disease.

Dr Robertsons assurance comes as the countrys medical authorities monitor the first case in Australia of a rare clotting disorder following an AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab.

WA Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson. Credit:Lauren Pilat

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd confirmed on Saturday it was likely there was a link between a 44-year-old Melbourne man hospitalised with blood clots on Thursday night and him receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in March.

But Professor Kidd said the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation had decided not to halt the rollout of the vaccine, because another wave of COVID-19 presented the greater threat to the Australian population.
The Fifth of April 1971- JVP attack at Wellawaya View(s):

Capt. F.R.A.B. Musafer (Retd) of the 4th Regiment Sri Lanka Artillery was commander of the platoon that was deployed to Weerawila under emergency law to assist the police in the Hambantota district. Here he recalls how his platoon was first on the scene shortly after the JVP attack on the Wellawaya police station on April 5, 1971 that signalled the start of the insurrection, 50 years ago

Fifty years ago, an audacious armed attack carried out on the Wellawaya Police Station signalled the 1971 insurgency launched by the Janatha Vimuktha Peramuna (JVP) or the Peoples Liberation Front.

It was the first armed insurrection initiated by the youth of this country to express their dissatisfaction and hopelessness of their future together with the general discontent that prevailed in the country.

Five decades later, it is now perhaps, a forgotten chapter in the history of Sri Lanka, surpassed by the insurgency in 88/89 and the near 30-year LTTE conflict.

Whilst there was a strategy in place to harness the discontent of the youth in particular towards an insurrection, the JVPs planning process was disrupted as a result of their leader Rohana Wijeweera and his top echelon being arrested and imprisoned in Jaffna. A hurried plan to take up arms was thereby mounted at short notice which resulted in some confusion, a lack of direction and ultimate failure.

Coordinated attacks on most police stations had been planned for the night of April 5, 1971. However, the attack on the Wellawaya police station that shocked the nation was mistakenly staged in the early hours of the 5th.

Prior to this, based on intelligence reports, a state of emergency had been declared in mid-March and security around all military establishments was strengthened. Extra precautions were taken to double the security of arms and ammunition held in the camps as rumours were rife that there were elements of officers and soldiers sympathetic to the cause, if not members of the JVP. There was an air of suspicion, distrust and concern that even food and water was to be poisoned.

In a state of preparedness to counter this threat, Army platoons had been deployed to Anuradhapura, Kandy, Kegalle, Moneragala, Polonnaruwa, Hingurakgoda and Weerawila. A Command Headquarters for the operations was set up at Temple Trees and manned by a handpicked group of trusted officers.

Though Army platoons had been deployed and arrests were taking place, no one in their wildest dreams ever foresaw what was to happen soon after at Wellawaya. Although executed in haste, it was a well-kept secret. A mix up in the date and time of the planned attacks resulted in a botched up operation that took the element of surprise away and gave the government some breathing space to react to the attacks that followed the same night and thereafter.

An Artillery (Gunner) platoon was deployed to Weerawila on March 17 and its primary role was to assist the police in cordon-and-search operations in the Hambantota district covering Tangalle, Beliatta, Walasmulla, Hambantota, Tissamaharama and Kirinda and in arresting those with links to the JVP. The platoon reported to Hambantotas Government Agent Sonny Goonewardene.

In the early hours of April 5, the platoon being the closest to Wellawaya was ordered to proceed to the scene of the attack and report on the incident.

This article is not a story of military exploits or heroics but merely a personal recollection and narration of April 5, 1971events involving the platoon deployed to Weerawila.

Space does not permit me to relate the attack at Polonnaruwa that same night where an artillery platoon commanded by Lt. Lionel Balagalla and the Police inflicted heavy casualties on the insurgents.

Prior to April 5, there was information down south that police stations were to be attacked at night. This was openly conveyed via threatening postcards. The Army camp at Embilipitiya and the Ridiyagama Army agricultural camp being dismantled, too, had received such postcards and the latter requested protection the very first day I arrived at Weerawila.

During this period the searches were uneventful as intelligence was poor. Whilst we patrolled the roads and visited the police stations at night, there was no credible intelligence as to when, and where, the attacks would take place. At times we did observe groups of cyclists travelling further south but they carried nothing on them. We suspected they were couriers but there was nothing we could do about it  unless by third degree means.

We did search Wijeweeras neat and tidy home occupied by his mother and sister but found only magazines titled Red China.

Fifth of April: The beginning of it all

While returning from the Matara railway station, having dropped a few soldiers going on short leave, I was stopped opposite the Hambantota police station and told to return to Weerawila immediately as the Wellawaya police station had been attacked.

At Weerawila, I got on to the wireless set and contacted the adjutant Capt. Samarakoon who told me that the Wellawaya Police station had been attacked and there were casualties. Details were sketchy as all communications had been cut off. I was ordered to proceed to Wellawaya as soon as possible and report back on the situation. I quickly gathered some soldiers and a wireless set. We headed for Wellawaya post haste in a jeep and a truck.

When I approached the Wellawaya police station, the area around it was like a battlefield littered with spent shotgun cartridges, empty tins and items of clothing and footwear. The police station had taken a battering; the telephone and power lines were cut. There was no electricity. Police and eyewitnesses said a large group of insurgents, some dressed in blue uniforms, had carried out the attack. To this day, I regret that I did not have a camera (they were hard to come by during that period) to capture the scene before my eyes. It was unbelievable that such an outrageous raid had been conducted against the state  it was certainly a critical moment in Sri Lankas history.

The body of a reserve police constable was lying at the entrance of the police station. Nearby, another policeman had been shot. He died in hospital. Other police officers were in shock and considered themselves lucky to be alive.

We were told that a police patrol had just returned and as customary the arms and ammunition were locked up in the strong room by the reserve PC on duty. He had ventured out to the verandah to have a smoke when the insurgents opened fire killing him. With the police station under fire and no access to any firearms, there was very little the police could do. The bravery of a policeman to crawl up to the dead constable and retrieve the keys enabled them to retaliate and return fire.

After a few hours, the attack was repulsed and with the break of dawn, the insurgents retreated, taking with them their dead and injured leaving behind fired and unspent shotgun cartridges.

I regret I cannot recall the names of the officers of the station but a face I remember was that of SI Linton who was a member of the police rugby team. He was not stationed there but had accompanied a senior officer.

It was surprising that the insurgents with such overwhelming numbers had not thought to over-run the police station during the lull.

Walking around the compound of the police station, I was alerted to the fact that there was a dead insurgent. A closer look revealed he had a huge exit wound in the back of his chest from a rifle bullet and had lost a lot of blood. Someone noticed a slight twitch in his body and shouted that he was alive. No sooner this was said, a rifle was raised by a policeman to squash his skull but he was thwarted by one of the soldiers who pushed him off balance. We despatched the injured man in the Army truck to hospital but he was confirmed dead on arrival.

Although we were the first Army personnel on the scene there was nothing further we could do but to report back. I was in a dilemma as radio transmission and reception on my set was impossible and there was no way I could contact my headquarters. I was told that I could go to Moneragala as the GA there was in direct contact with Temple Trees. Wellawaya, in fact, came under the jurisdiction of the GA Moneragala. I decided, instead, to race back to Weerawila leaving the soldiers and the truck behind.

I reported back to Regimental Headquarters as to what I had seen and heard about the attack. I was informed that two platoons of reinforcements were being sent from the 1st Battalion Gemunu Watch (GW) based at Diyatalawa and that a helicopter would be arriving at the location with senior Army and Police officials and I was to return to Weerawila on their arrival.

Having driven back to Wellawaya, I awaited the arrival of the chopper. There was Major Gratiaen Silva, DIG Rudra Rajasingham, the Moneragala GA Mr Fernando and a Magistrate. Shortly after the helicopter landed, the two platoons of the First Battalion Gemunu Watch under the command of Captain Lalin Fernando and Lt. Gibbrey Muthalib arrived at the scene. Lt Muthalib was subsequently seriously wounded, suffered serious head injuries and had to be airlifted to Colombo. He survived and retired as a Major General, as did Capt. Lalin Fernando.

Whilst the inquiries were being conducted in the Police station premises I was showing the two Air Force pilots, Flight Lieutenants Rahim and Manoharan around, when I heard some movement in a bush nearby and drew my revolver on instinct. Suddenly two youths ran out putting their hands up and pleading with us not to shoot them as they had come yesterday. Vedi thiyanna epa, eyay apu gammannay. Capt. Lalin who had also drawn his revolver, raced towards the youths and managed to grab one by his collar. The other made no attempt to escape.

They were both subjected to a beating by some of the policemen who took them into custody. Very young and clad in shirt and sarong, they had in their possession a bag with two homemade bombs (Molotov cocktails) but no matches to light them.

I felt sorry for them as they may have hidden in the bushes in fear during the attack with all the gunfire and bombs exploding and left it too late to escape. If perhaps they had waited a little longer they may have made their escape under cover of darkness. Being there without food and water throughout the day in the intense heat may have been too much to bear. To this date I ponder what their fate was.

A few years ago, I met Flt. Lt. Rahim in Canada (he retired as a Group Captain) and he recalled that the helicopter could not get back to Katunayake but was forced to land at Ratmalana as they were running out of fuel.

That evening on my return we decided to abandon Weerawila and instead took it upon ourselves to patrol the roads and visit as many police stations as possible. We continued till the Coordinating Headquarters under Colonel Derrick Nugawela was established around April 8/9 and two platoons from 2 (v) Gemunu Watch arrived.

Earlier, with the obvious ground reality being that the attacks were to be at night, a signal (wireless message) was sent in consultation with the GA to Temple Trees requesting for flares to assist in night fighting operations. There was no response. An officer later conveyed to me that I was the subject of ridicule by some stating that I had got the jitters. He said it was no laughing matter when news of the Wellawaya attack at night was received and all hell broke loose when many police stations fell into insurgent hands that night and in subsequent nights.

The insurgents had planned to carry out their attacks under cover of darkness and stage simultaneous attacks on the police stations islandwide on the night of April 5  a well-planned strategy to acquire arms and ammunition to begin with. While the Army was deployed as a pro-active strategy to deter an uprising, there were no plans set in place to counter simultaneous night attacks on all police stations. A near impossible task!

The premature and bungled timing of the attack on Wellawaya took away that element of surprise away. It was a godsend for it saved the government from humiliation. Had simultaneous attacks taken place on a single night and the police stations been overrun, the weapons and ground lost to the insurgents would have contributed to a more protracted and bloody conflict.
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Police turned up at a Polish Catholic church again today during an Easter Sunday Mass after officers shut down its Good Friday service for breaching Covid rules and threatened worshippers with 200 fines.

Officers shut down the religious ceremony in Balham High Street, south London, at around 5pm on Friday, with footage showing one telling worshippers that the gathering was 'unlawful' and that they had to go home.

Today, dozens of Christians attended Easter Mass services at Christ the King Polish Roman Catholic Church - with many forced to kneel outside to avoid overcrowding.

Around 50 smartly-dressed worshippers had to listen to Mass through speakers introduced after Friday's clash. Many families with small children gathered outside, before being allowed to go in to the church later when there was more room inside.

Though two police officers arrived and spoke to church stewards, they left soon after, not repeating Friday's extraordinary scenes when cops stood at the altar and demanded worshippers go home.

In a statement on Friday's intervention, a police 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.'

However, there was still anger among worshippers at the church today with many accusing officers of overstepping the mark.

Tomsz Niewiadomski, who was queuing to see the second mass of the day, said everyone inside on Friday was wearing masks and social distancing.

The 39-year-old, who lives in nearby Streatham, south London, said: 'Its not right what they did. The police didn't seem to know the rules.

'I was standing just inside the door at the back. They came in and said everyone was breaking the law before checking what was in place. They said no one was social distancing and it was unsafe.

'But everyone was wearing masks and sitting apart from each other. There was a booking system so there was only a certain number of people inside.

'We know we have to respect the law. It seemed like the police did not know what we could and couldn't do.'

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

Christians kneel outside during an Easter Sunday service due to lack of space indoors because of covid-19 social distancing guidelines

The church had its Good Friday service interrupted by police who said the church had violated Covid-19 rules on gatherings

Worshippers were given hand sanitiser as they visited the Polish Catholic Church in Balham for Easter Mass this morning

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.

Martina Pawlanska, 54, from south London, said: 'We respected the rules to do with Covid, people are allowed to go to church as long as we follow the rules. I doesn't make sense what the police did.

'If you go to the supermarket people are gathered inside, even closer together and it is allowed.'

Another worshipper who did not want to be named added: 'I think the police really overreacted. We are a peaceful community, we stick to the rules. They should not have ordered everyone to leave like that.'

During the second service around 40 people stood outside and quietly listened to the Mass pumped out via the speakers.

Despite the police presence today, it is believed the authorities will not be issuing fines to those who attended on Friday.

Merek Mendel, chairman of the church, said he was disgusted with way the police acted as Good Friday such a special occasion for Catholics.

He said: 'It was disgusting what they [the police] did. Good Friday is one of the most sacred days for us.

'I feel sorry for the officers they actually didn't know what to do. They didn't know the law.

'We know how many people we can let inside, we have people monitoring how many are in and the queue, as well as the distance between people.

'We have signs and hand washing, it's very safe. We have been doing this since we reopened after the first lockdown.

Christians stand outside during an Easter Sunday service due to lack of space indoors because of covid-19 social distancing guidelines

Christians sit apart socially distanced during an Easter Sunday service at Christ the King church this morning in Balham

Around 50 smartly-dressed worshippers had to listen to Mass through speakers introduced after police broke up the Good Friday service

Though two police officers arrived and spoke to church stewards, they left soon after, not repeating Friday's extraordinary scenes

'The police threatened to fine everyone 200, and fine the church 10,000. We don't want any problems or trouble.

'They [the police] tried to defend themselves and say if you are not going to complain we will not take it any further than that.

'They came today, looked around and can see we have everything in place.'

Lukaz Kaczmarak, 17, from Streatham Common, said: 'The police were here again today, but I wonder if they were here to try and catch us out.

'They are scared they made a mistake so now want to prove that we are breaking the rules in whatever way they can find, so came back to check up on us.'

Speaking about the police's actions on Friday he added: 'We were all very surprised and upset. Everyone had masks on, everything was disinfected. Th priest is always telling us to wear masks and keep our distance.

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

'Normally there would be many, many people, but on Friday there were only a few compared to previous years.

'The reason we were so upset was because this is one of the most important days in the Catholic calender.

'If the event was two weeks ago or two weeks in the future there wouldn't have been so much hurt, but Good Friday is very important.

'We don't mind doing services online, but the rules changed and this was one of the first times there was an opportunity to come in person.

'The timing of the police intervention was also bad because the police came in before we could take the eucharist, which for us is very important.

'Also the police were not very respectful. The female officer came in, walked around and stood on the altar. I don't know if she doesn't believe in God, but it could have been handled better and more respectfully.'

Agnes Mucha, who was also at the service added: 'I think it's such a shame. There was a ticket sytem, everyone was wearing masks and socially distancing.

'There was a lot less people then at a normal mass.

'The police have got to do their job, if as far as they see it practicing faith is breaching the law, then we have to go along with that.'

The parish Parafia Chrystusa Krola  Christ the Believer  issued a statement after Friday 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 slammed the police's 'disgraceful' handling of the situation, with some describing it as 'deeply offensive'.

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.

During the second service around 40 people stood outside and quietly listened to the Mass pumped out via the speakers

Christians sit apart socially distanced during an Easter Sunday service at Christ the King church this morning

Communal worship in churches, synagogues, mosques and other spaces is allowed under current rules, albeit with mask-wearing and social distancing

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.

'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.'

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'.

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.'

And a fourth added: 'Another example of the UK police having a dreadful pandemic.'
In this screenshot from the Democratic National Convention Committees livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Hunter Biden, son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, addresses the virtual convention on Aug. 20, 2020. (Handout/DNCC via Getty Images)

Hunter Biden Says Hes Cooperating Completely With DOJ Investigation

Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, confirmed that hes cooperating completely with federal investigators investigating his tax affairs.

In an interview with CBS News that aired April 4, the younger Biden was asked about the Justice Department probe into his finances.

I can say this: I am cooperating completely, and Im absolutely certainIm 100 percent certainthat at the end of the investigation, that I will be cleared of any wrongdoing, Hunter Biden said. All I can do is cooperate and trust in the process.

Last December, it was revealed that federal prosecutors in Delaware were investigating the younger Bidens finances.

I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorneys Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs, Hunter said in a statement at the time. I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers.

Then-candidate Joe Biden echoed the statement, saying he supports his son.

Hunter Bidens business dealings became a point of criticism during the 2020 presidential election by then-President Donald Trump and other Republicans, after The New York Post reported on his overseas activities in Ukraine and China. A former associate, Tony Bobulinski, then came forward about an alleged business venture between him, Hunter Biden, the presidents brother Jim Biden, and CEFC China Energy, a conglomerate with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and strongly suggested that the firm engaged Hunter to gain access to his powerful father and connections.

Following the publication of the NY Posts story, Twitter moved to ban the sharing of links to the article, and a Facebook spokesman told news outlets that it had limited the NY Posts reach. The move spurred accusations of unfair treatment and censorship.

In addition, Hunter had served from 2014 to 2019 on the board of a Ukrainian gas firm, Burisma Holdingsthe subject of a corruption investigation in Ukrainefor a reportedly lucrative monthly salary. Republicans and Trump accused Biden of knowing about Hunter Bidens role at the company, citing Bidens public statements about getting a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma, Viktor Shokin, fired. Trump then became the subject of a House Democratic-led impeachment effort that alleged the former president engaged in a quid pro quo scheme after it was revealed that he asked Ukraines president to look into the matter.

President Biden has denied that he knew about his sons business dealings in both Ukraine and China. Biden also said his work in Ukraine when he was vice president under the Obama administration was related to rooting out corruption that has long plagued the country.

The younger Biden, meanwhile, has long denied any wrongdoing in his overseas business dealings.

Did I make a mistake? Maybe in the grand scheme of things, Hunter Biden said in an ABC News interview in 2019. But did I make a mistake based on some ethical lapse? Absolutely not.
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 The legalization of cannabis growing in our state could bring devastating effects on our rural areas already riddled with problems.

Cannabis should be explored as potential boosts for our local agriculture and economy, but legislators should not be short-sighted and blinded by quick tax money and instead (should) think wisely with seven generations in mind.

In New Mexico, it is legal to sell water rights attached to a property, resulting in farmland being retired. No more water is available for that piece of land in the future. Somebody can buy water rights and transfer them to a well, or pump water from a river for commercial use. If a neighbor files a protest claiming impairment of their water rights, the defendant is allowed to keep pumping water until the case is addressed and resolved, and it can take a year, or many more, for a resolution to occur.

Defending traditional irrigation water rights from impairment is a costly undertaking, draining our local acequias financial and human resources. The Office of the State Engineer, which regulates water rights in New Mexico, already has its plate full of litigations, stemming from protests of individuals or acequias, whose water rights are being impaired by water rights transfers and illegal use.

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Developers, billionaires setting up hunting lodges and out-of-state commercial cannabis growers have unlimited financial resources to hire attorneys to defend, or prolong, their cases. Traditional water rights farmers are currently engaged in a war of attrition against commercial interests with a lot of financial resources and absolutely no respect for traditional culture.

Unless local acequias write it in their bylaws, that water rights cannot be separated from the land, this practice is further deteriorating an agricultural tradition that has sustained the Hispanic population for hundreds of years and Native People for thousands of years.

Cannabis growers need a lot of water, and they will soon be purchasing water rights from land owners who do not think of future generations but only have self-interest, or desperation, for money in mind.

Rushing a cannabis bill without a thorough inquiry of the effects commercial cannabis has had on other states rural populations where cannabis has been legalized is downright reckless.

This seems to be how short-sighted legislators are, as demonstrated by never having consulted with the councils of the 23 tribes in the state, nor with the commissioners of our states 600 registered acequias, which could be terribly affected by such legislation.

It is imperative that the general public be made aware of the potential repercussions on our rural economy, food sovereignty and uniquely diverse traditional New Mexico culture, of such new legislation, in a state that is already ranking very poorly in terms of food security, poverty and drug abuse.

What use will traditional peoples farmland be if there are no more water rights legally attached to their land?

Where will our food come from when more and more farmland is being retired due to the sale, or loss from abandonment, of water rights?

The Vado de Juan Paiz Ditch Association is in Dilia, along the Rio Pecos. The author is also president of the Mil Abrazos Community Land Trust, a nonprofit permaculture education settlement.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/04/2021



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[ Spoilers Warning: This report contains spoilers that reveal if Jovi and Yara are still together and whether the couple had a baby together.]

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So are Yara and Jovi still together and married or has the couple split?

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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

's eighth season showed Jovi Dufren having a small case of cold feet before his wedding day in Las Vegas, so did he and Yara Zaya get married? If so, is the couple still together now or did they split up?Jovi, a 29-year-old who works in underwater robotics from New Orleans, LA, met Yara, a 25-year-old makeup artist from Kiev, Ukraine, through a travel app.The couple began traveling the world together, and Jovi also visited Yara in the Ukraine multiple times.Yara got pregnant six months into their relationship, and Jovi admitted he was "dumbfounded" at first and worried Yara was trying to "trap" him and get a ticket to the United States."But after the shock wore off, it actually pulled us pretty closer together," Jovi said.Jovi decided to propose marriage to Yara during a trip to Cuba and then apply for a K-1 visa once he returned to America. However, Yara unfortunately experienced a miscarriage.Yara unfortunately experienced a miscarriage, but Jovi still wanted his life to be with her.Once Yara arrived to America, she and Jovi argued a lot over his partying and how Yara didn't feel she could trust Jovi to stand by her through tough times and be around for their future children.Yara also heard from one of Jovi's friends, Sara, that Jovi used to sleep with exotic dancers and had a wild and crazy side.In addition, Jovi's mother Gwen was pushing for the couple to have a big wedding -- but Yara didn't want any family or friends invited since her own loved ones wouldn't be able to attend the ceremony.Yara then discovered she was pregnant again and vented in shock to the cameras, "I am not ready yet. I don't even know if I want to get married and live here."She later added, "I honestly don't even know if [Jovi] wants to settle down with me and [stop] partying all the time. It just makes me feel crazy."As for Jovi, he said he couldn't picture himself living anywhere but New Orleans and raising his kids there.The pair even fought at their engagement party, with Yara wishing she could return to Ukraine a single woman and calling Jovi "an alcoholic."Yara felt she deserved more from Jovi and questioned whether he really cared for her at all. She didn't feel taken care of, or that she was Jovi's No. 1 priorityAfter the party, Yara gave Jovi and ultimatum and said if he wanted to be with her, he needed to stop his frequent drinking.Yara gave Jovi permission to drink on special occasions but not every day or else he'd be visiting with his child on weekends while living apart from her.Jovi agreed to drink a little bit less and take better care of his wife-to-be, and Yara demanded respect."I just want him to show that me and the baby [come] first," Yara told the cameras, later adding that living in the United States was never her dream.Jovi had another work trip coming up soon, so he and Yara had to get married within two weeks. Jovi felt rushed but said he was going to make things work.A few days after their engagement party, Yara said Jovi was doing more and treating her better. Not only did Jovi try to cook for her one night, but he was also spending evenings at home with her.Jovi said he was beginning to understand the stress Yara was going through of being pregnant in a foreign country without any friends or relatives around, and he intended to be more sympathetic and supportive.When Jovi only had 12 days left in New Orleans before another work trip, Yara was starting to feel a little better about staying in New Orleans long-term.Yara enjoyed herself at a parade and Jovi hoped she would stay in this good mood because they were leaving for Las Vegas in just a few days for their wedding."I hope I can keep her in a good mood the whole way until we get married," Jovi said.With eight days until her wedding, Yara went shopping for a wedding dress with Jovi's mother Gwen, and Yara sweetly decided to let Gwen attend the wedding since it meant so much to her.Yara picked out a beautiful form-fitted, long-sleeve sequin dress with an open back.When Yara had eight days left on her K-1 visa, Yara slipped and fell in the street and landed on her back.A doctor told Yara that she was fine and the baby was fine, but Yara wasn't feeling well after her fall.Jovi also felt guilt because his bachelor party was supposed to be that night and he'd have to leave Yara behind. Yara, however, gave him the "okay" to go as long as he promised not to get drunk and be home fairly early.But Jovi, who had promised to be responsible, ended up at the local stripclub, which was Jovi's "home away from home," according to one of his friends. Jovi apparently had a great time and ignored Yara's phone calls as he stayed out late into the evening.At the stripclub, Jovi flirted with a dancer named Carter and his buddy instructed Carter to take Jovi "upstairs" and show him a good time. Jovi joked that his pal was forcing him to interact with the entertainer, but Jovi didn't seem to mind.Jovi insisted he didn't touch the dancer and just had a good time. Yara had asked Jovi to return home at 11PM since she was pregnant and had fallen that day, but he stayed out until 1:26AM.Jovi then only had a few hours to pack for Las Vegas and get in some sleep. Yara told Jovi that he smelled like alcohol and accused him of being drunk, and she was clearly disappointed and angry."I feel like I want to go back to home... to Ukraine," Yara cried in a confessional.With only two days left to wed on Yara's K-1 visa, Yara, Jovi and his friends were driving in the car to Las Vegas for the couple's wedding -- and Yara was still "pissed" and "upset" after Jovi's bachelor party.Yara said Jovi made her feel like she's not as important as his friends, and she was frustrated Jovi had invited his friends to the wedding when she had only wanted an intimate ceremony for the two of them and Jovi's mother Gwen."That's how Jovi is. You let him take one bite and he will eat all of your cake," Yara complained.Jovi wished Yara could be happy and in a good mood about their nuptials, but Yara was also annoyed Jovi didn't seem ready or prepared for the wedding at all. Not only was Jovi missing his suit, but he and Yara also didn't have wedding rings to exchange.Yara said America and Ukraine seemed like "two totally different planets," and she was feeling very lonely.Yara didn't know if she was making the right decision in marrying Jovi and wished she had more time to decide, although she loved Jovi "so much.""If I was not pregnant, I would just leave everything and go home," Yara said. "But it's not that simple."Jovi asked his friends to change and meet him at the hotel lobby's bar that night, but Yara wished Jovi would want to spend time with her that evening.Yara didn't think Jovi was going to change, and she wanted him to make more sacrifices for her. Yara asked Jovi to pay more attention to her, and Yara's clear unhappiness served as "a reality check" for Jovi."This is our only opportunity to get married. If we can't come together and make this work, [Yara] has to go back to the Ukraine. I cannot afford to lose my future wife and my baby," Jovi said in a confessional.Jovi told Yara that he was going to try to make things better for her and he wanted her wedding day to be perfect. Yara asked Jovi to make her his No. 1 priority, and so he decided they should do something romantic, just the two of them.With one day until their wedding, Jovi was shown gambling with some of his friends in Las Vegas after enjoying a romantic evening alone with Yara and room service in their hotel room.Jovi said he felt relieved that Yara was finally happy, and he said he was going to try to listen, pay attention to her all the time and try to understand what she needs in order to keep her happy.Jovi even let Yara pick out whatever expensive wedding ring she wanted."When Jovi is back home, he likes to party, and I don't know if Yara is prepared for all that," Jovi's friend Kline told the cameras.But Jovi insisted that Yara was The One for him, and his family and friends just hoped Jovi could grow up from his partying ways and become a good husband. His father also had high expectations of Jovi becoming a dad."[I feel] a ton of pressure on my shoulders and I'm just worried am I making the right decision? Have I had enough time to think this through? I don't know," Jovi lamented.Jovi and Yara got married within the 90-day period that Yara's K-1 visa allowed and the couple appears to still be together.According to a screenshot posted by Instagrammer John Yates, Jovi and Yara obtained a marriage license on February 13, 2020, In Touch Weekly reported.Yara and Jovi reportedly exchanged vows in a wedding ceremony in Las Vegas, NV, that same month.Yara told Us Weekly in January 2021 she was "so happy" upon learning she was pregnant because she hoped her baby would look as "handsome" or "beautiful" as Jovi, whom she gushed about being in love with "so much."Jovi and Yara reportedly welcomed their first child together only a few months before Season 8 of premiered on TLC in December 2020, according to In Touch.It appears Yara delivered the couple's child in September 2020.Before viewers saw Yara take a positive pregnancy test on 's eighth season, pregnancy rumors began floating around on December 31 when Yara posted an Instagram photo that appeared to show two unique ornaments on a Christmas tree she was posing next to. (Eagle-eyed fans also pointed out the tree looked like it was in Jovi's New Orleans apartment).One of the ornaments was a baby and the other was a pink heart with the word "mom" written on it.Yara also reportedly created an Amazon baby registry last year under the name "Yara Dufren," which seemingly provided evidence she and Jovi had tied the knot during her K-1 visa trip to the United States.The baby registry was posted on January 4, 2020, according to In Touch, and the items Yara listed were for a baby girl due in September 2020.The registry has since been removed from Amazon.The latest evidence indicating Jovi and Yara are still together is that they will be starring on the upcoming sixth season of : Happily Ever After? premiering Sunday, April 25 on TLC, according to the @fraudedmedia Instagram account formerly called @fraudedbytlc.Jovi also appeared on a March 2021 episode of 90 Day: Bares All and spoke as if he's still in a relationship with Yara, whom Jovi suggested would be angry if she found out he had slept with a stripper before In addition, it's apparent Jovi and Yara's relationship is doing well based on their recent social-media activity. For example, Jovi's Instagram profile picture features Yara.And on Yara's Instagram, her description recently read, "38 country, traveling with my [love]." Jovi had a similar description on his own Instagram page until he changed it in March. He previously wrote that he had been to 57 countries and was "on an adventure to see the world!"Yara also posted a picture of a bedside table decorated with candles and flowers in March. It appeared Jovi may have served Yara cake and coffee in bed in honor of International Women's Day."Happy International Women's Day, my girls, I hope you made your man buy you flowers," Yara captioned her post."In my country, March 8 is a great holiday when women are treated like queens. Women, be sure your man treat you the right way, buy for you flowers, take you to dinner. I do not feel like this is celebrated enough in America."Jovi simultaneously shared a picture of himself on the same day and advised men to treat their girlfriends or wives the way the women deserve to be treated.In mid-December 2020, Yara posted a picture of herself touching her hair, and an Instagram user noticed an engagement ring and wedding ring on Yara's left hand.But when a fan commented, "Ooooooooo a wedding ring," Yara commented, "Not wedding, this is an ordinary ring, I wear it so that the engagement ring does not get lost, because it is big for me."The fan wrote back that Jovi needs to size the ring for Yara, and she replied, "Hahahahah, i was thinking about that, but I newer have time."In early December of last year, Yara posted a photo of herself filming behind-the-scenes and wrote alongside it, "I want Jovi to look at me with the same loving eyes as this woman looks at me in the first photo."Yara also uploaded a photo of herself drinking wine with a cityscape in the background, and Jovi commented with the following flirty response: "Dayummmm. Are you single??"Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, who has worked as a securities lawyer and a derivatives trader. She is currently writing a book about textile artisans.

Italian ministers last week approved a ban on cruise ships entering Venices Giudecca Canal

This measure was enacted in response to a request from UNESCO, and also applies to large container ships, according to the BBC.

Coronavirus has for the moment called a halt to most global cruise ship traffic. But that can be expected to start again once the pandemic is under control.

Does last weeks action mean Venice has conquered its addiction to the cruise ship form of mass tourism?

Alas, thats not to be so. Passengers will still be able to visit La Serenissima, in still excessive numbers, but henceforth, cruise ships must tie up at Marghera, the industrial hub, across the ecologically fragile lagoon.

Even that solution is temporary, until a permanent solution is found  something Venice has been searching for since at least 2013, when a ban on vessels weighing more than 96,000 tonnes from entering the Giudecca Canal was first imposed  and then subsequently overturned  according to the BBC.

According to the NYT:

Citing the need to protect the artistic, cultural and environmental heritage of Venice, the Italian cabinet passed a decree late Wednesday calling for urgent provisions to detour cruise activities and freight traffic. The government mandated that Venices port authority issue a public consultation  described as a call for ideas  to find alternative ports to handle large container ships and cruise ships over 40,000 tons and planned to build a terminal outside the lagoon. Dario Franceschini, Italys culture minister, praised the decision on Thursday, citing the shock of visitors to Venice upon seeing cruise ships hundreds of meters long and as tall as apartment buildings, passing in front of St. Marks Square. He said the governments decision had been influenced by UNESCO, the cultural protection agency of the United Nations, which had long called on Italy to reconcile the balancing of lagoon preservation with the economics of cruise and freight activity.

The Tourist Venice is Venice  or Is It?

Lamenting the impact of tourism on Venice has been standard fare since I first visited the city in September of 1984. At that time, I first absorbed Mary McCarthys observation from at least a generation before, The tourist Venice is Venice.

Hmm, I wonder what the citys residents think about that statement?

Tourism was of course not the citys raison detre when its warriors were potent enough to spearhead the sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the fourth Crusade  sealing that citys decline and bringing back some of its treasures, including the four bronze horse statues  now known as the horses of St. Marks  and other treasures still on display in Venices cathedral. Nor did it apply to the merchants of Venice who controlled the flow of spices to Europe when most of that trade passed through the Mediterranean.

As for now, Im not sure the citys remaining residents  the number of which has dropped by at least half during my lifetime. But I dont know any current residents of the city. So I must rely on a fictional character with which I am well familiar, to imagine that response. I can guess that Venices renowned Commisario Brunetti  the protagonist of of the long-running series of detective novels written by American ex-pat author Donna Leon.  wouldnt agree with McCarthys observation. (The thirtieth in that series was published last month, and I read it just after; Ive read them m all.).

Two of Brunettis longstanding concerns are the impact of tourism on his city and the environmental damage that has continues to be wreaked on Venice and the surrounding lagoon, will be affected by this ban.

So the latest ban seems to me to be more symbolic than of significant consequence -although the initial reaction of environmentalists was to take a victory lap:

We won: big ships out of the lagoon its a law, the No Big Ships Committee proclaimed on its Facebook page. After years of protests, marches, initiatives and trials against committee members, the government had sided with the voices of the city: Big ships are not compatible with the Venetian Lagoon, the committee wrote.

Alas, according to the NYT, the story isnt over yet  a recurring theme that will be familiar to any reader of the Brunetti books, particularly where environmental matters are concerned. Per the NYT:

But even as environmentalists said they felt vindicated by the governments decision, they expressed concerns about the governments plans to temporarily detour cruise ships to the port of Marghera, the industrial hub on the lagoon, until the new mooring station outside the lagoon is built.

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Critics said the decision to detour ships to Marghera, even if temporary, went against the spirit of the government decree. Some were concerned that the canal used by freight ships, which was built in the 1960s, was both too narrow and shallow to handle current big ships. The recent Suez Canal episode should provide ample warning, said Senator Mauro Coltorti, the president of the Senate transport and public works commission. Others feared that spending millions on a passenger terminal risked making it permanent. Still others worried that the canal leading to Marghera would have to be enlarged to accommodate large ships, which would be a kick in the stomach to environmental initiatives, said Maria Rosa Vittadini, a retired professor at the University of Venice.

What Is to Be Done about Mass Tourism?

Notice that these measures focus on keeping cruise ships out of the heart of Venice  yet say nothing about reducing the influx of visitors into the city (once COVID restrictions no longer apply).

In order for the city to survive, it seems to this very casual observer, that it must pioneer a more radical attitude towards mass tourism.

In fact, the citys rulers have in the past pioneered policy innovations that we still follow today. During the fourteenth century, Venice implemented two measures to arrest the spread of bubonic plague. The city first imposed restrictions on ships arriving from cities beset by plague, requiring them to anchor for forty days before entering Venice. The Italian for forty days  quaranta giorni or quarantena  is the origin of the word quarantine. And second, the outlying island of Lazzaretto Nuovo was the landing place for passengers and crew suspected of being plague-stricken, whereas resident plague patients were sequestered on another outlying island, Lazzaretto Vecchio. These infection control innovations  to isolate real or possible sources of contagion  are particularly remarkable, because they predated by hundreds of years the development of any germ-based theory of how infectious diseases spread.

Now, I am well aware of the irony of decrying the impact of mass tourism on Venice when I , too have on several occasions been a happy visitor. Tourism per se isnt necessarily a curse. Huge cruise ships dumping thousands of visitors on the city, for the briefest of visits certainly is. In order for the city to survive another seven centuries will require some lasting solution to its tourism dilemma  and one not limited only to where cruise ships should dock.
Democratic Republic of Congo, the worlds main source of vital battery ingredient cobalt, is also one of the poorest nations. And while its dominated by huge industrial mines, about a fifth of its silvery-blue metal is still hand-dug, in often unregulated and dangerous conditions.

Jean-Dominique Takis Kumbo, the head of the new state cobalt buyer, is determined to change that.

His Entreprise Generale du Cobalt will have a monopoly on all hand-dug cobalt in the central African country, giving it power to improve working conditions and potential control of nearly 15% of the worlds production. Takis says hes hoping thats a market share big enough to help influence cobalt prices the way Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, does with oil, and ultimately boost profit for the state.

You cant speak about the oil sector without speaking of Aramco," Takis, 61, said in an interview. We believe that EGC will introduce the image and identity of Congo to the markets for those involved in cobalt."

Congo accounts for nearly 70% of the global supply of cobalt used in the lithium-ion batteries that power most electric vehicles. The part that is hand-dug, or artisanal, has long been criticized for its dangerous working conditions, with deaths and child labor common. Concerns about the industry have prompted miners and carmakers to reassure customers about ethically mined supplies of the metal -- BMW AG said in 2019 it wont buy metal from artisanal sources, and like Tesla Inc., is among manufacturers backing initiatives to improve conditions at the sites.

Safety Standards

EGC plans to use its monopoly to limit artisanal mining to approved sites that will be monitored to ensure they comply with safety and other standards. Once its up and running, all other buyers of artisanal cobalt will have six months to shut down, Takis said.

The state company will produce about eight thousand tons of cobalt contained in hydroxide form in 2021, with output expanding exponentially" in the years to come, he said.

EGC is partnering with trading house Trafigura Group in a five-year deal to finance the creation and control of artisanal mining zones, ore-purchasing stations and costs related to buying, processing and delivering of cobalt hydroxide to end buyers.

But theres a long way to go for that plan to become a reality. Trafigura is still assessing the investment required to prepare the first accredited mining site.

We foresee a considerable body of work to bring the site up to a level that meets the newly launched EGC standard," a Trafigura spokesperson said Thursday.

Kasulo Site

Takis said mining production at first will be limited to a single site known as Kasulo in Kolwezi, a town 820 miles southeast of the capital Kinshasa.

Kasulo was once a residential neighborhood, but became famous when a resident found cobalt in his yard while digging a latrine. Thousands of artisanal miners descended on the site, partnering with home-owners to dig up their plots in the hopes of striking it rich. The ensuing chaos kick-started a movement to formalize artisanal mining in the country.

The initial investment to prepare the site will cost $15 million, after which EGC hopes to have $7 million to $8 million available per week to purchase and process cobalt into hydroxide form, Takis said.

While Trafigura will prepare all of EGCs cobalt for market, the state company can keep 50% of the output for itself and sell it separately, Takis said. Its also in talks with processing plants in Congo that currently treat artisanal cobalt to switch to EGCs product.

These production plants will, one way or another, come to an agreement with EGC in order to continue to operate," he said.
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.
Last week we learned that, despite the current health restrictions all over the world, the 2021 edition would take place on Sunday, May 23. The difference is that now the format of the event will include just Route Only and Ride Solo events, and will skip mass gatherings.As usual, the ride takes place on various locations around the world, and is open to all those willing to take part. One will have to register first though, and that can be done by accessing this link As said, the event has been up and running for ten years, and for the last eight it has been backed by British bike maker Triumph . So, as a means to celebrate the Distinguished Gentlemans Ride's decade anniversary, Triumph has something special up its sleeve.Four brand new motorcycles from its Modern Classic range will be donated to an equal number of riders, the ones who manage to raise the most money. Of the four, one will be a unique, custom Thruxton RS, whose details will be made available at the time the event takes place.We at Triumph are proud to be the main partner for the Distinguished Gentlemens Ride for the 8th consecutive year, and are also delighted to be celebrating the 10th-year anniversary of the initiative overall, said in a statement Paul Stroud, Triumphs Chief Commercial Officer.As ever, progress to raise awareness and support is even more effective when its a lasting partnership where we can improve and evolve our collective activity year on year.
When dozens of 30-year-old eucalyptus trees along Grand Avenue in downtown Escondido were cut down last year, a view to the east was revealed that for decades had gone unseen.

Looking east down Grand over the soon-to-be demolished former Palomar Hospital is Bottle Peak, a boulder-pocked mountain covered in coastal sage scrub and chaparral.

Its as if the street had been built with the view in mind.

The removal of the eucalyptus trees, which were non-native, invasive anyway, and were killing the rest of the landscape, has really exposed the beauty of the hillsides, said City Councilwoman Olga Diaz during a recent meeting.

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Last May dozens of tall, view blocking eucalyptus trees were removed from the medians along Grand Avenue in Escondidos historic downtown area. (Bill Wechter)

You can see Bottle Peak now, she said. You can stand on Grand Avenue and look toward that direction and see the mountains. It is gorgeous. Since Ive lived here, Ive never seen it that way before. Once the trees were gone, it really made it look more picturesque.

Bottle Peak has played a big role in Escondidos history beginning in the late 1800s, when gold was thought to lie in the hills, said Francis Ryan, an Escondido historian and author in an interview she gave in 1978. No gold was found.

However, a quartz mine did operate from 1897 to about 1914, which included a 67-foot-long tunnel running into the mountainside.

In 1904, a wildfire devastated the peak and surrounding area and prompted U.S. Forest Ranger E.D. Bish eight years later to build the countys first fire lookout tower atop a large rock known as The Devils Anvil at the peaks 2,136-foot summit.

Even before the fire lookout was placed on the rock, locals were calling the mountain Bottle Peak because it looked like a bottle. The fire tower only added to the impression.

A 1967 historical piece in the Escondido Times Advocate said some in the area mistakenly thought the mountain derived its name from a mineral spring bottling operation that once existed in the area.

From it, a great expanse of country can be seen  as far north as Pala, south beyond San Diego, west to the ocean and east to the mountains back of Warner Hot Springs. From it, in clear weather, the forester in charge is able to keep a close watch for forest fires over a big expanse of territory, according to an article published in 1912 in the San Diego Union.

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Bish built the tower with his own money and labor, but was later reimbursed by the forestry department. He was then transferred to Hot Springs Mountain near Warner Springs where he built a similar lookout at the top of the countys highest mountain.

The Bottle Peak lookout was listed as abandoned in a 1938 National Geodetic Survey data sheet, according to the Forest Fire Lookout Association website, but still stood into the 1950s when the wooden structure was destroyed by another fire.

Both the Bottle Peak and Hot Springs Mountain lookouts are gone now, though their foundations still exist.

The Bottle Peak property exchanged hands numerous times over the past 100 years, but became a 418-acre County of San Diego open space preserve, not open to the public, in 2013.

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It is unclear, according to historical records, whether Grand Avenue (it was originally called San Pasqual Road) was built so that a view of the peak would be directly to the east, though most assume so. It should be noted that the same view exists as travellers drive east on E. Valley Parkway.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
ByteDance has told an Indian court that a government freeze on its bank accounts in a probe of possible tax evasion amounts to harassment and was done illegally, according to a filing seen by Reuters.

ByteDance in January reduced its Indian workforce after New Delhi maintained a ban on its popular video app TikTok, imposed last year after a border clash between India and China. Beijing has repeatedly criticised India over that ban and those of other Chinese apps.

An Indian tax intelligence unit in mid-March ordered HSBC and Citibank in Mumbai to freeze bank accounts of ByteDance India as it probed some of the unit`s financial dealings. ByteDance has challenged the freeze on the four accounts in a Mumbai court.

None of ByteDance India`s employees have been paid their March salaries due to the account freeze, said two people familiar with the matter. The company told the court it has a workforce of 1,335, including outsourced personnel.

In the 209-page court filing lodged on March 25, ByteDance told the High Court in Mumbai the authorities acted against the company without any material evidence and gave no prior notice, as required by Indian law, before such "drastic action".

Blocking accounts "during the process of investigation amounts (to) applying undue coercion," ByteDance argued. It is "intended, improperly, to harass the petitioner."

India`s Directorate General of Goods & Services Tax Intelligence, and the finance ministry which oversees it, did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the weekend.

The details of the tax investigation have not previously been reported. The tax agency told ByteDance last year it had reasons to believe the company suppressed certain transactions and claimed excessive tax credits, the filing shows.

ByteDance declined to comment on its court filing but told Reuters on Tuesday it disagrees with the decision of the tax authority. HSBC declined to comment, while Citibank did not respond.

ADVERTISING, OTHER DEALS SCRUTINISED

The court declined to grant ByteDance immediate relief in a brief hearing on Wednesday. The next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

The investigation centres on potential evasion of taxes related to online advertising and other financial dealings between ByteDance India and its parent entity in Singapore, TikTok Pte Ltd. TikTok did not respond to an email seeking comment.

ByteDance told the court its India workforce includes 800 people working in its "trust and safety" team that supports activities like content moderation overseas.

The company has "robust business plans in India and is not contemplating winding up," it said, urging the court to lift the freeze on the accounts.

The tax agency started investigating the company in July. It inspected documents at the company`s office and summoned and questioned at least three executives, the filing says. Authorities also asked ByteDance to submit documents, including invoices and agreements signed with some clients.

ByteDance representatives "appeared multiple times" before tax officers and provided documents, the filing says.

TikTok, one of India`s most popular video apps before it was banned, has faced scrutiny around the world.

Under then-President Donald Trump, the United States alleged the app posed national security concerns. The new administration of Joe Biden has paused a government lawsuit that could have resulted in a de facto ban on TikTok`s use there.
While browsing through Linkedin, today, I stumbled upon a post by one Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande who revealed that his organisation, Deshpande Foundation has constructed over 6000 farm ponds in India in the past five years.

IIT Madras

He further announced that hes working on a program to build 100,000 farm ponds in the next phase -- a project that will amount to Rs 800 crores -- to help farmers increase their income as well as aid in rural development.



But who is Gururaj Deshpande?

Gururaj Deshpande, more commonly known as Desh Pande, is an Indian-American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, known for co-founding Sycamore Networks -- the popular internet equipment manufacturer based out of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. He has also found the Deshpande Centre for Technological Innovation at MIT and the aforementioned Deshpande Foundation.

ALSO READ: Indian Farmers Son-Turned-Innovator Is Helping Farmers Grow Better Crops

Early Life & Academics

Gururaj Deshpande, son of a labour commissioner with the Indian government, was born in Hubli, a small town in Karnataka. He completed his graduation with a degree in Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from the renowned IIT Madras.

He later went on to complete his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, followed by a PhD in Data Communications from Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queens University in Ontario, Canada.

IIT Madras

Shifting to the US

In mid-1980s, Deshpande started working at Codex Corporation -- a subsidiary of telecommunications giant Motorola in Ontario, Canada, which he was offered by his professor of electrical engineering at Queens university, Peter Brackett.

ALSO READ: Indian Researchers Can Stop Stubble Burning, By Decomposing Crops With Fungi

Later, he co-founded Coral Networks -- a company that developed routers. The company was later sold to SunOptics for $15 million. He left the firm before the sale happened in 1993. After co-founding Cascade Communications in 1990 and selling it to Ascend Communications for $3.7 billion in 1997, he teamed up with MIT researchers to launch Sycamore Networks in 1998.

Within a year, Sycamore went public, in 1999, raising market capitalization of $18 billion. He owned 21 percent shareholding and this IPO made him one of the wealthiest self-made businessmen in the world. He was also featured in Forbes 400 listing of most richest Americans.

Currently hes the Chairman of A123Systems which is responsible for manufacturing high-power lithium-ion batteries.

Deshpande Centre for Technological Innovation

Gururaj Deshpande along with his wife, Jaishree (sister of philanthropist Mrs Sudha Murthy) donated $20 million to set up the Deshpande Centre for Technological Innovation at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He even set up the Deshpande Foundation that works on creating social and economic impact through entrepreneurship and innovation. He still serves as a life-member of the MIT Corporation.

Deshpande Foundation

ALSO READ: Agriculture Output Dropped 21% In Past 60 Years Due To Climate Change

Together, they also established Deshpande Center for Social Entrepreneurship in India; EforAll (formerly known as the Merrimack Valley Sandbox) in Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts, the Pond-Deshpande Center at the University of New Brunswick in Canada, the Dunin Deshpande Queens Innovation Center at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario and the Gopalakrishnan Deshpande Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, India.



Awards and accolades

Deshpande is the recipient of the 2013 IEEE Ernst Weber Managerial Leadership Award. Gururaj Deshpande also supported former US President Barack Obama's innovation and entrepreneurship strategy during his time with the National Council from 2010 to 2015.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton says the federal government wants to work collaboratively with China to ensure ongoing peace in the Indo-Pacific, while warning Beijing that it will not stand for the militarisation of ports in the region or any country exerting influence via cyber attacks.

Mr Dutton, appointed to the defence portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle last week, said Australia was committed to achieving stability and peace across the region following warnings from former United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo that Beijing could launch military action against Taiwan within years.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton says Australia wants to work closely with Beijing to ensure peace in the region. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

He told Sky News Australia on Sunday that Australia would work with its key partners in the Indo-Pacific  the United States, Japan and India  to ensure the region remained free of conflict, but its approach would not be antagonistic.

Obviously China has held long-term ambition in regards to Taiwan. We want to make sure that there is peace in our region, that we can work in a collaborative way with the Chinese Communist Party ... to make sure we can work with others across the region, Mr Dutton said.
 Flash

At least six people were killed and four others wounded in a suicide bombing in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Saturday evening.

Ismael Mukhtar Omar, spokesman in the ministry of information, said three women and a child were among those killed when a suicide bomber blew up himself at a restaurant in the vicinity of Shangani of Mogadishu.

"Six people, among them three women and a child, were killed and four others injured this evening when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a tea shop in Shangani neighborhood," Omar told Xinhua over phone.

He said the motive of the suicide bomber had not been established but sources said he could have targeted a police station or a government ministry, which are located near the scene.

The latest attack came hours after Somali National Army (SNA) said its forces killed more than 85 al-Shabab fighters and arrested 15 others in early Saturday's terrorist attacks on two SNA bases in the Lower Shabelle region.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin joins Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney and Lord Mayor Hazel Chu Dignitaries at the GPO, Dublin, for the Easter 1916 Commemoration (Handout/PA)

A seismic uprising which prompted a series of events leading to the independence of Ireland has been marked 105 years on.

Irish President Michael D Higgins led the commemorations of the Easter Rising from his official residence, Aras an Uachtarain.

A second non-public event was held at the GPO on OConnell Street in Dublin, one of the main sites of the rebellion against British rule in 1916.

On Easter Sunday, 4 April, President Michael D. Higgins will lead a commemoration ceremony marking the 105th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.https://t.co/fIKPnyzMPM pic.twitter.com/cXYLxt9nvN  President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) April 1, 2021

For a second year in a row, events were adapted to abide by coronavirus regulations.

President Higgins rang the Peace Bell before laying a wreath at a group of 16 birch trees that were planted in 2019 in memory of the executed Rising leaders.

The laying of the wreath was followed by a minutes silence, commemorating those who died in the Rising as well as the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Privileged to be at the #GPO today for the reading of the Proclamation and Commemoration of the Easter Rising. #staysafe a@defenceforcesa pic.twitter.com/KQ8DWityEu  Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) April 4, 2021

Taoiseach Micheal Martin attended the event at the GPO which featured a military ceremony, music, prayers and a performance of the National Anthem by soprano Claudia Boyle.

The proclamation was read by Captain Marie Carrigy from Co Longford.

The southern 26 counties in Ireland went on to become independent of British rule in 1922, and later became a republic in 1949 while the northern six counties remain part of the United Kingdom.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday after a significant leak at a large pond of wastewater threatened to flood roads and burst a system that stores polluted waters.

More than 300 homes were evacuated and a highway was closed Saturday after the leak was discovered on Friday at the old Piney Point phosphate mine in the Tampa Bay area north of Bradenton.

Residents who live around the reservoir received an alert via text from officials telling them to leave the area immediately because the collapse was 'imminent.'

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said the break was detected in one of the walls of a 77-acre pond that is 25 feet deep and holds millions of gallons of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen from the old phosphate plant.

However, officials said in a statement that the main concern from the collapse would be flooding, calling the water being discharged 'slightly acidic.'

The pond where the leak was discovered is at the old Piney Point phosphate mine, sitting in a stack of phosphogypsum, a waste product from manufacturing fertilizer that is radioactive. It contains small amounts of naturally occurring radium and uranium, and the stacks can also release large concentrations of radon gas.

Authorities had expanded the evacuation area later on Saturday to include more homes, but said they were not planning to open shelters after efforts to plug the hole were unsuccessful.

Gov DeSantis will travel to the area Sunday to meet with officials and to give an update.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday after a significant leak at a large pond of wastewater threatened to flood roads and burst a system that stores polluted waters. The pond where the leak was discovered is at the old Piney Point phosphate mine, sitting in a stack of phosphogypsum, a waste product from manufacturing fertilizer that is radioactive

A video shows 11,000 gallons of Piney Point process water being released, per minute, near Port Manatee in Florida

The video shows water coming from one of two pumps operating in the wake of the disastrous leak this weekend

Residents were ordered to 'evacuate immediately' on Saturday as workers tried to drain the water into nearby Tampa Bay in an attempt to prevent the collapse

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Saturday as officials ordered at least 300 homes to evacuate

An Instagram user posts a photo of the alert on April 3, 2021 after a breach of untreated wastewater at an old phosphate mine at Piney Point in Bradenton, Florida

'The water meets water quality standards for marine waters with the exception of pH, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and total ammonia nitrogen,' the state said in a statement.

'It is slightly acidic, but not at a level that is expected to be a concern, nor is it expected to be toxic.'

Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said at a press conference on Saturday that the water could flood the area, which he said was agricultural and low in population density.

'We are talking about the potential of about 600 million gallons within a matter of seconds and minutes leaving that retention pool and going around the surrounding area,' Hopes said.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein said: 'While this water meets most water quality standards for marine waters, there are elevated levels of nutrients and the water is acidic. However, the water is not radioactive.'

Jaclyn Lopez, Florida Director of the Center for Biological Diversity told Bay 9 News: 'This is nothing that should come as any surprise to officials that have been monitoring this phosphogypsum stack.

'It has had a series and history of repeated leaks and breaches and discharges into Tampa Bay and this latest is the most alarming because it's caused this public notice that's forced the evacuation and the governor to declare a state of emergency.'

Hopes added that the the pond is 'basically salt water' but said if the pond collapses, there is a risk it could destabilize the walls of other areas in the plant that could pose much more hazardous problems.

The wastewater in the other ponds would need to be treated to reduce ammonium content and other materials.

'We saw ducks yesterday, there are snooks swimming in there. It's sustaining wildlife. Thats not the case for the other two pools,' he said of the pond with the leak.

Manatee County Director of Public Safety Jake Saur told CBS News: 'A portion of the containment wall at the leak site shifted laterally, signifying that structural collapse could occur at any time.'

Residents who live around the Piney Point reservoir received a text message alert on Saturday telling them to leave the area immediately because the collapse was 'imminent.'

Officials brought in rocks and materials to plug the hole in the pond late Friday into Saturday, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

Sen. Rick Scott tweeted: 'I continue to monitor the situation closely and will work to secure any federal assistance deemed necessary by state and local officials. All Manatee County residents should remain alert and follow state and local guidance.'

Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes said at a press conference on Saturday that the water could flood the area, which he said was agricultural and low in population density

A new expanded emergency evacuation order was sent out to an area around Piney Point, the former phosphate mine on Saturday

This photo shows the old Piney Point phosphate mine on Saturday in Bradenton, Florida

The plant has reportedly struggled with leaks and other issues 'for more than fifty years'

The evacuation area around Piney Point has expanded and residents within this area are being sent an emergency alert to evacuate now

Workers have been pumping out thousands of gallons per minute to bring the volume down in the event the pond bursts. Pumping the entire pond would take 10 to 12 days.

Others have been working to chart the path to control how the water flows from the pond into the Tampa Bay.

'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.

DeSantis' declaration of a state of emergency allocates more pumps and cranes to the area.

Some officials are concerned that pumping the water into Tampa Bay could case algae blooms, WOGX reported. Aerial video from the outlet show the water flowing out of the retention pond as it is pumped out.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried urged the governor in a letter to convene an emergency session of the state cabinet to discuss a plan, adding that this property has seen similar leaks in the past.

'For more than fifty years, this Central Florida mining operation has caused numerous human health and environmental disasters and incidents,' Fried said in the letter.

Manatee County Commissioners announced the complete evacuation in a statement on Twitter

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried urged the governor in a letter to convene an emergency session of the state cabinet to discuss a plan

Aerial video from WOGX shows the water flowing out of the retention pond as it is pumped out in Florida

Those incidents include 'evacuations from sulfuric acid leaks, deaths of multiple employees, the release of more than 1 billion gallons of contaminated wastewater, and ongoing, regular gypsum stack and reservoir leaks.'

She blamed the leaks on 'poor construction and maintenance that released heavy metals and pollutants into the region's water and soil.

'The immediate evacuation of residents, disruption of families during Easter weekend, and potential environmental catastrophe requires the attention and action of Florida's statewide elected leadership,' Fried said.

The site has long been considered 'one of the biggest environmental threats in Florida history,' according to the Florida Phoenix.

Piney Point's previous owner, Mulberry Corp., had long declared bankruptcy and abandoned the plant, the Florida Phoenix reported.

HRK Holdings bought it for $4.3 million from Mulberry Corp. in 2006 as part of bankruptcy proceedings.

Since then, HRK has 'been in and out of bankruptcy' itself, the Florida Phoenix reported. HRK did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

HRK Holdings LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it suffered a leak in a gypsum stack liner in 2011 in Manatee County, Bradenton.com reported.

Another 2011 spill at Piney Point was twice as large as estimated as it leaked nearly 170 million gallons of seawater contaminated with heavy metals into Bishop Harbor and lower Tampa Bay, Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported at the time.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection told the outlet at the time that cadmium 'was initially found in the water at a level more than nine times above the state safety standard.'

Axios reported that site manager Jeff Barath 'appeared to fight back tears' while addressing the leak with county commissioners about the latest leak.

'There will likely be impacts in Tampa Bay,' he told the commission.

The phosphate processing plant was first built in 1966 by the Borden Chemical Company and it was later owned by Royster Phosphates, WTSP reported.

The Mulberry Corp. bought it at some point in the 1990s and abandoned it in 2001, according to the outlet.

In 2016, more than 200 million gallons of contaminated waste water from another fertilizer plant in central Florida leaked into one of the states main aquifers after a massive sinkhole opened up in a pond of a phosphogypsum stack.

People took to Twitter on Saturday to react to the news of the leak at the Piney Point plant in Bradenton, Florida

There are at least 70 gypsum stacks in the United States and about 27 in Florida, mostly in the region of west-central Florida.

The wastewater stored in the gypsum stacks can't be seen from the ground as the piles surrounding the structure can go as high as 500 feet.

People took to Twitter on Saturday to react to the news of the leak at the Piney Point plant.

'Reading up on this Piney Point spill. Possible radioactive waste getting into the ecosystem. Can't wait till the radioactive gators hit Miami,;' one Twitter user quipped.

Another said: 'Did you hear what happened in Florida? Windmills and other green energy caused a toxic spill in Piney Point. Damn progressives. #sarcasm.'

'Piney point is exactly why they have to pass this infrastructure bill,' wrote a Twitter user named Debra, referring to a controversial $2.2trillion plan.

Another Twitter user, @aPositiveRealist, said: 'HRK Holdings down in Piney Point is actively dumping hundreds of thousands of untreated radioactive waste into the bay because of a breach in the holdings tanks they have refused to process properly due to $. All with government support!'

Another joked: 'Sure wish I lived in a @GOP run state right now.'

'Not to be outdone by the total collapse of Texas thanks to, yeah, snowflakes Florida welcomes full on radioactive waste at piney point,' @Nothing02346402 tweeted.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 20:12:11|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The confirmed COVID-19 cases in Japan increased by 2,471 to reach 485,775 as of Sunday evening, according to the latest figures from the health ministry and local authorities.

The death toll in Japan from the pneumonia-causing virus currently stands at 9,249, with 12 new fatalities announced Sunday.

The health ministry also said there are 431 patients considered severely ill with ventilators or in intensive care units.

In Osaka, Miyagi and Hyogo prefectures where stricter anti-virus measures will be implemented from Monday for one month to tackle a resurgence of COVID-19 infections under a revised law, new infections increased by 593, 80 and 211 cases respectively.

The stronger measures that can be taken by the three prefectures include imposing fines on bars and restaurants that ignore orders to shorten their operating hours.

Businesses will also be urged to promote remote working for their employees, and large spectator events will also have the numbers of attendees capped at 5,000.

As for the capital of Tokyo, 355 new cases were reported on Sunday, with the cumulative total reaching 122,702, the highest among the country's 47 prefectures.

On Sunday, the National Governors' Association held an online meeting, urging the central government to take stronger measures to tackle the nationwide spread of the virus variants as well as a spate of cluster infections recently. Enditem
Scientists have discovered debris of an ancient protoplanet called Theia that likely crashed into the Earth some 4.5 billion years ago. The crash generated shrapnel into space that likely led to the formation Moon. Arizona State University scientists have now found huge blobs of rock and metal, and ancient fragments which they described were millions of times larger than Mount Everest in terms of volume". In new research published in the journal Nature on April 3, scientists revealed that pieces 621 miles tall and two to three times as wide, interpreted as subducted slabs, were discovered in southern Asia and the circum-Pacific's lower mantle transition zone. Researchers employed the complex global mantle convection model and used knowledge of the plate motion history to unveil these stagnant slabs and investigated the critical question about its origin.

[Credit: Twitter/@SEDI_AGU]

Scientists found the presence of a thin, weak layer at the phase change boundary of the slabs, and eventually detected gargantuan masses with two giant blobs, known as low-shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) hundreds of kilometers tall, embedded in the Earth. The continent-sized rocks underneath the pacific ocean and Africa got trapped several thousand years ago between the tectonic plates. Several such blobs out of Samoan and Icelandic volcanoes have made the scientific community curious. The remains of the protoplanet are the "largest thing in the Earths mantle, says Qian Yuan, a Ph.D. student in geodynamics at Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe.

[The Giant Impact hypothesis for the origin of the LLSVPs. Credit: Li et al. journal]

Reduced seismic waves from earthquakes

These denser and chemically different mantle rocks were also found slowing the seismic waves from earthquakes as they were trapped in Earths primordial magma ocean. They could be dense puddles of primitive mantle rock that survived the trauma of the Moon-forming impact, researchers speculated, adding that LLSVPs are in themselves a type of alien impactors. This crazy idea is at least possible, Yuan, who presented the hypothesis at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference stated.

Separately, a seismologist at ASU Tempe, Edward Garnero said it was the first time scientists discovered such multiple lines of evidence. Another geochemist at the University of California (UC), Sujoy Mukhopadhyay, referred to volcanic lavas found in Iceland and Samoa islands that he said existed since the time of the Moon-forming impact and had strange radioactive elements that were formed 100 million years ago. A geophysicist at UC Berkeley Harriet Lau noted that these LLSVPs were dense at the earth's bottom and needed 'deep imaging'. However, it is yet to establish whether underground blobs were remnant shards of Theia and rocks from the Moons mantle could provide clearer evidence.

(Image Credit: Twitter/ @thwbecker)
EDWARDSVILLE  Southern Illinois University Edwardsville nursing students are rallying around their former classmate Moneer Damra to raise funds that will help keep his legacy alive.

Damra was tragically killed in January during a random act of gun violence off campus. The standout student and ROTC Cadet left an indelible mark on all with whom he associated.
News

Houston, Texas - A federal grand jury in Houston, Texas, returned an indictment on March 17, 2021, charging Michael Andrew McCann with conspiring to defraud the United States, endeavoring to obstruct the IRS, failing to file tax returns, and making false bankruptcy declarations.

The grand jury also returned an indictment charging Toni Gale Engeling with conspiring to defraud the United States and obstructing the grand jury. The defendants made their initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam Sheldon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

According to the indictment, McCann is a dentist in Brazoria and Engeling is a bookkeeper and McCanns sister. From 2010 to 2015, McCann and Engeling allegedly employed a variety of methods to prevent the IRS from assessing and collecting McCanns individual income taxes, including using nominee entities, commingling personal and business finances, and lying to the IRS. The indictment further alleges that McCann corruptly endeavored to obstruct IRS collection efforts as early as 2002; that McCann made false declarations on schedules he filed in connection with multiple bankruptcy cases; and that McCann willfully failed to file tax returns for the years 2014 through 2018. The indictment further alleges that in September 2019, Engeling obstructed the grand jurys investigation into McCann by making false and misleading statements.

If convicted, McCann faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge; five years in prison for each charge of bankruptcy fraud; three years in prison for the IRS obstruction charge; and one year for each charge of willful failure to file. If convicted, Engeling faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and ten years in prison for the grand jury obstruction charge.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Departments Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Jen Ihlo and Trial Attorneys Mitchell Galloway and William Guappone of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.
WASHINGTON  The Biden administration on Saturday put Johnson & Johnson in charge of a troubled Baltimore manufacturing plant that ruined 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine and moved to stop the plant from making another vaccine by AstraZeneca, senior federal health officials said.

The extraordinary move by the Department of Health and Human Services came just days after officials had learned that Emergent BioSolutions, a contract manufacturer that has been making both the Johnson & Johnson and the AstraZeneca vaccines, mixed up ingredients from the two, which led regulators to delay authorization of the plants production lines.

By moving the AstraZeneca vaccine out, two senior federal health officials said, the plant can be solely devoted to the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine and avoid future mishaps.

The Department of Health and Human Services directed Johnson & Johnson to install a new leadership team to oversee all aspects of production and manufacturing at the Emergent Baltimore plant, the officials said. The company said in a statement that it was assuming full responsibility for the vaccine made at the Emergent plant.
The Chicago police said that officers were called shortly after 2:30 a.m. on March 29 to an address in the Little Village, a heavily Latino neighborhood on Chicagos west side, responding to reports of gunfire. The officers saw two people in an alley and started chasing them.

One, a 21-year-old man, was arrested, the authorities said. An officer pursuing Adam fired his gun once, striking him in the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Soon after the shooting, police officials described an armed confrontation and shared a photograph on social media of a firearm resting on the ground.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said initially that although the shooting had been captured by the officers body camera, it would not make the footage public. The agency said it was abiding by a longstanding practice of not releasing video in cases involving minors, but that 911 calls and police reports, among other evidence related to the case, would be released within 60 days of the shooting. Nothing about the identity of the officers has been released.

Pressure to share the video quickly intensified from activists and City Hall.

Were going to be out here every day until that tape is released, Enrique Enriquez, a resident of the Little Village neighborhood, said during a vigil last week.

Chicagos mayor, Lori Lightfoot, said in a series of posts on Twitter that we must release any relevant videos as soon as possible, adding that transparency and speed are crucial in an investigation as sensitive as this one. Ms. Lightfoot was criticized and later apologized in December after her administration attempted to block the airing of body camera footage from a botched police raid.

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, Ms. Lightfoot said on Thursday, adding, The facts and the circumstances around this case are under investigation, but we must ask ourselves how our social safety net failed this boy leading up to the tragic events in the early hours of Monday morning.

David O. Brown, the Chicago police superintendent, also urged investigators to release as much video as the law would allow. He said that a fatal encounter between an officer and a minor had been my greatest fear, and he noted a rise in violence involving juveniles in the city.
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said work is progressing at a steady pace on the 950MW Phase Four of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) project globally that features the worlds tallest solar power tower standing at 262.44 m.

Around 87 per cent of the work on the solar tower has already been completed clocking 10 million safe working hours without injuries, it stated.

Dewa said the Phase Four of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site investment project that combines CSP and photovoltaic technology using the IPP model, and is rated for 950MW.

It is being developed on a Independent Power Producer (IPP) model with investments of up to AED15.78 billion ($4.3 billion).

For this phase, it will use 700MW of CSP (600MW from a parabolic basin complex, 100MW from the solar power tower) and 250MW from photovoltaic solar panels.

On its completion, the project will have the largest thermal storage capacity in the world of 15 hours, allowing for energy availability round the clock. The 4th phase will provide clean energy for around 320,000 residences and reduce 1.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa, said: "Up to 82.7% of the overall projects first phase has been completed. This includes the solar power tower, the parabolic basin complex, and the photovoltaic solar panels."

"The concrete part of the solar power tower is also now complete at a height of 222 m, stated Al Tayer while inspecting the progress at the Phase Four of the MBR Solar Park.

The Molten Salt Receiver (MSR) is the centre and the most important part of the solar plant. It receives solar radiation and turns it into thermal energy, he added.

The MSR was built and assembled on top of the worlds highest solar tower in a remarkable construction process in June last year.

Al Tayer pointed out that the work on pallets and tubes that transfer the molten salt inside the solar tower has been fully completed.

Al Tayer later reviewed the work progress at the Visitors Centre of the Phase Four of the solar park. He was accompanied by a number of executive vice presidents and officials at Dewa.

Abdul Hamid Al Muhaidib, Executive Managing Director of Noor Energy 1, briefed Al Tayer on the work progress in the project.

Noor Energy 1 is owned by Dewa, Acwa Power from Saudi Arabia, and the Silk Road Fund, which is owned by the Chinese Government. The visit discussed the construction workflow and continuity for this strategic project.
There has been condemnation following a further night of disorder in Northern Ireland.

Police came under attack in Newtownabbey on the outskirts of Belfast on Saturday after violent scenes in the Sandy Row area in the city as well as Londonderry on Friday.

Police said it was the fifth consecutive night of disorder in Derry on Friday where 12 officers were injured by a large group of youths and young adults throwing masonry, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks.

What is the point in this? Destroying your own communities is not the way to protest or vent. Why is it always our @PoliceServiceNI colleagues who face the brunt of this pointless violence? @naomi_long @NIPolicingBoard pic.twitter.com/QGmNsjek3u  Police Federation for Northern Ireland (@PoliceFedforNI) April 3, 2021

Some 27 police officers were injured on Friday night across Belfast and Derry.

In Newtownabbey on Saturday a number of cars were hijacked and set on fire in the ONeill/Doagh Road area.

Officers on the scene were attacked with petrol bombs and fireworks.

Alliance Party MLA John Blair condemned the violence and called for calm.

Serious disorder at O'Neill/Doagh Rd Newtownabbey and Police in front line as usual. This is to be utterly condemned and has happened at this location, for different reasons, previously. A need for calm and for parents to check where their children are. pic.twitter.com/wNNoiKhAW4  John Blair MLA (@JohnBlairMLA) April 3, 2021

This is to be utterly condemned and has happened at this location, for different reasons, previously.

A need for calm and for parents to check where their children are, he said.

On the same night, a security alert in Larne, Co Antrim was declared to be a hoax.

The scenes come amid 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.

DUP leader Arlene Foster and other unionist parties have condemned the violence.

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly claimed the disturbances were a direct consequence of the actions of political unionism.

The disturbances in loyalist areas across the north are an outworking of the DUPs rhetoric and undermining of the PSNI and criminal justice system, he said.

By their words and actions they have sent a very dangerous message to young people in loyalist areas.

The DUP and political unionist leaders need to show leadership and end the incendiary rhetoric.

Meanwhile seven people have been charged with riot after the disturbances in the Sandy Row area.

Four adults, three men, aged 25, 21 and 18 years old, and a woman, aged 19, have been charged with riot.

All four are due to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court on April 30.

Three teenagers, aged 17, 14 and 13, have also been charged with riot.

They are due to appear at Belfast Youth Court on April 30.

As is normal procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

An eighth person arrested in connection with the unrest on Friday night, a man aged 19, has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Visakhapatnam, April 4 : The ongoing hunger strike staged by all-party trade unions against the Centre's decision to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), continued for a third consecutive day here on Sunday.

Leaders of various trade unions and Joint Action Committee (JAC) of people's organizations are participating in the strike at the Gandhi Statue near GVMC office, demanding the Centre to withdraw its decision.

Defence Coordination Committee of the employees working in defence public sector undertakings also extended their support to the protest.

Speaking on the occasion, Defence Coordination Committee chairman Reddy Venkatrao demanded that the Centre withdraw its decision to destroy public sector companies.

He said privatization in defence sector was not in the interest of the country. He alleged that BJP which call themselves great patriots were busy looting the economy.

Earlier, the Committee had organised a padyatra. Large number of workers and employees participated and demanded that privatization of defence sector, VSP and public sector companies be stopped immediately.

Meanwhile, leaders from Telangana are also extending support to the protest.

Senior Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao visited the strike camp and called upon people to step up their agitation against the Centre's decision to sell off national assets.

The former MP said the Centre's move was condemnable as the plant was achieved with lot of sacrifices by people.

He pointed that steel plant was providing direct and indirect employment to 40,000 people while another 4 lakh people are depending on it.

Hanumantha Rao said people were once again ready to make sacrifices to protect the steel plant.
Uber has been ordered to pay out $1.1 million to a blind woman who says that she was denied rides 14 times by drivers who refused to allow her guide dog in their vehicles.

Lisa Irving, a San Francisco resident, won the judgement in a binding arbitration ruling after Uber drivers repeatedly refused her service over her Golden Retriever service dog named Bernie.

Uber strongly disagrees with the ruling, after the arbitrator rejected the company's argument that its drivers are independent contractors and it is not responsible for their conduct.

The case went to arbitration rather than a civil court because all Uber users agree to binding arbitration to settle disputes as part of Uber's terms of service.

Lisa Irving (left) won a $1.1M binding arbitration ruling after Uber drivers repeatedly refused her service over her Golden Retriever service dog named Bernie (right)

'I'm sorry it came to this,' Irving told the San Francisco Chronicle about the case. 'I would have preferred that my civil rights be respected. But it sends a strong message that this is not acceptable and (entities that discriminate) will be held accountable for their actions until they change.'

In arbitration filings, Irving told how Uber drivers repeatedly left her stranded, ruining a birthday celebration and causing her to miss a Christmas Eve church service.

The incidents also caused her to miss appointments for her work as a liaison to people with mental health challenges, she said.

'It was telling me I don't belong; that I don't have a right to live my life on my own terms and do the same things any other individual would have the autonomy to decide to do,' Irving said.

The Americans With Disabilities Act has strict prohibitions against refusing service to blind individuals who make use of guide dogs.

The arbitrator awarded Irving $324,000 in damages plus legal expenses of $805,313.

In arbitration filings, Irving told how Uber drivers repeatedly left her stranded, ruining a birthday celebration and causing her to miss a Christmas Eve church service

Irving (left) is legally blind. The Americans With Disabilities Act has strict prohibitions against refusing service to blind individuals who make use of guide dogs

Uber said that it disagreed with the ruling, saying that its drivers are not employees.

'We are proud Uber's technology has helped people who are blind locate and obtain rides,' Uber told the Chronicle.

'Drivers using the Uber app are expected to serve riders with service animals and comply with accessibility and other laws, and we regularly provide education to drivers on that responsibility.'

Uber said it prohibits discrimination and requires its drivers to transport service animals and comply with all accessibility laws.

Irving's attorney said that it did not matter whether Uber drivers are gig workers or formal employees of the company.

'The arbitrator said it's irrelevant whether they are independent contractors or employees  Uber is on the hook under the ADA,' attorney Cat Cabalo told the Chronicle.

'They are providing a transportation service to the public. The ADA has very strict requirements on allowing service dogs to travel with people they assist.'
Traffic light holidays plan could see Brits 'swap Spain for Bahrain' this summer

Traffic light holidays plan could see Brits 'swap Spain for Bahrain' this summer

Agencies | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

British holidaymakers could be swapping trips to Spain for exotic getaways in Bahrain under a new traffic light travel system, it has been reported.

Slower vaccination rates in parts of Europe have dampened hopes of sunny holidays on the continent this summer.

But with its rapid jab rate, the Gulf state is likely to get a green light under the travel plans to be revealed next week.

Hotspots for British travellers will be ranked under the new green, amber and red system - with green light destinations those where Covid rates are low and jab rates high.

Amber destinations are likely to require 10 days of self-isolation on return, while red destinations would see travellers needing to fork out over 1,000 for government-appointed hotel quarantine.

urrently, the US, Gulf states and Israel are likely to be classed as green thanks to their jab rollouts, reports the Sun.

Israel leads the world with 110 doses per 100 residents, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 84.1 and Bahrain with 46 per 100.

America has 44.6, Britain 52.4 and Malta is Europes second best at 37.

Other destinations such as Malta, Gibraltar, Portugal, Canada and Barbados could all be put into the lowest category because of their plans to vaccinate half the adult population by mid-May.

Three other popular destinations, Spain, Greece and Turkey, would reportedly be on the amber list, which includes quarantine measures.

It is likely that huge popular holiday destinations in France and Italy will be off limits, as both countries battle spiralling Covid cases and deaths amid a third wave.

Next week, Boris Johnson is also expected to reveal more on the suggested use of vaccine passports for travel.

Mr Johnson has refused to be drawn on whether Covid certificates will be needed domestically - but has already said they'll be needed for foreign trips.

Speaking at a B&Q in Middlesbrough, Mr Johnson said: "There's definitely going to be a world in which international travel will use vaccine passports.

"You can see already that other countries, the aviation industry, are interested in this and there's a logic to that.

"I think when it comes to trying to make sure that we give maximum confidence to businesses and customers in the UK, there are three things - there's immunity whether you have had it before so you have natural antibodies, whether you have been vaccinated, and of course whether you have had a test."
ONE of our proudest boasts as a community will be if we can become known as an age-friendly one.

Of course, in a large number of ways, Cork is age friendly, but we must always seek to advance in terms of services and facilities.

Cork County Councils Library and Arts Services has rolled out the Age Friendly Libraries Digital Ambassadors Programme.

Launched recently by Mary Butler, TD, state minister with responsibility for mental health and older people, the programme will see digital ambassadors deliver remote tutoring to older people, either online or over the phone, to help them join, and engage with, the librarys online services.

The scheme, developed in partnership by Age Friendly Ireland and Libraries Ireland, aims to support older people in accessing the wealth of online library resources, such as e-newspapers, e-magazines, e-books, audiobooks, podcasts, and many more learning resources.

The programme will also facilitate older people to participate in online activities, such as classes, meetings, and book clubs, enabling continuous community participation from home.

It has been inspirational to see so many of our senior citizens, who might previously not have bothered with technology, or who might have doubted their ability to master it, throw themselves into learning about it, and engaging with it, since the Covid-19 pandemic forced us into lockdowns.

Their mastery of the various devices and apps has enhanced their own lives and those of their family members.

Mayor of the County of Cork Mary Linehan Foley was quite right when she welcomed news of the Age Friendly Libraries Digital Ambassadors Programme, saying: Libraries play a vital role for communities in County Cork, providing a public space, freely accessible, in which people of all ages can relax, learn, and grow.

Although physical access is restricted, it has never been more important for our library service to be accessible.

I am immensely proud of the work that Cork County Councils library staff have done in removing barriers to accessibility, particularly over the past 12 months.

This latest programme of digital ambassadors is a welcome, and hugely important, addition to connect older people with their library, while also enhancing their digital skills.

Our libraries, both in the county and the city, have done amazing work during this pandemic and librarians and staff deserve enormous credit.

This latest scheme is another wonderful initiative, one of many rolled out in the city and county.

To avail of the Cork County Library Service Digital Ambassador Programme, contact your local library branch on 021 4546499, or email corkcountylibrary@corkcoco.ie. Cork County Councils Covid-19 community support helpline continues to be available for practical support and assistance, by calling FREE to 1800 805 819, text 085 8709010, or email covidsupport@corkcoco.ie.
By Hamid Shalizi

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will put forward a three-phase peace roadmap for Afghanistan during a proposed meeting in Turkey, seeking an agreement with the Taliban and a ceasefire before elections, a document seen by Reuters shows.

Washington is pushing for a conference to be hosted by Turkey, with U.N. involvement, this month to finalise a peace deal between the government and the Taliban as a May 1 deadline looms for the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

Ghani's plan will be presented as a counter to proposals put forward by Washington, rejected by the Afghan government, that envisage immediately drawing up a new legal system for an interim administration to include Taliban representatives.

The document shows Ghani's "Reaching an Endstate" proposal will include, in the first phase, a consensus on a political settlement and an internationally monitored ceasefire.

Related: U.S. Defense Secretary meets Afghan president

The second phase will be holding a presidential election and the establishment of a "government of peace" and implementation arrangements for moving towards the new political system.

The third phase will involve building a "constitutional framework, reintegration of refugees and development" for Afghanistan moving forward.

A senior government official said Ghani has already shared his road map with foreign capitals.

A date for the Turkey meeting is yet to be decided, but multiple sources told Reuters it could take place in two weeks' time.

The Afghan government and a number of politicians said they would have to agree on an agenda with the Taliban before the meeting.

In a statement last month, the Taliban threatened to resume hostilities against foreign troops in Afghanistan if they did not meet the May 1 deadline envisaged in an agreement between the insurgents and the Trump administration last year.

Story continues

U.S. President Joe Biden said this month it would be "hard" to withdraw the last U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1 "just in terms of tactical reasons", but he said he did not think they still would be there next year.

A senior government official said the Taliban was willing to extend the May 1 dateline and would not resume attacks against foreign forces in exchange for the release of thousands of their prisoners held by the Kabul authorities.

Mohammad Naeem, a Taliban spokesman in Qatar, said no such offer had been made.

(Additional reporting by Orooj Hakimi and Qadir Sediqi; Editing by Alison Williams)
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  The second of two teenage girls has been found safe after an Amber Alert was issued for the pair last weekend, according to New Mexico State Police.

State Police spokesman Dusty Francisco said on Saturday that Jaylynn Miller, 16, has been found safe. Zuriah Castillo, 14, was found safe earlier this week.

The Amber Alert was issued on March 27 after authorities said they believed the pair had been kidnapped from a gas station near the Santo Domingo Pueblo.

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New Delhi, April 4 : Known to play around with legal systems the world over as a child would play with his toys, Charles Sobhraj has often been portrayed as one of the most enigmatic criminal masterminds on screen. Films and series have dwelled upon his run as an alleged serial killer, and accounts describe him as an escape artiste and master of disguises.

Given the eventful life he led, Sobhraj has automatically drawn the interest of storytellers on screen. Born to a Vietnamese mother and a Sindhi father, fictional and documentary accounts of his life have often cited a neglected childhood as areason for his subsequent persona. Reports of his serial killings earned himthe name Bikini Killer, and his cunning disposition fetched him sobriquets as Serpent, Cobra and Snake. After multiple jailbreaks over the years, his final capture, too, was no less dramatic than his life.

Cinema and tele-series -- including the Bollywood attempt "Main Aur Charles" and the new web series "The Serpent" -- have not surprisingly set up a picture of awe when it comes to Sobhraj, though people who have met him tend to underplay the glamorising.

Top cop Amod Kanth, who was then Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime (Delhi), says it was made amply clear to Sobhraj that he was being treated as "an ordinary criminal". Senior journalist Kumkum Chadha, one of the few members of the press to have known Sobhraj on a one-to-on basis after she was approached byhim through his late lawyer to write his biography, feels a big reason he managed to escape from prison is because the system was corrupt and inefficient. Prawaal Raman, director of the film "Main Aur Charles", describes the experience of meeting Charles Sobhraj as rather "mundane".

Kanth opens up recalling a vulnerable side of Sobhraj. "He used to get very depressed, worried and anxious if you saw right through his bluff," he says.

"The only thing I did was that I did not let him sit on a chair. I made him sit on the ground. I was always on a chair or people investigating him would sit onchairs. I never allowed my team to apply third degree or beat him, but psychologically he was made to understand that he was being treated as an ordinary criminal and that he could not bluff me. We did our homework," says Kanth.

After the Tihar escape, Charles along with David Richard Hall went to Mumbai and then Goa. Kanth was entrusted with the responsibility of bringing him back to Delhi.

"The escape took place and he went to Mumbai. I had information about him in Mumbai and I knew which route he took to Goa. The reason why his locations were so open is that he didn't want to conceal himself," says Kanth.

Upon his capture again, the police were doubly cautious while locking him up. "I had to go all the way to Mumbai to get him back to Delhi. I took a BSF aircraft and brought him to Delhi. Then I put him in a newly-built police station in Delhi's Ashok Vihar area, which had multiple lock-ups in the basement. Partly I carried out the investigation there, and partly at Tihar," Kanth recalls.

Once he was locked up again, Kanth says Sobhraj didn't show any sign of physical resistance to investigation. However, he didn't talk much. It was then that Kanth diverted his attention to his partner-in-crime, Richard Hall.

"Charles' major funding happened through David Richard Hall. He was also doing the videography of the entire escape. I used to have lunch that my wife packed. One day, I was trying to get David to talk while having lunch in front of him. I offered him the lunch my wife had made, and this made him break down. David remembered his wife, who was at that point working in the UK. I got him to talk to her, which emotionally charged him, and he started talking. We got the entire story of their chase from him," says Kanth.

The former top cop fails to fathom Charles' image as a ladies' man. "I don't know what girls found attractive," he says.

Senior journalist Kumkum Chadha, who was approached to write Sobhraj's biography through his late former lawyer NM Ghatate, recalls her first meeting with Sobhraj and how their twice-a-week meetings gave an insight into the man that he was. The biography, which was started, never saw the light of day since the central character broke out of prison.

"At that time, more than 20 years ago, as a young reporter it was an exciting prospect for me. He (NM Ghatate) took permission from the court and then I went and met him, in which we discussed how it (the book) would be done. He said that we would do every day (the sit-down session where he would narrate his life). That was my first meeting," says Chadha.

She recalls how late author Khushwant Singh had told her that while it is an interestingproject to work on, she had to be very careful.

"He (Sobhraj) said that I visit him every day to get material from him but since the Courtorder had specified only two meetings per week, and that too in the presence of a jail officer, I stuck to that. There were times when Charles would say that I could increase my visits to three times a week but I was quite clear about following the court directive," shares Chadha over a telephonic conversation.

Talking about Charles' popular image as a charming and intelligent man, Chadha says: "Lot is being written about his intelligence and charm. To me none of that was true. Everyone said that he is very smart and he managed to escape. What did he do? He drugged the officials and he walked out. The reason he was able to do that, when he escaped the jail in Delhi, was because our system was corrupt and inefficient. If the jail officials were following their duty, they had no business hobnobbing or having lunch with a criminal. My sense is thatthe system was very willing to be subservient to a criminal and that helped him escape. What people want to misinterpret as a jailbreak, to my mind, was the weakness of the system which he exploited.`` "Charm is subjective because you are looking at a 'criminal' in a jail. Naturally, psychologically, your image is different from what you see as an English-speaking fellow like him who can converse. From that level, sure, he was a shade above other criminals we come across," says Chadha.

"When I was doing my book on jails and I came across Sunil Batra from a bank van robberycase, or Rajendra Sethia, they were suave, too, and English-speaking as compared to Kartar Singh and Ujagar Singh. Obviously, these people are different from the rest. I would not say he was charming. At best, call him street smart. He had a sharp brain. Even when I was getting material from him, he wasn't very coherent. He was clever to the extent of how much he should give out. He wasn't very frank. He could talk his way," recalls Chadha.

Today, Sobhrajserves a life term, far from the glamorised 'bad boy' image that fiction tends to set up for him. Filmmaker Prawaal Raman, whose 2015 release "Main Aur Charles" used a bit of that hue while painting Sobhraj's image for the screen, ironically admits his experience of meeting the man was far from exciting.

"Meeting him was as mundane as meeting any prisoner standing behind bars," Raman sums up.
UDA thugs last night attacked police with petrol bombs and hijacked cars in Newtownabbey in a second night of loyalist violence.

Security sources blamed under-pressure South East Antrim terror chief Gary Fisher for the trouble, which followed the Sandy Row riot in south Belfast on Friday night that resulted in 15 police officers being injured.

Also on Friday, a further 12 officers were hurt in the fifth night of trouble in the Tullyally and Nelson Drive areas of Derry city. Rioters attacked police with masonry, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks. A care home was also damaged.

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At the Cloughfern roundabout near Rathcoole in Newtownabbey last night, a number of hijacked cars were set on fire as groups of masked men threw petrol bombs and other missiles at PSNI Land Rovers. Efforts by community cops to reach out to loyalist leaders in areas across Northern Ireland in the wake of the violence have, in the main, been rebuffed.

UVF and UDA insiders say the lack of engagement - previously they would have worked with the PSNI to calm tension - will continue for the foreseeable future.

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They insist that the fallout from the Bobby Storey funeral, which saw the Sinn Fein leadership avoid prosecution over breaches of coronavirus regulations, is not their only gripe.

Instead, loyalists point to multiple issues including the Irish Sea customs border and what they claim is a two-tier approach in policing.

"There could be a long, hot summer if this isn't resolved," a senior UVF figure told Sunday Life.

"The Sandy Row riot wasn't about a lack of prosecutions over the Storey funeral. It's been a combination of things. Death by a thousand cuts, if you like. It's the same situation in Londonderry."

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The only loyalist paramilitaries currently engaging with the PSNI are the South Belfast UDA and the Shankill Road UVF.

Tellingly, the violence in Belfast on Friday night occurred in Sandy Row - the heartland of the South Belfast UDA led by Jackie McDonald. The veteran loyalist is reported to have been present in the area, leaving shortly before the trouble began.

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A UDA source added: "It's no coincidence that the riot took place in South Belfast UDA territory. It's almost a challenge to McDonald to change tack and break off contact with the PSNI."

The PSNI's Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton - the former face of the Paramilitary Crime Taskforce - has been tasked with rebuilding bridges with loyalists.

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Efforts were made over the weekend by community cops to engage with paramilitary leaders. However these were rejected. UVF and UDA sources say they are not responsible for the protests, so they should not be asked to prevent them.

These same paramilitaries are now turning their attention to the DUP, which has called for Chief Constable Simon Byrne to resign to crank up the pressure on the PSNI.

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But calling for Mr Byrne to quit seems to be as far as the party will go, with one senior figure saying there is no prospect of the Assembly collapsing or DUP members resigning from the Policing Board.

"The Assembly will not be brought down in the middle of a global pandemic and DUP members will not be resigning from the Policing Board," explained a party source.

"If that were to happen, the seats would go to Sinn Fein under the d'Hondt process. It's a ridiculous suggestion."

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The DUP is for now trying to direct pressure on Sinn Fein, accusing it of politicising the coronavirus crisis in the wake of widespread condemnation from all other parties over the attendance of its leaders at the Storey funeral.

"Approximately 2,000 people have died in Northern Ireland since the pandemic began a year ago - that's the families and friends of 2,000 people who couldn't attend their funerals," said a DUP source.

"The public should remember that at the next election - that Sinn Fein preached to these grieving people about how they couldn't attend their loved one's funeral, yet ignored their own rules by going to Bobby Storey's."

The DUP's problem is that unionist hardliners do not believe its actions go far enough.

TUV leader Jim Allister and loyalist Jamie Bryson have been hugely critical of the party remaining in government with Sinn Fein.

An increasing section of the loyalist community appears to be agreeing with them and forcing DUP policy shifts.

Party leader and First Minister Arlene Foster condemned the latest round of loyalist violence in Belfast and Derry, urging young people not to get "drawn into disorder".

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Three of seven people charged last night with rioting over the Sandy Row trouble are teenage boys aged 17, 14 and 13. Four others charged are three men aged 25, 21 and 18 as well as a 19-year-old woman.

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."

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Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis described the unrest as "completely unacceptable", saying: "Violence is never the answer. There is no place for it in society. I fully support the PSNI appeal for calm."

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

"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," he added.

"The history of street violence is unambiguous. It does nothing to advance our cause. It is a huge mistake and should not be repeated."

PSNI Belfast District Commander Chief Superintendent Simon Walls said it was "completely unacceptable" that officers were coming under attack.

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He added: "I would ask 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.

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

The PSNI's Derry City and Strabane Area Commander Chief Superintendent Darrin Jones described how five nights of loyalist violence in the Waterside had caused "untold fear and distress".

He said: "The people of Derry/Londonderry deserve to feel safe within their own homes and be able to walk the streets without fear."
Animal conservationists have warned that rhino slaughtering for the illegal trade of their horns could soar again in Namibia as the coronavirus pandemic has forced many anti-poaching organizations to back down due to the lack of funds. Some wildlife reserve owners urged countries to legalize the sale of rhino horns, saying it would decrease their market value and prevent further rhino slaughtering.

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.

Anti-poaching units have been deployed to patrol the territory for years, but rhino breeder Jaco Muller told British broadcaster Sky News they were forced to fire people due to the lack of money.

With the tourism and safari industry halted, many anti-poaching organizations have backed down due to the lack of funds, leaving a clear way for poachers to kill rhinos and sell their horns on the black market.

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.

Muller, who has encouraged Namibia to legalize horns selling, said one 15-16-kilogram-horn can be worth up to two million U.S. dollars on the black market. Namibia has been struggling with rhino slaughtering for years, but it has seen a decrease in the illegal practice during the coronavirus lockdown. But Juliette Erdtsieck, conservationist, warned that poachers are going to ''catch up for what they've lost out on,'' when the pandemic is over.

Image: Pixabay

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
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.
One morning last month gardai assembled in a south Dublin policing division for a high-risk operation that had been planned with precision. A warrant had been issued for the arrest of a suspect involved in the violent anti-lockdown protest on Dublin's Grafton Street on February 27. Gardai from the local division, backed up by the elite, highly trained Armed Response Unit (ARU), were about to move in to make an arrest.

Gardai gathered outside the property, weapons at the ready, poised for all eventualities, including a tense confrontation. What happened next was less Line of Duty and more Monty Python. Gardai found themselves face to face with a suspect brandishing not a weapon but his mobile phone displaying a text message that would bring a halt to their operation: the result of his Covid-19 test was positive.

According to an informed policing source, the ARU "backed out of the building" and the arrest of the suspect was deferred.

The isolation measures required in taking a Covid-19 positive suspect back to the garda station, as planned, would have caused immense disruption at the busy station, a source said. A secondary issue was that gardai were not in full protective clothing. Back at base, gardai had to immediately decontaminate themselves following their exposure to the virus by shedding their uniforms, showering and changing.

The forced retreat of an elite garda unit in the face of a Covid-19 threat brings into sharp focus the volatile nature of the force's exposure to the virus and its potentially far-reaching impact on policing.

"I would say on a weekly basis we are going into houses to make arrests and we are finding people who are Covid-19 positive," said a senior garda source this weekend.

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There is growing anger in An Garda Siochana over the Government's unexpected decision last Tuesday to stop vaccinating people according to their occupational risk of exposure to the virus and vaccinate by age instead.

The Government acted on advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) that age, not occupation, is the defining risk factor for coronavirus.

Garda associations, along with teachers, who also expected to be vaccinated, have expressed their dismay.

Gardai came 10th out of 15 cohorts on the original list, just ahead of teachers. They hoped they would get vaccinated ahead of any potential fourth surge of the virus, fuelled by more transmissible new variants and fine weather drawing people together.

Gardai have highlighted the inherent contradiction in applying the "age" rule to An Garda Siochana. Older gardai will now be vaccinated ahead of younger members who are more likely to be on patrol and responding to crime scenes and at greater risk, said a garda spokesperson.

The most compelling case for vaccination is in the detail of the alarmingly close encounters with Covid-19 that gardai have been exposed to in the third wave of the virus.

For instance, last Tuesday night, two gardai were dispatched to Dartry Park in south Dublin to break up a gathering of around 200 young people. The group refused to disperse, none were wearing masks or observing social distancing, and the two gardai had to call for back-up. When gardai finally returned to their patrol cars, the door handles and windows had been smeared with spit and mucus.

This is one of the "milder" cases compiled by the Garda Representative Association (GRA).

In Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, two gardai were dispatched to attend to a seriously ill patient.

They arrived before the ambulance and found a patient who had suffered a suspected heart attack.

They began CPR and administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

According to the GRA, the two gardai were informed later that evening that the patient was Covid-19 positive and both had been dangerously exposed to the virus. The patient later died.

At Dun Laoghaire garda division recently, a gang of five burglars was attempting to break into a house. Back at the station, having been handled by several gardai, two of the five suspects disclosed they had the virus, confirmed by test result texts on their mobile phones. The entire garda station had to be sanitised, isolation areas found for the suspects, who were interviewed by gardai in full PPE, and officers sent for Covid-19 tests, according to a garda source.

A GRA member has also come forward to "dispel" the view that younger people don't get sick with Covid-19.

He caught the virus from a motorist he stopped on suspicion of a driving offence.

It transpired the man had travelled into Ireland the previous day and should have been in quarantine.

The garda tested positive for Covid-19 days after arresting him.

"I was hospitalised for weeks with pneumonia, blood clots, and an abscess in my lung, all as a result of Covid," he said.

"I have also been left with fibrosis, which is permanent and life-altering. I will be unable to return to work for the foreseeable. I am 37 with no underlying conditions and the prisoner was in the State less than 24 hours and failing to quarantine," the garda told the Sunday Independent.

"Hopefully this will dispel any assertion that most members would be fine if they were infected, because of their age."

Senior garda management are as keen to have members vaccinated as garda associations.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has given clearance to gardai to accept spare vaccines when offered them by the HSE. It emerged that gardai have been offered end-of-day surpluses at vaccination centres in Limerick and in Galway. Yet still, management estimates only about 200 of its ranks of around 14,000 members have been vaccinated so far.

"The science that we are asked to accept measures one variable - the medical outcome," said Brendan O'Connor, vice-president of the GRA.

Members of the Defence Forces on Covid-19 duties have been vaccinated, as have security personnel employed by mandatory quarantine hotels.

"Where is the science that shows if a guard, a soldier and a security employee are called to deal with an incident or individual, the guard needs less protection?" asked Mr O'Connor.

"As gardai, we can't social distance, we can't work from home, we have zero control over what we will be exposed to, and have to go home to families and loved ones who are also fearful and anxious about what we might bring home," he said. "The one positive was a sense of common purpose with our frontline colleagues and the support of the public and politicians. But now we know we weren't in this together."

The GRA is hoping to meet with NIAC on the new vaccine roll-out policy this Tuesday.
UPDATE: Phillipsburg police officer killed in motorcycle crash was hopelessly devoted father, husband

An off-duty Phillipsburg police officer died Saturday evening after a car on a side street pulled out in front of the motorcycle the officer was riding east on Memorial Parkway, according to Warren County Prosecutor Jim Pfeiffer.

The officer, Dominic Belcastro, had the right of way and the investigation is continuing into possible citations against the driver of the car, Pfeiffer said. He did not name the other driver.

Belcastro was riding a Harley-Davidson in the highways left lane just after 6:30 p.m., Pfeiffer said. A woman driving a 2000 Toyota Camry was at the stop sign on Firth Street waiting to pull across the highway to the turnaround near the post office, the prosecutor said.

A vehicle in the right lane of the highway drove past the intersection and the Toyota attempted to cross just after, Pfeiffer said. Belcastro, who was wearing a helmet, put down the bike on the road, which is a common crash evasion tactic, but he struck the car as the bike slid past and stopped beyond the intersection, Pfeiffer said.

Belcastro was pronounced dead at the scene, Pfeiffer said.

Area law enforcement agencies took to social media to express condolences for the officer.

Belcastro served the Phillipsburg Police Department for the past eight years and was a member of the departments Honor Guard, they said. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters, according to the posts.

The Warren County Sheriffs Office described Belcastro as one of the good ones, beloved husband, father and friend.

Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers, the post added.

Phillipsburg Police Officer Dean Berrigan also has launched an online fundraiser to help assist Belcastros family with expenses. As of 9:45 a.m., the fundraiser reached $14,505 by 129 donors toward a $20,000 goal.

Belcastro additionally served in the U.S. Army and was an operator with the Warren County Tactical Response Team, according to the fundraiser.

The highway was closed for several hours and a detour was put in place during, the New Jersey Department of Transportation said. There was a significant traffic backup, the DOT said.

Town police, the town rescue squad, town firefighters, the prosecutors offices Serious Collision Analysis Response Team, paramedics from Hunterdon Medical Center and the DOT responded to the crash.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription.

Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.
Nearly a year after protests over police brutality gripped the nation and cries for police reform rang out in City Hall, many candidates for San Antonio municipal office are trying to chart a more middle-of-the-road course on police reform.

Sensing the popularity of police among municipal voters, several frontrunners and big names running for mayor and City Council are trying to distance themselves from hot buttons pressed by activists tackling police reforms  while not shutting the door entirely on potential changes.

Spending less on the police department is mostly off the table as candidates seek to avoid accusations they want to defund the police  activists shorthand meaning rerouting funds from the police budget to pay for social services such as housing and help for the homeless. But its a slogan that has proved a political millstone for candidates.

At issue is Proposition B, a measure on the May 1 ballot that would strip the San Antonio police union of its power to bargain with the city for a contract. Too many officers accused of egregious misconduct get off scot-free under the contract, proponents argue  a point contested by union leaders.

Numerous young progressive candidates havent been shy about throwing their weight behind the ballot measure, including those who took part in summer protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis.

For these progressives, taking away the San Antonio unions collective bargaining rights is a surefire way of creating greater accountability for bad officers.

San Antonio has the most crooked police union contract in the nation, said Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, running to represent District 2 on the citys East Side.

Ditto that for Mark Arthur Vargas Jr., running to fill the District 3 seat on the citys Southeast Side.

In my opinion, police accountability just should not be up for negotiation, Vargas said.

Some candidates who support Prop B but also would normally support labor rights find themselves taking a somewhat diplomatic approach.

I think that unions are a great thing, said Pharoah Clark, a Black Lives Matter organizer and candidate for District 2. But I do think that its dangerous to allow a union to have more power than the city when it comes to dealing or enforcing laws that have to deal with bad officers.

In at least one race, Prop B and the police contract are acting as litmus tests for progressive bona fides.

District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino is the only sitting councilman who backs Prop B. His opponent Mario Bravo, who works for the national Environmental Defense Fund, has vowed to stay neutral on the measure.

Bravo says he wouldnt vote to accept a contract that doesnt make drastic changes to how officers accused of misconduct are disciplined. He targeted the 180-day rule, which gives Police Chief William McManus six months to discover alleged misconduct by an officer. If McManus finds out about the misconduct after that, the chief cant discipline the officer.

The current contract includes that provision, Bravo pointed out, and Trevino voted to approve it in 2016.

What hes saying today is not consistent with how hes voted, Bravo said.

For his part, Trevino expressed regret over that vote and says he wouldnt accept a contract now that doesnt tighten the reins on officer discipline.

I have a responsibility to ensure that within this contract, we do not allow bad cops to continue to go undisciplined and allowed back on the force, Trevino said.

But other candidates  out of genuine opposition or fear that the proposition could tank their campaigns  have come out against Prop B or at least have telegraphed they dont support its most immediate effect if passed. Many argue reforms to officer discipline can be achieved without taking away the unions ability to negotiate for wages and benefits.

Phyllis Viagran, the apparent frontrunner in the District 3 race, opposes the ballot measure because she supports labor unions collective bargaining rights. Reforming officer discipline, she notes, has taken center stage in the current round of contract negotiations between the city and the police union  something that hasnt been true in the past.

I think we can iron those things out at the bargaining table, Viagran said.

But theres consensus on other police matters in District 3. Candidates including Vargas and Viagran have rejected a cut in police spending. The district has long sought a police substation, they note, and still doesnt have one.

Others are tiptoeing around the proposition. In the race for another open seat, District 5 on the West Side, housing advocate Teri Castillo said she supports Fix SAPD, the organization pushing the ballot measure.

But Castillo  endorsed by progressive groups including Texas Organizing Project, a big backer of Prop B  stopped short of taking a position on the measure itself.

I believe there does need to be accountability, Castillo said. I also believe that there needs to be accountability within a number of city departments. This is on the ballot and its up to the voters to decide.

At least two of Castillos opponents  Norberto Geremy Landin and Marie Crabb  oppose Prop B.

Most council members have shied away from weighing in on Prop B for fear that doing so would jeopardize the ongoing contract negotiations. Only two council members seeking another term have taken a firm stance on the proposition: Trevino for and Manny Pelaez against.

That silence has annoyed police activists and union officials alike.

People want leadership that can take a stand and have a backbone, said Ananda Thomas, deputy director of Fix SAPD. Shying away from it is only really shedding a negative light on you.

John Danny Diaz, the police unions newly-minted leader, echoed that  albeit from the other side of the fence.

All were seeing is people that dont want to make a decision one way or the other because theyre afraid of perception, whether itll hurt them or help them, Diaz said.

One candidate who has flummoxed both sides is Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

In the past, Nirenberg has raised concerns about the proportion of the citys budget thats spent on the police department. When he voted against the current police contract as a councilman in 2016, Nirenberg said it didnt go far enough to rein in costs or make disciplinary reforms that would expand accountability and ensure public trust.

In a now-infamous June 4, 2020, speech outside of the Bexar County Courthouse, the mayor cast himself as an ally of Black Lives Matter activists protesting police brutality in Floyds case and those of several San Antonians killed by San Antonio police.

Hold me accountable  because Im the mayor of this goddamn city and were going to make change together, Nirenberg said, drawing applause.

To police advocates, Nirenberg had clearly sided against them. Mike Helle, then the police union president, deemed the mayors use of the word goddamn as offensive as the N-word.

But as voting neared on Prop B, perhaps the most consequential local measure on policing in decades, Nirenberg dropped a bombshell.

In a closed-door meeting last month, the mayor told the head of the police union he supports collective bargaining. Nirenberg has long stopped short of taking a position on the ballot measure, but has said he thinks the city and union can agree to reforms at the bargaining table.

After the meeting became public knowledge, Nirenberg insisted he wasnt weighing in on the ballot measure.

To activists, however, that stance took on a different tenor when relayed directly to the unions leadership.

For somebody to go from Im the mayor of this city, hold me accountable to being silent, it doesnt leave a good taste in folks mouths, Thomas said.

Some observers speculated Nirenberg made the appeal to the police union in an attempt to make it harder for the union to endorse his opponent Greg Brockhouse  a longtime ally and former consultant for the police union, who backed him in 2019. The union so far hasnt endorsed any mayoral candidate.

For his part, Brockhouse took Nirenbergs meeting as an opportunity to accuse the mayor of playing both sides.

Ron Nirenbergs whole plan here is to run out the clock, pretend theres no election, be with everybody, tell everybody Im with you, and then hopefully they dont talk to each other and then he can win, Brockhouse said.

Disappointment in Nirenberg likely wont send some police reform advocates running to Brockhouse  a fierce police union ally and opponent of Prop B. But some give Brockhouse credit for at least showing up in potentially hostile settings. The former councilman appeared at a March forum held by the social justice organization Black Freedom Factory, they note, but Nirenberg didnt.

Brockhouse sees a role for activists in police reform efforts in the event he becomes mayor and Prop B fails, he said. As part of a public safety plan he released in March, Brockhouse called for the creation of a mayoral advisory board on policing that includes activists and union leaders that would meet monthly with the mayor.

If you have two candidates and one of the candidates is more willing to have a conversation and is more willing to reimagine a future where advocates have a seat at the table, then I would think that that would be better for the future of the movement that we are trying to continue in this city, said Kimiya Factory, a local community activist who heads Black Freedom Factory.

A representative for the Nirenberg campaign did not return a request for comment.

In the past, Nirenberg has cited progress on police reforms made since the summer protests  including banning police use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants and speeding up the process of releasing body camera footage when officers shoot someone or use force.

Activists seeking police reform may continue to find themselves frustrated with most candidates on the ballot this year.

Polling from the nonprofit Bexar Facts shows a majority of San Antonio residents view the police union as a barrier to holding officers accused of misconduct to account. But the electorate in municipal races skews older and more conservative  demographics less likely to be into police reform. That gives most council candidates little motivation to risk alienating municipal voters.

And among major neighborhood groups, its rare to find much appetite for any reforms that could potentially reduce the number of officers patrolling the streets. But theres openness to changes in how officers accused of misconduct are disciplined  even on the more conservative North Side where support for police is high.

(Neighborhood groups) real issue is the fact that there have been issues with the chief being able to enforce his discipline on bad cops, said Art Downey, president of the District 9 Neighborhood Alliance. That certainly is something people want to see fixed.

Whether that translates to support for Prop B remains to be seen. The concept of repealing collective bargaining is likely an esoteric one to most voters, Downey said.

And voters unfamiliar with the issue could be thrown off by the measures knotty and complex language when they encounter it in the voting booth.

In neighboring District 10, Councilman Clayton Perry, the councils only conservative, declined to give his opinion on Prop B because of the contract negotiations. But Perry said he believes police should have the right to collectively bargain with the city and theres room for improving disciplinary procedures in the contract.

His repeat challenger, Ezra Johnson, who lost to Perry in a runoff in 2019, opposes the proposition.

I dont see how we can accomplish the reforms we need through removal of collective bargaining, Johnson said. Theres a lot more that has to be done and I dont see how that becomes a first step to getting reforms to the disciplinary process we need.

Still, Johnson said, if a contract doesnt include reforms suggested by Fix SAPD, or something substantially similar, he would vote against the contract if elected.

While the turnout in city elections does tend to skew older and more conservative, dont count out an uptick of young people heading to the polls to vote in favor of the Fix SAPD measure, local strategist Demonte Alexander said.

I think its going to be close, Alexander said.
Reluctance to adapt to change in our legal system: CA Judge By Ranjith Padmasiri Ceremonial Sittings to welcome seven new Court of Appeal (CA) Judges View(s): View(s):

The need to maintain judicial integrity and minimise the Laws delays were emphasised during the Ceremonial Sittings held at the Superior Court Complex on March 24 to welcome seven new Court of Appeal (CA) Judges. This was the second Ceremonial Sitting for new CA Judges.

I am answerable to the people of this country and also, I am aware that I am personally responsible for maintaining the high traditions of the judiciary. I am confident that I would be able to contribute my best to the upliftment of the prevailing judicial system, Appeal Court Justice S U B Karralliyadde said in his address to the gathering.

In discharging the duties and responsibilities incumbent on Judges, they should look only at the letter of the law and the spirit of the law and nothing else, Justice Karralliyadde stressed. Political, economic or social considerations, as opposed to legal considerations, simply do not enter into the equation. Judges should not achieve anything in accordance with popular wishes or favourations, he emphasised.

As judges, what we should keep in mind is that we cant make the law, but find it or declare it. However, the way we arrived at a decision may be different from one another, he pointed out.

One can expect a tremendous increase in litigation in view of the growth of population, and vast social, political, and economic changes over the decades, Justice Ratnapriya Gurusinghe remarked.

The Judges of this Court are deeply concerned about the enormous difficulties and problems such as Laws delays caused by this increased volume of litigation, and are determined to make every endeavour to find ways to overcome these difficulties, he added. I am very conscious of the trust and the responsibility that goes along with this office. I place great reliance upon the Bar, for I strongly believe that the cooperation between the Bar and the Bench facilitates the smooth functioning of the courts and administration of justice, he opined.

After spending years observing the Sri Lankan Legal System, I have come to realise that there is an apparent reluctance to adapt to change by all stakeholders in our legal system, observed Justice Dhammika Ganepola.

He asserted that Judges must be open to the notion of evolution, both legally and technologically, thereby reducing any chances of delayed justice. All the while, they must contribute to the development of the existing law, expand its boundaries, while maintaining the highest respect for the pre-existing judicial norms and traditions.

During my 27 years at the bench, I had a desire to close down orphanages which are now called childrens homes. Most of them reminded me of Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist, said Justice Khema Swarnadhipathi.

She noted that a resolution has now been adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, setting out the guidelines for the alternative care of children. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Parliament of Sri Lanka approved an alternative care policy in 2019. It is for us judges and lawyers either to give life to these policies or treat them as a Pandoras box, she pointed out.

Justice Swarnadhipathi stressed the need to be considerate towards children coming into contact with the Law because most have special needs which cannot be recognised through naked eyes. I experienced this during my tenor at the special high court at Anuradhapura as I worked closely with Child Psychologists. It is essential to deal with such children under medical guidelines, for their minds work differently than others. Their imaginations run wild.They are multi-taskers. Wrong handling will damage them, she warned.

The world has now realised the importance of psychiatry in dealing with children, it is for us to decide what our Islands future should be  prisons and more prisons, or inventors, leaders and great personalities, she concluded.

A litigant comes before a Court of Law with a grievance as he/she considers it to be a last resort or a place of refuge, Justice Mayadunne Corea pointed out. As such, a Court of Law is duty bound to accord a hearing to a litigant and consider the possibility of addressing and remedying their grievances, having heard all necessary parties, and based on a firm legal basis. In this regard, the assistance of both the Private Bar and the Official Bar is vital for the dispensation of justice by a Court of Law.

The Fundamental Duties stipulated in Article 28 of the Constitution contain duties and obligations of every person in Sri Lanka, which could be considered moral obligations. Therefore, both the State and citizens have duties and obligations, he explained.

This invocation of the corresponding obligation that accompanies the rights are co-related and have to co-exist for an ideal and law-abiding society to prevail. In the absence of this balance, evil will prevail, Justice Corea added.

There is no doubt that the greatest drawback in the administration of justice that troubles everyone in the country is the Laws delay. No one can afford to simply ignore the justifiable concerns and frustration expressed many a time by the general public over the delay that has plagued our judicial system for many decades. True, that there are inordinate delays in the disposal of cases. Although it is understandable that dispatch is important, it cannot be at the expense of justice, said Justice Prabaharan Kumararatnam.

Expedition however, should not be equated with hustle, he cautioned. It should not lead to delivering abstract justice, but always be according to Law. The Irish philosopher Edmund Burke used to say that study of Law renders men acute. The acuteness also demands clarity in legal expression that would in turn encourage citizen participation. After all, the role of the law and of the courts is to better the lot of mankind, he observed.

In applying Information Communication Technology (ICT) to expedite cases, courts must be careful to minimise the digital gap so that due process and fair trial rights are satisfied, and access to justice on all matters is guaranteed, commented Justice Neil Iddawala. He noted that this includes respect for fundamental rights, judicial independence, principles of a fair trial, cyber security and protect the legitimacy of judicial proceedings.

Online platforms can respond successfully to lockdowns and social distances but we need to remember that nearly half of the world population have no access to the internet, and with courts turning to digital tools to make access to justice possible during the pandemic, those penalised by the digital divide may be excluded, he warned.

The Laws delays is a perennial problem in our courts, and to deal with delays and remedies in general, the judiciary can use the current situation to innovate ways in which online solutions can be used to resolve backlogs. This should also include reviewing, different levels of courts have been impacted differently and, if so, in what ways, he further pointed out.

The backlog of cases in the Court of Appeal is alarming, Attorney General Dappula De Livera stated. He noted that this backlog needs to be addressed urgently and quickly, methodically and efficiently, and to deliver speedy justice and prevent the Laws delays without compromising the quality of justice, thereby winning the confidence of the people.

The Bench and the Bar have to get together to solve this problem. The increase in the number of Judges to the Superior Courts by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and thereby the appointment of your Lordships and Ladyship is no doubt seen as a positive step in this regard, he remarked.

A Judges role is to serve the Community in the pivotal role of administering Justice according to Law. Judicial office gives that opportunity, and that is a privilege. Judicial office requires one to serve so and that is a duty. Freedom, peace, order and good governance are essentials of the society that we treasure, and they depend on the ultimate analysis of the faithful performance of Judicial duty. It is only when the people have confidence in the integrity and the capacity of the Judiciary, that the community can be said to be governed by the Rule of Law, outgoing Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Kalinga Indatissa stated in his speech, welcoming the new Judges on behalf of the Bar.

He stressed that they had every confidence that the Judges will protect the very concept of the Rule of Law and the Constitutional Rights of the people. We have no doubt that Your Lordships and Your Ladyship will deliver Justice in accordance with the Law and Your Lordships and Your Ladyships conscience, he emphasised.

See www.sundaytimes.lk

for full speeches
Brynn Anderson

The Associated Press article Dems launch battle for voting rights, March 25, quite rightly focuses on a key feature of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, passed by the House and before the Senate. Who has the right to vote? Under what circumstances? Why has this issue become so important to raise right now?

No democracy can survive if all of its citizens do not have access to the ballot box. Yet, we are experiencing a tsunami of voter suppression bills being pushed by Republicans: more than 361 bills in 47 states at current count by the Brennan Center for Justice.
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There's a street in Belfast that has a mural of journalist and campaigner Lyra McKee - shot dead by the New IRA in Derry in April 2019 - and features one of her inspirational quotes. It reads: 'It won't always be like this; it's going to get better.' Her epitaph preserved forevermore, but it didn't have to be like this.

Born into a generation that was promised peace, the 29-year-old's murder by, police believe, a suspect not even born when the 1998 Good Friday Agreement was signed, sickened the entire island of Ireland.

For her sister Nichola Corner-McKee, life isn't getting any better two years on. "The night Lyra was killed, my soul jumped out of my body and it has never returned," she says.

Last week, Nichola launched a new online campaign seeking justice for her sister on what would have been her 31st birthday and just over a year on from her mother's death.

Joan Lawrie-McKee passed away weeks before the first anniversary of Lyra's murder. "She used to say to me, 'how am I going to do this - how am I going to live without Lyra?' In the end, she couldn't," Nichola says. As her mother faded away after a period of ill-health, Nichola whispered into her ear: "When Lyra comes for you, I want you to go with her." Moments later, she was gone.

"Mummy's heart was the strongest organ she had, and it was her heart that stopped because it was broken. I know they are now together."

But the memories of that night will never fade for Nichola and her siblings, Gary, Joan, David and Mary.

Read More

Rioting broke out in the Creggan neighbourhood on April 18, with 50 petrol bombs, bricks and bottles hurled at police Land Rovers as a crowd gathered to watch. Lyra was one of several reporters to bear witness to the violence, not knowing that it would soon claim her life.

The disorder in the lead-up to Lyra's murder appeared to be spontaneous. But in fact, it was staged for the benefit of an MTV documentary that was being filmed in Derry at the time. Its producers had no knowledge of the potential for violence, and later scrapped the project.

During a search of a house in the estate later that evening, messages about an increased police presence in the area began to circulate on social media and the rioting began. At 10.56pm Lyra posted a tweet with a photograph of the scene and the words, 'Derry tonight. Absolute madness.'

Four minutes later she was shot in the head by a gunman holding a Hammerli X-Esse pistol which would be recovered hidden in a field a few miles away a year later.

In Belfast - 114km away - Nichola had just been celebrating her son Andrew's birthday when her phone rang. It was Lyra's partner Sara Canning, who told her she had been injured.

"I thought she'd been hit with like a brick or a bottle or something like that and would need stitches, so I'm waiting on more news," says Nichola.

"I got fed up waiting, so phoned our Lyra's phone because I thought she'd be sitting waiting on the doctor. The phone answered and I said, 'Alright wee Lyra - has the doctor seen you yet?' But it wasn't her. It was Sara."

At that moment doctors were working on Lyra, but it didn't look good. Knowing it was a race against time, the PSNI had considered helping the family get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Then her phone rang again.

"It was Sara's sister who said, 'I have a policeman who wants to speak to you.' I asked him, 'Is my sister still alive?' He said, 'I'm sorry to tell you this but she has just passed away.'"

She remembers screaming with grief. And she can still hear her mother's cry when she told her her daughter was dead. "That sound is the only thing that accurately describes that pain." An hour later, Nichola and her family gathered in Altnagelvin hospital where Lyra's body lay. The PSNI officers who had placed Lyra in the back of a Land Rover and rushed her there stood by the bed.

"Apart from some blood on her head and around her mouth, she looked like she was asleep. I just wanted her to wake up," says Nichola. "I wanted to hug her, but I wasn't allowed, so I sat down beside her and told everyone, 'I am staying here until she wakes up.' Of course, she didn't."

Six days later more than 1,000 people packed St Anne's Cathedral for Lyra's funeral, with hundreds more outside, as simultaneous vigils were held in Dublin, London and across Northern Ireland.

President Michael D Higgins and the then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar sat on either side of then British Prime Minister Theresa May, with Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney seated behind. Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, sat with Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill, the leaders of Sinn Fein at a time when the power-sharing Executive lay in tatters.

It was a testament to Lyra, who broke down barriers in life and in death. A Catholic whose funeral service was in a Protestant church and who united politicians of all backgrounds in grief. "It says a lot about her that she was able to do that, to have all of those people from different political persuasions in the one room. That was her, that was Lyra."

While she mourns her loss, the main suspect thought to have fired the gun in the murder is being protected, police believe, by the New IRA - a group of dissident republicans who oppose peace. "The person who killed my sister also killed our mother," says Nichola. "That person still walks free while my family and I have a prison sentence hanging over us."

Today the suspected killer, who sources have confirmed to this newspaper hid in Co Donegal following the shooting, is now believed to be back in Derry. For Nichola, she longs to look in the eyes the man who shot her sister dead and ask: "Why? Was it worth it? What did you achieve?"

The man is one of 17 suspects detectives are actively pursuing as they investigate every piece of footage from the night that changed everything in the region. It is a frustration for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, but "the resolve has never been as strong", says Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy, who is leading the investigation.

"Lyra's murder wasn't just the actions of one individual," he says. "There was a chain of events involving a significant number of individuals, including members of the New IRA, to make that weapon available."

Separate to the 17 suspects the PSNI are investigating, 53-year-old Paul McIntyre of Kinnego Park in Derry has been charged with the murder of the journalist, possessing a firearm with intent, and belonging to a proscribed organisation. Currently he is the only person charged with Lyra's murder.

Det Supt Murphy says a "web of fear" hangs over the Creggan, with residents scared to provide information that could help apprehend the man believed to be Lyra's killer. Around 150 people watched the riots that night, but not one of them has come forward because the New IRA is "holding the community to ransom".

"Not all of those individuals participated in the rioting. But equally not one of those individuals has come to me to say, 'I'll tell you who the gunman was and here's my statement.' That's my battle."

He says it could take "several years" before the force can create "the confidence or the opportunity for an individual to come forward and say, 'let me tell you what I know about the murder of Lyra McKee'."

Behind the scenes, a huge amount of work is going on across a whole range of different spectrums, such as the development of video evidence.

"The killer is not safe in any shape or form and nor are any of the other individuals who were involved in the attack that night. I hope they think that they've got away with the murder of Lyra McKee. But the truth is very far from that.

"If I get an opportunity to bring a gunman or members of the New IRA to justice for Lyra McKee's murder, I absolutely intend to do so," he says.

Lyra once wrote: "Here's to better times ahead and saying goodbye to bombs and bullets once and for all."

As well as justice for Lyra, that's all the family want - 23 years after supposed peace. Standing in front of her mural, Nichola wears a T-shirt with a photograph of her sister on the front and the words she used to share with others: 'Failure is not an option.'

To speak to Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy, phone the PSNI on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. For more information, visit justice4lyra.com
Photo: Contributed Port Moody's Asaan Al-Jaboubi helps lead a caravan through Metro Vancouver to protest the export of Canadian weapons to Saudi Arabia. The March 25, 2021, protest marked the six-year anniversary of the war in Yemen

Asaad Al-Jaboubi left Yemen for love.

That was more than 15 years ago, not long after hed met his soon-to-be Canadian wife, whose father had moved to the country to run a local university.

Landing in Toronto near the end of 2006, the young couple was soon headed west, drawn to British Columbia by its dramatic landscape and eventually settling in Port Moody.

The mountains reminded me a lot of Yemen, he said.

Over the years, hed try to return home during the end of Ramadan to see his mother, father and siblings as they broke their fast and came together in celebration.

It was beautiful how the country was developing, he said of his early visits back to Yemen. They had built better connections, better roads.

The 2011 Arab Spring uprising brought a renewed sense of hope. But protests against government corruption and unemployment led to a violent police backlash as the government and Houthi rebel group vied for power.

When in 2015, the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, declaring a glorious revolution, everything changed. Six years ago last week, Saudi Arabia launched Operation Decisive Storm, triggering what Al-Jaboubi says has felt like an endless war.

An accountant who had once started a newspaper in a bid to promote his homelands fledgling democracy, Al-Jaboubi found himself on the outside looking into what the United Nations describes as the worlds worst humanitarian disaster.

Soon, hed learn Canada, his new adopted country, was supplying weapons to the same military dropping bombs on his hometown.

From the beginning, the Saudi air campaign has blazed an indiscriminate path of civilian casualties.

In October 2015, one of Al-Jaboubis cousins was among upwards of 150 people killed in a horrific airstrike on a funeral that left more than 500 wounded.

He was burned alive, said the Port Moody man. We couldnt even recognize his body.

Schools, hospitals and average peoples homes would soon fall in the line of fire as a sustained blockade on shipping led to widespread malnourishment. In December 2020, the United Nations estimated the conflict had led to 233,000 war dead, including 131,000 from indirect causes such as lack of food, health services and infrastructure.

Still, Al-Jaboubi would return at least once a year, bringing needed supplies and cash to his family as his Port Moody neighbours supported his wife while he was away.

Its very risky for her, he said, pointing to the arduous four days it would take transiting through Egypt into Oman and the long road to his parents home in Sanaa.

This road is still an active war. Theres bombings all the time. Sometimes you can wait for 10 hours, 20 hours, two days, he said.

Passing from town to city, Al-Jaboubi says he still cant shake the sense of resignation he saw in people with nowhere to go and nothing to eat.

Its like a ghost city. Basic food has become a luxury for people I see my friends, I see my neighbours in the street begging, he said. Imagine youre in the Tri-Cities and the bomb lands in North Van. They keep going.

During the six-year war, the community at the Al-Hidayah Mosque in Port Coquitlam and the Al-Ihsan Mosque in Port Moody have raised enough money to occasionally buy a few cows and feed up to 400 families at the end of Ramadan.

But as the war rages on the need has only grown, said Al-Jaboubi. A lack of clean water has sparked deadly cholera outbreaks, which combined with rampant malnutrition, has hit children the hardest.

When the COVID-19 outbreak arrived in the country, 80% of Yemens 30 million people were relying on food aid, many of whom already suffered from the pre-existing conditions that would make them vulnerable to the most severe cases of COVID-19.

Last summer, Al-Jaboubi said his friend, a doctor, worked through Ramadan only to catch the virus and slip into a coma. He died two months later, never waking up.

Caught between the risks of catching COVID-19 outside and the threat of airstrikes overhead, People are scared, he said.

As Saudi Arabia continued its bombing campaign in Yemen, Canada has ramped up military exports to the country.

In 2019, Canada exported $4-billion worth of weapons overseas, the largest sum in its recent history. Of those exports, $2.8-million in arms  76% of the total  went to Saudi Arabia, unseating the U.S. as the number one recipient of Canadian weapons, according to the organization Project Ploughshares, which among other things, tracks weapon exports around the world.

Most of those weapons are part of a $14-billion contract supplying Canadian-built light armoured vehicles (LAVs) to the Saudi regime. In 2019, Canada also sold 635 rifles and carbines, 31 large-calibre artillery systems, and 152 heavy machine guns, according to Ploughshares.

Several reports have placed those weapons at the front of the Saudi-led war effort.

After the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the Canadian government announced a freeze on exports to Saudi Arabia, but that did not apply to previously approved exports, and the ban was lifted in April 2020.

At the time, Canadas then Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne and Finance Minister Bill Morneau put out a statement saying that, as a party to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, Canadian goods cant be exported where there is a substantial risk they would be used violate international law or human rights.

After reviewing the $14-billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia, the ministers added, we have now begun reviewing permit applications on a case-by-case basis.

Five months later, a September 2020 United Nations report into the war in Yemen found Canadian weapons were fuelling the conflict in contravention of international law.

Last month, Canada said it would commit $69.9 million to help humanitarian efforts in Yemen, its biggest promise of aid to the country since the war began, though a fraction of the billions of dollars in weapons the country has exported to Saudi Arabia in recent years.

While groups like Ploughshares have been quick to call out the governments moral deficit, Al-Jaboubi says local representatives have also done little to heed a call to speak up: A letter to Port Moody-Coquitlam Conservative MP Nelly Shin three months ago went unanswered, he said.

Still, Al-Jaboubi refuses to keep quiet. Every month, he leads rallies, debates and protest caravans throughout Metro Vancouver calling on Canada to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia.

Im contacting all the Imams in the mosques, contacting every Yemeni community in Canada, he told the Tri-City News.

This week, Al-Jaboubi teamed up with Islamic Relief Canada to launch a fundraising campaign to raise $100,000 to back front line medical workers with equipment and supplies, distribute food aid and provide civilians with clean water, soap and education on how to stay safe during the pandemic.

If Canadians knew what was happening in Yemen, they would be very angry, said Al-Joubabi.

Why do we have to gamble these people?
New Delhi:

The city of Gurugram went to civic body polls on Sunday wherein independent candidates ruled the roost. Independent candidates won elections in 21 out of 35 wards. BJP, which is running the government in state, was able to win only 13 seats.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) came out victorious on just one seat. Also, 15 candidates who won elections were women.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) elections were held after six years. The elections involved a total of 202 candidates. There were 147 independent candidates in fray whereas 20 candidates were fielded by INLD.

Polling for the urban local body began at 7 am today and concluded at 5 pm. The counting of votes ended around 8 pm after which the results were declared.

Soon after the result was declared, Haryana PWD minister Rao Narbir Singh said that several independent candidates who have won would support the BJP.

The mayor would be from the BJP, he said.

State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, however, claimed that the results signified a rejection of both the BJP and the INLD.

The result are a clear indication that if the Congress had contested on its symbol, the party would have won 25-30 seats and would have got the mayors post as well, Tanwar claimed.

Of the independents who won, three were supported by the Congress while two were backed by the INLD.

Of the 15 women candidates who were elected, 10 were independents, while five were from the BJP. This is for the first time that so many women have emerged in Gurgaon civic body polls, officials said.

During the polling, there were reports of minor skirmishes, the police said adding that two persons were arrested on charges of attempting to vote on fake voter IDs.

Like the previous elections in 2011, polling in urban areas was less as compared to the rural parts.

The highest voter turnout was at the Kherki Daula senior secondary school where 681 out of 796 voters cast their votes.

There are a total 5,58,884 voters in Gurgaon out of which 2,76,420 cast their votes at 546 polling booths.

Among the victorious candidates were Mithlesh Barwal (Ind) from ward 1, Shakuntala Devi (BJP) from ward 2, Ravinder Yadav (BJP) from ward 3, Birendra (INLD) from ward 4, Dimple Yadav (BJP) from ward 5, Naresh Sherawat (Ind) from ward 6, Madhu Azad (BJP) from ward 7, Dinesh Saini (Ind) from ward 8, Pramila Kablan (Ind) from ward 9, Hemant Kumar Sain (Ind) from ward 28.

Among others, Sunita Yadav (Ind) won from ward 22, Seema Pahuja (Ind) from ward 15. while Naveen Dhaiya (Ind) won from ward 12.

With PTI inputs

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Mumbai, April 4 : Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana has returned to Mumbai after shooting for "Anek" in the northeast. He says he has always looked forward to discovering the unexplored.

"I have always looked forward to discovering the unexplored. So, my trip to the northeast truly touched my heart. I experienced so much beauty, so much love from people, so much character and diversity of our country, that it will always remain one of my most special trips that helped me discover more about my beautiful country," Ayushmann said.

He is happy that he got a chance to shoot in the northeast.

"Words will always fall short if I have to describe the effect northeast has had on me. I'm glad we could shoot in the northeast because it helped me learn something new about how incredible India is," he said.

Talking about the beautiful memories of touring and shooting for "Anek", Ayushmann said: "I can't wait to go back to the northeast because I have returned to Mumbai with memories that are so personal and overwhelming. I'm grateful that we could shoot Anek so smoothly there.

"I was shooting a film for the first time in the Northeast and I didn't anticipate the love I would get from the lovely people there." The actor added that what he cherishes the most is the warmth he got from the children in northeast.

Ayushmann said: "It was truly special to meet them and soak in their love. Also, I could get my family to spend some time with me and we toured Kaziranga and made beautiful memories together. It was special and we loved every bit of this serene, rejuvenating vacation." Ayushmann got to discover the extremely popular red tea, called 'laal sah' in Assam and has become a big fan of it.

The actor said: "I discovered the beautiful laal sah and thoroughly loved it. I was drinking laal sah every single day on the sets and have got it home too. It's like I have brought home a little piece of Assam with me. Whenever I miss being in the northeast, and I feel this frequently, I ensure I make myself a cup of Lal Sa and think about my beautiful time there." The star hopes to visit the region again.

"Just the thought of Northeast makes me tremendously nostalgic and it is beckoning me to head there soon. Hopefully, I will manage a quick trip as soon as my schedule permits."
Brandix Associates helps hospitals in COVID-19 battle View(s):

Associates from Brandix facilities island-wide came together to manufacture export quality protective gowns and face masks (PPE) for frontline health workers in COVID-19 hospitals and treatment centres in Sri Lanka. The handover of PPE to these hospitals and treatment centres by Brandix Associates took place over the last few weeks.

In a show of solidarity with healthcare workers risking their health to treat COVID-19 patients, Brandix Associates manufactured export quality protective equipment including 490,000 protective gowns and 250,000 face masks that met the physical and micro-allergy testing standards by the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) prior to distribution. The protective gowns were distributed across 23 hospitals, while the facemasks were handed out to nine hospitals by Brandix Associates from the community, the company said in a media release.

The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we have seen in our lives, and there is immense pressure on the frontline health workers treating those affected. Having received treatment for COVID-19 at one of the hospitals, I have seen first-hand the sacrifices made by them for our well-being. It gives me a sense of pride to be able to give back to them by ensuring that the PPE they wear are manufactured to the best standards and will protect them in the line of duty, said Nilanka Fernando  Associate Trainer of Brandix.

The Infectious Diseases Hospital, Homagama Hospital and Neville Fernando Hospital in Colombo, Punani Hospital in Batticaloa and Rambukkana Hospital in Kegalle were among those that received sizeable contributions of PPE. Additionally, Kahawatte and Nivithigala Hospitals in Ratnapura, Kegalle Teaching Hospital and Warakapola Hospital from the Kegalle District, and the Colombo North Teaching Hospital in Ragama were major beneficiaries of face masks.
Hunter Biden says he has no doubts. President Joe Bidens son said that while he cant reveal much about the ongoing Justice Department investigation into his finances, hes sure he will be cleared. Im cooperating completely, Biden told CBS News in an interview that aired Sunday. And I am absolutely certain, 100% certain that at the end of the investigation, that I will be cleared of any wrongdoing. Federal investigators have been looking into Hunter Bidens business dealings since December and are reportedly focusing on whether the presidents son and his associates ran afoul of tax and money laundering laws in international business deals, particularly in China. All I can do is cooperate, and trust in the process, he said.

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The interview with Biden is airing in two parts and it comes shortly before his memoir, Beautiful Things, will be released on Tuesday. During the interview, Biden delved into his personal struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. After his borther, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015, his binge-drinking got so bad that his father stepped in. He came to my apartment one time, Hunter recalled. And this was when he was still in office as vice president, and so he kinda ditched his Secret Service, figured out a way to get over to the house. And I said, What are you doin here? He said, Honey, what are you doing? I said, Dad, Im fine. He said, Youre not fine.

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Hunter Biden said he was often so desperate to smoke crack that he would scour floors for anything that resembled the drug. I spent more time on my hands and knees picking through rugs, smoking anything that even remotely resembled crack cocaine. I probably smoked more Parmesan cheese than anyone that you know, he said. I mean, I went one time for 13 days without sleeping, and smoking crack and drinking vodka exclusively throughout that entire time.

Hunter Biden also opened up about his romance with his former sister-in-law, Hallie, Beaus widow, and the negative public reaction. I think people were confused by it, he said. And I understand that. I mean, I really do. To me, its not something that is difficult to explain. Because it came out of a real overwhelming grief that we both shared. And we were together, and trying to do the right thing. And that grief turned into a hope for a love that maybe could replace what we lost. The two got together in 2017, two years after Beaus death, and the relationship ended in 2019.

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During the interview, Biden was also asked about an October 2020 New York Post report about one of his laptops that was supposedly left in a Delaware repair shop in 2019. When asked point blank about the issue, Biden said he couldnt recall leaving his laptop at a repair shop but he couldnt say for certain whether the laptop was his. I dont have any idea, he said. When pressed on the issue about whether it could have been his laptop, Biden said it was a possibility. Of course, certainly, he said. There could be a laptop out there that was stolen from me. It could be that I was hacked. It could be that it was Russian intelligence. It could be that it was stolen from me.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at a press conference at the Eau Gallie High School aviation hangar in Melbourne, Florida, on March 22, 2021. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Gov. DeSantis declared a state of emergency after a leak was detected at an old phosphate plant pond.

The pond, located in Tampa Bay, stores water that contains small amounts of radium and uranium.

Residents living close to the reservoir received a warning via text message asking them to evacuate.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Saturday after a leak was detected at an old phosphate plant pond in the Tampa Bay area that could potentially lead to a dangerous acidic flood.

Residents living close to the old Piney Point phosphate mine, located north of Bradenton, near Tampa, have been asked to evacuate their homes. Those living within a half-a-mile radius of the reservoir received a text message alert on Saturday notifying them the collapse was "imminent," the Guardian reported.

State officials said they first discovered the leak on Friday. It was located in one wall of the 77-acre pond that holds about 600 million gallons of water, containing phosphorus, nitrogen, and small amounts of radium and uranium.

The stacks can also release large concentrations of radon gas.

Read more: People flocked to Florida and Texas for a lower cost of living during the pandemic. Some were shocked when their healthcare got way more expensive.

"A portion of the containment wall at the leak site shifted laterally, signifying that structural collapse could occur at any time," Manatee County Director of Public Safety Jake Saur warned, according to CBS News.

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"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 on Saturday.

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Officials say they are most concerned about the flooding the rupture could cause, adding that the water that would be discharged is only "slightly acidic," according to a statement issued by Manatee County on Twitter.

Story continues

"The water meets water quality standards for marine waters with the exception of pH, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and total ammonia nitrogen," the statement said. "It is slightly acidic, but not at a level that is expected to be a concern, nor is it expected to be toxic."

In a Sunday press conference, DeSantis said he and other officials went on an "aerial tour" of the site to scope it out. He also said crews are continuing to work to prevent "a real catastrophic flood situation."

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"Response teams are all coordinating to ensure proper response and mitigation of risk," he said.

Workers have been desperately trying to figure out ways to stop the environmental catastrophe from happening.

Authorities worked around the clock on Saturday to pump out as much water as possible to minimize the effect of the potential flood. But this process is time-consuming and can take up to 12 days.

The governor, however, has ordered more pumps and cranes to be transported to the area.

Some workers tried to plug the hole with rocks and other materials on Friday afternoon but were unsuccessful.

George Kruse, a Manatee County commissioner, said he traveled to the plant on Saturday to assess the situation but had to leave the area quickly after realizing it was a safety hazard.

"We determined that it was no longer safe to be anywhere near Piney Point, so we all kind of raced off the stacks as fast as we could," Kruse said, according to the Guardian.

According to local media reports, residents in the area have been trying to sound the alarm on the old phosphate plans for years.

The problem goes back to 1989, where a 23,000-gallon leak of sulfuric acid from a holding tank by the pond forced the evacuation of hundreds of nearby residents.

DeSantis in his Sunday press conference stressed that water quality is not so big a point of concern.

"The water quality issues that are flowing through this for us is less than the risk of everyone's health and safety, particularly for those who live in the area," he said.

The governor also said 316 homes near the area have so far been evacuated, and safety notices have gone out to businesses as well. Residents in the evacuation area can call 311 and receive assistance on temporary relocation.

DeSantis also promised that HRK, the group responsible for maintaining the site, will be held accountable.

"This is not acceptable. This is not something we will allow to persist," he said.

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It felt good to get in the car, loaded with oatmeal and raisin cookies for the road, ham sandwiches and potato chips for lunch, along with plenty of water and head for Interstate Highway 5, the great north-south road that cuts through the western states from the border of Canada to the Mexican.

The Central Valley stretch of Highway 5 runs through some of the most productive agricultural lands in the world, with much of it planted to almonds. California supplies 80% of the worlds supply of almonds. Hundreds of thousands of acres line both sides of the highway and in early spring when we drove through, they were just leafing out, the carpets of white almond blossoms still covering the ground. Exit signs pointed to places like Los Banos, Firebaugh, and Buttonwillow, but we bypassed them all. Instead, we kept straight, to cross over the grapevine and Tejon pass through the Tehachapi Mountains, eager to drop into the Los Angeles basin, home to palm trees and Hollywood.

After a brief struggle with the infamous LA traffic, we burst free, knowing our final destination  the Orange County beach town of Laguna Beach  was only thirty miles away. We took the exit for Highway 133 for Laguna Canyon Road.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order How to Be Popular. Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)
Total dues owed by electricity distribution companies to power producers rose nearly 17 per cent to Rs 1,02,684 crore in February this year, reflecting persistent stress in the sector. Distribution companies (discoms) owed a total of Rs 87,888 crore to power generation firms in February 2020, according to portal PRAA (Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators).

However, total outstanding dues of discoms towards power generation firms in February slightly dipped from Rs 1,03,116 crore in January this year and Rs 102,676 crore in December 2020.

The PRAA portal was launched in May 2018 to bring in transparency in power purchase transactions between generators and discoms.

In February 2021, the total overdue amount, which was not cleared even after 45 days of grace period offered by generators, stood at Rs 91,549 crore as against Rs 73,867 crore in same month a year ago.

The overdue amount stood at Rs 92,120 crore in January 2021 and Rs 93,599 crore in December 2020.

Power producers give 45 days to discoms to pay bills for electricity supply. After that, outstanding dues become overdue and generators charge penal interest on that in most cases.

To give relief to power generation companies (gencos), the Centre enforced a payment security mechanism from August 1, 2019.

Under this mechanism, discoms are required to open letters of credit for getting power supply.

The Central government had also given some breathers to discoms for paying dues to power generating companies in view of the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

The government had also waived penal charges for late payment of dues in the directive.

In May, the government announced Rs 90,000 crore liquidity infusion for discoms under which these utilities would get loans at economical rates from Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and REC Ltd. This was a government initiative to help gencos to remain afloat. Later, the liquidity infusion package was increased to Rs 1.2 lakh crore and further to Rs 1.35 lakh crore.

Last month, Power Minister R K Singh had said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that "so far, loans of Rs 1,35,497 crore have been sanctioned (under the liquidity infusion scheme and Rs 46,321 crore have been released to states/DISCOMs by REC and PFC (Power Finance Corporation)".

The minister had also explained to the House that due to the consequent nationwide lockdown, the revenues of the power distribution companies (DISCOMs) nosedived, as people were unable to pay for electricity consumed.

Discoms in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and Tamil Nadu account for the major portion of dues to power gencos, the data showed.

Overdue of independent power producers amount to 46.31 per cent of the total overdue of Rs 91,549 crore of discoms in February.

The proportion of central PSU gencos in the overdue was 40.21 per cent. Among the central public sector power generators, NTPC alone has an overdue amount of Rs 14,110.26 crore on discoms, followed by Damodar Valley Corporation at Rs 6,200.08 crore, NLC India at Rs 6,047.48 crore, NHPC at Rs 2,538.10 crore and THDC India at Rs 2,004.66 crore in February 2021.

Among private generators, discoms owe the highest overdue of Rs 17,178.62 crore to Adani Power followed by Bajaj Group-owned Lalitpur Power Generation Company Ltd at Rs 4,817.12 crore, SEMB (Sembcorp) at Rs 3,178.40 crore and GMR at Rs 2,195.12 crore in February 2021.

The overdue of non-conventional energy producers like solar and wind stood at Rs 12,346.04 crore in February 2021.

Also Read: Discoms receive Rs 46,321 cr of Rs 1.35 lakh cr loans sanctioned under liquidity infusion scheme
An Asian-American woman was stabbed to death while out walking her dogs in Southern California in what police called a 'completely random' attack.

The incident unfolded at around 7.30am local time on Saturday in Riverside's La Sierra neighborhood, KTLA reported.

Ke Chieh Meng, 64, suffered multiple stab wounds to her abdomen and was left bleeding on the ground. She was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

The alleged attacker, 23-year-old Darlene Stephanie Montoya, was arrested near the scene and is now facing murder charges.

Ke Chieh Meng, 64, (pictured) was stabbed to death while out walking her dogs in Southern California in what police called a 'completely random' attack on Saturday

Meng's death came as the US has been roiled by a string of random attacks against Asian Americans.

However, police said they do not believe that the stabbing was racially motivated.

'There was nothing to suggest that the victim was attacked due to her ethnicity,' Riverside Police Department spokesman Ryan Railsback told the New York Post.

Montoya was described as a 'transient' with a history of drug use and brushes with law enforcement.

'We're going to try to research [the suspect's] drug-abuse history and her mental-health history,' Railsback said.

He added that investigators are 'not closing the door on anything'.

Saturday marked Montoya's second arrest in less than a week, after she was detained on March 30 for allegedly attacking a white woman with a skateboard at a shopping center.

She was charged with assault with a deadly weapon in the earlier incident but was released without bail due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to the Post.

On Saturday, Montoya was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of murder, a weapons violation and being under the influence of an illegal substance.

She is being held without bail, according to jail records.

Darlene Stephanie Montoya, 23, (pictured) was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of murder, a weapons violation and being under the influence of an illegal substance

Hundreds of people in New York City took to the streets on Sunday to protest against an alarming rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans in the city and around the country.

The 'Stop Asian Hate' began at Foley Square in Manhattan before participants marched through City Hall Park and over the Brooklyn Bridge to Cadman Plaza.

The NYPD says there have been at least 33 hate crimes with an Asian victim so far this year - after 2020 saw a more than 800 percent increase in such crimes from the year before.

Many believe that the hate crimes have been fueled by the fact that the coronavirus originated in China, prompting perpetrators to target random Asian-Americans as scapegoats.

Hundreds of people in New York City took to the streets on Sunday to protest against an alarming rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans in the city and around the country

A woman holds a sign with the words 'I'm not a virus, hate is' during the 'Stop Asian Hate' rally in New York City on Sunday
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.


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The doorbell rings and I open up to find my latest online clothes delivery hanging neatly on the doorknob. Two metres away, a friendly woman dressed smartly in a blazer and mask introduces herself as Beth, my style concierge.

She explains I have 40 minutes to try on my clothes, during which I can FaceTime her to ask for advice at any point, before she'll come back to collect anything I don't want.

I'm trying out the new way to clothes shop that's the closest we've come to recreating the changing-room experience from the comfort of your own home.

Happily, there are zero cardboard boxes in sight, Beth is on hand to give me a second opinion, and most importantly if something doesn't fit I won't have to fill in a dreaded returns form because Beth is there to take away any unwanted items in her van.

Radhika Sanghani has tried out one of the new home 'try while they wait' fashion service run by British firm Harper Concierge (pictured right, with Style Concierge Beth)

The service, run by British firm Harper Concierge, is just one of a new wave of fashion deliveries aiming to ensure the online shopping experience that has boomed over the past year continues once the shops reopen next week.

Think of it as a sort of 'Deliveroo for fashion', allowing customers to skip all the admin of a typical online clothes order, while still maintaining the feeling of shopping in real life.

Demand for Harper Concierge has gone up by 300 per cent during the pandemic and, given that many of us don't relish the return of queuing for cramped changing rooms on the high street, it's quite possible this hassle-free way of shopping will remain popular even after clothes shops reopen.

'The service brings all the good bits of the in-store experience  the personal service and being able to try items on  and combines them with the convenience of shopping online,' says Harper Concierge's chief executive Liam Young.

'It's the perfect service for the time-poor but experience-driven customer of today.'

Liam isn't worried that demand will decrease after shops open  if anything he believes there will be an increase as the concierges will be able to resume services such as coming into the customer's home, and giving bespoke advice linked to their existing wardrobe.

Radhika was given 40 minutes to try on a selection of clothes in the comfort of her own home after they were delivered by the Style Concierge

A Style Concierge gives you clothes to try before taking away any unwanted items at the end, avoiding the dreaded returns forms (Radhika pictured with her haul of clothes in her home)

Even when we can go to changing rooms and try clothes on, there will still be a demand for this type of sophisticated home delivery which has been honed to perfection over the past year.

Not least because the latest government guidance advises shops to leave a gap of 'a few minutes' between customers using changing cubicles, which will no doubt translate to long queues in more popular shops.

But not everyone is convinced. 'It's lovely we have the option of having these services come to our homes,' says commercial fashion strategist Cecilia Joannou, Founder of Brand+ Commercial.

'But as consumers, most of us can't wait to go back to shops and have an in-store experience. We're all at home and miss that human element. There's also a geographic element; a lot of these companies have started in cities, but once you start covering more residential areas, how does that work?

PERSONAL STYLING SERVICES: BEST OF THE REST The pandemic has led to an increase in innovative ways of shopping online. Here are five of the best  all of which are free... REVAMP YOUR DAY-TO-DAY LOOK Liberty London Personal Shopping  Refresh your existing wardrobe What it involves: A 45-minute virtual session with a womenswear fashion expert, to find new pieces that work with your wardrobe and boost your confidence. Liberty Expert Appointments help with everything from styling denim and indoor loungewear to beauty and interiors workshops. Best for: A helping hand to top-up your old wardrobe if you're stuck in a style rut. Book at: libertylondon.com; or call 020 7573 9944. EXPERT STYLE TIPS FOR A MAJOR OCCASION Selfridges Stylist Service  Virtual Key Look Appointment What it involves: A one-hour virtual appointment with a stylist who can help you curate the perfect special occasion outfit. Best for: Finding the perfect inspiration for a post-lockdown big reveal outfit. Book at: selfridges.com or call 020 7318 3536. WORK UP YOUR WARDROBE Reiss Personal Shopping What it involves: A one-hour virtual appointment with a Reiss stylist to discuss any specific shopping requirements and learn more about your personal style. They will then curate a selection of products, which you will be shown on camera during the video session, where you can ask questions, too. The final edit of items is sent to you via courier. Best for: Your return to the office work wardrobe. Book at: reiss.com SATURDAY NIGHT SHOPPING EVENT John Lewis Virtual Group Styling Night In What it involves: A two-hour zoom session with a stylist, which you can do with friends and family (up to 20). You can't see the stylist, but you get access to a personalised talk and Q&A; plus a group styling session. Afterwards you'll receive a wish list of items discussed to browse at your leisure. The store also offers one-hour private sessions. Best for: A virtual shopping trip with your girlfriends. Book at: johnlewis.com; or email personal.styling@johnlewis.co.uk POST-LOCKDOWN FASHION SPRING CLEAN ME + EM  Zoe on Zoom What it involves: A virtual styling service over Zoom with the label's head stylist, Zoe Zipper. She will design a full capsule wardrobe inspired by your lifestyle. She also helps you ditch things you no longer wear  and gives advice on how to refresh existing pieces with new styling. Best for: A spring clean to declutter and zhoosh up your wardrobe, ahead of summer. Book at: meandem.com; or email zoe@meandem.com Advertisement

'For me, a lot of practical questions still need to be addressed beyond the current situation where we're all working at home, and there are plenty of personal stylists available to work with the companies.'

But Harper Concierge remains unfazed and if anything it is accelerating its plans for expansion. The service currently works with a number of stores including popular British midlife brand Me+Em and British designers Chinti & Parker, Amanda Wakeley and Mary Katrantzou, as well as boutique Iris Fashion, which stocks labels including APC and Ganni.

But it won't be long, it promises, before it works with more mainstream stores. Similarly, while the service is currently only available in the 32 boroughs of London, Manchester and Birmingham will follow soon.

'We are planning to begin serving other UK cities over the next 12 months,' says Liam. 'We're also in conversations with a number of more contemporary retailers, to satisfy demand from the modern consumer.'

Shoppers can access the service for free via the specific brands' websites, ordering the items they want to try, before selecting a convenient delivery slot. Regular clients can also contact Harper Concierge directly to arrange a multibrand appointment.

Fees range per brand. It costs a flat 15 for me to order a selection of clothes from Me+Em, and I take advantage of my Harper slot to add a couple of silk jumpsuits from Seren London to my order.

The whole process is seamless. I don't feel guilty ordering everything in two sizes to see which one actually fits me because that's the whole point of the service. And I don't have to spend hundreds on a credit card only to return half of it.

I order 14 items (there is no minimum or maximum) which would have come to almost 2,000 if I'd had to pay for them all. But the way the system works, I only need to pay the Style Concierge for what I want to keep.

I have 40 minutes to try on my selection: smart-but-comfortable tailored trousers, shirts, soft tops and an ankle-length red chiffon dress from Me+Em, and the 70s-style Seren jumpsuits, which remind me there is a world beyond Covid-19.

I feel like I'm in a movie montage as I try them all on, instantly discarding one jumpsuit for being too frumpy, but falling in love with a backless halter-neck version, and feeling ready for spring in the red Me+Em shirt dress that I can't wait to wear with trainers and a leather jacket.

I feel silly when I realise I'm definitely the smaller size in Me+Em, so the seven duplicates in the larger size are pointless, then I remember it makes no difference to Beth or the brand: she would have brought my order anyway, and anything I don't like goes straight back to the warehouse, unlike in a typical online order where it spends days in transit.

During my fitting, I don't actually need to FaceTime Beth, but when she comes back to collect my clothes, I answer the door in my new favourite outfit  a cream Me+Em shirt with navy wide-legged trousers with a side-strip  to check she thinks it suits me.

She does, agreeing it's the perfect smart-but-comfortable work-from-home look but also dressy enough for a date night with my boyfriend.

She neatly puts the clothes I don't want back on their hangers and into their zip-up cover. And five minutes later, she's back in her little black van on her way to her next appointment, and I've just managed to buy and return a selection of clothing without a single QR code in sight. Heaven!

Harper Concierge isn't the only door-to-door fashion delivery service. Toshi offers a similar service in Zones 1-3 in London and is expanding to Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

The company, which simply charges a 10-15 per cent commission on successful transactions  meaning there is no charge if people don't keep an item  works with more than 40 brand partners, mainly high-end designers from Christian Louboutin to Christopher Kane.

But Paul O'Regan, Toshi's chief commercial officer, believes that one day the service could also be expanded to High Street fashion.

'What was considered nice to have for customers a year ago is now a must-have.

'Shopping behaviour has changed drastically and people see the benefits of this at-home service. This way of shopping is here for the future.'

He says Toshi has seen a huge rise in demand during the pandemic from shop-starved customers, while brands are noticing a 30 per cent increase in revenue and a 30 per cent reduction in returns from customers who use the concierge service.

If my experience is anything to go by, like all shopping habits, the new ease of having a changing room at home could well prove a hard one for customers to break, even when our beloved store doors open.
Police divers have joined the search for London student Richard Okorogheye, who has been missing for nearly two weeks.

Mr Okorogheye, 19, was last seen in CCTV footage near Epping Forest, which police officers with dogs have been searching for the past four days.

The Metropolitan Police said nothing of interest had been found and divers had now joined its teams to search bodies of water in the forest.

CCTV footage showed the student walking down Smarts Lane towards Epping Forest at 12.39am on 23 March after taking a taxi from west London to Loughton.

He was wearing all black with a white Adidas logo acrosshis lower back and had a black satchel bag.

Read more:

Mr Okorogheye, has sickle cell disease and has been shielding since the start of the pandemic. He left his medication at his home in Ladbroke Grove, west London, raising the concerns of his family.

Shortly before his disappearance he had told his mother, Evidence Joel, he was struggling to cope.

Richard Okorogheye was last seen on CCTV footage, right, on 23 March (PA)

Police has appealed directly to Mr Okorogheye with detective Superintendent Danny Gosling, head of the Mets Central West Public Protection Unit, saying: People can go missing from home for any a number of reasons. Our job is not to cast judgment 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.

Anyone with information on Mr Okorogheyes whereabouts is asked to call police on 101, quoting 21MIS008134.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2021) Mother of former Jordanian crown prince Hamzah bin Hussein, Noor Al Hussein, called claims that her son was preparing a coup "wicked slander."

On Saturday, state media reported that several high-ranking officials were arrested for security reasons in Jordan. In a video message, Hamzah bin Hussein, half-brother of King Abdullah II, said that he had been placed under house arrest and cut off from communication. The armed forces deny that the prince was arrested, noting that he was told to cease "movements and activities that are used to target" the security and stability of Jordan.

"Praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander. God bless and keep them safe," the queen consort wrote on Twitter.

Noor Al Hussein was the fourth and last wife of King Hussein who ruled Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. She has since been active in charity and promotes various causes.
A 72-year-old Massachusetts woman who performed illegal bodily injections, including buttocks enhancements, pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Gladys Araceli Ceron of North Andover was injecting people with silicone oil that could be fatal. The oil could also cause strokes or disfigurement.

Ceron pleaded guilty recently in federal court to five counts of delivery for pay of an adulterated or misbranded medical device received in interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead. Sentencing is scheduled for May.

Federal investigators said Ceron ran a business in Lawrence between 2004 and 2019 where she performed illegal bodily injections using gluteal material that she obtained from a source in Florida.

Lab tests of the material subsequently confirmed that it contained silicone oil  a substance that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns can travel through blood vessels and cause a stroke, death or permanent disfigurement, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

During an investigation, authorities said one person told them Ceron performed cosmetic injections in their face. The material used hardened in the persons face, authorities said.

In 2018, Ceron agreed to perform buttock enhancing and facial injections for an individual. During a recorded meeting on May 24, 2018, Ceron told the individual that she charged $500 for buttock injections and $60 for each wrinkle-filling injection, investigators said.

Investigators searched Cerons business in Lawrence and seized several bottles and syringes of a substance that tests revealed to be silicone oil. Numerous uncapped, used syringes were also recovered from the business.

Ceron performed illegal injections to augment the buttock or fill wrinkles of four other women in exchange for money and misled her victims about her qualifications and the identity and safety of the material she injected, according to federal records.

The investigation into Ceron was connected to a search conducted by federal investigators in Florida on May 25, 2016, according to federal records.

Authorities seized unlicensed cosmetic products, cosmetic silicone fillers, drugs, needles and syringes at a Delray Beach, Florida home and found copies of shipping labels to Lawrence, Massachusetts, records show.

The investigation into Ceron showed she conducted the injections in the third-floor attic of a building.

The attic consisted of a lounge area furnished with a television, sofa and chairs, authorities said. Ceron led the CW (confidential witness) to a back room which contained an examination table and two tables on which sat numerous vials of what appeared to be injectable drugs and devices, boxes of syringes, alcohol, cotton balls, examination gloves and other containers.

Ceron was not licensed by the state as a medical doctor nor as a licensed nurse or pharmacist.
New Delhi:

At least six people were killed and several others injured on Saturday night after a fire broke out in a house where a huge quantity of firecrackers were stored illegally in Jamshedpurs East Singhbhum district, a senior police officer said.

Six people were killed when a fire broke out at the house at Kumardubi village, about 85-km from Jamshedpur, under Ghatshila sub-division, SP (Rural) Prabhat Kumar said.

Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) (Ghatsila) Arvind Kumar Lal said a wall of the house collapsed in the fire and some people are feared trapped under it.

At least four to five people are still trapped under the debris even as efforts are on to douse the flames, the SDO said adding that intermittent bursting of firecrackers are still taking place.

ALSO READ | Mumbai: Massive fire breaks out at sets of TV show 'Super Dancer' at RK Studio in Chembur, 6 fire tenders at spot

A large quantity of firecrackers were stored as well as being manufactured illegally. Somehow, the stored firecrackers caught fire, Lal said.

Local BJP MP Bidyut Baran Mahato rushed to the spot on being informed about the incident.

I have already apprised Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das about the incident and urged the local administration to make adequate arrangements to provide the best medical aid to the injured in Jamshedpur, the MP said.

The chief minister assured an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to be paid to the next of kin of the deceased while the injured will get Rs 50,000, Mahato added.

(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ | Malaysia: 25 killed as fire breaks out at religious school in Kuala Lumpur

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A Cape Cod surge of the P.1 COVID-19 variant has led to Massachusetts topping all U.S. states with 58 known cases of the antibody-resistant strain first detected in Brazil, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Cape Cod Times reported that genetic sequencing of Barnstable County positive tests identified 50 cases of the variant. The CDC reports that Massachusetts also shows 712 cases of the highly-contagious B.1.1.7. variant first detected in the United Kingdom, which CDC officials say is on its way to becoming the dominant strain in many parts of the U.S.

By comparison, Florida, which has a population more than triple that of Massachusetts, reports 55 cases of P.1. California reports 33, according to the latest CDC data.

CDC is closely monitoring these variants of concern (VOC), the agency said Thursday. These variants have mutations in the virus genome that alter the characteristics and cause the virus to act differently in ways that are significant to public health, including more severe cases, easier transmission, the requirement of different treatment and potential changes to the effectiveness of current vaccines.

The state has designated seven of Barnstable Countys 15 towns high risk for transmission of COVID-19, according to The Boston Globe and The Cape Cod Times. The countys seven-day average positive test rate was recently 9.6%, more than triple the state rate.

Massachusettss first P.1 case was a Barnstable County woman in her 30s, according to the state Department of Public Health. DPH noted last week that the B.1.1.7 and P.1 variants of concern are known to spread more easily than other variants of the COVID-19 virus.

Stephen M. Kissler, of Harvard Universitys T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told The Cape Cod Times that B.1.1.7. is of concern because of its high degree of transmissibility, whereas P.1 was more resistant to antibodies.

Bruce Murphy, Yarmouths health director, told The Cape Cod Times that coronavirus fatigue was partly to blame for the recent surge. Contact tracers have found that many are letting their guard down by carpooling and hosting parties, he said.

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War-ravaged Libya received more than 100,000 doses of Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, with the country's health ministry announcing that first shipment with jabs landed at Tripoli's Mitiga airport Sunday, Daily Sabah reports.

Around 1,000 new infections are announced daily by the National Centre for Disease Control, posing a challenge to a health sector ravaged by years of conflict.

"It is the first drop of rain. Thank God, we are able to supply the first batch of corona vaccine," interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh said in a tweet. "The rest of the shipment will arrive in succession," he added, without giving details of how many more doses were due.
Singled out as a top emitter of methane emissions, Permian Basin operators are emphasizing their efforts to rein in those emissions.

An analysis just released by Texans for Natural Gas, a project of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, finds methane emissions in the Permian have declined more than 70 percent in the last eight years even as oil production rose more than 300 percent, rising to a record 7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019.

The analysis is TNGs follow up to the organizations report on 2018 methane and flaring intensity in the Permian Basin. The analysis utilizes data from the World Bank to show how flaring intensity in the Permian Basin is far lower than other major producing countries around the world, such as Algeria, Russia and Venezuela.

The Permian Basin is a global leader in responsible production. Our report focused on methane intensity, which gives insight into the average emissions per unit of production. By looking at methane emissions through this more accurate lens, we can see that the efforts of Permian Basin producers to reduce emissions in their operations have had an incredible impact even as producers are drilling more to meet rising global energy demand, Ed Longanecker, president of TIPRO, told the Reporter-Telegram by email.

At the same time Longanecker was promoting the industrys advances in mitigating methane emissions, he expressed concern about legislation that has been reintroduced to curb hydraulic fracturing.

Reps. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) have introduced whats dubbed the Frack Pack  a package of five bills to dramatically expand federal control over hydraulic fracturing, which has transformed the United States into a global energy leader over the past decade, Longanecker said.

This legislation is as outdated as MySpace. It has failed time and again for good reason: It's regulation for the sake of regulation with complete disregard for existing federal and state statues, he commented. The United States already has some of the strongest regulations in the world on fracturing activities and oil and gas development. Creating additional hurdles for domestic energy production, especially when the U.S. economy is still recovering from a global pandemic, would only make it less competitive in the global market.

Longanecker stressed that the TNG analysis used data on methane intensity  or the amount of methane emitted or flared per barrel of oil equivalent produced as a reliable metric. He said it is used by many organizations across the globe, including the World Bank, the International Energy Agency, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative and the ONE Future, he said. Having such comprehensive data is critical in helping the industry create a roadmap of where it needs to, and can, improve, Longanecker added.

He said that from 2011 to 2019, methane intensity in the Permian has fallen 77 percent, which stands as a clear reflection of producers commitment to lower methane emissions. When compared to other global energy producers such as Venezuela and Russia, the rates of flaring intensity from the Permian are significantly lower.

Nationwide, Kinder Morgan reported in its February investor presentation, carbon dioxide emissions have fallen 14 percent or 860 million metric tons since 2007 while the gross domestic product grew about 50 percent. At the same time, power emissions fell about 30 percent or 805 million metric tons.

Longanecker said the TNG report illustrates the efforts by those in the industry to reduce emissions through voluntary actions, collaboration innovation and ongoing investment in greenhouse gas-mitigating technologies throughout the oil and gas value chain.

He cited a rise in aggressive commitments from individual companies to reduce methane emissions and flaring, including Apache, which is working to eliminate routine flaring across its US onshore operations and reduce overall flaring intensity to less than 1 percent of the gas they produce this year. Pioneer Natural Resources recently announced it plans to cut methane emission intensities by 40 percent, while EOG Resources endorsed the World Bank Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative, aiming to achieve the World Bank standard by 2025, he added.

Moreover, collaborative efforts through the Texas Methane and Flaring Coalition, The Environmental Partnership and Our Nations Future (ONE Future) are paving the path for the oil and gas industry to advance its environmental goals, Longanecker said. As an example, member companies involved with ONE Future have committed to reducing the average methane leakage rate across all of their participating U.S. facilities to below 1 percent by 2025  and are already well ahead of that goal.

Longanecker continued, As a result of this ongoing commitment, total methane emissions from oil and natural gas systems are down 23 percent since 1990, according to 2020 data from the EPA's Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, Also, since 2005, total U.S. GHG emissions have dropped by 12 percent and total GHG emissions from fossil fuel combustion have decreased nearly 15 percent. Rising use of natural gas to fuel power generation is also a key factor in the reduction of U.S. emissions of CO2.

The association anticipates the World Bank will release data needed for a 2020 report sometime this summer, likely June or July, Longanecker said.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP)  Thomas Greiss made 27 stops to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-1 victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday for their first road win against the Lightning in the regular season in more than 10 years.

Marc Staal, Valtteri Filppula, Michael Rasmussen, Darren Helm and Dylan Larkin all scored for the Red Wings, who snapped a three-game winless streak. Luke Glendening and Anthony Mantha each finished with two assists for Detroit, which had lost 17 regular-season consecutive games in Tampa until Sunday going back to Feb. 17, 2011.

The past record ... if you guys didnt tell us we would have no idea to be dead honest with you, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. But certainly we havent beat these guys much. Having success against them certainly feels good especially the fact they are as good of a team as they are and the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Victor Hedman scored his seventh goal for the Lightning, who fell to 2-4 in their past six games.

Were learning the lesson of how important every detail is in our game and how important it is to be in that structure for 60 minutes, Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. It felt like we had good control of the game, we hadnt scored, but it was 1-0 halfway through the second and we just let a few minutes in the game snowball into a big hole.

Christopher Gibson stopped 13 shots in the loss, his undoing coming when he allowed three goals in a span of 2:53 in the second period.

Filppula opened that spurt with a goal at 16:05, Rasmussen scored 29 seconds later off a miss that caromed off the boards and Staal closed the flurry with a shot through traffic to make it 4-0.

Everyone just played well, Rasmussen said. We clogged up the neutral zone pretty good and stuck to our system. We can play with whoever as long as were playing our game and everyone is on the same page and working hard.

Larkin had a power-play goal late in the first and Helm added an empty-netter for Detroit.

Story continues

(The win is) huge, everyone knows they won a Stanley Cup and they are one of the top teams in the League, Greiss said. Its always special to beat those kinds of guys.

Hedman, appearing in his 800th game, broke the shutout 4:12 into the third period. It was Detroits first regular-season win at Tampa Bay since Feb. 17, 2011.

The Lightning fell to 0-9-1 this season when allowing more than four goals. Theyre 26-1-1 when allowing four goals or fewer.

Eventually pucks that might not go in will start going in, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. Its the cycle of hockey and we just have to work our way through this.

FABBRI ADDED TO THE LIST

Detroit was without F Robby Fabbri, who was scratched with an undisclosed injury. Fabbri, tied for the team lead with 10 goals, played 16:07 on Saturday. The Red Wings were already without forwards Bobby Ryan (upper body) and Sam Gagner (lower body), who have both been out since March 30 and Tyler Bertuzzi, who has missed 30 games with an upper body injury.

SURPRISE STARTER, DEBUT

Tampa Bay started goaltender Christopher Gibson on Sunday for his Lightning debut after Curtis McElhinney tweaked something on Saturday, according to Cooper. Gibson last appeared in an NHL game on March 3, 2019, in relief of Thomas Greiss  Detroits starter on Sunday  as a member of the New York Islanders against Philadelphia. Gibsons last NHL start was on March 30, 2018, with the Islanders in a 5-4 loss to Toronto.

Rookie defenseman Ben Thomas also made his NHL debut for Tampa Bay, logging 14:23 of ice time finishing with one shot on goal and a minus-1 rating.

UP NEXT

Red Wings: Host Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

Lightning: At Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

___

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
NSW Fire and Rescue launched a minor evacuation operation at the Sydney Opera House after reports of a potential gas leak.

At 2:15pm on Sunday, firefighters were deployed to the Opera House to investigate reports of a gas smell emerging from a small area near the basement in the back-end of the building, an area not frequented by the public.

They were quickly joined by NSW Police who, along with the venues staff and a HAZMAT crew, evacuated around 200 people in the vicinity after discovering elevated levels of gas on the premises.

After 4:30pm, NSW Fire and Rescue confirmed the gas leak was caused by the Opera Houses fire suppression system which accidentally activated. The system uses the non-flammable gas nitrogen to extinguish a fire in the case of an emergency.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/04/2021



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[ Spoiler Warning: This report includes spoilers revealing if Brandon and Julia are still married and living together in America or if they split up after the wedding.]

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So are Brandon and Julia still together now or did the couple break up after their wedding?

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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

's eighth season just showed Brandon Gibbs and Julia Trubkina getting married, so did their marriage last or did they separate? Is the couple still together and happy now?Brandon, a 27-year-old pest-control technician who helps to run his parents' farm in Dinwiddie, VA, entered his first serious relationship with Julia, a 26-year-old go-go club dancer from Krasnodar City, Russia.Brandon felt love at first sight with Julia, and so he flew to Russia after just a few weeks of getting to know her on the phone and through videochat.The couple dated for five months long-distance and then Brandon invited Julia to join him in Iceland, where he proposed marriage to her and the pair got engaged.Brandon and Julia ultimately had a "perfect" reunion at the airport, but Julia was upset to learn she'd have to sleep in a separate bedroom from Brandon at his parents' house while Brandon attempted to save some money.Brandon's mother Betty was also pushing for Julia to take contraception when Julia didn't want to."I can't control my mother. I can't control how they will interact. They both have really strong personalities, and I just feel like they're going to clash," Brandon lamented in a confessional.Once at the farm in Virginia, it didn't take Julia long to realize she hated the chores -- such as feeding the pigs -- and waking up early every morning."I don't want this. This is not the life [of] my dreams. Brandon say we need to stay here before we marry, but I say to him, 'No, Brandon, this is not going to work.' I need to leave," Julia vented in a confessional.Julia admitted she was ready to go back to Russia after only one day of working at his parents' farm."I wish she would see this as an opportunity and just give life on the farm a chance," Brandon told the cameras.But Brandon and Julia still set a wedding date for May 9, even though Brandon felt torn between Julia and his disappointed parents, who believed Brandon had neglected his responsibilities at the farm."I'm going to fix this for us... I'm going to be the man that you want me to be," Brandon told Julia.Brandon was ready to choose Julia over everything, so he told his parents that Julia was unhappy and giving him an ultimatum to move somewhere else or break up.In order to not lose their son, Betty and Brandon's father Ron agreed to let the couple sleep in the same bed.With a little over 60 days left to wed, Brandon and Julia had a pregnancy scare.Brandon admitted Julia being pregnant would be "a nightmare" because they didn't have enough money to have a big wedding or move out."You guys are getting off on the wrong foot to having a wonderful life," Ron said, before Betty noted she had many sleepless nights over her son's relationship.But Julia found out she was not pregnant, which she and Brandon both found as a relief.Since Julia didn't want to take birth control, Brandon decided it was time to start using condoms, even though he admitted he didn't like them.In March 2020, Julia went shopping for a wedding dress, and Betty and Brandon were both able to tag along.Brandon didn't seem excited or enthusiastic when providing his opinion on the dresses, and Julia and Betty begged Brandon to talk and show more emotion.In April 2020, Julia still had one month to go on her K-1 visa but coronavirus was rapidly spreading and posed a problem.Julia said Brandon had upset her because every time she asked him a question about their wedding, he allegedly didn't want to talk about it or would brush it off.Brandon believed Julia was upset because he "didn't share the female fantasy of a wedding day," and he felt bad about making her cry in the church where they'd be getting married."It's very hard to deal with that I'm always doing something wrong, and I think she wants me to be something I'm not. So with everything going on, we are taking it one day at a time," Brandon explained in a confessional.Brandon worried about rushing into a marriage, but he said he wasn't ready to give up on his relationship with Julia.Brandon noted that when he and Julia weren't fighting, they had so much fun together and that's what he loved about her. Brandon didn't feel he had a choice but to marry Julia right away or else he'd lose her.When the pair had a full month left to marry on Julia's K-1 visa, they decided to move the wedding up in fear someone could test positive for COVID-19 close to the original wedding date.The night before the couple's wedding, Brandon and Julia had gotten into a big fight that left Brandon with some questions.Julia didn't feel Brandon cared much about her or their wedding, and Brandon said he didn't want to spend the rest of his life fighting with his wife and wanted to make sure they were on the same page.Brandon therefore asked Julia if she 100 percent wanted to marry him because she had allegedly walked out on him. Julia admitted she felt angry and sad and Brandon needed to try to change her mind and make her happy."Brandon, marry [does] not mean we [won't] divorce after, if we have more problems and not fix [them]," Julia replied."Are you threatening with divorce before we've even gotten married?" Brandon asked."I try to say what happen if we [don't] stop and do not hear each other," Julia explained."That's kind of a threat," Brandon noted.Brandon noted a relationship takes team work and then looked at Julia and said, "I love you," to which she replied, "I love you too."Brandon knew Julia would calm down and be okay, and he explained they were always able to work through their issues and resolve them with a heart-to-heart conversation."You won't be sad after tomorrow," Brandon said, which made Julia cry because her fiance was "so cute."Brandon wanted to show Julia how much he cared about her since she couldn't have the "elaborate" wedding of her dreams. As a result, Brandon surprised Julia with a spa day in his parents' bathroom, which included a bubble bath and candles.On the couple's wedding day, Julia couldn't stop thinking about her hair, dress and shoes. She had found a dress that she liked but it wasn't exactly what she wanted for her big day.For the wedding, Julia wore a knee-length white dress, a tiara and a jean jacket. Julia had made her own wedding bouquet and did her own bun-styled hair and makeup.During the wedding, Julia and Brandon exchanged vows in each other's languages, which Julia thought would be incredibly sweet, romantic and personal.Brandon and Julia then got married in a beautiful church, with Julia's parents watching the whole ceremony on video.Brandon read his vows in Russian and said, "How did I get so lucky to meet you? How did I get so lucky to call you my love? I feel like the happiest man in the world. From this moment on, you are my priority. I love you and I need you forever."Julia cried tears of joy as Brandon read his vows, and she responded by promising to love him always as well as appreciate and respect him. Julia vowed to always make protein cookies and love him forever as his "Russian angel."The ceremony made everyone cry, and Julia looked forward to having another ceremony in Russia one day.Brandon and Julia definitely appear to still be a very happy couple, with photo evidence on social media as recently as late March.Brandon posted a photo of Julia and himself kissing in the church where they got married after their wedding, and Brandon joked about the couple only having six pictures from their big day. He also uploaded a photo of the couple cutting their wedding cake.And Brandon and Julia also just took a trip to Miami, FL, together! Julia revealed on Instagram this vacation served as their honeymoon. Coronavirus probably delayed the pair's honeymoon.In mid-March, Brandon shared a picture of Julia and himself in the hot tub at his parents' house. While it could have been a throwback photo, Brandon made it clear Julia is still in the United States with him and they're still together."I guess you won't see us tonight because we'll be too busy clouding up the tub," Brandon wrote with a smiley face at the end.On March 8, Brandon uploaded an image of Julia and himself with their arms around each other and wrote alongside it, "Happy International Women's Day," along with multiple flower emojis.Earlier in the month, Brandon posted a photo standing next to someone in a grey sweatshirt and captioned it, "Hey Julia... The bus is coming."And Julia posted two photos of herself in a wedding gown around the same time to defend Brandon in light of the fact he had been unenthusiastic and seemingly bored while wedding dress shopping with his fiancee."Bad omens of a wedding. I do not believe in these signs. do you know how many of them? lots of. the whole world must be divorced, since all superstitions cannot be observed. Brandon didn't want to go to the store, but I insisted," Julia wrote.Brandon also posted two selfies with Julia, one of which featured Julia kissing him on the cheek, in late February.Brandon captioned one picture of Julia and himself posing in a hotel room, "I'm just waiting on Sunday. #90dayfiance #brandonandjulia #beautiful."On February 12, Brandon also posted a video on Instagram of Julia kissing him on one cheek while his dog licked his other cheek."Love who loves you back. Happy Valentine's day guys. #90dayfiance #Brandonandjulia," Brandon captioned the video.Around the same time, Julia posted a picture of Brandon hugging her on the beach."I want to congratulate everyone on the upcoming Valentine's day and wish to find a person next to whom you will not need anyone else. #90dayfiance #Brandonandjulia," Julia wrote alongside the image.Julia also took to Instagram in mid-January 2021 and dropped other hints she and Brandon remain a couple.On January 20, Julia posted a hilarious photo with Brandon in which she stuffed her shirt and asked fans to come up with a funny name for the picture. And about a week earlier, Julia also posted a sweet selfie of the couple."Just cute photo #90dayfiance#Brandonandjulia," Julia wrote alongside the January 12 picture with a blowing-kiss emoticon.Several days earlier, Julia uploaded a photo of Brandon giving her a piggyback ride."It seems to me that this week we will not be in the episode. a little positive to you all #90dayfiance #90dayfiance8 #Brandonandjulia," Julia captioned the photo, adding three kissing emoticons.And a photo surfaced on Reddit of Brandon and Julia spending New Year's Eve together in someone's apartment with two male friends.While the picture indicates the group had welcomed 2021 together, many Reddit users commented on how Julia appeared to be photoshopped into the picture and whether the photo was authentic.Julia also conducted a Q&A with her followers on Instagram Stories earlier this year and dropped additional hints that suggest she is still with Brandon and living in the United States."Everything is pretty nice," Julia said of her current life. "It's pretty in my life. I've never had, like, an easy life," Julia said. "I all the time chose a hard life."Julia said her English "is much better than before," probably because she's around English-speaking people all the time."I try to learn everything but it's so hard for me," Julia added.When an Instagram user called Julia and Brandon "the cutest couple," Julia replied, "Thank you so much."Julia also revealed she currently has a great relationship with Brandon's parents, although there is tension between them on the currently-airing season of .A fan asked how Julia essentially puts up with her "parents-in-law," and Julia responded, "I love my parents a lot because my parents want what is best for me. If I could choose other parents I would never choose other parents because my parents are the best and I love them a lot."In addition, Julia said she hopes she can "start working" soon and put her degree in design to good use in either apartments or homes.As far as her favorite experience in the United States goes, Julia revealed, "I like people in America because everyone smiles and everyone tries to help. You never ask for help but people try. This is so cool."When asked whether she likes Russia or America better, Julia said there are some things she likes better in Russia and other things she likes better in the United States.She noted the countries are just "different." For example, Julia said she cannot drive yet in America while she has her license back in Russia.Julia shared excitement, however, when someone mentioned all the states she can travel to in the United States. Julia said she'd love to visit New York especially.Julia told her followers it was "hard to leave [her] house and family" in Russia, but she added, "My parents understand this."But Julia played coy when asked direct questions about whether she married Brandon and is still in the United States and living with Brandon's parents.Julia admitted she doesn't want to "get in trouble" by breaking her NDA contract with TLC.When one fan wrote that it seems like she married Brandon, Julia replied, "I don't know!"And she explained to fans, "I can't say where I stay right now or what I do right now."But Julia did admit her favorite thing about Brandon is that "he is so cute." Julia beamed when talking about Brandon, so it appears unlikely that they've broken up.Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage!
Controversial shooting of kangaroos on the Mornington Peninsula has sparked a local backlash amid fears the culls may lead to the animals being eradicated from the region.

Some Victorian landowners regard kangaroos as pests that damage agricultural land but many environmentalists argue the animal on Australias national emblem should be protected, not hunted.

Rye resident and wildlife protection activist Craig Thomson wants kangaroos protected from shooting on the Mornington Peninsula. Credit:Joe Armao

The state government insists its control of kangaroo numbers is humane and ecologically sustainable, saying their numbers have risen significantly since 2018.

But now there is a growing push for Mornington Peninsula kangaroos to be reclassified as part of Melbourne rather than Gippsland so they cannot be harvested.
Ayesha Hussein, 55, from Cambridge was a happy and independent mum to her four children less than 100 days ago

A mother who was paralysed from the eyes down after contracting coronavirus had her home raided by four thieves.

Ayesha Hussein, 55, from Cambridge was a happy and independent mum to her four children less than 100 days ago.

But while she was in hospital criminals broke into her home on January 23rd and stole her car and jewellery.

Doctors doubt she will ever move, talk or breathe on her own again after her battle with Covid-19.

Her daughter Mina said: 'We just want our mum back. Doctors say she's going to be disabled but we don't care what state she's in'.

The 30-year-old said Ayesha will be given the best care at home if she leaves Addenbrooke's Hospital, where she remains comatose and only able to move her eyes.

Ms Hussein's ordeal began at Christmas when she developed a cough, lost her sense of taste and smell, and had trouble breathing.

By December 29 she was rushed to hospital in an ambulance and, two days later, she was put on a ventilator.

A week later Ayesha's temperature soared to 42C before she fell into a coma, which she remains in today.

Her daughter said of the break in: 'It was more pain I didn't need'.

As Ayesha enters her fourth month in hospital, Addenbrooke's staff have issued a heartbreaking ultimatum to her family.

Ms Hussein's ordeal began at Christmas when she developed a cough, lost her sense of taste and smell, and had trouble breathing. By December 29 she was rushed to hospital in an ambulance and, two days later, she was put on a ventilator

'The doctors said you need to consider the possibility of ending her life,' Mina explained.

'They asked if she has a cardiac arrest again do you want us to resuscitate her and we said yes.

'They were saying the quality of life wouldn't be good but we can give a good quality for her.'

Mina said that coronavirus 'destroyed' her mum's life as a happy and active mother to two sons and two daughters.

'I wish people could see what this has done to my mum,' Mina said.

'She was completely happy and healthy and it's destroyed her life. It's taken her for a complete 360.'

While holding out for a miracle, Mina has been fundraising to pay her mum's rent and bills in the hope that she will one day return to her home.

She's raised more than 6,500 on GoFundMe and said the money will also support her mum if she leaves hospital.
It was an instantly striking look that helped make a star of Sir Michael Caine and established a 1960s fashion trend that endures to this day.

Now Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole is stepping into the beige raincoat and thick-rimmed glasses of Harry Palmer as he revives Len Deighton's Cold War spy for a TV remake of The Ipcress File.

As these pictures from the set show, the costume department has worked overtime to get the famous look just right.

As these pictures from the set show, the costume department has worked overtime to get the famous look just right

Sir Michael starred in a trio of Harry Palmer movies from 1965 to 1967, and his distinctive specs even influenced the Mike Myers spoof Austin Powers

Lucy Boynton also perfects the 1960s look with a stylish blue suit worthy of Jackie Kennedy in her role as his assistant Jean

Meanwhile, Cole's co-star Lucy Boynton  recently seen in Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody  also perfects the 1960s look with a stylish blue suit worthy of Jackie Kennedy in her role as his assistant Jean.

Sir Michael starred in a trio of Harry Palmer movies from 1965 to 1967, and his distinctive specs even influenced the Mike Myers spoof Austin Powers.

For the six-part ITV series, also starring The Night Manager's Tom Hollander as spymaster Major Dalby, Liverpool has been transformed into 1960s London as Palmer investigates the kidnapping of British nuclear scientists.

Cole, 32, who shot to fame as John Selby in Peaky Blinders, is a Londoner like Caine.

However, he was born in affluent Kingston-upon-Thames as opposed to industrial Rotherhithe, where Sir Michael entered the world as Maurice Micklewhite 88 years ago.

Deighton went on to write several Harry Palmer thrillers  although the spy was never named in the books  giving producers scope for further series.
No one likes being blamed for something they did not do.



So, one can imagine how Marwa Elselehdar felt, when she was blamed for bringing one of the world's most strategic shipping routes, the Suez Canal, to a complete halt!

 Facebook

By the way, Elselehdar is no ordinary woman. She is Egypts first female ship captain, which is why her name being dragged into a major controversy for absolutely no reason, is a big issue.



A fake news campaign blaming Elselehdar for the blockage was being circulated, according to a BBC report. However, the truth of the matter is that the captain was nowhere near the scene of the incident, in fact, she was on duty miles away in Alexandria.

 Marwa Elselehdar

I was shocked. I felt that I might be targeted maybe because Im a successful female in this field or because Im Egyptian, but Im not sure, the 29-year-old captain was quoted in the BBC report.



Elselehdar further stated that a lot of people still dont accept the idea of women working away from their families in the seas, which could have been a major reason why they believed the fake news so easily.

"This fake article was in English so it spread in other countries. I tried so hard to negate what was in the article because it was affecting my reputation and all the efforts I exerted to be where I am now," she said.

 Twitter

At present, women only account for 2% of the world's seafarers, according to the International Maritime Organisation.



On March 23rd a massive container ship named Ever Given found itself stuck in the Suez Canal, the worlds busiest shipping route. Such was the scale of the disaster that it was blocking at least 12% of the global trade.

Last week, traffic resumed in the Suez Canal after the stranded container ship was finally freed by salvage crews.
SAGINAW, MI  For two decades, the Rev. Hurley J. Coleman Jr. has ministered to the congregation of Saginaws World Outreach Campus Church.

And for the past year, like many other faith leaders, he has done so virtually as members of his nondenominational Christian church have worshipped together from afar via Facebook, YouTube and other platforms.

But on April 4, Easter Sunday, hell welcome some of them back in person for the first time.

Some things will be different. There will be more empty seats, people will wear face masks, and the service will be shorter than usual. But other things  perhaps the things that matter the most  will be very much the same.

They can expect to feel church again, Coleman Jr. said.

Well still be joyful

World Outreach is just one Michigan church offering in-person Easter Sunday services this year. Some churches reopened with COVID-19 health and safety precautions in place months ago, and some continue virtual services. There are not currently any restrictions for religious services, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

On Saturday, Michigan reported 8,413, a recent one-day high. The interviews for this story were conducted before cases began to surge again across the state. Some churches may have amended previous plans as cases continue to climb.

At LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, the Rev. Peter Jonker said last month that he was hoping for the churchs largest in-person crowd since the coronavirus hit Michigan in March 2020. However, this years service will look a bit different than past Easter celebrations.

The church has reduced capacity from more than 800 people to 300 people to comply with social distancing guidelines, attendees are required to wear masks, and the churchs choir, which included as many as 60 people during past Easter services, has been reduced to a quartet.

Theyll be able to socially distance, he said of the quartet. But well still sing the same Easter songs, and well still be joyful.

Last year, LaGraves Easter service was conducted almost completely virtually. But this year, with the ongoing distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, parishioners are feeling more hopeful about the future and can now see light at the end of the tunnel, he said.

This Easter will be much more joyful and much more celebratory than the last one, Jonker said.

It will be really great to preach to a bunch of people who are there and who will say hallelujah and sing those great songs and who will respond immediately. Youll be able to see their response as opposed to last year, where I was looking at a camera. Theres a big difference between those two things.

Smaller services

At Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, located in Flint at 1417 Stevenson St., the church is planning to open its doors for the first time since the the COVID-19 pandemic for Easter Sunday.

Weve been out of service respectfully because of the pandemic, Pastor Jeffrey Hawkins Sr. said.

The doors of the 100-member church will be open Easter Sunday.

Were doing it a little different, Hawkins said. Were doing two services that will segue us into Easter Sunday doing the same thing. Were excited about being back in the building.

To practice social distancing and other safety guidelines, the church will have two different services and will sanitize between each one. Masks and temperature checks will also be required.

The church is only allowing 20-25 members to attend each service at one time.

Up until this point, the congregation has either participated in church services via the churchs social media pages and website or parking lot services where parishioners stayed in their cars while the pastor used a speaker to deliver the message.

Were just excited to be back and see people in that type of gathering, Hawkins explained. Its good for that, but well be playing it real safe and gradually going up as time goes on.

Church has no walls in a digital world

Jonathan Herron, the founding pastor/teaching pastor at Life Church Michigan, said even in a post-pandemic world, virtual church is here to stay.

You have to either go Google or go Amish, thats the new reality for the American church, and we would rather go where people are, Herron said.

Life Church Michigan has made headlines in years past for its savvy marketing and unconventional approach to attracting younger generations. Before the pandemic, its Easter celebrations included a helicopter egg drop event for kids. In 2015, the nondenominational Christian church gave away 300 tickets to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens on its opening day as part of its A Star Wars Christmas promotion.

Life Church Michigan offers virtual services plus in-person services at 9 a.m. on Sundays at the Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 W. St. Andrews Road, and at 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. on Sundays at its Saginaw County location at 5200 Tittabawassee Road. The churchs Bay City location is temporarily closed, but Herron said he hopes to reopen it this fall.

Herron said the church had about 1,200 members before the pandemic. Although fewer people are gathering in person at Life Church Michigan locations on Sundays now than before, it has a growing online audience.

We have people who call our church home that live in Vermont and Alabama and Iowa, he said. Were discovering the church has no walls in a digital world.

Life Church Michigan brought back its helicopter Easter egg drop event this year with limited entry and is celebrating the holiday in other surprising ways, too.

We are throwing a party as best as we can. We believe that, yes, there is social distancing still, but you dont have to be spiritually distanced, Herron said. Be prepared for confetti canons. Be prepared for lots of Easter candy being thrown from the stage...but also be prepared for open arms that just say Welcome home. God is not mad at you. God is not punishing you. Hes trying to get your attention, but faith is a journey, not a guilt trip.

Rev. Hurley Coleman Jr. poses for a photograph at World Outreach Campus Church in Saginaw on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

Coleman Jr. said World Outreach, which has about 700 members, has also seen increased participation online. Before the pandemic, the church had an average Sunday service attendance of about 200 to 300 people. When World Outreach and other churches across Michigan closed their physical doors and worship moved online last year, that number grew.

By the end of the day, we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 to 400 views, so were actually having a greater participation, he said. People have an opportunity to share it so more people can see it.

At 11 a.m. on Easter Sunday, World Outreach will open its doors to about 50 to 75 pre-registered attendees. Coleman Jr. expects the occasion will inspire a mix of excitement and nervousness.

We have many people who are anxious to come back because they have missed our fellowship, he said. (And) theres a lot of people who are very anxious and apprehensive.

He added, Im anxious to get back in there with the people, get back in with the members, and to comfort them, to minister to them.

Rev. Hurley Coleman Jr. poses for a photograph at World Outreach Campus Church in Saginaw on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. (Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com)

Meet people where theyre at

The Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo is also looking forward to celebrating traditional Easter Masses.

This year were grateful that our Easter Masses will include the faithful in stark contrast to last year when the celebration of Mass was not open to the public, said Victoria Cessna, executive director of communications and public affairs.

The parishes in the Diocese of Kalamazoo continue to follow safety and health protocols. Overall capacity in the church main worship space is limited to up to 50% with the priority of maintaining six-foot social distancing. Masks are required by all attendees. Some parishes have a reservation system in place to best accommodate attendees, and all parishes have been asked to consider having a plan for overflow seating. It is advised to call the parish or visit the parishs website for specific information.

Parishes within the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw will also offer in-person Easter Masses this year with COVID-19 health and safety precautions in place, including social distancing, masks, hand sanitizing and other changes. For those who cannot or choose not to attend in person, the 8 a.m. Easter Sunday Mass at Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in Saginaw is being televised, as it was last year, said the Rev. Bill Rutkowski, vicar general. Parishes equipped to live stream their Masses continue to do so, as well.

Rutkowski said people are encouraged to attend Easter Mass in person so they can receive Holy Communion. But he understands some people may be afraid to return, have underlying health conditions, or other concerns amid the pandemic that prevent them from doing so.

We try to give them all of their options, he said. The goal is to try to meet people where theyre at at this point.

With the states COVID-19 vaccine rollout well underway, Rutkowski and other priests within the diocese are noticing more people return to church with confidence, some for the first time in a year.

Theyre starting to come back because they have their shots, he said. Theyre a little more at ease being present, and thats good. Thats the intention. We want people to be happy and at peace coming and not be afraid.

Reviving the worship

Steven Budd, a parishioner at St. Brigid of Kildare Parish in Midland, is eager to celebrate the holiday.

This Easter, I am looking forward to celebrating together with the community, he said. I am excited to revive the communal worship that has suffered so much.

Coleman Jr. said his nondenominational church, World Outreach, plans to continue to offer virtual services in addition to in-person services once a month for the time being. He said he knows many pastors who arent ready to reopen their churches yet, and he understands their hesitation.

Were not prepared to accept a larger group than we have, he said. But I do expect that there will be people who will be looking for church, and, at some point in time, were going to have to be prepared to just allow people to come in.

MLive reporters Brian McVicar and Isis Simpson-Mersha contributed to this report.

Read more on MLive:

Kalamazoo Northside church works to bridge racial gaps in COVID-19 vaccine availability

Congregation of St. John Lutheran, one of Saginaws oldest, disbands after 168 years

How a community decided to close its 150-year-old Michigan church

Domestic violence survivor, in silence for years, shares her story

Saginaws First Ward was my lifeline and still is says 93-year-old board member

Baby who weighed less than 1 pound at birth gets to go home, dad says its nothing short of a miracle
Drug regulator in turmoil By Kumudini Hettiarachchi & Ruqyyaha Deane Allegations of musical chairs with Expert Panel over Sinopharm & Bharat vaccines, but Acting Head says its expansion and not sacking View(s): View(s):

Sri Lankas drug regulator, crucial in these troubled times of the COVID-19 pandemic, continued to be buffeted by gale-force winds.

Not sacking but appointing fresh experts to make vital decisions with regard to approving Sinopharm, the Chinese vaccine, and COVAXIN, the Indian vaccine, was the order of the week by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), many alleged.

Refuting these allegations, NMRAs Acting Chairman Prof. Sisira Siribaddana said that there was only an expansion of the Panel of Experts and no removals, while three other new experts had also been requested to keep an eye out for the developments with regard to granting of emergency-use listing (EUL) for vaccines by the World Health Organization (WHO).

When asked about Sinopharm, he stressed that this vaccine would not be given to Sri Lankans until the WHO grants it EUL.

This came as there was much confusion whether the community vaccination programme has been halted or not, with contradictory views being expressed by politicians and officials.

Sources told the Sunday Times that Acting Chairman Prof. Siribaddana was attempting to cobble together expert panels to give the nod for the Chinese vaccine (produced by the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group known as Sinopharm) and COVAXIN (produced by the Indian biotechnology company, Bharat Biotech).

The Sunday Times understands that a heated conversation emerged on email on attempts to appoint a new expert group and the NMRAs Acting Chairman gave less than six hours on Monday (March 29) to the Board Members to indicate whether they have any strong objections to the appointment of the new experts.

The earlier eight-member Panel of Experts on COVID-19 vaccines which has not refused approval to Sinopharm, only asked for more data, comprises senior clinicians Dr. LakKumar Fernando (a Paediatrician) & Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama (a Physician); senior vaccinologists Dr. Rajiva de Silva & Dr. Kanthi Nanayakkara; renowned immunologist Prof. Neelika Malavige; a senior Professor in Pulmonology Prof. Channa Ranasinghe; a respected medical statistician Prof. A. Pathmeswaran; and a senior epidemiologist Dr. Hasitha Tissera.

This panel had recommended that the NMRA should not approve Sinopharm for administration to Sri Lankans until more data on safety and efficacy are available.

Sources said the suggested experts to replace this panel are a Professor of Medicine; the Dean of Health of a private institute of higher education; and a senior Paediatrician as well as five Epidemiologists from the Epidemiology Unit. There was no confirmation whether these experts, who are expected to assess the safety and efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine, have accepted the offer made by the NMRAs Acting Chairman.

The Sunday Times, meanwhile, learns that strong objections ensued on Tuesday (March 30) when alleged attempts were made to mislead the Health Ministrys National Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (NACCD) that the NMRA has approved the Sinopharm vaccine under emergency-use authorization for use in Sri Lankans. The NACCD is the countrys highest technical committee on vaccinations which decides on the immunization policy.

Finally, the NACCD had been made to understand that the NMRA has given only a waiver of registration to import the donation of the Sinopharm vaccine to the country, but had made a decision that more data on safety and efficacy are necessary to approve it for use on Sri Lankans.

China donated 600,000 doses of Sinopharm, which arrived in the country on Wednesday (March 31).

So far, the eight-member Expert Panel has granted EUL for AstraZenecas COVISHIELD and Russias Sputnik-V.

Give more data, was the same urgent call that went out from the WHO, with the decision on EUL expected from the WHO for Sinopharm initially in February, then early March or late March 2021, being put back now to late April.

This week, the WHO stated that an interim analysis of clinical trial data from two Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, Sinovac and Sinopharm, showed that the vaccines were safe and had good efficacy but both vaccines lacked data in older age groups and in persons with co-morbidities.

The WHOs Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) which reviewed the applications of the vaccines has said it would hold off on issuing recommendations for how the two Chinese vaccines should best be used until after another expert panel rules on their EUL applications. A final decision would be made at the end of April.

The view in health circles was that China has given COVID-19 vaccines in the guise of donations, so that the receiving countries are required to register these vaccines. This is what they have done in more than 50 countries. After that, the sale of these vaccines would begin to those countries, possibly at around US$ 19 per dose. This was nearly four times the price paid for the AstraZeneca vaccine which is US$ 5.25.

Strong cautioning by SLMA & AMS

The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) has written to the Health Minister on Friday on the urgent need to ensure the approval of the NMRA prior to the use of any vaccine on Sri Lankan nationals.

Emphasizing the need to maintain the integrity and independence of the NMRA for a long-term successful vaccination programme in Sri Lanka, the SLMA stresses that the NMRA plays an essential role in protecting public health by ensuring medical products available in the country meet accepted standards of safety, quality and efficacy.

The SLMA states: In the context of COVID-19, the NMRA appointed an independent panel of experts to study all documents submitted in relation to candidate vaccines for COVID-19 and provide scientific advice for emergency use approval in Sri Lanka. We understand that the recently imported Sinopharm vaccine to date does not have the NMRA approval for use on Sri Lankan nationals or the approval of the WHO.

We are aware that the NMRA-appointed independent panel of experts were of the opinion that the data provided so far are inadequate to arrive at a decision on the safety, efficacy and the immunogenicity of the Sinopharm vaccine. We have been reliably informed that attempts are being made to overturn that decision and register the said vaccine for emergency use.

The fact that a large consignment of the questionable vaccine has already landed in the country does support this information. We believe that it is irregular for our health authorities to administer a vaccine not approved by the NMRA even to foreign nationals based in Sri Lanka.

We wish to emphasize to the government, the need to make decisions based only on scientific evidence for optimum control of the COVID-19 infection. Assuring a background of freedom for decision making at the NMRA with no other outside influence would be of paramount importance in this regard.

Meanwhile, the Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) this week stated that despite a clear recommendation of a properly constituted independent expert advisory panel we are concerned about reports that a newly-reconstituted Board of the NMRA appears to have taken an unprecedented step to disregard the panels opinion and allowed the import of the vaccine (Sinopharm) to be used in Sri Lanka.

We also note with great anxiety and dismay of certain arbitrary appointments and removals being made to the NMRA Board. We strongly believe such moves as an attempt to undermine the scientific basis of vaccine approval and hence its safety, efficacy and acceptance by the public.

The AMS added that it is a strong advocate for a careful, timely and transparent review of candidate vaccines by the NMRA with the support of relevant experts. The first step towards this is to ensure that the independence of the NMRA is maintained.

Sinopharm for Chinese workers The Sinopharm vaccine will be administered to Chinese workers in Colombo, Puttalam, Kandy and Hambantota, starting tomorrow, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera told the media on Thursday.The people of Sri Lanka would be given Sinopharm, based on the decision of the Expert Panel, he said, adding that a request has been sent to get Sputnik-V and when we get it, well give it. When asked, the Deputy Director-General (Public Health Services II), Dr. Susie Perera said that the second dose for whoever has got the vaccine up to now would be in 12 weeks from the day the jab was given. Conceding that there is a short supply of vaccines globally, she said that no decision has been made yet to give the Sinopharm vaccine to Sri Lankans. Due to the short supply of doses, the WHO has informed all member-countries that there will be a delay in the supply. We are aware that what we are getting from COVAX is going to get delayed and similarly, whatever countries that have come to bilateral agreements are facing a delay. What we are sure is that getting (the vaccine) through COVAX might be faster than getting through various bilateral arrangements. We are confident that through COVAX, we will be getting some supply. In whatever order that we gave the vaccines, we will be giving the second dose, said Dr. Perera. Asked when the next stock of vaccines is due, she said: We were supposed to get it in April, but we know that we will be getting it in May. We have a stock that we can use to start giving the second dose. We wont be mixing two different vaccines for the doses either. The Deputy Director-General (Public Health Services I), Dr. S.M. Arnold said that a vaccination plan is in place but the supply has been delayed. Dont panic, you will get the vaccine, was his message to the public. Beware of fake vaccines  WHO DG With countries scrambling to secure COVID-19 vaccines, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against falling victim to fake vaccines. The WHO is concerned about the potential for criminal groups to exploit the huge global unmet demand for vaccines. We urge all people not to buy vaccines outside government-run vaccination programmes. Any vaccine bought outside these programmes may be substandard or falsified, with the potential to cause serious harm, warned Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
(Newser)  The crime was so unusualso acrobaticthat police in London checked to see if the circus had been in town. That turned out to be a dead end, writes Marc Wortman in a lengthy Vanity Fair piece about the 2017 heist. Thieves had climbed to the roof of a warehouse near Heathrow Airport, cut a hole in a skylight, then rappelled down with ropes or perhaps a folding ladder. Once inside, they spent more than five hours collecting their lootrare books. They made away with about 240, including a tome by Copernicus worth $293,000 alone. All told, their stash was worth somewhere around $3.4 million. And then the men went out the way the came in. Wortman's story picks up there and follows the investigation by detectives from Scotland Yard, Germany, Romania, and Italy. A combination of tips and lucky breaks (including a traffic stop) helped crack the case.

story continues below

As it turns out, no circus performers were involved. The culprits were members of a Romanian crime syndicate who, given their skills, came to be known in the media as the Mission: Impossible gang. Detectives had pretty much figured out the "who" within a year, but it was nearly three years before they had enough evidence to round up the gang. One large trial had been underway before COVID interrupted things, and rather than spend more time in prison waiting for it to resume, all but one of the men pleaded guilty to the heist and similar ones, and received sentences ranging from three to five years. But police still didn't know where the stolen books were until they raided a house built by two of the gang membersa pair of brothersnear their parents' home in the Romanian countryside. Police found all but four of the books in a bunker under the concrete garage floor. (Read the full, fascinating story.)
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  New Mexico State Police have identified the Torrance County deputies who shot and injured a man last month in Bosque Farms.

State Police spokesman Dusty Francisco said Torrance County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Jordan Duran and deputy Pablo Arreola shot 28-year-old Joshua Francis of Oklahoma on March 16 following a chase that began in Mountainair.

After Francis recovered in the hospital, Francisco said he was charged with two counts of aggravated battery upon a peace officer. He has been booked into the Valencia County jail.

He said Francis called 911 around 2 a.m. to report that he was holding a woman hostage at the Rock Motel in the Town of Mountainair and wanted to die in a shootout with police.

Francisco said Torrance County deputies went to the motel and found a 28-year-old woman, also from Oklahoma, on the ground in front of one of the rooms.

Deputies gave chase as Francis fled on U.S. 60, driving faster than 100 mph and in opposite lanes of traffic.

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Francisco said Francis drove over a spike strip and evaded two pursuit intervention attempts, or PIT maneuvers, before a third stopped him in Bosque Farms near N.M. 47 and South Bosque Loop.

He said Francis drove toward deputy Arreolas vehicle and Arreola fired at him twice through the windshield as Francis rammed him.

Francisco said Sgt. Duran arrived around this time and fired at Francis as he drove toward deputies. Francis was struck at least once and was taken into custody.

He said Duran has been with the Torrance County Sheriffs Office for more than four years, while Arreola has been with the office for a year and 10 months.
The Justice Department has unsealed criminal charges against more than 300 individuals for their role in the Capitol riot. The charges range widely and include assaulting police officers, illegally entering the Capitol building and conspiring to interfere in the election certification process. The leaders of the Oath Keepers militia and the far-right Proud Boys group are among the most prominent targets of the sprawling investigation.

Critics of a domestic terrorism statute say it could expand the governments surveillance authorities too much and be used against minority communities.

A letter signed by Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and eight other Democrats said the intelligence failure surrounding the Capitol breach reflected a reluctance by law enforcement to crack down on white nationalist groups, not a lack of government tools to monitor them.

One homeland security official involved in the departments review of how to handle domestic terrorism said the agency did not need new laws but should instead employ the tools that have long been used against foreign terrorism.

One strategy is to analyze federal travel data to trace the patterns of possible militia members and extremists, especially as American groups increasingly establish connections to Europe, the official said. Members of the groups can then be added to so-called no-fly lists, he said.

The departments review is focused not only on clear acts of terrorism but also on those who are pushed to commit attacks because of a combination of mental health issues, grievances and ideologies that provide a perceived justification for violence. Officials are also evaluating how to prevent attacks similar to the one at the Capitol on Friday, where a man crashed his vehicle into two officers at a barricade outside the building before getting out and charging them with a knife.

The suspect, who was shot and killed by the police after the attack, was identified by law enforcement officials as Noah Green, 25, of Covington, Va. Friends and family say he struggled with isolation and mental health issues. The police have not categorized the attack as terrorism related, and investigators continue to scour Mr. Greens social media posts that showed an intensifying interest in the Nation of Islam.
Extra public health restrictions, including curfews and school closures, are being imposed in France, Germany, Italy and in several other EU countries in response to a new surge in infections.

Restrictions are being eased in the UK as new cases fall, the pay-off for a rapid vaccination rollout. Ireland has thus far avoided the big surge in cases seen elsewhere in the EU, but relaxations were announced last Tuesday with vaccination still well behind the UK and despite indications that cases are beginning to rise again.

The chart shows the recent pattern of new cases in Ireland and in two countries, the UK and Germany, whose performance, for different reasons, will influence the health and economic outcomes here. Continued success in the UK, the source of substantial inbound travel including travel across the open Border, is a reassurance for Ireland and there could even be a share in surplus UK vaccine at some stage.

The interest in Germany is indirect. Unfortunately, the recent performance there has been poor, but the silver lining is that the EU's most influential member is now less likely to seek a premature tightening of budget rules and monetary policy when the post-Covid recovery gets under way.

Cases soared in Ireland to the highest incidence rate in Europe due to the failed gamble over Christmas, but up to the end of February, lockdown cut cases here more rapidly than in the UK. The successful UK vaccination rollout is finally being reflected in case incidence and the rate of infection there has fallen well below the rate in Ireland. Germany avoided a sharp spike over Christmas, but case incidence is now rising rapidly and has reached, relative to population, double the Irish number in recent days. All EU countries are hampered by the weak vaccine procurement overseen by the European Commission, but Germany has also struggled to deliver whatever vaccine supplies are available - the vaccination rate relative to population has been only two-thirds of the Irish figure.

It is worth exploring the reasons for the improved recent figures in the UK, since they may contain clues about what is likely to happen here. There is evidence, according to epidemiologists in Britain, of lockdown fatigue and some reopening has already occurred.

The full reopening of schools will inevitably add to transmission and a schedule of further derestriction is in place. But R, the reproduction number, has nevertheless remained below 1 and new cases are dropping.

Since almost 60pc of UK adults have now received at least one vaccine shot, versus only about one-quarter of that figure on average in EU countries, the UK population's susceptible to infection has been reduced substantially and this has offset the joint effects of lockdown fatigue and reopening.

In the last few days, case incidence in Ireland, relative to population, has been more than double the figure for the UK. On Thursday and Friday there were 746 and 587 new cases; had the numbers mirrored the declining UK population-adjusted figures for the same days, there would have been only 337 cases on Thursday and just 256 on Friday.

The availability (finally) of walk-in PCR testing for asymptomatic people has yielded 14,000 volunteers and some positives which have added to the recent figures. But the positivity rate was only 3pc and these extra tests can have added no more than about 60 new cases per day. Nphet believes that the reproduction number for Ireland has already gone back above 1 and some of the relaxations announced by Government went beyond what Nphet thought was prudent.

The UK numbers have benefitted from a vaccination rollout which appears to be seven or eight weeks ahead of what is possible in Ireland, and the gap could be longer if there are further supply delays. Is it plausible that case numbers will be contained in Ireland for another couple of months while vaccination catches up, or has there been another gamble?

Proponents of early relaxation point to the sharp improvement in the figures for fatalities and intensive care admissions. Clearly, the priority accorded to the most vulnerable groups in accessing vaccination has already paid off in these metrics.

But last January, total hospitalisation due to Covid reached 2,000 or so and the capacity of the system was stretched. Hospital admissions would only return to the 200-per-day crisis level seen in January if case incidence rose from the recent figure of around 600 per day to something like 5,000 per day - a figure last seen, and only briefly, in the weeks following New Year. This is very much a worst-case scenario, but it is salutary to note that, adjusted for population, case incidence in France has been heading in this direction in recent days. Nphet is no doubt conscious that its worst-case modelling in November was not alarmist enough.

A big difference in assessing the risk of another surge is the belated epiphany about inbound travel. The numbers are now quite low, to the dismay of the travel and tourism industries. Both the second and third waves in Ireland were largely imported, but there can hardly be a repeat at current low volumes.

However, the failure to apply controls to countries like France vitiates the measures announced for an impressive list of countries that nobody has ever heard of and from which there are no flights to Ireland.

Now that the Government has accepted the case for PCR testing on arrival, there is a precedent for a more focused approach.

As far back as last June, the authorities in Iceland instituted a regime at Reykjavik airport where passengers were tested on arrival, brought to a nearby hotel and isolated until their test result was texted to them the following day.

Accompanied, in the great majority of cases, by a 'welcome to Iceland, enjoy your visit' message from the tourist board.

Since people already need a negative pre-departure test, it is a fair guess that a tiny number would test negative on arrival and be stuck in an airport hotel for more than a day.

If the travel trade is to recover, the 10- or 14-day quarantine model (for Paraguay but not France) will have to be improved upon quickly.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent sits in a vehicle along a border wall in a file photo. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Smugglers Sentenced for Journey That Left 3 Sisters Dead

SAN DIEGOTwo smugglers were sentenced to federal prison on Friday for leading three sisters from Mexico into California, where they froze to death in a mountain snowstorm.

Cecilio Rios-Quinones, 38, and his brother, 23-year-old Ricardo Rios-Quinones, received 5 1/2 years each in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

They pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and other charges.

Prosecutors said the men, who are from Chihuahua, led the women across the border on Feb. 10, 2020, and were in a rugged area near Mount Laguna, about a dozen miles north of the border, when a snowstorm struck. The woman, from Oaxaca, died from hypothermia.

The women, who came from poor rural areas and were seeking better lives, lacked proper clothing or supplies for a journey of several days through rain and snow, authorities said.

Defense attorneys argued that the brothers were only paid to be guides and hadnt expected such severe weather. They huddled with the women, trying to keep them warm, and one finally hiked down the mountain to find a spot for cellphone reception to call 911, attorneys said.

A U.S. Border Patrol search and rescue unit found Margarita Santos Arce, 32; and Paula Santos Arce, 29, dead. Juana Santos Arce, 35, died later.

It is tragic that someone wants to come here to work and dies, but it is more tragic that there are people who benefit from this, who treat them like cargo, U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo said at the sentencing.

Cecilio Rios-Quinones is regretful and will forever live with the guilt of having been part of a criminal act that killed three women, his attorney, Michelle Betancourt, wrote in a sentencing memo, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

I am a man of faith and I am very remorseful for what I did, Ricardo Rios-Quinones wrote in a letter to the judge. We werent prepared for the storm and I would have never participated in this if I would have known someone would end up hurt or dead.
Punjab's home department has asked the government to take custody of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari from Rupnagar jail by April 8.

Ansari, who is wanted in various cases in Uttar Pradesh, has been lodged in Rupnagar district jail in connection with an alleged extortion case since January 2019.

In a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), the home department of asked for suitable arrangements to be made for the transfer of undertrial prisoner Ansari.

"The said handover is to be made at district jail Rupnagar on/before April 8," the letter stated.

Ansari suffers from certain medical conditions and the same may be kept in mind while making arrangements for his transport from Rupnagar jail to Banda jail in UP, it said.

The home department referred to the March 26 Supreme Court order that had directed the state government to transfer the MLA from Mau to Uttar Pradesh's Banda jail in two weeks.

Delivering the order, the apex court had also noted that Ansari was allegedly involved in various cases of attempt to murder, murder, cheating and conspiracy apart from offences under the Gangsters Act, lodged in and 10 of these cases are at different stages of trial.

(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.)
Wide-leg trousers like this mango pair are super flattering and look spring-ready with my boyfriend shirt by with Nothing Underneath

It can only have been a man who came up with the ridiculous phrase nonessential retail. Theres been a massive gaping hole in my life since shops shut their doors. And its not all about buying things either.

Before lockdown, Id always try to flee the house for a few hours at some point over the weekend, simply to wander round my favourite stores all by myself. Oh, the unbridled joy of this peaceful time alone with my thoughts.

Adios, work projects. Farewell, demanding children. Kiss my bottom, household chores  Ive made some of my best decisions about life and relationships wandering around shops.

Stores are so much more than just bricks and mortar. To me, they are temples of escapism and inspiration, magical vehicles of transportation to different cities and other more glamorous lives.

Theres nothing better than spotting that perfect dress on a rail  touching it, feeling it, trying it on for size and imagining all the adventures you might have in it. Or finding that hidden gem buried away in an antiques shop crammed with unique treasures. So whats on my wishlist of chic things to coo over when the stores reopen on 12 April?

The first is a new-season chunky sandal, which I will be wearing with maxiskirts and spring dresses. Im normally a skinny sandal (Ancient Greek Sandals are a big favourite) or a mule girl (check out brands By Far or Aeyde for these) when feet are allowed to escape the confines of boots and trainers, but this year Im adding the chunky sole to my wardrobe for a flash of edgy contrast.

And no more skinny trousers  Ive ditched them for chic high-waisted, wide-leg or flared trousers and jeans, which I find are way more flattering on the leg. Did you know that one of the queens of chic, Jane Birkin, hunts down her wide-leg trousers in secondhand mens shops? They are a perfect easy pairing, too, with a blazer or print blouse for Aprils unpredictable weather.

My other spring favourite is to wear a chunky gold ring with satin dresses and skirts. The right piece of jewellery really can add huge personality to an outfit and become a key part of your signature look.

And Im really looking forward to finding magic pieces in fresh life-enhancing blue, leafy greens and vibrant yellows to add some colour to my wardrobe. The trill of the tills is just eight days away  and Im counting down the hours. Just dont try to tell me any of it is nonessential!

Follow me on instagram @thestylistandthewardrobe

Left: Pair this with a pair of white high-waisted trousers and a gold chain to create a clean, modern look. Top, 19, cosstores.com. Right: These trousers are a terrific basic to lighten things up for spring. Trousers, 35.99, shop.mango.com

Left: Add some sole to your wardrobe. Sandals, 165, matchesfashion.com. Right: Create your chic signature look with statement jewellery. Ring, 285, Chloe, net-a-porter.com
Apr. 4HAVERHILL  Local attorney Marsha Kazarosian made a name for herself nationally in 1999 when she won a landmark discrimination lawsuit on behalf of women against the Haverhill Country Club.

Over the years, she has also represented victims of police misconduct, such as excessive force by officers. She is an expert in civil rights and discrimination.

Now Kazarosian is joining a judge, law enforcement leaders and other top professionals who will be responsible for keeping police across Massachusetts accountable for their actions.

Kazarosian has been appointed to the newly created Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission  POST for short. She is one of nine members of the group. Their work begins as the nation debates issues such as the use of force by officers and racial profiling.

The commission will create a mandatory certification process for police officers in Massachusetts  essentially a list of standards they must meet to be licensed for the job. The commission will also create methods of stripping officers of their certification in cases of misconduct, and handing out other punishments such as suspensions or reprimands.

The POST group is responsible for boosting the relationship between police and the communities they serve. Kazarosian and her fellow commissioners will work to improve accountability and transparency of police departments, build public trust in police, and provide better training for officers, organizers of the commission said.

The commission will keep a close eye on police departments across the state  investigating and settling claims of misconduct; and maintaining databases of training, certification and internal affairs records for all officers. The commission will be responsible for ensuring that officers' training and misconduct records are available to their current and prospective police departments.

The POST Commission begins its work as the murder trial of former Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer Derek Chauvin is underway. He is charged with killing George Floyd, 46, a Black man whose neck was pinned under Chauvin's knee for about nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down during his arrest May 25, 2020, for allegedly using a counterfeit bill.

Story continues

Kazarosian is a partner at the firm of Kazarosian Costello LLP in Haverhill, where her focus is on civil rights law, discrimination cases and police misconduct cases.

When contacted by The Eagle-Tribune, Kazarosian said she is unable to comment on her appointment at this time, but will discuss it publicly in the near future.

Study: State must regulate police

A report released by State Auditor Suzanne Bump in November 2019 said Massachusetts has one of the highest time requirements for police training in the nation  a mandatory 40 hours annually per officer. But, the study said, the state fails to provide enough training opportunities so officers can meet the requirement. The state also has no way to hold officers and their communities accountable for meeting the training requirement, the study said.

Bump called on Massachusetts lawmakers to establish the POST Commission and set minimum training standards for police, regulate training programs, and set other requirements for officers to maintain their job certification.

State Attorney General Maura Healey was required to appoint an attorney to the POST Commission. That attorney had to be nominated by the Civil Rights and Social Justice Section Council of the Massachusetts Bar Association. Healey named Kazarosian to that position.

Kazarosian joins other professionals from across the state  including a police chief, a judge, a psychologist, a chaplain, a lawyer and a social worker  who were also appointed to the commission. She is the only member who has done her professional work in the Merrimack Valley.

Kazarosian is an experienced trial attorney who has been practicing law in Massachusetts since 1982, handling high-profile cases that have gained her recognition in New England and across the country, according to a press release from Gov. Charlie Baker and the Attorney General's Office.

"By establishing a Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, the Commonwealth is taking an important step to improve public safety and increase trust between members of law enforcement and the communities they serve," Baker said. "We are pleased to appoint a diverse range of experts to the POST Commission, and look forward to their work to create a more effective, just and accountable law enforcement system in Massachusetts."

"Each of these appointees brings unique expertise and experience to this commission as we institute meaningful reform in our state and local law enforcement departments," Healey said.

Kazarosian has wide range of experience

Kazarosian is a past president of the Massachusetts Bar Association and continues to serve on the bar's executive management board. She began her career as a criminal defense attorney with the Essex County Bar Advocates and eventually shifted her focus to civil rights and discrimination cases.

In the gender discrimination suit on behalf of women against the Haverhill Country Club in 1999, Kazarosian won a $3.9 million judgment for the plaintiffs, arguing successfully that the club gave preferential treatment to male members and treated female members unfairly. That judgement was later upheld by the state appeals court. It was the first time a state's public accommodations law was said to apply to discrimination in a country club setting.

Kazarosian later shifted to representing plaintiffs in misconduct and excessive force cases against police officers.

Kazarosian has consistently received honors from her peers. She has been named a Super Lawyer by New England Super Lawyers Magazine each year since 2006 in the areas of civil rights, personal injury litigation and family law. She was most recently included on the Top 50: 2020 Women Massachusetts Super Lawyers List, and has also been included in the list of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in New England.

POST members experts on police, legal issues

Kazarosian's fellow members on the POST Commission include experts on state law, labor issues, law enforcement, minority issues, psychology, oversight of state agencies, and the impact of crimes on victims.

Other commission members appointed by the attorney general are: Lawrence Calderone, chair and president of the Massachusetts Law Enforcement Policy Group and president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association; and Larry Ellison, a detective in the Boston Police Department's School Unit.

As a member of the Massachusetts Joint Labor Management Committee, Calderone represents police unions in labor contract negotiations with communities across the state. Ellison previously served as president of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, where he was instrumental in advocating for more officers of color in higher-ranking positions, protecting minority officers' rights, and securing pro bono legal help for minority officers.

The governor appointed three members to the commission: Retired Judge Margaret Hinkle, who served on the Superior Court of Massachusetts and will chair the POST Commission; Michael Wynn, chief of the Pittsfield Police Department who has been an instructor at multiple police academies; and Charlene Luma, a licensed social worker and chief of the Victim Witness Assistance Program for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

Three members of the commission are joint appointees of the governor and attorney general. They are: Dr. Hanya Bluestone, a licensed psychologist and CEO of Labyrinth Psychological Services in Holden, which provides specialized trauma and behavioral medicine treatments to patients of all ages; Clementina Chery, an ordained senior chaplain and co-founder and CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute in Boston, a center of healing, teaching and learning for families and communities impacted by homicide, trauma, grief and loss; and Kimberly West, a partner in the Ashcroft Law Firm in Boston who represents clients in investigations involving federal and state agencies.

West also served as chief of the Criminal Bureau of the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General. There she led a team of experts in prosecuting a range of crimes and serving in the Office of the Inspector General's Council to provide oversight of state agencies.
DETROIT - You wont have to travel to Paris, Toronto or Chicago to immerse yourself in some of the most famous works of Vincent van Gogh. Its just been announced that Immersive van Gogh is coming to Detroit this summer.

While we wait for the venue and exact dates to soon be revealed, we do know Immersive van Gogh will feature more than 500,000 cubic feet of projections, 60,000 frames of video and 90,000,000 pixels.

The projections are designed to surround you in van Goghs artwork, allowing you to wander through every detail and color, from his sunny landscapes and night scenes to his portraits and life paintings.

Related: Detroits giant RoboCop statue is real and its spectacular, at 11 feet, 2.5 tons

The installation will include the Mangeurs de pommes de terre (The Potato Eaters, 1885), the Nuit etoilee (Starry Night, 1889), Les Tournesols (Sunflowers, 1888), and La Chambre a coucher (The Bedroom, 1889), along with more famous works of van Gogh.

Related: Pitch Black - Dining in the Dark coming to secret Detroit location: How to get tickets

The creator of this exhibition is Italian installation artist Massimiliano Siccardi, whose work was seen by over 2 million visitors in Paris and was featured on episode 5 of the Netflix show Emily In Paris. The soundtrack is by Luca Longobardi.

Both connoisseurs and new admirers of van Goghs work are guaranteed a breathtaking perspective on the influential artists oeuvre, said Siccardi. Merging state-of-the-art technology, theatrical storytelling, animation and some of the finest works of art ever created, Immersive van Gogh is a uniquely mesmerizing experience that seemingly transports the viewer into the artists mind to see these timeless works as never before.

You can be the first to find out when tickets go on sale by signing up here to be notified. Prices have also not been announced, but in Chicago, they are $39.99 for adults and $24.99 for those 16 and younger.

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When contaminated coconut oil seeps through system loopholes By Kasun Warakapitiya Officials say unable to confirm if cancer causing oil had reached consumers View(s): View(s):

As the controversy over harmful coconut oil stocks continued, yesterday the authorities said they were unable to confirm whether the contaminated oil had reached the consumers.

The Customs, Public Health Inspectors and Food Control Administration Unit (FCAU) of the Health Ministry said a string of investigations were underway into the import and could take time as they were to ascertain whether the harmful oil had entered the markets.

But Public Health Inspectors Union chief Upul Rohana said it might be even difficult to find out if the harmful oil with high levels of cancer causing Aflatoxins had entered the market.

We have to depend on the Government Analysts report which may take more than a month. The process is extremely slow, he said.

He said that so far they had sent more than a hundred samples collected by PHIs to the Government Analyst.

Mr Rohana said there was also a possibility that the harmful oil stocks had been mixed with the normal stocks and if that was the case, it would be difficult to detect as to who was selling and distributing the harmful oil.

The PHI chief said they could not take legal action until they got the Government Analysts report.

What we are doing now is collecting samples from the market and submitting them to the Government Analyst, but by the time the report comes, the oil could have been consumed by the people, he said.

Customs Director General Major General (Retired) G. Vijitha Ravipriya said they were also investigating whether any of the importers had actually released the stocks to the markets in defiance of the order not to release the stocks to the market.

He said Customs investigators would check the quantity of the consignment being held back at private warehouses to ascertain whether parts of the stock had been released to the market.

The importers cannot refine, or release, crude oil until the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) and the Health Ministrys Food Control Administrative Unity (FCAU) reports certify that the stocks are suitable for human consumption. That is the condition we place when we allow them to store the stocks at private warehouses under commercial bonds.

The Customs chief said importers were allowed to store their stocks in private bonded warehouses due to the lack of space at Customs warehouses. He said this practice had now been suspended following the controversy and as a result, importers would have now bear the customs warehouse costs.

Custom sources said they normally sealed every container before they were sent to private warehouses, but there was a high possibility the oil containers were unsealed to enable the importers to remove and refine the oil.

The questionable oil stocks were imported by three companies. The total amounts to 1.8 million kilograms. The stocks of a fourth company were cleared on the grounds that the oil was not contaminated.

Based on the samples, the SLSI and the FCAU confirmed the imported coconut oil contained the carcinogenic chemical Aflatoxin.

Early last month, in a letter, the FCAU informed the Customs that the oil was contaminated with the carcinogenic substance and therefore not suitable for human consumption. It recommended the stocks be re-exported to the country of origin.

FCAU Director Thilak Siriwardena said although they entered it in the online system, no action was taken to re-export the stocks. I dont know whether the Customs have procedures to follow, he said.

SLSI Director General Siddhika Senaratne told the Sunday times samples were sent to both the SLSI and FCAU but the SLSI was bound by their standard guidelines which required that samples be taken from every container whereas the FCAU took random samples and was quicker with its report and recommendation that the stocks be re-exported.

The SLSI is bound to inform the importer and the customs about our findings, and if the importer calls for a second report we are bound to carry out the second test, she said.

The DG said that if the consignments were to be released both the institutes should certify that the stocks were suitable for human consumption.

The SLSIs second report was released only this week, enabling the Customs to begin the re-export process.

Colombos Chief Medical Officer Ruwan Wijeyamuni said they were unable to check whether Aflatoxin-contaminated coconut oil was being sold in Colombo city because CMC labs were not equipped to conduct such tests.

This week, the detection of vehicles carrying coconut oil, prompted investigations to find out whether oil had been removed from the private bonded warehouse.

The latest detection was made on Thursday in Dambulla while oil was being unloaded from a container to a storage facility behind the Dambulla Economic centre.

Following the detection, on Friday Dambulla Acting Magistrate Niluka Wijethilaka ordered the Dambulla Chief PHI to collect samples of the coconut oil and obtain a report from the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI).

Accordingly, Dambullas Chief PHI Priyantha de Silva and Matale District food drug inspector M. L. Jayaweera collected coconut oil samples from the container being detained at the Dambulla Police station. They also sealed the container and the storage facility near the Dambulla Economic Centre.

The Dambulla detection came two days after Marawila Police detected two bowsers carrying contaminated coconut oil. The bowsers had been parked behind a private factory, provoking suspicion.

Marawila Chief Magistrate Rakitha Abeysinghe ordered the IGP to obtain samples and submit the Government Analysts report.

During the court hearing the following day, it was revealed the Dankotuwa police had handed over the two bowsers to the Customs under Police protection. Police told court they followed advice from the police legal division.

This prompted the magistrate to ask the OIC whether he was disregarding the judicial procedure and court orders. The Magistrate asked the OIC why he handed over the bowsers to the Customs when the Customs had failed to protect the questionable coconut oil stocks under their watch. He said the decision to hand over the bowsers to the Customs should have been taken only after the Government Analysts report had been obtained.

A senior Dankotuwa police officer told the Sunday Times they handed over the two bowsers in keeping with the legal procedure.

He said they reported the detection to the Marawila Magistrate as an extra measure and handed over the two bowsers to the Customs the following day.

We did not override or ignore the magistrates order. Actually, in this case, legal action has to be initiated in terms of the Customs Act, the officer said.

He said the Police handed over the bowsers to the Customs after obtaining advice from the Police legal division and superior officers.

Police Media spokesman Ajith Rohana, however, said the police legal division had advised the Dankotuwa OIC to report the detection to the Marawila Magistrate courts and act according to the courts instructions.

The police officer via a B report informed the Magistrate courts, while a sub inspector made a request from court to hand over the bowsers to the Customs in view of the current situation, he said.

Deputy Inspector General Rohana said he had called for the relevant documents and he would be able to explain the Police action once he studied them.

Meanwhile, All Ceylon Traditional Coconut oil Manufarcturers Association (ACTCOMA) Convener Buddhika de Silva said the controversy had exposed the lacuna in the chain of responsibility.

He said the Coconut Development Authority was the body responsible for coconut related affairs including exports and imports, but it had not taken any action in this regard.

What is Aflatoxin The carcinogenic chemical aflatoxin is not only found in coconut oil, said Colombos Chief Medical Officer Ruwan Wijayamuni. He said the chemical is formed when a fungus identified as asparagus grows in nuts and grains.  If copra (dried coconut kernel) is not properly dried, the asparagus fungus grows on it, and secretes the toxin. When oil is extracted from such copra, the toxin is also mixed into the oil, Dr. Wijayamuni explained.

(Additional reporting Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa)
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Monday that their new data suggest that vaccinated people do not carry the virus and do not get sick.

New Report of CDC

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention have long been monitoring the behavior of COVID-19 from its symptoms to transmission. The agency has also closely followed the progress of COVID-19 vaccines.

According to a new report from Fortune, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Monday, "Our data from the CDC today suggests that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don't get sick, and that it's not just in the clinical trials but it's also in real-world data."

Walensky said this after getting the results of their new study, which was participated by vaccinated Americans. They found out that they have very high resistance against the virus, awill unlikely to get infected again, and are very unlikely to spread the virus, The New York Times reports.

Pfizer's Vaccine 90% Effective for at Least 6 Months, Protects Against South African Variant

Why Are Many Still Confused?

Despite the good news from the CDC, many are still confused over the efficacy of the vaccine. This is because the CDC and other health experts in the country said that people should continue to wear face masks, observe social distancing, and practice the highest hygiene form.

In a recently published article in Post Register, people only get complete protection after the second dose, and infections are sporadic but not impossible, the report says. This means that the effect of the vaccine takes time, and vaccinated people must still observe while their body slowly develops immunity.

Many experts also argued that convincing people to get vaccinated is one of their problems. Many people are hesitant to get the vaccines because they believed these were less effective and will have some adverse reactions.

Also read: Fully Vaccinated People May Safely Resume Travel, According To CDC

Some Experts Pushed Back the New CDC Report

Some health experts and scientists are divided in the newly released report of the CDC. John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, said that if Dr. Walensky said that most vaccinated people do not carry the virus anymore, they would no longer discuss its efficacy.

Dr. Moore added that what they knew about the vaccine based on the growing evidence and data is that these vaccines are very substantially effective against COVID-19 infection. However, it is important to note that it is not 100 percent, and this is a public health message that needs to be informed correctly.

The CDC Director's pronouncement and the opposition of other health experts could affect the agency's pleas to Americans and residents in the country to get the vaccines. This is very important because the agency targets herd immunity and will ultimately help end the pandemic.

As of Wednesday, around 30 percent of Americans in the country had received at least one vaccine dose, while 17 percent were fully immunized.

Fully Vaccinated People May Safely Resume Travel, According To CDC

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President Donald Trump has been forced to pay back $122 million to donors who were tricked into making recurring payments to his 2020 reelection campaign.

A New York Times investigation found Trump's fundraising campaign employed deceptive fundraising tactics that saw thousands of his supporters unwittingly sign up to give repeat contributions, when they had only intended to make a one-off payment.

The 'scam', which involves pre-ticked boxes on fundraising emails often buried under lines of fine print, sparked thousands of complaints to banks and credit card companies.

Among the victims were elderly and military veterans, as well as some experienced political operatives, and many have been left with overdraft fees and busted credit card limits.

Complaints from donors prompted the Trump campaign to eventually reimburse $122 million in contributions.

Donald Trump attracted a groundswell of donors during his 2020 election campaign, but many unwittingly signed up to make recurring payments

Thousands of people among Trump's devoted fan base ended up out of pocket, and fighting banks or credit card companies for refunds

Pre-checked boxes, like the ones above, began appearing in Trump campaign emails in March 2020. In June, the emails included a second pre-checked box - known as a 'money bomb' - which duped thousands of donors into making recurring payments. When the campaign learned it had been out-fundraised by Biden's team by $150 million in a single month, it began adding lines of bolded, capitalized text

Stacy Blatt, 63, was battling cancer in a hospice in Kansas City when he donated $500 to Trump's campaign in September. He would end up being charged $3000

One victim, Stacy Blatt, was battling cancer and living in a hospice in Kansas City when he donated $500 last September, the New York Times reported.

Blatt was charged another $500 the next day, and then $500 each week until October, and it was only after his rent and utility bills bounced that his family discovered what had happened.

'It felt like it was a scam,' his brother Russell, who helped Stacy get to the bottom of what had happened, told the Times.

Blatt died in February.

The Trump campaigns dubious pre-checked emails first appeared in March 2020.

A bright yellow box began appearing in emails with the words: 'Make this a monthly recurring donation.'

Anyone making a donation would have to opt-out to avoid being charged repeatedly.

Three months later in June, a second pre-checked box was added to Trump campaign fundraising emails.

Known as a 'money bomb', the second box had a much greater degree of success in ensnaring unsuspecting donors to sign up, as most thought unticking one box would avoid any additional charges.

Then in September, after learning he had been out-raised by his opponent, the Democratic nominee Joseph Biden, by $150 million in one month, the Trump campaign became more aggressive, The Times reported.

The recurring donation would now be taken out every week, instead of monthly.

And the campaign later added large blocks of bold, capitalized text to the boxes to make them harder to decipher.

Soon after Election Day, banks and credit card companies became inundated with complaints.

'It started to go absolutely wild,' a Wells Fargo fraud investigator told the New York Times.

In all, Trump has had to pay back $122 million in donations made to five organizations: Donald J. Trump for President, Trump Victory, Trump Make America Great Again Committee, Save America, and the Republican National Committee.

Another reason Trump had to refund such large amounts of money was because many of his individual donors exceeded the legally-allowed cap of $2,800.

A Trump spokesman said that less than 1 percent of donations to his campaign were subject to complaints

One Trump supporter said the recurring payments 'felt like it was a scam'

This dwarfed the $21m refunded to donors by the Biden campaign.

All of the donations were made via the Republican-linked for-profit donation-processing company WinRed, which charges 30 cents of every donation, plus 3.8 percent of the amount given.

Ira Rheingold, the executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, told the New York Times the scheme was 'unfair', 'unethical' and 'inappropriate.'

A Trump spokesman, Jason Miller, pointed to internal campaign records which showed less than 1 percent of total donations to WinRed had been subjected to complaints.

'Our campaign was built by the hardworking men and women of America and cherishing their investments was paramount to anything else we did,' Miller told The Times.
Pawan Kalyan and filmmaker Vishwa Prasad are set to join forces to nurture young talent  new writers and storytellers.

We are collaborating for making films across different genres and languages. We have the same vision  making concept-based films that have universal plotlines. We believe in collaborating at creative levels, says Vishwa Prasad, adding that Pawan may star in one of their collaborations.

We have several projects of various budgets lined up and the pre-production for various scripts is currently in full swing, he says, adding that the objective of the association would be to sport talent and work with young and aspiring storytellers.
New York, April 4 : Exposure to antibiotics in utero and infancy can lead to an irreversible loss of regulatory T-cells in the colon, a valuable component of the immune system's response toward allergens in later life, after only six months, finds a new research.

T cell is a type of white blood cell that is of key importance to the immune system and is at the core of adaptive immunity, the system that tailors the body's immune response to specific pathogens.

According to the study, published in the journal mBio, it is already known that the use of antibiotics early in life disrupts the intestinal microbiota, the trillions of beneficial microorganisms that live in and on our bodies, that play a crucial role in the healthy maturation of the immune system and the prevention of diseases, such as obesity and inflammatory bowel disease.

However, less is known about how disruption of the microbiota, which produce short chain fatty acids that regulate T-cells, effects T-cells in the colon.

"By studying the exposure to newborns through lactating mothers, we see how the offspring acquire their mothers' antibiotic-impacted microbiota, which compromises their ability to generate a pool of CD41 T cells in the colon, resulting in long-term damage," said researcher Martin Blaser from the Rutgers University.

"The consequences persist into adulthood, compromising the body's ability to turn off allergic responses," Blaser added.

For the study, based on a mouse model, the team looked at fetal and newborn exposure to antibiotics through the mother in the weeks immediately preceding and after birth, the time when microbial communities assemble and are prone to disruptions, to investigate how this reduction in beneficial bacteria affects neonatal immune system development.

These effects were specific to the colon and not observed in the lungs, upper gastrointestinal tract or spleen, the researchers said.
MONTREAL - Quebec added several more municipalities to its list of cities under lockdown on Sunday, as the number of cases confirmed or believed to be linked to contagious variants in the province soared past the 10,000 mark.

The entrance to the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Montreal's convention centre is seen empty, on Wednesday, March 31, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

MONTREAL - Quebec added several more municipalities to its list of cities under lockdown on Sunday, as the number of cases confirmed or believed to be linked to contagious variants in the province soared past the 10,000 mark.

The government said in a news release that non-essential businesses will close and the evening curfew will be moved to 8 p.m. from 9:30 as of Monday evening in several parts of the Chaudiere-Appalaches region, including Beauce-Sartigan, Bellechasse, Les Etchemins, Nouvelle-Beauce and Robert-Cliche.

Schools will close for in-person learning, while theatres and museums must also shutter as of Monday at 8 p.m. until at least April 12.

"These exceptional health measures, similar to those in force at the beginning of January, are necessary in order to limit unnecessary contact between people as much as possible," the government said in a news release.

The region south of Quebec City saw its confirmed number of cases jump to 136 on Saturday, up from 74 the day before.

The Quebec government imposed the same restrictions in Quebec City, Levis and Gatineau last week.

Earlier Sunday, Health Minister Christian Dube said on Twitter that he's worried about case numbers in several regions, including Chaudiere-Appalaches, Quebec City and Outaouais.

"Despite an appearance of stability in Quebec, some regions are experiencing a concerning (rise) in new cases," he wrote.

Quebec reported 1,154 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday and nine additional deaths linked to the virus, including one that occurred in the last 24 hours.

The regions cited by Dube were among those designated as "red" zones last week as they moved to the province's highest COVID-19 alert level after a few weeks at the less restrictive "orange" classification.

The new rise in cases has been linked to more contagious variants, which now account for 64 per cent of new COVID-19 diagnoses in the province.

Quebec announced 779 new presumed cases involving variants on Sunday, which brought the provincial total past the 10,000 mark to 10,337.

The number of confirmed variant cases was unchanged at 1,592.

While cases involving variants were originally concentrated mostly in Montreal, they have since been detected in all but two regions of the province.

Hospitalizations increased by one to 502 on Sunday, while the number of patients in intensive care rose by four to 128.

Health workers gave 41,073 doses of vaccine Saturday for a total of 1,529,541 shots.

Dube said Sunday that 77 per cent of Montrealers age 60 and above have either received their first shot or booked an appointment for a vaccine.

He said on Twitter that the province had redirected 34,000 vaccine doses to the regions to help them catch up to Montreal, which was initially prioritized due to a higher number of cases.

Quebec also announced it had received over 135,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and almost 340,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca, both of which will move through the health network in the coming days.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2021
The Chainsmokers' Drew Taggart and his girlfriend Chantel Jeffries have called it quits on their relationship.

The DJ-centric couple who were first linked last February, broke up after one year of dating sometime in March.

Taggart's rep told Us Weekly: 'They broke up a month ago. It was an amicable breakup, and they remain friends.'

It's over: The Chainsmokers' Drew Taggart, 31, and model-DJ Chantel Jeffries, 28, have split after a year of dating, his rep telling Us Weekly the breakup was 'amicable'; pictured July 2020

The pair first sparked romance rumors when they were seen getting cozy at a Miami Super Bowl party last year.

Things continued to progress and they were seen on various dates in Los Angeles, before becoming Instagram official in July with a kissing photo.

As the COVID-19 pandemic halted live festivals and concerts and their respective gigs and hectic travel schedules took pause, they found time to ramp up their relationship.

In December Chantel, 28, posted a glowing birthday tribute to her 31-year-old beau where she professed her love for him.

Instagram official: The pair became Instagram official in July as she shared a few snaps of them in The Hamptons; July 2020

Loved up: The pair first sparked romance rumors last February where they were seen getting cozy at a Super Bowl party; pictured December 2020

Romantic getaways: The pair were seen taking their love all over as they enjoyed vacations in Mexico and Miami

'You make this planet feel like home. Happy birthday I love you as much as pie and I'll love you as long as pi continues...can't wait to do everything on earth with you,' she wrote.

And earlier that month she posted a photo series by a moving truck, prompting many to assume she was moving in with him.

In February it was revealed that Taggart was selling his Hollywood Hills home for $14.5M, and fans began to wonder if something had happened between them or if they were possibly getting a place of their own.

An anonymous source  who reportedly lived in close proximity to the Grammy-winner  wrote into Instagram's DeuxMoi that they had seen Chantel moving stuff out.

Moving out? An anonymous source  who reportedly lived in close proximity to the Grammy-winner  wrote into Instagram's DeuxMoi that they had seen Chantel moving stuff out

Old romances: The model-DJ has a string of famous exes in music

The tipster said Jeffries was seen gradually making her way out with boxes over an extended period of time which the tipster took as an indication they had split.

Prior to dating Taggart, she was romantically involved with Justin Bieber on and off for two years (2014 to 2016) and The Weeknd in 2018.

She had also sparked romance rumors with Diplo in January of last year when they were seen getting handsy on a Mexican vacation.

Taggart was previously linked to model Meredith Mickelson and Haley Rowe on and off from 2016 to 2017.
The COVID-19 vaccine clinic waiting room is prepared for the arrival of clients at Sydney Road Family Medical Practice in Sydney, Australia, on March 23, 2021. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

NSW Prepares Dozens of Vaccine Hubs

The NSW government is preparing to significantly scale up its vaccine rollout, if the federal government agrees to let the state pitch in.

NSW Health will open another 36 vaccine clinics in the next week, after already opening 79 clinics at its health services, a spokesperson for the department said on Sunday.

NSW Health has been preparing for a large-scale vaccine rollout, subject to the federal government accepting help and vaccine supply, the spokesperson said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has agreed to let NSW help deliver the vaccine in the state, after NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian wrote to him on Wednesday evening requesting the green light to increase the states role in the COVID-19 vaccination program.

Berejiklian said on Saturday that NSW would help administer phases one and two of the federally managed vaccination scheme in the state.

I am pleased the prime minister in a letter  welcomed our offer, she confirmed.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said on Saturday he would like to see other states and territories get involved.

Four million Australians were due to have jabs by the end of March, a target missed by more than 3.3 million.

By Hannah Ryan
Jordan's Queen Noor Al Hussein today slammed claims her son plotted a coup as 'wicked slander', amid reports he has been placed under house arrest.

The American-born Jordanian royal, 69, said she hoped 'praying that truth and justice will prevail' following the reported detainment of her son Prince Hamzah bin Hussein.

Prince Hamzah is the son of the late King Hussein of Jordan and fourth wife Queen Noor.

He is the half-brother of the reigning King Abdullah II and was previously the Crown Prince of the middle eastern country - a key ally of the US - before being unexpectedly replaced by one of King Abdullah's sons.

Jordan's deputy Prime Minister today accused the former crown prince of conspiring with foreign powers in a 'malicious plot' that he claimed had threatened national security.

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters that the alleged 'destabilisation' plot had been foiled at the 'zero hour'.

Mr Safadi did not mention which foreign powers were alleged to be involved

It comes after 20 people were arrested over the alleged plot, including the country's former finance minister Bassem Awadallah - an adviser to to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Today Saudi Arabia, a long-term ally of Jordan, shared their support following claims of a coup.

And of the Saudi crown prince's aides today appeared to brush off rumours the kingdom, and one of the Persian gulf states, was involved in the alleged plot.

In a tweet, which included four pictures of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, with Jordan's King Abdullah.

Royal adviser, Turki Alalshikh, said: 'No comment... the pictures speak.'

Jordan's Queen Noor Al Hussein (pictured left) today slammed claims her son Prince Hamzah bin Hussein (pictured right) plotted a coup as 'wicked slander' amid reports he has been placed under house arrest

Prince Hamzah is the half-brother of King Abdullah (pictured here with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and one-time Crown Prince of the middle eastern country - a key ally of the US

What have other countries said about the alleged coup? UNITED STATES 'We are closely following the reports and in touch with Jordanian officials. King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support,' U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in an email. BRITAIN 'We are following closely the events in Jordan....Jordan is a greatly valued partner for the UK. King Abdullah has our full support,' James Cleverly, a junior Foreign Office minister, on Twitter. SAUDI ARABIA 'The kingdom affirms its full support, with all its capabilities, to all decisions and measures taken by King Abdullah and His Highness Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, the Crown Prince, to maintain security and stability,' the Saudi royal court said in a statement. In a separate statement, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said Jordan's stability and prosperity was the 'basis for the stability and prosperity of the whole region' and vowed 'firm and lasting' support for it. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES The Ministry of Presidential Affairs stressed the UAE's full support for all decisions and measures taken by King Abdullah and his crown prince to maintain Jordan's security and stability and 'to defuse any attempt to impact them'. Senior Emirati official Anwar Gargash said on Twitter Jordan's 'wise policy to build bridges in a turbulent region was not an easy choice but was, and remains, the necessary direction'. EGYPT Egypt voiced support for King Abdullah and his efforts 'to maintain the security and stability of the kingdom against any attempts to undermine it', its presidency spokesman wrote on Facebook. ISRAEL 'This is an internal Jordanian matter. Jordan is a neighbour with which we are at peace, and a strategic ally of ours, and we should do everything to preserve this alliance,' Defence Minister Benny Gantz said in a statement. 'A prosperous and strong Jordan is in our national-security and economic interest. TURKEY Turkey's Foreign Ministry voiced support for King Abdullah and the government of Jordan, and said that it was watching developments with concern. 'We do not see the stability and calm of Jordan, a country that is key to peace in the Middle East, as separate from Turkey's stability and calm,' the ministry said in a statement. Advertisement

Today Foreign Minister Mr Safadi told reporters that more than a dozen people had been arrested in connection with the alleged plot.

He said: 'Then it was clear they moved from design and planning into action.'

Mr Safadi spoke a day after Prince Hamzah was placed under house arrest, in a rare public clash between top members of the long-ruling family.

The unprecedented incident has raised concerns about stability in a country seen as a key Western ally.

In a videotaped statement sent to the BBC from house arrest, Hamzah accused the country's leadership of corruption and incompetence.

Safadi, who also holds the title of deputy prime minister, said intelligence agents had been observing the plotters for some time and raised their concerns with the king.

He said Hamzah was asked to 'stop all these activities and movements that threaten Jordan and its stability,' but he refused.

Today the US also offered its support to King Abdullah.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, 'King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support.'

Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates similarly issued statements supporting Abdullah.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz called Jordan a 'strategic ally' and dismissed the turmoil as an 'internal Jordanian matter.'

Yesterday Prince Hamzah 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.

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.

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

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

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.
Parade is part of Egypt's efforts to revive a tourism industry left reeling following the 2011 popular uprising

They were originally buried around 3,000 years ago in tombs in Valley of Kings and nearby Deir el-Bahri site

Mummies - 18 pharaohs and four other royals - transported in climate-controlled cases loaded onto trucks

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Egypt on Saturday held a spectacular parade to transport 22 mummies of its most famous pharaohs from central Cairo to their new resting place at a museum.

The ceremony snaked along the Nile corniche from the Egyptian Museum overlooking Tahrir Square to the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, Cairo, where Egypt's first Islamic capital was located.

The mummies - 18 pharaohs and four other royals - were transported in climate-controlled cases loaded onto trucks decorated with wings and pharaonic design for the hour-long journey from their previous home in the older, Egyptian Museum.

They were originally buried around 3,000 years ago in secret tombs in the Valley of Kings and the nearby Deir el-Bahri site. Both areas are near the southern city of Luxor. The tombs were first excavated in the 19th century.

Vehicles are seen during the parade as the Royal mummies are transferred from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, Cairo

The carriage carrying the mummy of Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, daughter of Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao II, advances as part of the parade of 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies departing from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square on April 3

A mummy is seen in a video screened during the ceremony. They were originally buried around 3,000 years ago in secret tombs in the Valley of Kings and the nearby Deir el-Bahri site

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the ceremony in Cairo, Egypt. He tweeted: 'This majestic scene is a new evidence of the greatness of this people, the guarding of this unique civilization that extends into the depths of history'

A general view showing the parade at the ceremony. The mummies include Ramses II, one of the country's most famous pharaohs, and Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt's only woman Pharaoh

A marching band is pictured t the start of the parade where 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies departed to their new resting place about seven kilometres south in historic Fustat

Royal mummies are transported in a convoy from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization

A general aerial view of the parade held to mark the transfer of Royal mummies to a museum in Fustat, Cairo, Egypt

A light display is seen in Tahrir Square as royal mummies are transported in a convoy from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat

Artists perform during a transfer of Royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to their new museum in Fustat, Cairo

Royal mummies are transported in a convoy from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization

A 21-gun salute kicked off the ceremony, accompanied by lights and music.

Most of the mummies belong to the ancient New Kingdom, which ruled Egypt between 1539 BC to 1075 BC, according to the ministry of antiquities.

They include Ramses II, one of the country's most famous pharaohs remembered principally for the colossal statues he commissioned, and Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt's only woman Pharaoh.

She wore a false beard to overcome tradition requiring women to play only secondary roles in the royal hierarchy.

After excavation, the mummies were taken to Cairo by boats that sailed the Nile.

Some were showcased in glass cases, while others were stored.

The remains of Ramses II were taken to Paris in 1976 for intensive restoration work by French scientists.

The parade is part of Egypt's efforts to revive a tourism industry that has been left reeling from the political turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, and more recently, the coronavirus pandemic.

Tourism and Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany said: 'This parade is a unique global event that will not be repeated.'

Security is tight in the capital, with authorities closing off major streets and intersections all along the route for the slow-moving vehicles.

Guards on horses and Egyptian celebrities and signers followed the motorcade.

Movie star Hussein Fahmy said in an official promotional video: 'Again, Egypt dazzles the world with an unrivalled event.'

The mommy of King Sety I is transported in a convoy. The parade is part of Egypt's efforts to revive their tourism industry

Performers dressed in ancient Egyptian costume wait at the start of the parade of 22 royal mummies departing to Fustat

A woman dressed in ancient Egyptian costume pictured waiting at the start of the parade as they royal mummies made their way to their new resting place

Performers dressed in ancient Egyptian costume, pictured above. After excavation, the mummies were taken to Cairo by boats that sailed the Nile. Some were showcased in glass cases, while others were stored

A vehicle is seen during a parade at the ceremony, which snaked along the Nile corniche from the Egyptian Museum overlooking Tahrir Square to the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, where Egypt's first Islamic capital was located

A general view of the Pharaoh's Golden Parade in Cairo, Egpyt, as a convoy transported 18 ancient kings and four queens

Two of the trucks carrying the ancient royal mummies are seen during the Pharaoh's Golden Parade in Cairo, Egypt, on April 3

An artist is pictured in a chariot while performing during the parade. Guards on horses and Egyptian celebrities and signers followed the motorcade

Artists perform near pyramids in a video screened during the ceremony. Movie star Hussein Fahmy said in an official promotional video: 'Again, Egypt dazzles the world with an unrivalled event'

A mummy is seen during the ceremony. The parade is part of Egypt's efforts to revive a tourism industry that has been reeling from the political turmoil following the 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak

A mummy is seen in a video screened during the ceremony. The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry are also live-streaming the event on social media platforms

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the ceremony marking the transfer of the Royal mummies to a museum in Cairo

Riham Abdel Hakim performs at the ceremony. Once at the new museum, 20 of the mummies will be displayed, while the remaining two will be stored, according to the ministry

Musicians perform during the ceremony. The event began at sunset, and will be broadcast live on the country's state-run television and other satellite stations

Officials transported the mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat on April 3, which includes remains of King Ramses II and Queen Ahmose-Nefertari (pictured)

King Ramesses II, also known as Ramses the Great, was the most powerful and celebrated ruler of ancient Egypt. He is remembered principally for the colossal statues he commissioned and for his massive building program (pictured)

The event began at sunset, and will be broadcast live on the country's state-run television and other satellite stations. The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry is also live-streaming it on social media platforms.

The 'Pharaohs' Golden Parade' began at Tahrir, where authorities officially unveiled an obelisk and four sphinxes to now decorate Cairo's most famous square.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who welcomed the mummies at the new museum, tweeted: 'This majestic scene is a new evidence of the greatness of this people, the guarding of this unique civilization that extends into the depths of history.'

Once at the new museum, 20 of the mummies will be displayed, while the remaining two will be stored, according to the ministry.

The carriages carrying the mummies of Pharaoh Seti II, Siptah, Ramses II and Ramses IV (left to right) drive along the Malek al-Saleh bridge near old Cairo on their way to their new resting place

Journalists film as the carriage carrying the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II advances as part of the parade of 22 ancient Egyptian mummies departing from a museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square

Performers dressed in ancient Egyptian costume stand by the Obelisk of Ramses II alongside four recently unveiled and restored four ancient sandstone sphinxes in the centre of the roundabout in Cairo's Tahrir Square

A person stands in the window of a building at Tahrir Square to watch the transfer of the ancient mummies between museums

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stands outside the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization as a convoy of vehicles transporting royal mummies passes in Cairo, Egypt

Performers dressed in ancient Egyptian costume mingle after the end of the Pharaohs' Golden Parade in Cairo

A view of one of four restored ancient sandstone sphinxes extracted from the Avenue of the Sphinxes in Luxor, brought to surround the Obelisk of Ramses II in the centre of the capital Cairo's Tahrir Square, unveiled prior to the parade

Security drive ahead of the parade on April 3 in Cairo, Egypt, in what officials have dubbed the Pharaohs' Golden Parade

People stand around and photograph mounted policemen marching along Tahrir Square at the end of the parade in Egypt

Who were the kings and queens transported during the parade? Among the 18 kings and four queens that were transported to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization were mummies of King Ramses II, King Seqenenre Tao; King Thutmose III, King Seti I, Queen Hatshepsut, Queen Meritamen (the wife of King Amenhotep I) and Queen Ahmose Nefertari (the wife of King Ahmose I). King Ramses II The fame of Ramses II, third king of the 19th dynasty of Ancient Egypt, is put down to his flair for self-publicity. He is remembered principally for the colossal statues he commissioned and for his massive building programme. Dubbed Rameses the Great, his reign from 1279 to 1213BC marked the last peak of Egypt's imperial power. He ascended the throne as the third king of the Nineteenth Dynasty at the age of twenty-five. It's thought that during his reign he built more temples and fathered more children than any other pharaoh. Pictured: The mummy of Ramses II at Cairo Museum in Egypt Pictured: Portrait of Ramses II King Seqenenre Tao Seqenenre reigned over Egypt around 1545BC and it is estimated that he was only king for a year or so. Because of his short reign he was not able to commission many monumental structures but he did build a new palace made of mud brick at Deir el-Ballas. Seqenenre died violently: his mummy displays five head wounds including a crushing blow, three ax wounds, and a spear or sword thrust. Because the ax wounds were inflicted while he lay on the ground, some scholars suggest that he was killed as he slept. It is equally possible that he died in battle. His embalming appears to have been done hastily and his limbs were not arranged in the correct way, suggesting he died under extreme circumstances. King Thutmose III Thutmose III reigned over Egypt from 147926BC and is widely regarded as ancient Egypt's greatest ruler. He was a skilled warrior who brought the country a lot of power by conquering all of Syria, crossing the Euphrates and penetrating south across the Nile river to Napata in Sudan. Among the many monuments he built are two great granite obelisks, known as Cleopatra's Needles, which are now in London and New York City. The last decade of his reign is marked by the building of a new temple at Dayr al-Bahri. When he died, in 1426BC, he was laid to rest in a remote corner of the Valley of the Kings in western Thebes. His mummy was discovered in 1889 in a hiding place where the priest kings from 1075-950BC had put his and others for safety. Pictured: The tomb of Thutmose III King Seti I The son of Ramses I, King Seti I ruled ancient Egypt from 1290 to 1279BC. His rule did a lot to promote the prosperity of the country by fortifying the frontier, opening mines and quarries, digging wells, rebuilding temples and shrines and continuing construction of the hypostyle hall at Karnak. While is son Ramses II is more well-known than him, Seti is thought to be one of the greatest kings of the 19th dynasty (12921190BC). His tomb was the finest in the Valley of the Kings in western Thebes. Pictured: The mummy of Seti I Pictured: A portrait of Seti I Queen Hatshepsut Achieving unprecedented power for a woman and adopting the full titles and regalia of a pharoh, Queen Hatshepsut reigned in her own right from 1473-58BC. She was married to her half brother Thutmose II who inherited his father's throne in roughly 1492BC. Hatshepsut had a daughter but no son so when Thutmose II died, his throne was passed to a son (Thutmose III) he had with another woman. However because Thutmose III was a child, Hatshepsut acted as regent for the young king. By the end of his seventh regnal year, Hatshepsut had been crowned king and adopted a full royal titulary. Hatshepsut's reign was essentially a peaceful one, and her foreign policy was based on trade rather than war. But scenes on the walls of her Dayr al-Bahri temple , in western Thebes, suggest that she began with a short, successful military campaign in Nubia. After she died her son continued to reign alone for 33 years and efforts were made to remove any trace of Hatshepsut's rule and her reign wasn't discovered until 1822 when archeologists were able to understand hieroglyphic depictions of her reign. Pictured: The mummy of Queen Hatshepsut Queen Meritamen While there isn't much information surrounding Meritamen, she was the wife of King Amenhotep I, who ruled from 1526 to 1506BC. Her remains were discovered at a tomb in Deir el-Bahri in 1930 by Herbert Eustis Winlock. It appears that she died when she was relatively young, with evidence of being afflicted with arthritis and scoliosis. The outer coffin is over 10 ft in size and is made from cedar planks which are joined and carved to a uniform thickness throughout the coffin. The eyes and eyebrows are inlaid with glass. The body is carefully carved with chevrons painted in blue to create the illusion of feathers. Queen Ahmose Nefertari Nefertari was the daughter of King Seqenenre Tao and was married to King Amhose I during his reign from 15491524BC. Her son Amenhotep I became pharaoh and she may have served as his regent when he was young. Ahmose-Nefertari was deified after her death. It is believed she was buried in Dra Abu el-Naga and moved to a different tomb later on. Her body was discovered in 1885 by Emile Brugsch but his identification has been questioned so it is unclear whether that mummy is definitely Nefertari. When Ahmose-Nefertari died, she was deified and became 'Mistress of the Sky' and 'Lady of the West'. Pictured: A portrait of Queen Ahmose Nefertari Advertisement
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The Makeup Remover Water Market revenue was xx.xx Million USD in 2019, and will reach xx.xx Million USD in 2025, with a CAGR of x.x% during 2020-2025.

Under COVID-19 outbreak globally, this report provides 360 degrees of analysis from supply chain, import and export control to regional government policy and future influence on the industry. Detailed analysis about market status (2015-2020), enterprise competition pattern, advantages and disadvantages of enterprise products, industry development trends (2020-2025), regional industrial layout characteristics and macroeconomic policies, industrial policy has also been included.



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In COVID-19 outbreak, Chapter 2.2 of this report provides an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and the Makeup Remover Water industry.

Chapter 3.7 covers the analysis of the impact of COVID-19 from the perspective of the industry chain.

In addition, chapters 7-11 consider the impact of COVID-19 on the regional economy.

The Makeup Remover Water market can be split based on product types, major applications, and important countries as follows:

Key players in the global Makeup Remover Water market covered in Chapter 12:

Unilever

P&G

Avon

Johnson and Johnson

Shiseido

L'Oreal

Kao

Mandom Corporation

Bioderma Laboratories

In Chapter 4 and 14.1, on the basis of types, the Makeup Remover Water market from 2015 to 2025 is primarily split into:

For Oily Skin

For Dry Skin

For Mixed Skin

In Chapter 5 and 14.2, on the basis of applications, the Makeup Remover Water market from 2015 to 2025 covers:

Lip & Eye Makeup Remover Water

Face Makeup Remover Water

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2015-2025) of the following regions are covered in Chapter 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14:

North America (Covered in Chapter 7 and 14)

United States

Canada

Mexico

Europe (Covered in Chapter 8 and 14)

Germany

UK

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Others

Asia-Pacific (Covered in Chapter 9 and 14)

China

Japan

South Korea

Australia

India

Southeast Asia

Others

Middle East and Africa (Covered in Chapter 10 and 14)

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Egypt

Nigeria

South Africa

Others

South America (Covered in Chapter 11 and 14)

Brazil

Argentina

Columbia

Chile

Others

Years considered for this report:

Historical Years: 2015-2019

Base Year: 2019

Estimated Year: 2020

Forecast Period: 2020-2025



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Actor Kim Cattrall is best known for playing the confident, empowered public relations expert Samantha Jones on HBOs Sex and the City. Over the course of the seriess six seasons and nearly 100 episodes, Cattrall was nominated for several Emmys and Golden Globes, plus numerous other accolades. Despite Cattralls very public persona and more than 50 years on film and TV, many fans are still surprised to learn about the celebritys secret background and the surprising truth about her real-life accent.

Kim Cattrall | Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images

Fans are surprised to learn that Cattrall wasnt born in America

RELATED: The Team Behind the Sex and the City Reboot Hint at New Friendships

Despite the all-American backstory of Cattralls Sex and the City character  Jones is said to come from a working-class background, worked at Dairy Queen as a teenager, and has lived in New York City for decades  the actor wasnt actually born in the United States. In fact, up until recently, Cattrall wasnt even an American citizen. Cattrall was born in Liverpool [England], moved to Canada when she was a baby, and holds dual [British-Canadian] citizenship, reported The Guardian.

According to Cattrall herself in an Instagram post, she didnt hold any citizenship in the U.S. until the fall of 2020. Cattrall lived in Canada from age three months to age 11, explains IMDb, after which the actor returned to the United Kingdom to go to school at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. When Cattrall was 16, she graduated from high school.

Cattrall had won a scholarship to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. The celebritys constant travels between Canada, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. may explain why so many fans never knew her real background. And it may also explain Cattralls real accent, which ebbs and flows depending on her roles and who shes talking to.

Cattrall says she had to practice her American accent

RELATED: Actors With the Worst Movie Accents Youll Ever Hear

Cattrall has maintained very close ties to Liverpool and her family there and she does a great scouse accent, notes The Guardian. Scouse is the specific English dialect and accent used in Liverpool, with the BBC explaining that its a very distinctive, instantly recognizable accent thats a mixture of Irish and Welsh influences.

Yet in most of Cattralls roles, she hides her British accent. And she says to do this successfully required a lot of practice. Im not calling home as much as I used to because I start sounding American again, shes quoted as saying in the Digital Spy. Ive been around British accents all my life. But Ive worked quite hard to get it right. [] As you can see, I dont talk like Samantha or act like Samantha unless Im paid to.

Cattralls British accent comes out in her British films

RELATED: Foreign Actors You Probably Thought Were American

In her interview with The Guardian, Cattrall says she wishes some directors would have asked her to use her real accent. But you can still hear it creeping into her film and television personas, especially if shes working with a British cast. A prominent example is 2010s The Ghost Writer, a British film directed by controversial European director Roman Polanski.

In it, Cattrall plays a personal assistant to former British Prime Minister played by Pierce Brosnan. To see [Cattrall] in a political thriller, speaking with a British accent  is initially shocking, points out the Wall Street Journal. Another European film where you can get a glimpse of Cattralls British roots includes 2006s The Tigers Tail.
EDWARDSVILLE  The Madison County States Attorneys Office will help the Troy Police Department place license plate reader (LPR) cameras at three intersections.

Troy is the latest community to look at the cameras which can track license plates and alert police to stolen plates or vehicles owned by someone with an outstanding warrant.

On Thursday the Madison County Boards Judiciary Committee approved $5,000 out of the states attorneys drug asset forfeiture fund to help pay for the cameras.

The total cost is about $60,000. The specific locations were not discussed. The issue must go through other committees before a final approval by the full Madison County Board.

Similar projects are occurring in several communities, including Bethalto, Glen Carbon and Edwardsville. Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine said it is an attempt to create a digital circle around Madison County.

We have these license plate readers throughout the county, he said. Theyre pretty effective tools.

In 2018 Alton, Godfrey and the Madison County States Attorneys Office placed an LPR camera on the Clark Bridge. A second was later placed on Godfrey Road.

Since then, other cameras have been placed on Madison County highways and bridges with little fanfare.

Both Glen Carbon and Edwardsville have LPR cameras in the works. In February Glen Carbon approved two to be installed on Illinois 157 just south of Interstate 270. Another pair are planned for Illinois 159 north of the interstate.

Edwardsville wants to install a pair on Illinois 157 on Sunset Hill, just northeast of the split with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Edwardsville Police Chief Jay Keeven said theyll cost $10,000 to install and set up. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency has offered to store camera data and further and is willing to allow connections to its network from cameras placed in subdivisions by homeowners associations, as long as Edwardsville Police owns the camera.

Edwardsville officials also are exploring using Edwardsville Neighborhood Enhancement, Recognition, and Grant Initiative grants to pay for up to 50 percent of the cameras cost in each ward where they are desired.

Capt. Dave Vucich, chief investigator for the Madison County Sheriffs Department, recently discussed the cameras as well as the ongoing issue of auto thefts and break-ins. Law enforcement officials are reluctant to discuss specific LPR camera locations other than saying the cameras have been a success.

They do have limitations. Often if the vehicle has not been reported stolen quickly, officials can track where it has been but not where it is at that moment.

The committee on Thursdsay also was updated on the Madison County Jail population.

Chief Deputy Sheriff Major Jeff Connor said there are 301 inmates  55 are awaiting transfer to the Illinois Department of Corrections which has effectively halted its intake process.

Its pretty well grinded to a halt again, Connor said. Were working with them to try to make some progress.

Reporter Charles Bolinger provided information for this story.
Vietnams Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung has been named chief of the Hanoi Party Committee this week, taking over from his predecessor Vuong Dinh Hue, who had been elected as chairman of the legislature.

Dung received a Politburo decision to appoint him to the post from Vo Van Thuong, a top Party official, in Hanoi on Saturday.

Ill try my best to complete the political missions assigned by the Party, state, and capitals people, Dung said during the handover ceremony.

Vietnam's Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung (L) receives a Politburo decision to appoint him as chief of the Hanoi Party Committee from Vo Van Thuong, a top Party official, in the capital on April 3, 2021. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

The decision was issued on Wednesday, when Hue won a majority vote to become the chair of the National Assembly.

Hue also served as Minister of Finance from August 2011 to February 2013. The politician took office as the Hanoi Party chief in February 2020.

Vietnam's Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung (L) takes a bouquet of flowers from Vuong Dinh Hue, chairman of the National Assembly, during a ceremony to receive a Politburo decision to appoint the former as chief of the Hanoi Party Committee in the capital on April 3, 2021. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

Born in 1961 in Ninh Binh Province, Dung has an MBA and a university degree in economics, according to his biography.

He was named Minister of Finance in May 2013, having been Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Vietnam since August 2011.

From October 2010 to July 2011, Dung was in office as secretary of the Ninh Binh Party Committee.

He worked as a deputy construction minister from June 2003 to May 2008.

Both Dung and Hue are members of the all-powerful Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

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Yes, along most or all of the coast

Yes, but only places where an entry fee can cover their cost

No, people can continue swimming at their own risk

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The Associated Press checks out some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. This one is bogus, even though it was shared widely on social media. Here are the facts:

CLAIM: First lady Jill Biden gave a speech with the Nazi flag in the background.

THE FACTS: On Wednesday, Biden made a visit to The Forty Acres, the first headquarters of the United Farm Workers labor union, in Delano, Calif., and gave a speech in front of the unions flag  not a Nazi flag.

The flag features a black eagle surrounded by a white circle on a red background. Yet multiple social media users made false claims about the flag.

I dont know if there are words to fully convey how hilarious it is that Dr Jill Biden butchered the Spanish language while giving a speech in front of a Nazi flag, said one Twitter user.

Lauren Araiza, an associate professor who teaches history at Denison University, called the effort to draw similarities between the eagle used on the UFW flag and the one associated with the Nazis ridiculous. Araiza said the eagle on the red and black flag was something Mexican Americans could easily relate to.

Its based on the Aztec eagle, and they made it stylized in that way because they wanted a graphic that anybody could draw and then it would be easily printable, said Araiza, author of the book, To March for Others: The Black Freedom Struggle and the United Farm Workers.

The flag was created in the 1960s by Chavezs brother, Richard Chavez, and his cousin, Manuel Chavez. The unions website includes a quote from Chavez explaining the flags design: A symbol is an important thing. That is why we chose an Aztec eagle. It gives prideWhen people see it they know it means dignity.

In addition to red and black being eye-catching colors, the tone of red used in the flag was inexpensive for printers, Araiza explained.

These people are just trying to use scare tactics to delegitimize the president and first ladys open support of the UFW and, by extension, all Mexican Americans, Araiza said.

Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, a professor of history at Fairfield University, who specializes in the history of Nazi Germany, also knocked down the claims. One source of subtle confusion may be the fact that many Nazi flags featured an eagle with a swastika, the latter being a very geometric shape; the UFW flag also features a very geometrically rendered Aztec-style eagle that could evoke the geometric aspects of a swastika, Rosenfeld said in an email. But of course, theres no swastika on the UFW whatsoever.
Guwahati, April 4 : Only 7.8 per cent women candidates are among the total 946 contestants in fray for the 126-member Assam Assembly elections, leading to discontent among female activists and writers.

According to the state's Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade, of the total 946 candidates, 74 are women while, out of the overall 2,33,74,087 voters, 1,15,50,403 are females.

He said out of the 33,530 polling stations set up for the three phases (March 27, April 1, April 6) of the polls across the state, 1,351 are all women managed.

The third and the final phase of polling will be held in 40 seats on April 6.

Despite the women being 49.41 per cent of the total numbers of voters, only 74 female (7.8 per cent) candidates, including 23 Independent, are in the fray.

In the 2016 Assam Assembly elections, 91 women candidates were in the fray, with eight of them being elected.

In 2011, 85 women had tried their electoral fate and 14, the highest so far in the House, were successful.

The opposition Congress, which has formed a 10-party 'Mahajot' (Grand Alliance) to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance, has put up nine women candidates in these polls.

Its electoral partners, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF), have fielded one women candidate each.

In the 2016 polls, the Congress had fielded 16 women candidates.

The principal opposition party this time has fielded a total of 95 candidates allotting the remaining seats to its allies.

The ruling BJP has nominated seven women candidates, one more than that during the 2016 polls, while its alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) like that of previous elections has put up two female nominees.

The BJP, which has fielded total 93 candidates, is contesting the elections in alliance with the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP), besides its old ally AGP.

The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a newly formed party, has fielded seven women candidates while the other new party Raijor Dal has given ticket to one.

The AJP and Raijor Dal nominees are contesting as Independent candidates.

Besides, several female activists and women rights bodies, renowned Assam-based writers Tapati Baruah Kashyap and Ratna Bharali Talukdar have expressed strong resentment over the number of candidates.

Kashyap, a renowned Guwahati-based award-winning writer and an advocate of women's rights, said women have the capability to govern the society but they are not properly represented in politics and governance.

"Because ours is a patriarchal society, men continue to dominate in every sphere of the society and government. This can be termed as neglect of women and the failure to recognise their ability. There are numerous instances where women have performed better than men in many areas, including education," she told IANS.

Kashyap, who has written 12 books and won several prestigious awards, said because of the prevailing male-dominated mindset, even policies on women were prepared by men.

"In order to change this situation, women should come forward in large numbers to transform the mindset of our male-dominated culture." Meanwhile, Talukdar, a famed writer and executive editor of online magazine Nezine, said that women have always been in the forefront in Assam, be it the identity movements or political mobilisations including election rallies.

"Ironically, the women continue to be deprived of getting proportionate representations in the state Assembly. Women have demonstrated their efficiency and expertise in governance in panchayats bodies where 50 per cent seats are reserved for them. They have also demonstrated their efficiency as ministers and legislators," Talukdar told IANS.

She said that a minimum of 33 per cent seats of the state Assemblies must be reserved for women.

"Patriarchal mindset of leaders of political parties is posing hurdles in women getting adequate representation in the state Assembly." (Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
Noida: The traffic movement is likely to be hit in the National Capital Region (NCR) on Sunday (April 4, 2021) as the officials have increased security and put in strict measures in view of the recent protests by the farmers on the Chilla route between Delhi and Noida.

The protests on Friday by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) against the attack on their leader Rakesh Tikait in Rajasthan had disrupted the traffic flow and led to the sudden closure of the route.

"The Chilla route between Noida and Delhi has been affected due to the demonstration. Commuters can use the DND (Delhi-Noida Direct) flyway or the Kalindi Kunj route for travelling," a Noida Traffic Police official had told PTI.

The route, however, was re-opened for normal traffic movement in about an hour, but, the same scenario can also be expected on Sunday.

So, if you're planning to travel to Delhi or NCR today, prefer using the DND or the Kalindi Kunj route.

This is to be noted that Singhu, Ghazipur and several other borders of Delhi with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have been hit due to the ongoing farmers protests against Centre's farm laws namely Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
Pope Francis delivered his annual Urbi et Orbi (To the City and to the World) Easter message to a small group of the faithful inside St. Peters Basilica on Sunday, while coronavirus pandemic prohibitions kept the usual audience of about 70,000 pilgrims away from St. Peters Square for a second year.

The pope delivered the message after presiding over Easter Mass in the presence of about 200 worshipers.

Francis spoke of the economic and social hardships that many people, and especially the poor, are experiencing because of the pandemic, which has worsened recently in Italy and much of Europe. He also addressed the continuing armed conflicts, unrest and increased military spending in Myanmar, Nigeria, Syria, Yemen and other regions and nations.

As he has in the past, the leader of the worlds 1.3 billion Catholics called on the international community in a spirit of global responsibility to ensure that everyone has access to vaccines, which he called an essential tool in the fight against the pandemic. Delivery delays have to be overcome to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries, Francis said.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Editors note: The Journal continues Whats in a Name?, a twice a month column in which staff writer Elaine Briseno will give a short history of how places in New Mexico got their names.

Perched on a hill about 40 miles west of Albuquerque, San Jose de Lagunas white-washed walls rise like a beacon from the brown and yellow terrain that surround it.

The mission church is as old as the Keresan-speaking pueblo community created there in 1699. Franciscan missionary Friar Antonio de Miranda established and named the church, which was constructed between 1699 and 1701.

San Jose is the Spanish translation of St. Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus. According to The Place Names of New Mexico by Bob Julyan, San Jose is the second most popular name in New Mexico after San Antonio. It appears 33 times in and around the state.

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Laguna village was settled, and the church was built following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, and would eventually become the 500,000-acre Laguna Pueblo of today, which spans four counties and now also includes the villages of Mesita, Paguate, Seama, Paraje and Encinal.

Laguna is the only pueblo established after Europeans came to America. A portion of the pueblo that includes the area with the church, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

According to the National Park Service A group of Kawaik people and other refugees from Cieneguilla, Santo Domingo, Cochiti, and Zia pueblos created the settlement. This diverse group built the pueblos main village into the light-yellow sandstone slope on the west side of the San Jose River. As part of the re-establishing authority, the Franciscans returned to the ruins of the previous churches or founded new missions throughout the region.

Although its been more than three centuries since the church was erected, it remains as much the center of the community today as it was then. Its also a favorite of history buffs and tourists. Its one of many mission churches Europeans built in New Mexico.

Two reasons it stands out are because its preserved mostly in its original condition, and its still used as a Catholic parish church.

The old Catholic church is a symbol of two cultures coming together. Mysticism and magic are woven throughout the churchs history.

According to a 2014 Voice of the Southwest article by Suzanne Hammons, a hand-carved statue of St. Joseph that sits in the church was brought to the mission in 1699 from Old Mexico. It is greatly revered by the people of the pueblo.

According to their tradition, this statue was dipped into the river that passes around Laguna and to this day the river is known as the San Jose River. Every year on the Fiesta days (March 19 and Sept. 19) and in times of trouble and stress, this statue is carried with great ceremony and reverence through the village.

Voice of the Southwest covers news from the Diocese of Gallup.

Another mythical story includes an oil painting of San Jose that hung inside the cathedral that became the center of a dispute with Acoma Pueblo. The painting was said to have been given to a priest from Acoma by King Charles II, and that it had supernatural powers that brought rain and prosperity to the possessor. Acoma loaned the painting to Laguna but when it came time to return it, the people of Laguna decided they wanted a little more of its magical powers.

For 100 years, the painting hung inside San Jose de Laguna until Acoma decided to take the matter to the courts. The Supreme Court of New Mexico had the final say. They decided in favor of Acoma and the painting was returned.

Sister Mary Rosita Shiosee of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament grew up in Mesita and served at San Jose and satellite mission churches throughout the pueblo. San Jose de Laguna, she said, is a tribute to both the Catholic faith and Native American traditions. The ceiling, she said, has Native American symbols that represent the heavens, moon and stars in honor of Gods creations.

The beams on the side of the altar are carved and painted red and green, she said. The colors are a symbol of Christianity and Indian ways. The Christian ways are entwined with our traditions.

Shiosee, 89, now lives in an assisted living community in Philadelphia, but it was she who introduced drums and native chants into the Mass. The chants and drums are used to sing traditional church hymns.

For members of the community, its a place of familiarity and comfort, but the church has also been welcoming and enchanting outsiders for centuries.

The National Park Service shared an 1851 Christmas Day journal entry from Ten Broeck, an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army, that describes the scene there that day. Broeck was entranced by what he found, especially the music, which sounded like a multitude of birds.

The note of the wood-thrush and the trillings of the canary bird, were particularly distinct.  having worked my way up into the gallery, I there found fifteen or twenty young boys lying prone upon the floor, each with a small basin two-thirds full of water in front of him, and one or more short reeds, perforated and split in a peculiar manner. Placing one end in the water, and blowing through the other, they imitated the notes of different birds most wonderfully. It was a curious sight, and taken altogether  the quaintly painted church; the altar, with its lighted candles and singular inmates; the kneeling Indians in their picturesque garbs; and above all, the sounds sent down by the bird orchestra  formed a scene not easily forgotten.

Curious about how a town, street or building got its name? Email staff writer Elaine Briseno at ebriseno@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3965 as she continues the monthly journey in Whats in a Name?
UTTER the words the Leamy School to many people in Limerick city and they will inevitably reference Frank McCourt, the landmark Tudor building in Hartstonge Street synonymous with the author.

Theyre less likely to be able to tell you about William Leamy, the generous benefactor whose financial legacy built the school in the early 19th century.

Until now that is.

Thats because Mary Immaculate College academic Dr Paul OBrien, designer Fionan Coughlan and printer Julie Long of GBM Limerick have brought the life and times of Leamy to some bright, attractive boards on the railings outside the building bearing his name.

Born at Beagh Castle in Pallaskenry in 1750, Leamy was the son of a herdsman and had at least one brother Patrick, a property developer in the city.

In his last will and testament, he left the majority of his fortune towards the construction of a school for the poor children of Limerick.

Dr OBrien said: William appears to have been taken under the care of his fathers employer, the wealthy landowner Ralph Westropp of Marys Fort House in Tulla. Williams good fortune in receiving an education must have informed his decision to establish a school for the education of the children of the poor of Ireland, principally those in and about the city of Limerick.

The plan to recognise Leamy outside his building was shared  as many great ideas are  over a cup of coffee.

Ms Long said: Myself, Paul and Fionan got together. Paul told the story, we engaged with it.

Putting the panels together took six months of studious work on the part of Dr OBrien with public records of Leamys life difficult to some by.

But it was worth the time and effort, with Ms Long describing Mr Coughlans design as simply delicious!.

This is the story of a man whose story has not been told thus far. Everybody knows the name Leamy, but nobody knows who the man actually is. As it transpires, he was fascinating. He lived in a time well before the famine, which is as far back as our consciousness and awareness goes. He is nearly pre-oral history. Its a lovely way to bring someone who is from the turn of the century before last back into town, said Ms Long.

An outdoor attraction is even more appropriate in the Covid-19 times we live in, with people being encouraged to enjoy the fresh air, and remain socially distanced  especially with summer on the way.

Leamy was a very well travelled individual, according to Dr OBrien.

Taking up the story, he said: After a brief stint in Edinburgh, Leamy travelled to India in 1790. Initially he carried on as a merchant in Madras. Leamys business endeavours in Madras and Calcutta are documented in the contemporary period. Several newspaper notices describe him as a trader of tea. In 1792, Leamy placed a notice in the Madras Courier informing the ladies and gentlemen of this settlement that the usual China articles are available.

Leamys ability to establish successful trade routes so soon after his arrival in the country suggests he was possessed of considerable business acumen, especially in the context of a crowded market, he added.

Making his fortune in India, Leamy then headed back West in 1803 taking a house in a fashionable area of London. Little is known of his time here, aside from a chance encounter with someone from Tulla, which resulted in his reunion with his family and friends.

He moved to Lisbon, where he passed away in 1815  but directed the building of the school in Limerick in his last will and testament.

Mr Coughlan, 25, says hes really enjoyed the last six months getting to know the story of William Leamy.

He was given a design brief by Julie Long, and he admits it took a bit of head-scratching to get right.

But it came together, because I was able to bounce ideas off Julie and Paul, and it was great. It was fun, enjoyable, and we did it together. Its been a great project to work on  a real collaboration, said the Corbally man, who now lives in the Kings Island.

He has paid tribute to Limerick City Build, which funded the material costs of the project, as well as Dr OBrien for his Trojan work.

Ms Long added: Its something that people can read or engage with as they go past. Its a really nice way to make people smile on their way to work, or going to wherever they need to be.

For her company, it was a case of giving back to Limerick, with GBM one of the mainstays of the local economy  and also based just metres away in Lower Hartstonge Street.

We are still open because of Limerick, because of the support weve built up over the last 50 years. We wouldnt be here if it wasnt for the people of Limerick, and we are aware of that. Sometimes you have to do stuff which is just nice, she said.

Watch out for more projects of this nature coming on stream through the summer, she added.

Although William Leamy lived more than two centuries ago, the lessons and morals remain true to this day, Dr OBrien believes.

The Leamy School is a reminder that access to an education is a fundamental right, regardless of ones background, he concluded.
Some religions teach you will go to hell if you reject this gift. Others teach that you must respond according to their doctrines or you are out. I am convinced neither is true. Jesus did not go to all this trouble to promote religion. He did it because He is the embodiment of love and His deepest desire is a mutually loving relationship with each one of us.

I know God is real and alive, He loves you, no matter who you are, what you look like, or how you live your life, and He wants to have a relationship with you. If you have not already, this Easter you could take a leap of faith and say something like, God, my heart is open, and I would like to get to know you. If you continue reaching out to Him by communicating with Him and ask Him to open your eyes of faith, you can expect to start feeling His presence and recognizing His involvement in your life.

If you do not believe this message, or you are offended by it and have no interest in pursuing God, His love for you will remain undiminished. He will always be there ready to embrace you should you someday change your mind, with no grudge or penalty.
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SUV

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EV

The G-Class 4x4 Squared will lose one of its portal axles because of the more modern steering system, but thats not all. Not long now, the Stuttgart-based automaker will push the envelope with at least two EQG models.Back in November 2019, Daimler AG head honcho Ola Kallenius let it slip that a zero-emissions version of the G-Class is on the horizon. In the past, there were discussions whether we should eliminate the model. The way I see things now, I'd say the last Mercedes to be built will be a G-Class."Although we dont know when the EQG will come to market, were aware of multiple trademarks filed by Daimler AG with the European Union Intellectual Property Office ( EUIPO ). The oldest application dates to July 2016 for the EQG handle, while EQG 560 and EQG 580 were filed on April 1st, 2021.This, in turn, means that Mercedes is preparing to roll out multiple powertrain options for the all-electric utility vehicle. Regardless of the horsepower and torque ratings, there is no denying the German manufacturer will offer two electric motors at the very least. As for the battery capacity, look forward to more than the EQC 400 4Matics 80The legend will grow and electrify, stated the three-pointed star in October 2020. That is also when the EQE, EQE, and EQS SUV were confirmed for series production, along with more than 700 kilometers (434 miles) of driving range for the S-Class of electric sedans.In addition to Mercedes, the mad professors athave recently spilled the beans on the performance brands first electric vehicle . Scheduled to arrive by the end of the year as a 2022 model, the go-fasterpromises to reach 60 mph (97 kph) in under four seconds.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Masks and physical distancing are proving to have major fringe benefits, keeping people from getting all kinds of illnesses  not just COVID-19. But its unclear whether the protocols will be worth the pain in the long run.

The teachers at New Hope Academy in Franklin, Tennessee, were chatting the other day. The private Christian school has met in person throughout much of the pandemic  requiring masks and trying to keep kids apart, to the degree it is possible with young children. And Nicole Grayson, who teaches fourth grade, said they realized something peculiar.

We dont know anybody that has gotten the flu, she said. I dont know of a student that has gotten strep throat.

Its not just an anecdote.

A study released in March in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, led by researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, found that across 44 childrens hospitals the number of pediatric patients hospitalized for respiratory illnesses is down 62%. The number of kids in the U.S. who have died of the flu this season remains in the single digits. Deaths have dropped dramatically, too, compared with the past 10 years: The number of flu deaths among children is usually between 100 and 200 per year, but so far only one child has died from the disease in the U.S. during the 2020-21 flu season.

Adults arent getting sick either. U.S. flu deaths this season will be measured in the hundreds instead of thousands. In 2018-19, a moderate flu season, an estimated 34,200 Americans died.

Its not just the masks and physical distancing that are tamping down communicable disease, said Dr. Amy Vehec, a pediatrician at Mercy Community Healthcare, a Tennessee clinic that gets federal funding. Its become a serious societal faux pas to go anywhere with a fever  so parents dont send their ailing kids to school, she said.

They are doing a better job of staying home when theyre sick, Vehec said. That includes adults who may feel ill.

Isolating when feeling bad could be kept up after the pandemic. But the isolation, the distance and the masks are not working for many kids, Vehec said.

Children with speech trouble arent seeing their teachers mouth to learn how to speak correctly, for instance.

I think it has been a necessary evil because of the pandemic, and I have completely supported it, but it has had prices. Its had consequences, she said. Kids education is suffering, among other things.

And with COVID-19 vaccines unavailable to children for a while yet, it may be another year of masks in schools.

Some experts, such as researchers trying to improve masks, argue that more societies should embrace masking  as some Asian countries have. But even infectious disease experts like Dr. Ricardo Franco of the University of Alabama at Birmingham doubt thats practical.

Im a little skeptical that this crisis will be enough for a widespread culture change, given how difficult its been to achieve a reasonable culture shift in the previous months, Franco said.

The most realistic setting for lasting change may be within health care itself.

Doctors and nurses didnt usually wear masks before COVID-19. Dr. Duane Harrison, who directs an emergency department for an HCA hospital outside Nashville, mentioned a physician colleague who has worn a mask since he got out of medical school.

We used to joke and clown with him about this, Harrison said. Until this.

Now that everyone wears masks, Harrisons department has found the same thing many other workplaces have: Employees arent calling out sick, unless its COVID-19.

When COVIDs done, this is a practice that most of us will probably continue, Harrison said. Because we wont be worried about runny-nose kids and elderly people who dont know theyre sneezing in your face.

Some hospital systems, including Nebraska Medicine, have started to relax universal masking requirements for their staffs. But even vaccinated staffers still have to wear a mask when seeing patients. Intermountain Healthcare in Utah has signaled masks will continue to be required when a statewide mandate lifts in April.

But even believers in the effectiveness of masks have their doubts about the medical community keeping it up.

The larger question is: Is everyone going to need a break? asked Dr. Joshua Barocas, who studies infectious diseases at Boston University.

Whatever the future holds, public health officials say, the time has not yet come to drop mask requirements as the U.S. waits for more people to get a COVID-19 vaccine. But eventually, even doctors and nurses are ready to see smiling faces again.

I know Im going to need to retire my masks at some point in the future, Barocas said, for a little bit.



Blake Farmer of Nashville Public Radio wrote this story,

(KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. This story is part of a partnership that includes Nashville Public Radio, NPR and KHN.)

___

(c)2021 Kaiser Health News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
Hunter Biden sat down with 'CBS Sunday Morning' and spoke about his drug addiction, his relationship with sister-in-law Hallie Biden, the ongoing FBI investigation into his finances and his decision to join the board of Burisma.

'I spent more times on my hands and knees picking through rugs smoking anything that even remotely resembled crack cocaine. I probably smoked more parmesan cheese than anyone that you know,' the president's son said with a laugh, as he told Tracy Smith about his battles with addiction.

The younger Biden said his father staged an intervention for him during his time as vice president. 'He sort of ditched the Secret Service,' Hunter Biden recalled, with the now-president telling his son that, 'You're not fine.'

Hunter Biden sat down with 'CBS Sunday Morning' and spoke about his drug addiction, his relationship with sister-in-law Hallie Biden, the ongoing FBI investigation into his finances and his decision to join the board of Burisma

Hunter Biden (right) walks with 'CBS Sunday Morning' correspondent Tracy Smith (left) in new interview footage that aired on Easter Sunday. Smith asked Hunter Biden about the FBI probe into his business dealings and his decision to join the board of Burisma

Hunter Biden (left) explained to Tracy Smith (left) why he ended up dating Hallie Biden after the death of his brother Beau in 2015. He broke down in tears when she reminded him that his father, President Joe Biden, almost lost him to drug addiction

Photos of Hunter smoking a crack pipe (left) and appearing inebriated (right) that were found on a laptop that made headlines just weeks before the November 3 presidential election

In a teaser released Friday for another portion of the interview, Hunter Biden spoke about a second intervention, in which the then-2020 presidential candidate chased his son down the driveway, sobbing, begging him to stop using drugs.

On 'CBS Sunday Morning,' Smith asked about the FBI's current probe into Hunter Biden's taxes, which came to light in December during the transition. Hunter Biden released a statement through the Biden-Harris transition office at the time.

He told CBS that he couldn't discuss much about the case.

'I can say this. I'm cooperating completely and I'm absolutely certain, 100 per cent certain, that at the end of the investigation that I will be cleared of any wrongdoing,' the president's son said.

Hunter's new memoir, Beautiful Things, is out April 6

Reporting on that investigation suggests that it deals with Hunter Biden's business dealings with Chinese firms.

As for his business in Ukraine, Hunter Biden said he didn't believe taking a spot on Ukrainian energy company Burisma's board was a mistake.

'No, I don't think I made a mistake taking a spot on that board,' he said. 'I think I made a mistake in terms of underestimating the - the way in which it would be used against me.'

Smith pushed back, suggesting it was hard to believe that Hunter Biden didn't realize that optics could look bad.

'I'm being as honest with you as I possibly can,' Hunter Biden replied. 'All I know, is that not one investigative body, not one serious journalist have ever accused - has ever come to the conclusion that I did anything wrong, or that my father did anything wrong.'

Former President Donald Trump made Burisma a household name, floating to rally crowds that Hunter Biden was getting rich off his name - and that Joe Biden intervened and got a Ukrainian prosecutor fired for wanting to investigate Burisma to protect his son.

As he does in his forthcoming memoir, 'Beautiful Things,' he explained what compelled him to start dating Hallie, the widow of Beau Biden.

'I think people were confused by that. And I understand that,' he said. 'It came out of a real overwhelming grief that we both shared. And we were together and trying to do the right thing and that grief turned into a hope for a love that maybe could replace what we lost.'

Hallie is pictured front standing next to Hunter Biden (left in blue suit and sunglasses) and Joe Biden (right in black) at Beau Biden's funeral on June 6, 2015

Hunter Biden, pictured with his wife Melissa Cohen and their son Beau Biden Jr. on March 26 as they boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland

Hunter's daughters Maisy, 20, Finnegan, 21, and Naomi, 27, (far left, center left and center right) are pictured with their cousin Natalie (far right) who is Beau Biden's daughter

'And it didn't work. It didn't work,' he said.

He added, 'I made a lot of decisions that I probably shouldn't have made.'

Smith said that Hunter Biden told her that he had been sober since marrying his second wife, Melissa Cohen.

Hunter Biden said that he talked to his father everynight - and that the president called all the grandkids daily too.

'By the way, he's always done that,' Hunter Biden said. 'Because he lost - because he, like me, knows what it's like not to be able to pick up the phone and talk to your son,' Hunter Biden said, choking up.

Smith pointed out that, 'He almost lost you.'

'Yeah, yeah. Yeah,' Hunter Biden agreed. 'It's hard.'

'I'm a Biden, we cry too much,' he added.
New York (United Nations), 3 April 2021 (SPS) - The UN Security Council will meet on April 21 to discuss the conflict in Western Sahara, as the UN continues its efforts to appoint a new envoy to relaunch the stalled political process, according to the monthly program of the UN body released Thursday in New York.



On the agenda of the Council meeting, which will be chaired by Vietnam, which holds the rotating presidency for the month of April, will be a briefing by Collin Stewart, the head of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum on Self-Determination in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The key question for the Security Council is how to reinvigorate the political process to resolve the conflict.



In this regard, and in light of continuing tensions, the issue of finding a new personal envoy of the Secretary General has become "more pressing," according to observers. The position has been vacant since May 2019, following the resignation for health reasons of former German President Horst Kohler. (SPS)



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JERUSALEM - Jordanian authorities said Sunday they foiled a malicious plot by a former crown prince to destabilize the kingdom with foreign support, contradicting the senior royal's claims that he was being punished for speaking out against corruption and incompetence.

File - In this Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006 file photo, Prince Hamza Bin Al-Hussein, right, and Prince Hashem Bin Al-Hussein, left, brothers King Abdullah II of Jordan, attend the opening of the parliament in Amman, Jordan. Prince Hamza, the half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah II, said he has been placed under house arrest. in a videotaped statement late Saturday, April 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Mohammad abu Ghosh, File)

JERUSALEM - Jordanian authorities said Sunday they foiled a malicious plot by a former crown prince to destabilize the kingdom with foreign support, contradicting the senior royal's claims that he was being punished for speaking out against corruption and incompetence.

Faced with rival narratives, the United States and Arab governments quickly sided with Jordan's King Abdullah II, reflecting the country's strategic importance in a turbulent region.

Domestically, Prince Hamzah's unprecedented criticism of the ruling class  without naming the king  could lend support to growing complaints about poor governance and human rights abuses in Jordan.

At the same time, the kings tough reaction -- placing his popular half-brother under house arrest and accusing him of serious crimes -- illustrated the limits on public dissent he is willing to tolerate.

The kingdoms stability and security transcend everything, said Ayman Safadi, Jordans foreign minister and deputy prime minister, as he accused Hamzah and two senior Jordanian officials of conspiring with foreign elements to destabilize the kingdom. The plot is totally contained.

Yet Safadis news conference Sunday did little to address questions surrounding the weekend's dramatic events. In the night from Saturday to Sunday, Hamzah had announced in a secretly recorded video leaked to the media that he had been placed under house arrest.

Hamzah's mother, Noor, weighed in on Twitter, writing Sunday: Praying that truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this wicked slander. God bless and keep them safe."

Abdullah and Hamzah are both sons of the late King Hussein, who remains a beloved figure two decades after his death. Upon ascending to the throne in 1999, Abdullah named Hamzah as crown prince, only to revoke the title five years later. While the two are said to have generally good relations, Hamzah has at times spoken out against government policies, and more recently had forged ties with powerful tribal leaders in a move seen as a threat to the king.

In his video, Hamzah, 41, accused Jordans ruling class of corruption and stifling freedom of expression.

Im not part of any conspiracy or nefarious organization or foreign-backed group, as is always the claim here for anyone who speaks out, he said. He said his love for the country is seen as a crime worthy of isolation, threats and now being cut off.

Hamzah is a popular figure in Jordan, widely seen as pious and modest. But in his televised address, Safadi painted a far different picture, accusing the prince of engaging in a secret plot that would have harmed national security had it not been foiled at the last minute.

When they (security services) intercepted certain communications speaking about a zero hour, then it was clear that they (the alleged plotters) moved from designs and planning to action, Safadi said. As a result, it was necessary for the security and intelligence apparatuses to move to throttle at birth this malicious plot.

Safadi did not provide specifics on the alleged plot or say what other countries were purported to have been involved. But he said that some 14 to 16 associates of Hamzah had been arrested, in addition to two former senior officials, Bassem Awadallah and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family. Awadallah is a former Cabinet minister and one-time head of the royal court.

Safadi said Hamzah was warned Saturday by the country's military chief to halt his activities but rejected the request. He claimed the prince recorded the conversations, passed them to foreign sources and issued his video message in an attempt to distort facts and to gain sympathy domestically and internationally. He said the prince's activities amounted to incitement and efforts to mobilize citizens against the state.

Safadi accused Awadallah, now a prominent businessman in the Gulf, of handling the contacts with foreigners. He also claimed an individual with links to foreign intelligence services had offered services to Hamzah's wife on Saturday afternoon to try to get her out of the country.

The Jordanian news site Amoon identified the individual as an Israeli named Roy Shaposhnik. In a statement to the AP, Shaposhnik identified himself as a former Israeli businessman living in Europe, and a close friend of Hamzah's, but denied ever being an intelligence agent. He said he offered to host Hamzah's wife and children after hearing about the prince's predicament. The offer, he said, was based on the strong personal friendship between their families.

Safadi declined to say whether the prince would be charged with a crime, saying only there were attempts to resolve the matter amicably.

Such public clashes between the highest ranks of the long-ruling family are unheard of, and any signs of instability in Jordan could raise concerns throughout the region.

The United States swiftly announced its full support for Abdullah. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait all expressed solidarity with the king.

Labib Kamhawi, a Jordanian political analyst, said the strong support for Abdullah reflected his generally good relations across the region as well as a concern that similar troubles could strike other countries.

None of the leaders in the region would like to see havoc hitting any regime, Kamhawi said. It could be contagious.

The U.S. considers Jordan a major ally, granting it access to military equipment and assistance. U.S. special forces and other troops routinely train with the Jordanians. The kingdom hosts some 3,000 American troops.

Stability in Jordan and the status of the king have long been a concern throughout the region, particularly during the Trump administration, which gave unprecedented support to Israel and sought to isolate the Palestinians, including by slashing funding for Palestinian refugees.

That placed Jordan, which serves as the custodian of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem  and is home to a large Palestinian population  in a delicate position.

Jordan made peace with Israel in 1994. The countries maintain close security ties, but relations have otherwise been tense in recent years, largely due to differences linked to Israels conflict with the Palestinians.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz called Jordan a strategic ally and dismissed the turmoil as an internal Jordanian matter.

Jordan, a country of some 10 million people, has been shaken by a series of crises in recent years, from the rise of the Islamic State group in neighbouring countries to an influx of Syrian refugees and an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Bessma Momani, a professor of international relations at Ontarios Waterloo University, said the house arrest of Hamzah was self-defeating because it is likely to strengthen the princes popularity.

Nonetheless, she said it sent a powerful message to the Jordanian public. If a prince can be stymied, no Jordanian is immune from the heavy hand of the state, she said.

AP correspondent Sarah El Deeb contributed reporting from Beirut.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Police in Dubai arrested a group of people on charges of public debauchery, authorities said, over a widely shared video that showed naked women posing on a balcony in the city.

Violations of the public decency law in the United Arab Emirates, including for nudity and other lewd behavior, carry penalties of up to six months in prison and a 5,000 dirham ($1,360) fine. The sharing of pornographic material is also punishable with prison time and hefty fines under the countrys laws, which are based on Islamic law, or Shariah.

Late on Saturday, videos and photographs depicting over a dozen naked women, lined up on a balcony while being filmed in Dubais upscale Marina neighborhood in broad daylight, splashed across social media. It came as a shock in the federation of seven Arab sheikhdoms, where tamer behavior, like kissing in public or drinking alcohol without a license, has landed people in jail. State-linked newspaper The National reported it appeared to be a publicity stunt, without elaborating.

Dubai police said those arrested over the indecent video had been referred to the public prosecution.

Such unacceptable behaviors, the police statement said, do not reflect the values and ethics of Emirati society.

The UAE, while liberal in many regards compared to its Middle Eastern neighbors, has strict laws governing expression. People have been jailed for their comments and videos online. The country's majority state-owned telecom companies block access to major pornographic websites.
Dear Members of the UMass Dartmouth Community,

Tuesday nights horrific shootings near Atlanta, Georgia, amid a deeply disturbing nationwide trend of increasing harassment and violence directed towards people of Asian descent, have understandably escalated fears among the Asian American community.

In moments when we are dismayed to witness bigotry and hatred, it is all the more important to reaffirm UMass Dartmouths unwavering commitment to creating a living and learning community that is inclusive and equitable, and one in which the individual dignity and potential of each of its members are respected and celebrated.

On behalf of the entire university, I want to express our warm support of all our students, faculty and staff who identify as Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander. If you have experienced identity-based harassment, please know that we have many resources to help. Students can report bias incidents via our Community Standards reporting forms. Organizations such as stopAAPIhate.org also collect information about incidents of harassment and provide resources to promote safety and advocacy.

If youd like to speak with someone about this issue, students are encouraged to contact the Counseling Center (508.999.8648) or Student Affairs (508.999.8640). For faculty and staff, please call Human Resources (508.999.8060) and take advantage of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for free counseling. EAP benefits may be accessed by calling 844.393.4983 or by visiting their website and entering our company ID: UMASS to speak to a counseling professional.

As we enjoy these final weeks of the semester together, lets be kind to one another, promote a climate of inclusion and mutual respect, and support all members of our vibrant and diverse Corsair family.

Best,

Mark

Mark A. Fuller, PhD

Interim Chancellor

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
In a strongly worded rejoinder to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Election Commission has rejected her claim about the presence of outsiders at a polling booth in as "factually incorrect" and



"devoid of substance".

The EC sent the letter to Banerjee on Saturday in response to a complaint filed by her on April 1, when polling was held in Nandigram, alleging irregularities in the polling process.

In its point-by-point rejoinder, the EC said Banerjee's letter regarding booth capturing and the presence of outsiders at a polling booth in Boyal was "preceded by a massive coverage all over the country... which showed dozens of audio-visual shots of your being in this polling station and literally hurling an avalanche of allegations on some officials working with the government of West Bengal itself, paramilitary forces and eventually the Election Commission".

Citing reports received from the ground, including its observers, the poll body said, "It is self-evident from the perusal of all the reports that the allegations mentioned in your hand-written note are factually incorrect, without any empirical evidence whatsoever and devoid of substance."



The commission said it is a matter of deep regret that a "media narrative was sought to be weaved hour after hour to misguide the biggest stakeholders, which is the voters, by a candidate who also happens to be CM of the state".

At least this should have been appreciated that the "side show" was fraught with immense potential to have an adverse impact on law and order across West Bengal and may be in some other states, it said.

"And all this was being done when the election process was/is on. There could not have been a greater misdemeanour," the letter stated.

Banerjee, who is contesting the polls from Nandigram, had visited a polling booth in Boyal when polling was underway on April 1.

According to Chief Electoral Officer Ariz Aftab, wheelchair-bound Banerjee was stuck in the booth for almost two hours as two groups raised slogans against each other. A large number of CAPF personnel and senior officers reached there and brought out the chief minister after bringing the situation under control.

Later, Banerjee blamed outsiders for creating trouble. She also accused the EC of not acting on complaints of alleged irregularities in the polling process in lodged by her party, Trinamool Congress.
Texas No Longer Observing CDC Eviction Moratorium

The Texas Supreme Court has directed courts in the state to stop honoring the federal moratorium on residential evictions that a federal judge in the state already struck down in late February as unconstitutional.

The Texas Supreme Courts 34th emergency order that applied the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) moratorium on evictions expired March 31 and hasnt been renewed, which means new and paused eviction applications may now move forward.

The Texas Justice Court Training Center, which is responsible for training eviction court judges, is now encouraging judges to set new hearings for old cases that were put on hold by the CDC order, to determine if landlords want to proceed.

This just means that the courts in Texas would follow Texas procedure in law, which doesnt have anything in it about the CDC moratorium. Now there could be local laws that would maybe have a moratorium, said Theadora Wallen, the Centers executive director, according to the Texas Tribune.

One lawyer said she fears the worst.

I think that its fair to say that the entire state is now under threat of massive eviction, Dana Karni, managing attorney with Lone Star Legal Aid, told Houston Public Media. The fact that the Texas Supreme Court emergency order is not being renewed is definitely a blunt blow to tenants and tenant protections.

At this point, the only protection we have is from the CDC, she said. The floodgates have now been opened.

U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker of the Eastern District of Texas ruled against the eviction moratorium in a declaratory judgment on Feb. 25.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic persists, so does the Constitution, Barker wrote in a case known as Terkel v. CDC.

The CDC order exceeds the power granted to the federal government to regulate Commerce  among the several States and to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution that power, he wrote, citing provisions of the Constitution.

The CDC attempted to use COVID-19 as an opportunity to grab power and the court rightfully corrected this egregious overreach. This case puts down a marker. There are real, meaningful, limits to federal power under our Constitution. And pandemic or not, federal courts have a virtually unflagging obligation to impose those limits in cases brought before them, said Texas Public Policy Foundation general counsel Robert Henneke, citing the decision.

The CDC has argued that the eviction ban was needed to curb the spread of the CCP virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, although tenants could invoke the ban whether they suffered from virus-related hardships or not.

Congress enacted a nationwide moratorium on evictions that expired July 24, 2020. Weeks later, then-President Donald Trump directed his administration to consider whether such a measure should be part of efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 moving forward. In response, the CDC ordered a moratorium on some, but not all, evictions. That moratorium differed from the one Congress enacted. It has been extended repeatedly.

The Biden administration supports the ban. Its current termination date is June 30.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a historic threat to the nations public health. Keeping people in their homes and out of crowded or congregate settingslike homeless sheltersby preventing evictions is a key step in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky said, according to CNN.

A federal judge in Ohio struck down the CDC moratorium on March 10, finding it exceeded the agencys authority.

The ruling came in the case known as Skyworks Ltd. v. CDC.

Attorney Luke Wake of the Pacific Legal Foundation, who represented a group of landlords in the lawsuit, said at the time that he was pleased with the courts decision.

This vindicates the rights of landlords, but it also speaks to what weve been saying all alongthat CDC had no authority to do this, Wake told The Epoch Times.
The tweet was made in 2017 (Rui Vieira/PA)

A tweet from an SNP candidate for Holyrood comparing the actions of Theresa May in rejecting an independence referendum to the actions of Adolf Hitler has been described as disgraceful by anti-Semitism campaigners.

Stephanie Callaghan is currently standing to be the MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, replacing the retiring Richard Lyle, and is sixth on the partys regional list.

In 2017, Ms Callaghan tweeted about the decision of then prime minister Mrs May to refuse an independence referendum.

First reported in the Scottish Sun, the now deleted tweet said: Tory propaganda provides a window into future plans: stamp on democracy.

Hitler did same: set scene 4 Jewish Holocaust to lower opposition.

The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said: There is no comparison between political tensions in the UK today and Nazi Germanys systematic destruction of democracy and murder of six million Jewish men, women and children.

Its beyond belief that they seem content to keep a candidate who downplays the Holocaust Annie Wells, Scottish Conservative candidate

Politicians must set an example by learning the lessons of the Holocaust  not diminishing the memory of those innocents who were slaughtered by using the Holocaust to score political points.

To make such a comparison is disgraceful and wounding, showing incredible ignorance.

Ms Callaghan apologised unreservedly for the tweet, saying: I have deleted an old tweet which I accept was crass and insensitive, and I apologise unreservedly for posting it.

Its wrong to compare the Holocaust to any other political action, because theres simply no comparison.

I very much want to learn from that mistake though, and will be seeking to work with groups such as (Scottish Council of Jewish Communities) and the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Scottish Tory candidate Annie Wells said it is beyond belief that Ms Callaghan has not already been removed as a candidate.

She said: Its absolutely appalling to compare stopping another referendum to Nazi propaganda and Hitlers actions.

What kind of warped mind would think opposing independence is anything like the Holocaust?

Its disgusting and completely out of order for someone standing for election.

An apology wont cut it for such a vile remark.

The SNP should have removed this candidate immediately.

Its beyond belief that they seem content to keep a candidate who downplays the Holocaust.

Expand Close Stephanie Callaghan hit out at Theresa May in 2017 (Jane Barlow/PA) PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Stephanie Callaghan hit out at Theresa May in 2017 (Jane Barlow/PA)

Scottish Liberal Democrat campaign chair and MP Alistair Carmichael said the situation is reminiscent of Neale Hanveys suspension from the SNP ahead of the 2019 election. He was re-admitted months later and subsequently defected to Alex Salmonds Alba Party last week.

Mr Carmichael said: It seems that the SNP learned nothing from their 2019 experience with Neale Hanvey.

Suspending a candidate for using anti-Semitic language but then re-admitting him after the election sent all the wrong signals and now they are back in the same situation again.

Action needs to be taken against this candidate and this time they have to mean it.
The leader of the countrys largest catholic diocese has said there is a compelling case, on legal and moral grounds, for the resumption of public worship to have a high priority as the Government plans for the reopening of society.

In his Easter Sunday homily. Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin said that as citizens, catholics assert that the right to public worship must be respected and not restricted for any longer than is absolutely necessary.

He said that the Church had no wish to compound the public health crisis by encouraging gatherings that are unsafe, or which result in dangerous levels of movement across communities.

Read More

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But the faithful are impatient to be liberated from the restrictions which we find so difficult, he stressed and noted catholics sadness and our grief at not being able to come together to share the Eucharist.

Dr Farrell said that as the efforts of our people and their patience in the face of onerous restrictions produce reduced rates of infection, and as vaccination levels rise to increase the level of protection achieved, we expect that the public authorities will apply a human rights framework in setting priorities for the resumption of basic human activity.

His comments indicate increasing frustration among the Irish bishops at the Governments ongoing restrictions on public worship which has left churches shut for the past six months, with the exception a short respite over Christmas.

However, a member of the Association of Catholic Priests has hit out at the arrogance and sense of entitlement displayed by some challenging church closures.

In his Easter Sunday homily, Fr Iggy ODonovan said he had heard the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, being compared to Oliver Cromwell and Dr Tony Holohan's health directives described as Penal Laws.

Such arrant nonsense coming from an insolent minority is an insult to the great majority of believers who are acting in the public good, he said.

Speaking in Fethard, Co Tipperary on Sunday, the Augustinian friar warned that, Extremists of every ilk frighten people and bring an already discredited Church into even greater disrepute.

Meanwhile, expressing sympathy with the Gardai, he said they were being placed in an unenviably and difficult position. I know the last thing they wish for is having to enter churches during services, and besides they have better things to be doing in these critical times.

Fr ODonovan said that in being confined to conducting religious services online we church people are making a very small sacrifice indeed.

Read More
One man is dead and another has been arrested in Sydney after neighbours heard a fight in the hallway of an inner-city apartment complex.

The 43-year-old man died at the scene of the Haymarket building, despite neighbours' attempts to revive him using CPR.

Police were called to the Castlereagh St building around 3.15am on Easter Sunday after neighbours found the man unconscious in the hallway of the 13th floor.

Police were called to a Haymarket apartment building on Castlereagh Street at about 3.15am

Officers found the man unresponsive, with neighbours having performed CPR.

They were told a fight had been heard in the hallway.

A 20-year-old man was arrested nearby, NSW Police say.

Detectives are investigating the alleged murder.

Neighbours called police after they had heard a fight in the hallway

Elsewhere in inner Sydney, a man was stabbed just after midnight in a brawl at Pyrmont, police say.

The 18-year-old had stab wounds to his buttocks after a brawl allegedly involving two large groups.

Most of those involved dispersed before officers arrived. Police are investigating.

Around an hour later, two men were robbed at gunpoint in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The men, aged 32 and 35, had their watches, jewellery and credit cards taken by a masked man at Glebe around 1.15am.

Police have not been able to locate the man.
BJP AP president Somu Veerraju said that they are contesting parishad elections to stake a claim as the real opposition party in AP as people believe they can restrain the anarchic acts of YSRC.  Twitter

VIJAYAWADA: Telugu Desams decision to boycott parishad elections is turned into a blessing in disguise for BJP, which has been arduously trying to strengthen its base in Andhra Pradesh to emerge as the main opposition party.

Ever since the yellow party suffered humiliation in 2019, the BJP has been trying to take over as the main opposition party. They went in vain as TD successfully countered those efforts through various acts, including showing itself as the saviour of Hinduism. But now the BJP can gradually attract TD supporters into its fold. The TD, BJP and Jana Sena boycotted the all-party meeting conducted by the SEC for the Parishad elections.

While TD announced that it would not contest, BJP decided to make good use of the opportunity. Even Jana Sena, which increased its performance in the recent municipal and Corporation elections, is also banking on the parishad elections to revitalise itself.

Around 7,295 candidates were in the fray for 7,321 MPTC seats in 13 districts. As many as 6,659 candidates were contesting from TD, 1,205 from BJP, 1,154 Jana Sena and 2,687 independent candidates for the MPTC elections.

Similarly, elections would be held for 526 ZPTC seats for which 526 candidates are from YSRC, 482 TD, 275 BJP, 168 Jana Sena and 641 independents. The YSRC won 2,217 MPTC seats unanimously, while 101 were won unanimously by TD, Jana Sena 4 and 49 MPTC seats unanimously by others. In all, 126 ZPTC seats were unanimous and all went into the YSRC kitty.

A total of 7,541 candidates from TD were in the fray in the MPTC and ZPTC elections and they are going to restrain from elections due to the party high commands boycott decision.

Senior political analysts stated that TD had 38-40 percentage, JS had 5% and BJP 1-2 percentage on the basis of 2019 Assembly elections. They said that the voting percentage of TD dropped to 30% in the recent local body elections but JS showed improvement.

They stated that according to the trends nearly 30% of voters are against the government hence they would choose an alternative party to cast their votes in the parishad elections. This will brighten the prospects of both BJP and JS, who can strengthen their base.

They recalled that the Hindutva trademark belongs to BJP but TD hijacked it in order to restrain BJP from consolidating its base. TD launched a series of protests on temple attacks, illegalities in Tirumala Tirupati and other religious issues.

Analysts opined that people would support those leaders, who will fiercely fight on their issues even in opposition. They stated that they could have won seats with 30% votes but staying away from the parishad elections would be a body-blow to the TD cadre and this could prove costly for the party in the future.

BJP AP president Somu Veerraju said that they are contesting parishad elections to stake a claim as the real opposition party in AP as people believe they can restrain the anarchic acts of YSRC.
This Easter holiday, one local girl decided to not receive during this season but rather to give as she helped collect many donated Easter baskets to provide them to children all around the community.

13-year-old Miss Jr. Laredo Alheyda J. Guerra donated 116 baskets around the community this week, including 60 baskets on Friday. She stated that the idea came from her school, Mary Help of Christians School, and that her parents and mentors guided her to make it possible.

Guerra was able to donate many of these baskets to various organizations around the community including the Casa de Misericordia, Childrens Heart Childrens Orphanage, Childrens Advocacy Center and to a local childrens autism organization.

Every year for lent, our school is always teaching us the importance of giving something away, Guerra said. For lent, they teach us how important it is to give and not to receive. My tradition since I was little is not to eat candy all the lent season. As I am older now and I could reach out to more people with my pageant title as Miss Jr. Laredo, this year I wanted to do something bigger related with children.

Guerra states that one of the main things she enjoys is seeing the joy of children for receiving their Easter baskets, which she states is something both magical and exciting to see.

Its very fulfilling. My heart just gets very happy to see their smiles, and to be able to do something for other children is very exciting, Guerra said.

Although she is proud of her accomplishments, Guerra does state that the idea to hold the Easter basket donation events were not entirely hers. And she got plenty of help from her family and mentors as well.

My mom, dad and my pageant directors Roel, Saul and Marty guided me, Guerra said. All my school friends, my parents friends, brothers friends, and my sisters queens helped me with donations and to put them together.

Guerras parents, Alheyda and Joe Guerra, state that they are extremely proud of the efforts their young daughter is doing to make sure many children around the community get an Easter basket.

We like to see her very concentrated in good actions and are very proud of her, Joe Guerra said. We love to see her happy and accomplishing her dreams.

Guerras mother said that they began in early March collecting donations for the event. Even though it was just a few donations per day, this ultimately totaled the 116 baskets she was able to donate to various organizations.

Every day she would pick up two to three donations per day throughout the month of March, we would drive her and help her organize logistics and materials to be able to do the baskets, Guerras mother said.

Guerra said she felt it was a great idea that because it allowed them to bring awareness that children around the community continue to need help during important holidays such as Easter, especially during the difficult economic times.

Guerra states that her activities have allowed her to see that there is a need locally, and that her crown is not just one to showcase as it allowed her a voice in the community as well.

There is a lot of need in many areas in our city, and if we can do something, we all should do it, Guerra said. At this moment, I have a crown, but my crown and a title not only represent beauty in my heart, this represents service, community, leadership, manners and sisterhood -- not only with my sisters but with all those girls that dream to be a pageant queen. I would like for all to have the opportunity.

As for the Guerras family Easter plans, this weekend will be about their own family. The group will travel to Mexico to see family members they have not seen in a long time including her grandparents and cousins.

We will visit our family, and as we are already vaccinated, we will be able to see our parents, Joe Guerra said. This pandemic makes us understand that it is so important not to take things for granted. We havent been able to see our parents together for a year. And we really miss them.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
Amid the level of insecurity and challenges facing the country, former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku ...

Amid the level of insecurity and challenges facing the country, former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has urged Nigerians to pray for the peace and unity of the country.

Atiku said Nigeria would overcome its challenges when citizens emulate Jesus Christ by having a heart of forgiveness.

The former Vice President made the remark in his Easter message to Nigerians.

Atiku urged Nigerians to unite against the countrys challenges like most advanced countries did against COVID-19.

He pointed out that without sacrifice, love is not achievable amongst Nigerians.

Atiku described Easter period as a time of reflection and sacrifice.

In the message he personally signed, Atiku said, The essence of Easter celebration is not merely for us to merry.

This occasion of Easter celebration, I urge all Nigerians to take time to pray first of all for peace to return to the country and also for unity.

Nigeria is at the precipice of insecurity, poverty and, most unfortunately, disunity.

These are challenges, not impediments. The way to surmount these challenges is to learn from the world when super power countries who are rivals suspended politics to face a common threat in COVID-19.

I believe that when we approach our challenges with a heart of forgiveness and love, humanity will always triumph. This is the lesson that Jesus (Nabil Yisa) taught us.

The former Vice President also appealed to Nigerians to pray for the military for their sacrifices in keeping citizens safe.
Sri Lanka comes under EU scanner for human rights By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s):

The European Union (EU) will monitor the reports from the UNHRC in Colombo in view of the trade concessions granted to Sri Lanka under the GSP+ scheme following the passage of the human rights resolution against Sri Lanka in March in Geneva.

In an emailed interview with the Business Times, the EU Delegation in Colombo stated on Thursday, While the UNHRC resolution 46/1 does not have an immediate and direct link with EU-Sri Lanka trade relations, the Office of the High Commissioners reports are an important element for GSP + monitoring.

The EU pointed out that the UNHRC Resolution 46/1 supported by the EU member states requests the Office of the High Commissioner to enhance its monitoring and reporting on the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including on progress in reconciliation and accountability.

The trade preferences that Sri Lanka currently enjoys under GSP+ are conditional to the implementation of 27 international conventions related to human and labour rights, as well as environment and good governance, the EU stated.

The EU however, did not clearly state any possible decision to impose sanctions or travel bans stemming from the resolution. It however, noted that these decisions on the adoption, renewal, or lifting of sanctions regimes are taken by the Council (Member States) of the European Union, on the basis of proposals from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. But it also noted that the EU applies sanctions in a bid to promote international peace and security, to prevent conflicts, to support democracy, the rule of law and human rights and to defend the principles of international law.

FTZ Manufacturers Association General Secretary Dhammika Fernando told the Business Times on Wednesday that as industries they believe the first impact could be from the EU states with a possibility of losing the GSP + concessions.

Moreover, he noted that following UKs withdrawal from the EU, Sri Lanka does not have an agreement to replace the GSP + with the UK.

In this context and since the resolution was forwarded by the UK itself there are concerns on how it could impact Sri Lankas trade ties with its former colonials. Sri Lankas largest exports to the former EU that included the UK were largely to the UK itself.

EU warns of action at WTO Exporters are gravely concerned over the current crisis that Sri Lanka is heading towards as it continues to ban imports from a number of trading nations particularly in the European Union (EU) which has warned of possible further action. The EU Delegation in Colombo stated in an emailed interview with the Business Times that they are raising the issue of Sri Lankas continued import restrictions since last year during the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Committee on Trade in Goods Council meetings that convened this week. The EU is raising this issue again at the WTO Committee on Trade in Goods convening. In the absence of an official notification or justification the EU will reserve its rights to take further action, the EU said in response to the query on the impact of the continued import ban on goods by Sri Lanka from the EU. In their response, they also noted, The EU continues to be concerned by the import restriction measures applied by Sri Lanka. In fact the EU pointed out that they had repeatedly called upon the Sri Lankan authorities to uphold its WTO commitments, starting by notifying the measures to the WTO. FTZ Manufacturers Association General Secretary Dhammika Fernando pointed out that as Sri Lanka imports heavily from the EU countries they would be pushed more and more towards China for supplies. But the concern lies in the fact that China does not buy from Sri Lanka as much as the EU imports from Sri Lanka, he explained. (SD)
A federal court judge has reconsidered how much money to award in a malpractice case against the VA Medical Center in Buffalo, roughly doubling the amount to almost $4 million.

U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny changed how he calculated the award for pain and suffering, deciding to count every day of the nearly four months that Howard Southard, a U.S. Army veteran and former long-haul trucker, spent in intensive care before dying there in 2009.

Last summer, Skretny awarded $2.1 million in the medical malpractice lawsuit that blamed his doctors for improperly installing a stent graft in one of his arteries during a surgery, causing an irreparable loss of blood flow to his kidneys and eventually his death.

The family objected to the award, calling it too low, and asked for a new trial or amended judgment.

The initial award for his pain and suffering covered only 58 days of his 118-day hospitalization. Skretny said he originally calculated the conscious pain and suffering award based on the number of days Southard exhibited pain or discomfort, as noted in his medical charts, and when he was agitated or undergoing surgical procedures under anesthesia. He excluded days when the medical record indicated he was alert and did not indicate being in pain.

Southard's sister, Wilma Coolidge, who filed the lawsuit as the executor of his estate, contended her 64-year-old brother suffered longer and more severely than the court found.

Coolidge pointed to the 50 procedures Southard endured during his hospitalization. And she said Skretny's initial decision did not reflect that her brother was unable to eat or drink on his own for the entire hospitalization and did not consider Southard's pain due to bedsores for the last two months of his life. She also cited his mental anguish from being "forced to endure while he remained a prisoner in his own body," adding he was "in absolute mental agony throughout every moment of his 118 days of consciousness, regardless of whether or not he was experiencing physical pain."

In his decision Wednesday, Skretny acknowledged much of the suffering Coolidge spelled out.

"Reasons exist for this court to re-examine its findings about the duration of Mr. Southard's pain and suffering," Skretny wrote. "Substantial justice requires that plaintiff receive a full recovery for her reasonable damages for Mr. Southard's pain and suffering to avoid manifest injustice."

So the judge amended the award by finding that Southard endured conscious pain and suffering for the entire 118 days of his hospital stay.

Coolidge "is correct that Mr. Southard suffered during the 60 days he was noted as being alert and not in pain in the medication record and during his final days in palliative care," the judge wrote.

That upped the award for pain and suffering from $1.74 million to $3.54 million.

The judge left intact the $366,663 damage award for Southard's consciousness of his impending death, as he previously calculated.

The money will go to Southard's four children as his sole beneficiaries.

Such a big change in an award seldom happens, said Anne B. Rimmler, a lawyer for the family, but she added that she had hoped Skretny would reconsider his initial ruling.

"I just really appreciate the fact that the judge would take the time and make the effort to make sure that justice was done," Rimmler said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, which defended the VA Medical Center, declined to comment on the judge's decision. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary K. Roach, in a March 4 written submission to the court, said the judge properly declined to award pain and suffering damages for the 2009 periods including April 1 to April 24 and July 23 to July 27 because Southard was not conscious.

Had the aneurysm repair operation gone as planned, Southard would not have needed more than a couple days of in-patient hospitalization for the elective procedure, according to Rimmler.

Instead, he spent the rest of his life in the hospital, enduring physical pain and mental anguish and dealing with drastic weight loss, bedsores, incontinence and respiratory issues due to being on a ventilator for the entirety of his hospitalization.

"He never was able to get out of bed," Rimmler said. "He never was able to speak or eat or drink. He was largely in isolation. It was a really horrible existence. Clearly, he went in for a couple days stay at most, and ended up being confined to his bed. He lost over 100 pounds. He withered away to nothing."

The initial award was based on scores listed on pain monitoring reports in which a patient rates the physical pain on a scale of zero to 10, Rimmler said.

"It doesn't give any consideration for distress or anxiety or depression or anything along that line," she said. "There were times when he was in such significant pain that they were sedating him with massive amounts of painkillers. And what happened, a lot of times, when they came in to talk to him and asked him to rate his pain, he was sleeping or he was out of it."

When the hospital staff recorded the pain scores, "they weren't asking every minute of every hour, 'Are you in pain?' They would go in at designated times, and at that particular moment he would be OK. But if you look at nurses notes at the end of the day, he was complaining of pain, or he was anxious, or he was banging on the railing," Rimmler said. "He was in pain, but it wasn't reflected in these pain scores because at that particular moment either he couldn't respond or wasn't in pain at that moment."

This article is written by Patrick Lakamp from The Buffalo News and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
Understanding what drives food choices can help high-volume food service operations like universities reduce waste, according to a new study.

Researchers have concluded that food waste in places like university cafeterias is driven by how much people put on their plates, how familiar they are with what's on the menu and how much they like - or don't like - what they're served.

Food waste has been studied often in households, but not so often in institutional settings like university dining commons. What drives food choices in these "all-you-care-to-eat" facilities is different because diners don't perceive personal financial penalty if they leave food on their plates.

Published in the journal Foods, "Food Choice and Waste in University Dining Commons -- A Menus of Change University Research Collaborative Study" was conducted by a team of experts from Rice University; the University of California, Davis; Stanford University; Lebanon Valley College; the University of California, Santa Barbara; and the University of California, Berkeley.

Co-author Eleanor Putnam-Farr, assistant marketing professor at Rice's Jones Graduate School of Business, is available to discuss the findings and potential impact with news media.

The researchers conducted student surveys during the 2019 spring and fall semesters to study foods types, diner confidence and diner satisfaction. They used photos taken by diners themselves before and after eating to measure how much food was taken and how much of it went to waste. "Diners were intercepted at their dining halls and asked if they wanted to participate in a study about food choices and satisfaction, but the objective of investigating food waste behavior was not disclosed," the authors wrote.

The study found the amount of food wasted didn't significantly differ among types of food. Instead, researchers discovered waste was related to the amount of food diners put on their plates, how satisfied they were with their meals and how often they went to the dining commons. If students were satisfied with their food, they tended waste less of it. And diners who visited the commons most often -- making them more familiar with the menus and more confident in their choices -- tended to waste less.

Mixed dishes, like sandwiches or stir-fry, took up a greater percentage of the surface area on surveyed plates than animal proteins or grains and starches. Those three types of food took up a greater area of the plates than fruits, vegetables or plant proteins. The amount of food wasted, however, did not significantly differ among the various food categories.

The mixed dishes and animal proteins that took up greater portions of the plate tended to be pre-plated by the commons staff or have a suggested serving size. The study's results showed that greater amounts of food taken by diners correlated with the item being pre-plated or served by others.

The authors recommend future research on the topic uses their multicampus approach -- which enabled them to study food choice among a large and diverse group -- to better understand what causes food waste and find out if it can be reduced by interventions such as posting signs that encourage healthier choices.
Three people were killed Saturday morning in a two-car crash in Greene County, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Tiara Monae Walker, 25, of Tuscaloosa, Annie Keyero Cooks, 26, of Quitman, Miss., and Cooks 1-year-old child were killed after Walkers 2016 Toyota Corolla and Cooks 2020 Kia Forte collided head-on around 7 a.m. Saturday.

The crash took place on I-59 about four miles north of Knoxville, an unincorporated area of Greene County southwest of Tuscaloosa.

ALEA said no additional information was available as of Sunday afternoon.
We may never know if a Manchester police officers act of kindness to a teen would-be shoplifter will make a difference in the teens life. But it certainly brightened the day of a lot of Manchester residents and others who read our story or saw the TV newscast about Officer George Morales.
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.

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Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o...
MEET Joey Griffin. Hes not like you or I  Joey is a superhero!

The seven-year-old from Newcastle West has been through more in his short life than most of us will in our entire lives. Yet, as you can see from the gorgeous photo of Joey in a Viking ship in UHL he is the captain of his own destiny. And he is doing it with a smile on his face no matter what obstacles he faces.

Joey was born with a number of medical conditions including a very rare condition which affects just a couple of children in Ireland. Mum, Shauna explains that there was a gap in Joeys oesophagus when he was born so he couldn't swallow.

He wasnt able to eat or drink for a long time, he was peg fed. Hes had a number of surgeries over the years, and Ive lost count how many times hes been in hospital. He has been through more trauma than I could even put into words, yet he is the happiest, kindest, strongest boy and anyone who knows him can attest to that, said Shauna.

The most recent example of Joeys innate kindness occurred on Mothers Day.

He had a two hour seizure, something that has never happened before. I was saying to the doctors, it's not like something you see on TV, it was very strange. He wasnt shaking, he was just unresponsive. His eyes were open. It lasted for two hours.

Three ambulances arrived. We got him to the Regional and they gave him medication. Within about 40 minutes it kind of worked and then he just went into a deep sleep for about 12 hours. That is when I was really scared that the Joey I know was not going to wake up because it had been so long. I really thought I had lost my son forever, said Shauna, who also has an older son, Callum, who has autism.

But when Joey did wake up in the middle of the night she had no doubt that she had her son back. His reaction was like something you would see on TV.

The first thing he asked because he had been at granny's house was, 'Where am I?'. I said 'You're in a hospital and you're OK'. He just hugged me and he said, 'I'm so sorry, its Mother's Day'. That was his concern. That's the way Joey is, he's extremely empathetic, he has so much empathy towards people, said his proud mum.

MRI and EEG scans were undertaken but thankfully they showed no abnormalities. However, Joey must return in four weeks for more scans but like everything else he will take it in his stride.

Even at the hospital before I was leaving, they were all amazed by him. They said, This child is so happy. They said they could hear him singing in the shower. They were all in stitches.

He's so full of life, considering what he has been through. Some people would just wallow in it and he never has  ever since the day he was born. I have pictures of him as a tiny baby in hospital and he was still smiling. He always had it, this ability to just power through, said Shauna. The son of Aaron and Shauna has two weeks to recuperate now as he is on his holidays from Killoughteen NS where teachers have also commented on his caring nature.

One day Joey told his mum that, You fill other peoples buckets up when you are kind to them.

He explained, People have invisible buckets and you need to fill that up with kindness, to fill their buckets so they feel better.

As many of our buckets are leaking due to Covid, we can all learn a lot from Joey, how he treats others and his outlook on life!
Bengaluru, April 4 : In yet another U-turn on stringent restrictions to contain surging Covid cases in this tech city, the Karnataka government allowed gyms to reopen with 50 per cent occupancy from Monday, said a top official on Sunday.

"Gyms in Bengaluru will be allowed to reopen from Monday with the condition that their occupancy at any time will not exceed 50 per cent of their capacity," said state Chief Secretary P. Ravikumar in a fresh order.

The decision to partially reopen about 2,000 gyms across the city two days after they were shut from Saturday to April 20 was taken by state Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa following a representation from their owners to relax the ban imposed in an order on April 2.

The modified order makes strict Covid appropriate behaviour like wearing of a face mask, maintaining physical distancing and hand sanitisers mandatory for all gyms across the city.

"The gym owners shall sanitise the equipment after every use. Violation of the new order will lead to their closure till the Covid pandemic is over," said Ravikumar in the order.

Gyms and yoga centres across the city re-opened on August 5 last year after they were shut since the Covid-induced lockdown was enforced on March 23, 2020 to contain the virus spread.

Partial reopening of gyms came a day after the state government on Saturday allowed cinema theatres in eight districts across the state, including Bengaluru to defer enforcing 50 per cent seating to April 7 to contain the pandemic, "The order restricting 50 per cent of seating capacity in cinema halls in eight districts, including Bengaluru where Covid cases have been rising will be applicable from Wednesday (April 7) up to April 20," a civic official told IANS earlier in the day.

The other seven districts across the southern state are Bengaluru Rural, Bidar, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Mysuru and Udupi.

"A revised order was issued on Saturday to apply the restriction from April 7, as hundreds of fans bought online tickets in advance for all shows till Tuesday (April 6) for films released on Friday and imposing the restriction would have disappointed them and caused loss to the film industry," said the official.

A Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) delegation, led by Sandalwood superstars Shivarajkumar, Puneet, Yash and Sudeep urged state Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday to defer the order by a few days, as the theatres were following the guidelines to contain the virus spread.

"As theatres have been complying with the guidelines in force since October, 2020 when they reopened after 6-month lockdown, no positive cases were reported from the fans who watched films in their halls," KFCC president Jairaj told reporters after the state government rescinded its earlier order.

One the new Kannada films released on Thursday was 'Yuvarathna,' starring Puneet, second son of matinee idol and Kannada thespian Rajkumar.

According to the state health bulletin, of the 4,553 fresh cases registered across the southern state on Saturday, 2,787 were reported from Bengaluru, taking its Covid tally to 4,47,031, including 28,098 active cases.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 07:00:25|Editor: huaxia

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People gather near the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., the United States, on March 25, 2021. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The current seven-day moving average of daily new cases, which stands at 62,167, increased 8.4 percent compared with the previous 7 days.

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases, including cases from new and emerging COVID-19 variants, as experts are concerned about another surge amid the spring break.

COVID-19 cases in the country were steadily decreasing for approximately 10 weeks. However, trends are changing, and cases have increased during the past 12 days, according to data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The current seven-day moving average of daily new cases, which stands at 62,167, increased 8.4 percent compared with the previous 7 days.

Meanwhile, the seven-day average of daily hospital admissions of COVID-19 patients, which stands at 4,948, is a 4.8 percent increase from the previous 7-day period, according to the CDC.

Overall, COVID-19 deaths in the country have decreased for the past 11 weeks, except for an increase during March 27 and 28.

Compared with the highest daily death peak on Jan. 13, which was 3,379 deaths, the current 7-day moving average of 880 daily new deaths decreased 74 percent, CDC data show.

Experts are concerned about another surge of new cases and increasing variants infections as lots of people are planning travels during the spring break.

The country recorded more than 13,000 infection cases of coronavirus variants as of Thursday, according to the latest data of the CDC.

Among these cases, 12,505 cases were caused by the variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in Britain.

There were 323 cases of the strain initially discovered in South Africa, called B.1.351, and 224 cases of the P.1 strain first discovered in Brazil.

People wait for their takeouts outside a restaurant on a business street in San Mateo, California, the United States, March 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

In addition, the B.1.427 and B.1.429 variants, two coronavirus strains first detected in the western state of California, are also being closely monitored by the CDC.

The five coronavirus strains are currently classified by the CDC as "variants of concern," as evidence shows an increase in their transmissibility, increased hospitalizations or deaths, significant reduction in neutralization by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination, reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccines, or diagnostic detection failures.

"These variants of concern are mutated versions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and have the potential to cause COVID-19 to be more severe, spread more easily between humans, require different treatments, or change the effectiveness of current vaccines," said the CDC in a report.

As of Saturday, more than 104 million people in the United States have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to the CDC.

A total of 161 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered by Saturday, while more than 207 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed across the country.

Currently nearly 60 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, about 18 percent of the whole population, according to the CDC.

"The race to vaccinate people and contain the virus is underway. The actions we take today determine how long it will take to stop the virus and end the pandemic," said the CDC. 
Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, warned on Sunday that the U.S. is at the precipice of a fourth surge of the coronavirus.

Why it matters: Data shows the U.S. may be at the start of a fourth wave that would foster the growth of new variants, which would likely be less susceptible to existing vaccines. A fourth surge would almost certainly be less deadly than the previous three, thanks to widespread vaccination of the elderly.

Driving the news: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky went off-script at a briefing last week and made an emotional plea to Americans not to let up on public health measures amid fears of a fourth wave.

I'm going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom," Walensky said, appearing to hold back tears.

"We do not have the luxury of inaction. For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge."

What he's saying: "We're now, I think in that cycle where the upper Midwest is just now beginning to start this fourth surge. And I think it was a wake-up call to everyone yesterday when Michigan reported out 8,400 new cases," Osterholm said on Sunday.

"And we're now seeing an increasing number of severe illnesses, ICU and hospitalizations, in individuals who are between 30 and 50 years of age who have not been vaccinated."

"We're just at the beginning of this surge. We haven't even really begun to see it yet," he said.

But, but, but: "I think with the rate of vaccination that we're having right now ... I think that there's enough immunity in the population that you're not going to see a true fourth wave of infection," Scott Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner, said on Sunday's "Face the Nation."

The U.S. vaccinated an average of 3 million people per day over the last week, per Bloomberg's tracker.

Go deeper: The fourth wave is here
ABC News

Former Vice President Mike Pence hit another presidential early voting state Thursday evening, fueling 2024 campaign speculation by headlining the Hillsborough County Republican Committee's annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner in Manchester, New Hampshire. If he is going to run for president, Thursday night's speech highlighted the disagreement with his former boss -- also a possible challenger for the GOP nomination -- over how he views the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Near the end of his 30-minute speech, Pence talked about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and while he called it a "dark day," he glossed over some of the horror of it -- saying that with "swift action of the Capitol Police and federal law enforcement violence was quelled."
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.
(Newser)  Former President Trump's reelection campaign had to return $122.7 million to donors after they realized they were being charged repeatedly. People who donated, say, $500 were being charged that amount not just once, but every monthor even every weekuntil the election. To avoid being overcharged, donors had to get through the fine print and uncheck a box, the New York Times reports. A second box, which arrived already checked, doubled contributions. In time, lines of bold type were added that drowned out the fine print about opting out, and the wording about unchecking the box was no longer in bold. The practice fits the definition of "deceptive design," a user-experience designer said. "It should be in textbooks of what you shouldn't do," he said. The head of the National Association of Consumer Advocates said, "It's unfair, its unethical and it's inappropriate."

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Banks and credit card companies were swamped with fraud reports about the charges from WinRed, the site that raised the money for Trump's campaign; Trump had told supporters in March to send money directly to him, not the Republican Party. WinRed keeps 30 cents of every donation, plus 3.8% of the total amount, while the Democrats' version, ActBlue, is a nonprofit. WinRed kept its fees even when the donation was refunded, for a total take before costs of about $5 million on Trump's fundraising. A 78-year-old in California gave $990 through WinRed in September, then was charged that amount seven more times. "Bandits!" he said, adding, "I cant afford to pay all that damn money." A Trump spokesman, Jason Miller, said formal credit card disputes showed few complaints of fraud, per the Hill. "The fact we had a dispute rate of less than 1% of total donations despite raising more grass-roots money than any campaign in history is remarkable," Miller said. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)
NBC

Following a cold open that saw Pete Davidson debut his creepy, Quagmire-esque Matt Gaetz, Saturday Night Lives Weekend Update continued the onslaught.

Representative Matt Gaetz, who looks like a caricature-artist drawing of me, is reportedly under investigation for an alleged sexual relationship with an underage girlbecause Gaetz believes that only voters should have to show ID, joked Colin Jost. Its also being reported that Gaetz may have paid for sex with women he met online. That story has since been confirmed by his whole vibe.

Yes, Gaetz is currently under investigation for allegedly conducting a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, and for possibly violating sex-trafficking laws by paying for her to travel across state lines. Furthermore, as CNN reported, Gaetz also stands accused of showing nude photos of women hed supposedly slept with to fellow congressmen on the House floor and having ecstasy-fueled romps with prostitutes.

Jost then addressed Gaetzs incredibly strange (and unconvincing) statement on the allegations, delivered in the third person: Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex 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.

To that, Jost released his own statement in response: Colin Jost does not believe you Colin Jost thinks you have been to alllll the websites Colin Jost thinks you should hold off on sending out those wedding invites.

SNLs Pete Davidson Debuts His Creepy Sex Pest Matt Gaetz

Of course, the Trump-loving QAnon crowdconspiracy theorists who believe that Trump, a good friend of Jeffrey Epsteins, was somehow waging covert battle against an army of Democratic and Hollywood pedophile sex traffickershas been remarkably silent concerning the Gaetz revelations.

Heres the craziest part of this story to me: a sitting congressman is being accused of child trafficking and the QAnon people are suddenly like, Nah, I need more evidence, cracked Jost. That was your whole thing! I mean, come on! Matt Gaetzs girlfriend, she was allegedly 17, the 17th letter in the alphabet is Q, it all adds up! What are you waiting for? The storm is finally here, and QAnon is like, You cant believe everything you read on the internet.

Story continues

If that werent enough, Gaetz was the only representative in Congress to vote against a 2017 human trafficking bill.

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Former Jordanian crown prince under 'house arrest'

Prince Hamza said in a video recording he was under house arrest and had been told to stay at home and not contact anyone. File photo: AFP

Jordan's military has told King Abdullah's half-brother Prince Hamza bin Hussein to halt actions targeting "security and stability" in what people familiar with the matter said could be related to a plot to destabilise the country.



In a statement published by the state news agency, the military said the warning to Prince Hamza was part of a broader, ongoing security investigation in which a former minister, a junior member of the royal family and unnamed others were detained.



Prince Hamza said in a video recording he was under house arrest and had been told to stay at home and not contact anyone.



Speaking in English in the video, passed by his lawyer to the BBC, he said he was not part of any foreign conspiracy and denounced the ruling system as corrupt.



"(Jordanians') well being has been put second by a ruling system that has decided that its personal interests, financial interests, that its corruption is more important than the lives and dignity and future of the ten million people who live here," he said.



Earlier, army chief Yusef Huneity denied reports the prince had been arrested but said he was told to "stop activities that are being exploited to target Jordan's security and stability".



Two people familiar with the situation told Reuters security forces had arrived at his small palace and begun an investigation. King Abdullah dismissed Prince Hamza as heir to the throne in 2004 in a move that consolidated his power.



The Washington Post said Jordanian authorities detained the former crown prince and arrested nearly 20 other people after what officials called a "threat to the country's stability".



A former US official with knowledge of events in Jordan said the plot, which he described as credible and broadbased but not imminent, did not involve a "physical coup." Rather, he said, those involved were planning to push for protests that would appear to be a "popular uprising with masses on the street" with tribal support.



Jordan would investigate whether there was a foreign hand in the plot, said the former US official.



Prince Hamza is not seen as a major threat to Jordan's monarchy and has been marginalised for years, but the move against him represents the first such incident involving a close member of the royal family since King Abdullah came to the throne.



The authorities have become increasingly concerned with his efforts to build ties with disgruntled figures within powerful tribes.



These people known as the Herak have in recent weeks called for protests against corruption in a country hit hard by the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, pushing unemployment to record levels and deepening poverty. The authorities had cracked down on several demonstrations, detaining dozens.



Tribes who dominate the security forces form the bedrock of support for the kingdoms Hashemite monarchy.



The state news agency said Bassem Awadallah, a US-educated long-time confidant of the king who later became minister of finance and also adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Sharif Hassan Ben Zaid, a member of the royal family, were detained along with other unnamed figures.



It gave no details.



"The US administration knows that Bassam Awadullah works for MBS (Mohammed bin Salman). Any astute observer will say if someone this close to MBS is involved he would have to know," said the former US official.



The Saudi royal court voiced its "full support" for King Abdullah and all decisions taken by him to maintain security and stability. Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar also stood by him. The US.State Department said the king was a "key partner" and had its full backing.



Government officials were not immediately available for comment.



Arrests of top officials and royal family members are rare in Jordan, seen as one of the Arab world's most stable countries.



Prince Hamza, who had been groomed by his mother Queen Noor to succeed his late father King Hussein, has been pushed into the political wilderness since he was sacked as crown prince.



Some opposition figures have rallied around him, a move that has displeased the king, officials familiar with the situation said.



Abdullah succeeded his father King Hussein, who ruled Jordan for nearly five decades.



The Jordanian Hashemite dynastys tradition under the 1952 constitution gives the succession to the eldest son but the monarch retains the option of naming a brother.



King Abdullah has succeeded in bringing political stability to the country and gaining stature as a prominent Arab leader whose message of moderation has found an echo, especially in Western forums.



Awadallah, who was a driving force behind economic reforms before he resigned as chief of the royal court in 2008, has long faced stiff resistance from an old guard and an entrenched bureaucracy that flourished for years on government perks.



Jordan's powerful intelligence agency, with a pervasive influence in public life, has played a bigger public role since the introduction of emergency laws at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic last year, which civic groups say violate civil and political rights.



Jordanian riot police last month broke up protests in Amman and other cities called to mark the 10th anniversary of Arab Spring pro-democracy demonstrations, and authorities detained dozens of activists, witnesses said. (Reuters)
New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (April 4, 2021) extended greetings on the occasion of Easter.

President Ram Nath Kovind took to his official Twitter account and expressed, "Easter greetings to all! The resurrection of Jesus Christ, celebrated across the world, gives us hope and happiness; reaffirms our faith in innate goodness of humanity."

He added, "May the teachings of Jesus Christ strengthen the bonds of love, affection and harmony in our society!"

Easter greetings to all! The resurrection of Jesus Christ, celebrated across the world, gives us hope and happiness; reaffirms our faith in innate goodness of humanity. May the teachings of Jesus Christ strengthen the bonds of love, affection and harmony in our society!  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 4, 2021

Prime Minister Modi posted on the micro-blogging platform, "Greetings on Easter! On this day, we remember the pious teachings of Jesus Christ. His emphasis on social empowerment inspires millions across the world."

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu also extended greetings and said thar the occasion should be celebrated by being compassionate towards all human beings.

Greetings on Easter! On this day, we remember the pious teachings of Jesus Christ. His emphasis on social empowerment inspires millions across the world.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 4, 2021

Conveying his greetings on the occasion, Naidu expressed that Jesus Christ illuminated the path of salvation for humanity through love, peace, compassion and forgiveness.

"Let us celebrate Easter by being compassionate towards all human beings. May this festival bring good health, peace and harmony in our lives," he said in a message.

For those who don't know, Easter, a Christian festival, commemorates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday.
Prime Minister will address the workers across the country on the party's foundation day on April 6.

The prime minister will address the party workers virtually, which will be streamed live on different digital platforms and social media pages of the

To mark the foundation day, workers will organise discussion sessions on the philosophy, culture and policies of the party at all polling booths across the country, BJP's media in-charge Anil Baluni said in a statement on Sunday.

Modi and BJP president JP Nadda will address the party workers across the country on the occasion of its foundation day on April 6, the statement added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was founded in 1980 by the leaders of the erstwhile Jana Sangh, which had merged in 1977 with the Janata Party -- an amalgam of several anti-Congress parties.

In the first Lok Sabha polls it fought in 1984, the BJP won only two seats, but has since gone from strength to strength, winning a majority of seats in Parliament for the first time in 2014 and repeating its success five years later.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This 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.
Alabamians would be able to purchase a lifetime permit to carry a concealed firearm, under a bill approved Thursday by the Alabama Senate.

Senators voted 25-6 for the bill by Sen. Randy Price, R-Opelika, that would allow the lifetime permits as well as create a statewide database of people prohibited from carrying firearms. The bill now moves to the Alabama House.

The legislation comes after previous efforts to abolish the permit requirement failed under opposition from law enforcement officials.

Any Alabamian who can legally purchase a handgun should be able to obtain a lifetime concealed carry permit, but bad actors and individuals deemed prohibited from obtaining this permit should be registered and flagged as such, Price said in a statement.

Under the bill, people would be able to purchase permits that last for a year, five years or a lifetime. The lifetime permits would cost $300 or $150 if the applicant is over age 60.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency would be required to create a database of people ineligible to possess a firearm by state and federal law. Courts would be required to forward any conviction or court order that would make a person ineligible to carry a firearm.
A 'stampede' of 1,000 dolphins has been caught on camera in front of a stunned boat of tourists in California.

The spectacle took place off the coast of Dana Point, California, on March 14.

Footage shared by the Dana Point Whale Watching group shows as the group race alongside one another, coming in and out of the water.

Posting the clip online the group wrote: 'This behavior is known as the Dolphin Stampede, we were the first location to coin the phrase.'

They added: 'The dolphins take off so fast they turn up the water making it white water, you can hear them swimming through the rushing water.

'They are so graceful even in the frenzied behavior and we are so amazed to see them right off our coast.'

A stampede of 1,000 dolphins has been caught on camera in front of a stunned boat of tourists in California. The spectacle took place off the coast of Dana Point, California, on March 14

Those on board the boat are said to have watched the dolphins for four hours.

Dolphins normally travel in groups under 200. It is unknown why pods of dolphins stampede but it is thought to be connected to food or a predator threat.

Dolphins move fastest while porpoising out of the water since there is less resistance in air than in water.

The Dana Point Whale Watching group added: 'Dolphin stampedes happen spontaneously and can occur anytime throughout the year.

'Southern California has the greatest density of dolphins per square mile of anywhere else on earth. This includes nearly 450,000 common dolphins, the species in this video, as well as several other types of dolphins.

'Dana Point is one of the best places in the world to see large mega-pods that can number in herds of up to 10,000.'

Footage shared by the Dana Point Whale Watching group shows as the group race alongside one another, coming in and out of the water. Posting the clip online the group wrote: 'This behavior is known as the Dolphin Stampede, we were the first location to coin the phrase'

Those on board the boat are said to have watched the dolphins for four hours

In August last year some 300 dolphins were caught on camera at the same spot.

Capt. Dave's Whale Watching Safari said then: 'It's thought that the dolphins could be evading a predator such as orcas, racing to catch a food source, or meeting up with another pod of dolphins.'

Dolphin sightings off the Orange County coastline are not uncommon.

A dolphin pod caught stampeding in waters near Laguna Beach made news around the world in 2019.
Sukma encounter: About 8 jawans have been martyred and 30 have been injured in the Sukma Encounter in Chattisgarh. The security forces have managed to eliminate over 10 maoists till now.

Sukma encounter: In the deadliest Maoist operation of 2021, 8 jawans have been martyred in the Sukma encounter. 30 injured jawans have admitted in Bijapur and Raipur hospitals while 21 jawans are suspected to be missing right now. As the joint search operation continues, the security forces have managed to eliminate over 10 maoists. A reinforcement party has been rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

The search operation was launched in Sukma after the suspected presence of 250 Maoists. Over 400 security personnel, including personnel from Cobra, STF and CRPF, were deployed in tarren region on the border of Sukma and used mortar guns during the encounter. Three army choppers have also been deployed to bring wounded security personnel in safe zones.

Over the past decade, the area has witnessed several such Maoist attacks leading to loss of life of the security personnel. 4 CPI (M) cadres were killed in August 2020, 9 CRPF personnel were martyred in March 2018, 2 Chhattisgarh police personnel were martyred in February 2018, 24 CRPF personnel were martyred in April 2017, 12 CRPF jawans were martyred in March 2017, 15 security personnel were martyred in March 2014, 6 police officials were martyred in February 2014, 5 police officials were martyred in July 2013, 25 Congress politicians were killed in May 2013 and 6 CPRF jawans were martyred in October 2012.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday morning condoled the loss of lives in the Sukma encounter and expressed that the sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten. Looking at the escalation in the number of causalities over the years, it is certain the situation in Chattisgarh is growing tense and needs immediate intervention.

My thoughts are with the families of those martyred while fighting Maoists in Chhattisgarh. The sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten. May the injured recover at the earliest.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 3, 2021

After a Naxal attack in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, Amit Shah cuts short his campaign and returns to Delhi. Shah assures the family members of the soldiers says, Soldiers sacrifices will not go in vain.

Bijapur Naxal attack: Soldiers' sacrifices will not go in vain, Amit Shah assures family members Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/2cEGMSXF1V pic.twitter.com/3BYs2QYcxY  ANI Digital (@ani_digital) April 4, 2021
The Biden administration seeks to reinstate the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and begins next week in Vienna, Austria to negotiate that resurrection through intermediaries, according to the New York Times. Thats not good news for the Middle East and America. However, the Chinese will clearly benefit, thanks to the communist regimes growing leverage with the Islamic Republic.

The 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was negotiated by then-secretary of State John Kerry, and widely viewed as President Obamas signature foreign policy achievement. The Iranian leadership agreed to restrictions to and inspections of their nuclear program evidently intended to prevent them from developing a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting crippling sanctions.

President Obama sidestepped domestic opposition to the deal by making the agreement an executive action rather than seeking ratification of a treaty subject to a Republican-controlled Senate and a certain death. Meanwhile, Obama sweetened the deal for the Persian mullahs by shipping via an unmarked aircraft that landed in Tehran at midnight $1.8 billion in cash followed up by releasing $150 billion in frozen Iranian assets.

Then in 2016 Obamas legacy achievement became the object of one of then-presidential candidate Donald Trumps primary campaign promises, which he labeled a rotten agreement. In May 2018 President Trump made good on his promise to scrap the Iran nuclear deal which he characterized as built on a foundation of lies.

We cannot prevent an Iranian bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement, President Trump argued at the time. Therefore, I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

What Trump meant by the deals rotten structure included Tehrans continued sponsorship of terrorism, its aggressive ballistic missile program, and the regimes unflagging efforts to build a nuclear weapons program albeit while denying inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

Of course, Obamas use of executive action in 2015 to join the Iran nuclear deal rather than via a Senate approved treaty made President Trumps decision to vacate the agreement much easier. Trump did so with the stroke of his pen and with sound justification.

President Trumps decision had plenty of support, especially from Israel. A month prior to Trumps withdrawal announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on live television: Tonight, were going to show you something that the world has never seen before. Tonight, we are going to reveal new and conclusive proof of the secret nuclear weapons program that Iran has been hiding for years from the international community in its secret atomic archive.

That evening the prime minister unveiled compelling proof of Irans long-denied nuclear program. Specifically, Netanyahu profiled evidence of five key elements of Irans Project Amad, unveiled by the regimes secret atomic archive: designing nuclear weapons; developing nuclear cores; building nuclear implosion systems; preparing nuclear tests; and integrating nuclear weapons on missiles.

Another aspect of the JCPOAs rotten structure is the absence in the agreement of the regimes guided-missile program. Many of Irans missiles are large enough to carry nuclear payloads, a fact confirmed by the United Nations Security Council which warned the regime not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Of course, that was a well-founded concern, according to the IAEA, which claimed Iran had a coordinated program to develop a nuclear weapon through the end of 2003 which included a payload with a nuclear weapon using its Shahab-3 ballistic missile.

Untethered to the JCPOAs decaying and rotten structure was also the absence of Irans signature foreign policy tool, terrorism. Since the genesis of the 1979 Islamic Revolution the regime richly earned the title as the worlds leading sponsor of terrorism, a label bestowed on Iran by the Department of State. For decades now the regime used its paramilitary Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to arm, train, and support insurgent and militia groups across the region from Afghanistan to Yemen and the Palestinian territories.

Thus, Irans triad of malevolent threats -- terrorism, missiles, and nuclear weapons program -- provided ample justification for President Trumps 2018 decision to end Americas role in the JCPOA and reinstate tough sanctions. However, because elections have consequences, the U.S. is back at the negotiating table in Vienna across from Iranian mullahs. This time things are different.

President Biden comes to these negotiations already promising to reinstate the 2015 agreement. Count on the mullahs taking advantage of Bidens promise by ratcheting up tensions across the Mideast to leverage more benefits.

Evidently, according to the New York Times, once Biden brings Iran into JCPOA compliance he intends to constrain Tehrans missile programs and its support for terrorists. Unfortunately, Iran has a history of tough negotiating and always lying. Thats why Bidens plan is doomed much like when they previously fooled Obama while gleefully accepting a plane loaded with cash and $150 billion freed assets, and then delivered nothing but trouble.

Complicating Bidens ambition is the new role played by Americas primary global adversary, communist China. A week ago, Beijing signed a 25-year Comprehensive Strategic Agreement with Iran. That agreement is good news for the Islamic Republic because it grants Tehran new strategic infrastructure, like the Chabahar port and investments in sectors including oil, gas, and petrochemicals. Further, it guarantees a tenfold increase in trade with China over the next decade, which is great news for a regime desperately seeking relief from crippling U.S. sanctions.

Of course, Iran is being used by Beijing as a platform to expand communist influence across the Mideast and also acts as a stick in the eye to the Biden administration. After all, China views Iran as critical for expanding its Belt and Road Initiative in the region and will use its increased leverage to manipulate global energy markets and control the regions geopolitical alignment, much to Americas disadvantage.

Meanwhile, at home, Bidens team promises to go slow with Iran thanks to bipartisan resistance in the Senate. There are those in that chamber that oppose rapprochement with Iran such as 43 senators who signed a letter calling on the Biden administration to expand the scope of any agreement to include its non-nuclear threats (missiles and terrorism), something the mullahs will resist.

So, where does that leave us?

Bidens efforts to restart the nuclear deal with Iran is fraught with unintended consequences. Our best interests are served by leaving the deal in ashes. However, the likely outcome of Bidens diplomacy is to fuel the Middle Kingdoms larger role in the Mideast, which wont end well for peace, our allies like Israel, global energy markets, and certainly not for American interests much less competition with China.

Mr. Maginnis is a retired US Army officer and the author of Alliance of Evil: Russia, China, the United States and a New Cold War. His new book, Give Me Liberty, Not Marxism, comes out this spring and chronicles the Marxist threat and how China seeks to radically transform America.

Image: Tasnim News Agency

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
The McCourt, the Sheds flexible indoor-outdoor venue, touts a cavernous size (17,000-square-feet) and a high-quality air filtration system. Attendees entered from doors that led directly into the space, and their temperatures were checked immediately. Digital programs were summoned on smartphones using a bar code on the arm of the seats, which were arranged in singles and pairs spaced roughly 12 feet from the stage, and six feet or more from one another.

Staff checked in the audience with tablets. Ticket holders were required to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test; they scrolled through their phones to bring it up. Once cleared, they stepped into a timed-entry line: one for 7:40 p.m., and another for 10 minutes later.

Im an essential worker, Roxxann Dobbs, a 37-year-old letter carrier, said as she waited to be let in. Ive been working this entire time, so its nice to be able to go out and have fun.

Ian Plowman, her husband, added: I feel like were on the edge of the next time in New York, the next period.

Before and after the show, people caught the glances of old friends and stopped by their seats to chat. One woman congratulated another on getting a coronavirus vaccine. A person leaned over to a friend and remarked: This is so nice!

Alex Poots, the Sheds artistic director and chief executive, said he got quite emotional as the evening came to a close and he thought about Lus description of a spring awakening.

Very beautiful, he said. I missed this so much. MATT STEVENS
Michigans education system stands to receive roughly $6 billion in federal money as a result of multiple COVID-19 stimulus relief packages  but it still could be a while before all of it gets to local districts.

According to the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan, that boost from federal aid is the single largest investment in public schools ever. It comes on top of existing state education funding, which despite the pandemic has remained relatively flat in Michigan thus far after avoiding significant cuts in the last state budget cycle.

Most of the promised funding comes after one of the toughest years for schools on record  months of online or hybrid classes, pandemic-related learning loss, mental health struggles and struggles bringing students back into the classroom due to COVID-19 spikes.

Although the money is coming from the federal government, state lawmakers and the governor need to formally allocate the funding before districts can spend it. Some of the money has gotten tied up in legislative limbo as Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Republican-led Legislature continue to disagree on COVID-19 response measures, leaving many education officials fearful that the bulk of federal assistance could be significantly delayed.

Whats coming in latest round of funding

As part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan signed by President Joe Biden last month, Michigan is up for an estimated $3.7 billion in federal money for education.

Of that, 90%, about $3.3 billion, must be allocated directly to school districts and divvied up proportionally through a federal Title I formula.

The amount of per-pupil funding school districts are eligible for in this latest stimulus varies widely based on the number of students living in poverty and other factors, ranging between $93 and almost $28,000.

Related: See how much your Michigan school district is getting from latest stimulus

Historically lower-income districts are getting the bulk of this funding. The Detroit Public Schools Community District, the states largest district, is getting the most with $808 million, while the Flint City School District is second with $99 million.

A requirement tacked on to the latest COVID-19 stimulus by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, requires the state to allocate the funds within 60 days of receiving the money.

See how much each Michigan school district is getting under the federal formula in the database compiled by Michigans Senate Fiscal Agency below, which can be searched by name or county and filtered by total amounts or money per pupil. (Cant see the database? Click here)

What it can be used for

Of the $3.3 billion headed to districts under the latest round of COVID-19 aid, 20% must be spent on addressing pandemic-related learning loss, such as summer programs, before- and after-school programs and other supports for students.

The rest of the money can be spent on things like upgrading air filtration and ventilation systems or window replacements to limit the spread of viruses, personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, technology, mental health services and more. Additional guidance on what the funds can be used for is expected in the coming weeks.

Funds can be spread out over the next few fiscal years, with a deadline of using them by mid-2024.

The other 10% not headed directly to school districts under the package must be used by the state to address learning loss, summer and after-school programs, emergency needs and administrative costs, according to the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency.

What schools have - and havent - gotten already

The latest federal aid package is the third and largest influx of school funding thats been approved by Congress during the pandemic as part of wide-ranging COVID-19 relief packages.

The second round approved by President Donald Trump late last year directed about $1.5 billion in federal funds to Michigan for helping schools deal with the pandemic and return to in-person learning.

So far, about 40% of that pool of money has made its way to districts. Of what has been allocated, some of the relief funding is also tied to districts offering at least 20 hours of in-person learning.

Related: Whitmer signs bulk of coronavirus aid package, but vetoes limits on executive authority

In the last supplemental spending plan approved by the Legislature, about $840 million in school funding included was tie-barred to the passage House Bill 4049, which would shift authority on closing in-person learning and sporting events during the COVID-19 pandemic from the state to local health departments.

Whitmer vetoed House Bill 4049, calling the legislation a reckless idea, poorly executed and poorly timed, and has indicated shes not supportive of signing legislation limiting her executive authority. She called on the Legislature to work with her to ensure we maximize every penny that is available.

Whitmer hasnt ruled out attempting to allocate the tie-barred funds. In a recent letter to the Legislature, she indicated a legal review of the legislation was ongoing and said when it was complete, she would direct state departments to implement this legislation consistent with constitutional requirements.

Republican lawmakers have been frustrated with Whitmers handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and have said measures aimed at regulating federal funds are an effort to put a legislative check on the administration.

The Senate last month voted along partisan lines to give Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, the authority to take legal action if the Whitmer administration attempts to spend money tie-barred to policy legislation.

Some other school-related funding  $87 million in funds for non-public schools and $10 million for a summer school grant program  has been vetoed by Whitmer twice as part of an ongoing dispute between the administration and the Legislature over a lack of negotiation.

Read more on MLive:

Conditions tied to stimulus funds pose problems for school districts, Dems argue

See how much stimulus money your town gets; Michigan splits $10.3B in funding

Senate Republicans threaten to sue if Whitmer tries to use federal funds tied to vetoed bills

Whitmer vetoes $652 million in COVID-19 spending again, citing lack of negotiation

Previously vetoed spending proposals for COVID-19 response headed back to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Michigan House tries again on spending vetoed by Whitmer

Conditions tied to stimulus funds pose problems for school districts, Dems argue

Whitmer signals vetoes likely on parts of COVID-19 relief plan that limit executive powers

COVID-19 aid, confidentiality agreements, guns and LGBT rights: The week in Michigan politics

Michigan House clears $4.2B COVID-19 spending plan, ties some funds to limits on health departments authority

Michigan Senate approves $1.9 billion for vaccine distribution, direct care worker payments, school aid

Whitmer vetoes bills that would limit public health orders and repeal governors emergency powers
The La Palma Correctional Center, as seen in the DHS report. Department of Homeland Security

Awatchdog report found instances of excessive force, neglect, and abuse at DHS facility in Arizona.

Facility staff also used chemical agents and pepper spray against the detainees, the report said.

The facility also didn't abide by COVID-19 guidelines, putting migrants at risk.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

An immigration facility in Arizona used excessive force, verbally abused immigrants, and neglected their medical needs, according to the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general.

A team from the inspector general's office inspected the La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, between August and November of 2020 and "identified serious concerns regarding detainee care and treatment," according to a report.

The report said facility staff used chemical agents - including pepper spray, pepper balls, and other agents - against protesting detainees.

The report includes images from surveillance video at the faciltiy, which is run by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The photos show staff using chemical agents on detainees, and failing to enforce COVID-19 guidelines like mask-wearing and social distancing.

It also documented several instances of verbal abuse. One officer "used profane and abusive language to ridicule a detainee," and another officer used a racial slur against a detainee and hung up his phone call with relatives.

ICE did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but the agency pushed back against the report's allegations in a formal response to the inspector general.

"ICE has significant concerns about the accuracy of the findings in the OIG's draft report," the response said. It added that the findings "rely on uncorroborated allegations by detainees" and that the inspector general's audit team did not interview ICE or the contracting facility representatives involved in two of the use of force incidents.

Story continues

ICE also said the report "omits necessary context in several instances," including the allegations that the medical unit was understaffed. ICE said despite the fact that just 51 of 72 medical positions were staffed, the staffing level of 72 positions was designed for a much higher detainee population of 2,340 - the average daily population during the inspector general's audit was just 1,542.

The report comes amid growing scrutiny of the government's handling of immigrants in detention.

A recent influx of unaccompanied migrant children at the US-Mexico border has stoked concerns about the practice and morality of detaining minors in government-run facilities.

The immigrants in the La Palma facility, however, are distinct from the current wave of migrants approaching the border. The children at the border are first detained by the Customs and Border Protection agency and await transfer to shelters, then are eventually placed with relatives or sponsors while their immigration cases are processed. The La Palma facility houses adult male detainees apprehended by ICE, and who have been deemed illegally present in the US and may be deported.

Read the original article on Insider
Ahmedabad:

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will kick-start a three-day campaign in Gujarat's Saurashtra region tomorrow after offering prayers at a Krishna temple in Dwarka, a senior party leader said.



Gandhi will visit the Lord Krishna temple after he lands at the Mithapur airstrip in the Devbhumi Dwarka district on Monday morning, senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said.



After offering prayers at the temple, Gandhi will hit the road for a tour of the Saurashtra region as part of the party's election campaign in Gujarat, he said.



"Rahul Gandhi will start his three-day road show from Dwarka in Saurashtra. He will address the public at different points and will interact with them along the way," Gohil said.

ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi in US: Divisive politics threatening peace, tolerance in India



After a road show in Dwarka town, Gandhi will make brief halts where he will interact with farmers and traders before addressing a rally in the afternoon.



The party vice president will then proceed for Jamnagar town where he will make a night halt. On September 26, he will cover towns such as Dhrol and Tankara by road before reaching Rajkot, Gohil said.



He will interact with traders and industrialists after reaching Rajkot in the afternoon.



"He will make a night stay in Rajkot. The next morning he will cover Chotila, Jasdan, Virpur, Jetpur and other towns before concluding the campaign at Khodaldham," Gohil said.



After covering Saurashtra, Gandhi will campaign in north, central and south Gujarat at later dates as part of the party's poll campaign ahead of the assembly elections slated to be held later this year, party sources said.

ALSO READ: BJP prez Amit Shah says Rahul Gandhi should give account of work of his three generations

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Missing Paducah Woman Located

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - UPDATE:The Paducah Police Department reports that 25-year-old Kealy McCalester has been located, and is in good health.They thank everyone that helped with this situation.ORIGINAL STORY - April 3, 2021:The Paducah Police Department is requesting the public's help with locating a missing woman.Police are searching for 25-year-old Kealy McCalester. She is white, 5 feet 4 inches tall, approximately 117 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.Although she was last seen in Paducah, she could be in Calloway or Livingston County.Anyone with information is asked to contact the Paducah Police Department.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Friday banning the use of Covid-19 passports in the state.

The order prohibits any government entity from issuing vaccine passports and blocks businesses from requiring any such documentation.

DeSantis cited freedom and privacy concerns as the primary basis for the action, arguing that the implementation and enforcement of vaccine passports would "create two classes of citizens based on vaccinations."

The order notes many Floridians have not yet had the opportunity to obtain a vaccine, while some may have infection-acquired immunity, and other people may be unable to get a Covid-19 vaccine because of health, religious or other reasons.

"Individual Covid-19 vaccination records are private health information and should not be shared by a mandate," DeSantis' executive order reads.

DeSantis signaled earlier this week that he would not support vaccine passports.

"It's completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society," he said Monday during a press conference.

Florida requires children to receive certain vaccines before enrolling and attending childcare and school.

The Florida governor tweeted Friday that the Florida legislature is "working on making permanent these protections for Floridians," and that he looks forward to signing them into law soon.

Privacy fears

There have been major privacy concerns regarding vaccine passports, especially if a centralized, computer-based system were created for people to prove they've been vaccinated against Covid-19.

American Civil Liberties Union senior policy analyst Jay Stanley argued in an article this week for a decentralized, open-sourced system to make sure people know how and where their data is being used.

"Does it report back every time you present a credential?" Stanley asked. "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."

The Biden administration has been working with non-profits and tech firms to develop a set of standards for people to prove they've gotten the vaccine, according to at least two administration officials.

However, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday there will be no federal mandate that would require every American to get a vaccine credential.
California  birthplace of the Grateful Dead, Snoop Dogg and the Weedmaps app  is still uptight about marijuana, more than four years after voters legalized it for adult recreational use and 25 years after they OKd medicinal herb.

Its baffling that there is still a stigma attached to cannabis in a state that grows more of it than anywhere else on the planet and whose legal industry employs more people than anywhere in the nation. The industry generated more than $3.7 billion in business last year in California, according to Leafly, a cannabis sales and news site.

Yet conflicts remain. Start with billboard advertising.

It is now illegal for cannabis companies to advertise on billboards along interstate highways in California. That stemmed from a court case brought by a San Luis Obispo man who said seeing a marijuana billboard along the freeway would expose his children to the dangers of the devils weed.

A judge ruled last fall that such ads violated the 2016 cannabis legalization initiatives ban on billboards on highways that cross state lines. California regulators said the ban applied only on highways within 15 miles of state borders, but the judge threw that out.

Reality check: Its not the billboards. Nearly three-fourths of Californias 11th-graders said marijuana is fairly easy or very easy to obtain, according to Californias 2015 Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy, whose findings informed the legalization initiative, Proposition 64. Or as the panels chair, then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, said at the time, We cant deny the access and ubiquity of this drug.

Billboards matter. They may be old-school advertising, but theyre a big deal to the industry because most major social media platforms still ban cannabis advertising, as do TV and radio.

Theres an obvious double standard here: Californias children can still turn on the TV or take a drive with Dad and see plenty of ads touting the joys of consuming alcohol.

Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin, a Democrat from Thousand Oaks (Ventura County), doesnt see a problem with this dichotomy.

For her, its about protecting children.

Shes pushing legislation (AB273) that would expand the cannabis ban to include billboards visible from any state highway in California. Yet at the same time, she is carrying a bill that would allow alcohol companies to give as many as a dozen promotional patio umbrellas to licensed booze sellers, a giveaway that is currently restricted.

The cannabis industry promised not to advertise to children when they argued for Prop. 64s passage. They have broken that promise, and this bill (AB273) is in response to that, Irwin told me. You dont have to travel far to see billboards advertising cannabis stores and companies called cookies and lemonade.... That is not meeting the intent or spirit of Prop. 64.

So whats the difference between advertising alcohol and cannabis?

Irwin says the people of California have chosen to regulate alcohol and cannabis very differently. While there are similarities, to equate the two ignores the long history of regulation and consumption of alcohol compared to the very newly regulated cannabis industry.

She said she is carrying the alcohol umbrella legislation (AB1070) because allowing alcohol retail licenses to receive umbrellas will help these struggling small businesses that have not been called out by parents as being attractive to children.

That seems like a double standard to many in the cannabis business.

Where is Californias pride in a legal industry that counts 57,970 jobs in the state, nearly 24,000 of which were added in the last year, wonders David Mack, a senior vice president at Eaze, a cannabis delivery company. How in the heck is it OK to make it harder for these legal businesses to succeed? he asked.

Assembly Member Bill Quirk, a Hayward Democrat, is trying to address this stigma. He wants to help the legal cannabis industry thrive so the illegal one wont.

For him, its about protecting children. Like his.

It is the illicit market that introduced cannabis to my son when he was in middle school, Quirk told me. This type of advertising is an important tool for licensed cannabis providers to be able to compete and stay in business.

He added, We still have people who think prohibition is the best policy. It is this thinking and these policies that resulted in cannabis being introduced to my son and daughter by illicit dealers while they were 13 and 16, respectively. We need the legal market to drive the illicit market out of business and protect our children.

For the record, Quirks children are now successful adults, and neither is addicted to any drugs. But he worries that policies that focus on prohibition open the door for the illicit market to make drugs attractive to minors.

Quirk is also working on legislation to address a different marijuana-related oversight in California. His AB1256 would ban California workplaces from using evidence of cannabis use, such as a urine sample, as a reason to fire or not hire someone.

Many urine tests that companies use cant detect THC, the compound in marijuana that makes you feel high. And the only valid reason to fire a weed user, Quirk said, if is theyre high while on the job.

No one should be allowed on a work site if they are intoxicated with any substance, Quirk said. I want a bill that will assure a person is sober at the workplace as well as allow responsible cannabis users to work.

Twenty other states have job protections for medical cannabis users. California  the nations cannabis capital  does not, nearly three decades after legalizing medicinal cannabis.

Its stunning that there are so many other states that offer that protection, said Karen OKeefe, director of state policies at the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project. It doesnt necessarily make a lot of sense.

Maybe its not so stunning, given how California is still working out its issues when it comes to weed.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2021 ) :Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi on Sunday said the South Punjab Secretariat was set up as per Prime Minister Imran Khan's vision of the creation of a new province and no one could withdraw its powers.

No matter whether the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf remained in power or not, the South Punjab Secretariat would continue functioning as it was not an issue of any individual rather that of the whole population of area, he told a press conference.

Qureshi said he would be the first to counter any attempts to hamper the functioning of South Punjab Secretariat. All the members of national and provincial assemblies, ministers and Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar would protect the Secretariat, he added.

He said when he came back from abroad after attending a conference he was informed by his son Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi about the notification in which the powers of South Punjab Secretariat were withdrawn.

He said neither the chief minister nor his ministers or assembly members were aware about the notification. It was, in fact, a conspiracy against the Punjab government as no approval was sought from the CM or his cabinet before the issuance of the notification, he added.

The minister said the notification negated the steps being taken by the government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan for the establishment of South Punjab province. Setting up the South Punjab province was made part of the PTI's manifesto under the PM's vision of facilitating the people of deprived areas, he added.

If everything had to be done in Lahore then why a sum of Rs 4 billion was spent on setting up the South Punjab Secretariat, he questioned.

Qureshi said he himself had discussed the notification issue with different officers of the province. Even the Inspector General of Police had confirmed of delegating powers to the Additional IG South Punjab, he added.

Calling for a thorough investigation into the issue, he said said he would meet CM Buzdar on Monday in that regard. The minister said any conspiracy to block the establishment of South Punjab province would be defeated. CM Usman Buzdar had formed a committee headed by Provincial Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bukhat to present recommendations for amendment in the rules of business regarding the South Punjab province, he added. As regards India, the foreign minister said Pakistan had always tried to normalise its relations with the neighbour. Both were nuclear powers and could not afford war, and it was his firm belief that they could resolve issues through dialogue only. However, it was India which should make a conducive environment for the purpose.

He said Pakistan had a clear stance on trade with India.

 The minister expressed concerns over the ongoing situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and said the people of Kashmir and different political parties had rejected the decision of Indian government on 5th August 2019. International human rights organizations were also raising voice against human rights violations in the IIOJ&K.

Qureshi said China had good friendly relations with Pakistan for the last many decades.

To a question about recent environment conference in the United States in which Pakistan was not invited, FM Qureshi said the US government invited only those countries which were responsible for creating pollution.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, was a role model for the developing countries regarding his efforts to control global warming and environmental pollution. He (Imran Khan) was the only leader, who had started the billion tree project by taking up the issue of climate change serious. "I wrote a letter to the special envoy to Joe Biden administration and the former US secretary of state, in which I have conveyed that Pakistan and America have same policy on environment, and that both the countries can work together on the issue," he added.

To another question, the minister said one could notice various signs that Maryam Safdar had the intention to go abroad, and the the recent statement of Rana Sanaullah also corroborated it. However, it were the courts which could take any decision in that regard. Her father Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, he said, was granted permission by the court to go abroad for medical treatment, but he seemed to be medically fit now and must come back to Pakistan and face the cases.

To another query, Qureshi said Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani's becoming of Leader of Opposition in the Senate was the main reason of causing division in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). Nine parties of the PDM were alleging that the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Awami National Party were responsible for breaking the alliance.

Yousuf Raza Gilani lived in his city and he would congratulate him after the PDM's controversy ended, he added.

To another question, the foreign minister said cabinet changes were part of the governance. Asad Umer was earlier finance minister and now now heading another ministry and also had important responsibilities at NCOC. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh would have been working as finance minister had he been elected as a senator but he could not due votes buying in the Senate elections, he added. To a question about the Pakistani Consulate Jeddah, FM Qureshi said strict action would be taken against the officials posted there in case of public complaints against them.
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ez-Kar Project, Component 1

Project ID: P166127

Grand No: TF0A9092, D416-AF

Project Name: Procurement of IT Equipment and Server Room for the PIU in 2 Lots

Lot#1: Procurement of IT Equipments

Lot#2: Procurement of Server Room

Addendum No-2 Installation and Configuration some items in Lot # 2

RFB No: AF-EZ-KAR_MOFA-PIU-189978-GO-RFB

Subject: Installation and Configuration of some items in Lot # 2 Procurement of Server Room for the PIU

Date: 01 May, 2021

The purpose of this Addendum is that Items Number 3 (APC UPS),4 (Alarm System),5 (Fire Detector),6 (Water Leakage) and 7 (HVAC) in the price schedule and other related tables of Lot # 2 Procurement of Server Room for the PIU is including the Installation and Configuration. therefore; the companies may submit their bid including installation and Configuration of mentioned items on the Addendum No-2.

RFB Ref No Original Bid Document Revised Bid Document based on Addendum No:2 AF-EZ-KAR_MOFA-PIU-189978-GO-RFB The installation and configuration is not mentioned for the items of Lot # 2: Items Number 3 (APC UPS),4 (Alarm System),5 (Fire Detector),6 (Water Leakage) and 7 (HVAC) Installation and Configuration for the Items of Lot # 2: Items Number 3 (APC UPS),4 (Alarm System),5 (Fire Detector),6 (Water Leakage) and 7 (HVAC)

Bids must be delivered to the address mentioned in the Bidding Document on or before May 10, 2021 at 10:30 am Kabul, Afghanistan Local Time.

All other terms and conditions of the RFB remain and unchanged.

Yours Sincerely,

Ez-Kar Project, Component 1
North Ridgeville, Ohio - Students at Lake Ridge Academy are attempting to collect 5,000 unopened full sized boxes of cereal to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank and North Ridgeville Community Care. As if collecting 5,000 boxes was not enough, to create community interest, the students will be attempting to set the world record for the most cereal boxes dropped in a domino fashion in a chain reaction for change.

Students at Lake Ridge Academy are attempting to collect 5,000 unopened full sized boxes of cereal to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank and North Ridgeville Community Care.

The school is currently looking for sponsors and donors who will contribute to help with bulk cereal purchases. Organizers are in need of 15 business sponsors to support the cause. Each business sponsorship is $100 and the monies will be used to help purchase cereal to reach the goal of 5,000 boxes. Each sponsors name and logo will be included on the schools Parents Association (PA) webpage, spotlighted on the PA Facebook page, as well as being included on day of signage and in press releases. Business partners already committed include Mercy Health and Aldi.

The public can make monetary donations through Lake Ridge Academy. Every little bit counts toward the purchase of cereal. Those who choose to sponsor, organizers we will be in touch for a copy of your business logo so that your business can be recognized before and during the event.

The school is grateful for both monetary donations and unopened full size cereal boxes. Due to COVID-19 mitigation measures, the school buildings are closed to the public. Monetary donations are the most sensible right now. If you would like to drop off your cereal box(es), please contact the school to make arrangements, 440-327-1175. Schools officials are working with a grocery chain to hopefully purchase cereal in bulk by the crate. This can be accomplished gradually over the next few weeks. The cereal will be stored in Bettcher Hall at Lake Ridge Academy.

The cereal box collection will culminate with the Royals Run, an attempt to break the world record on May 5 at the Bettcher Convocation Center. The event will be live streamed for all to watch the cereal boxes fall.

The deadline to donate is April 30. For more information, go to pa.lakeridgeacademy.org/royals_run.

AVON

New hair studio: Fawn Hair Studio recently opened at 36905 Detroit Road, A (in the new storefront next to Two Bucks). The salon specializes in lived in color and hand-tied hair extensions. Follow them on Instagram @fawn.hairstudio. For more information, call 419-239-1813 or email fawn.hairstudio1@gmail.com.

Story time: Enjoy the warmer weather by attending Story Time in the Woods from 10:30 to 11 a.m. April 16 and/or April 30 at the Every Childs Playground, 36265 Detroit Road. Music, movement activities and play will accompany naturethemed stories. Participants are reminded to dress for the weather and bring a blanket. All attendees over the age of 2 are required to wear a mask. Pre-registration is required; go to lorainpubliclibrary.org/events.

AVON LAKE

Benefit dinner: Please consider helping the Beckman Family by purchasing a $10 ticket to attend a Spaghetti Dinner and 50/50 Basket Raffles for their son, Delton, 12. Grafton resident, Curtis Beckman is an employee of the Avon Lake Public Works Department. His son was at MetroHealth Medical Center for 65 days recovering from second and third degree burns on 40 percent of his body.

Delton was injured at a friends house on November 23, 2020. The other boy was burning plastic covering off a copper wire, and retrieved a jug from the garage filled with liquid. He tossed the liquid onto the flames, then threw the jug across the yard and ran in the opposite direction. A gas tank, leaning on the fence, exploded less than 15 feet away from Delton. He ended up with burns to his back, right arm, hand and both legs. The other boy was not hurt. Delton underwent a total of nine surgeries and had to learn to walk again. He came home January 26 and is now undergoing therapy.

Delton was given a 2021 Burn Survivor Medal. He is the first recipient of the medal, given to pediatric patients who stay for an extended time in the Burn Center.

According to information from MetroHealth, Delton is receiving physical and rehabilitation therapy at home, but will return to MetroHealths Main Campus as an outpatient a couple times a week to get his dressing changed. Hell also undergo more therapy for six months to a year to help regain strength in his right hand and ensure that his scars heal without complications.

The fundraiser is planned for 6 p.m. April 10 at Eddies Club, 1433 Lowell Street, Elyria. For more information, call Andrea at 440-710-4656

Yoga for kids: Teen and pre-teen Yoga Club registration is now open through the citys parks and recreation department. Yoga Club is for students in grades 5 and up looking to stay active and strengthen themselves in a safe, non-competitive environment. For more information, and to register, go to AvonLakeRec.com.

Open houses: The Avon Lake Historical Society will begin offering monthly tours of the Peter Miller House, 33740 Lake Road, beginning April 18. The Open Houses will be from noon to 4 p.m. on the third Sunday of every month throughout the summer.

Shout-out: After having to skip last year, Avon/Avon Lake Community Resource Services (CRS) was happy to be able to provide Easter baskets and Easter food to clients this season. Kudos to the organizations that helped make it possible: Avon Lake United Church of Christ made 100 Easter baskets, the North Coast Rotary Club and Foundation and the New WestSiders donated many of the items in the Easter breakfast food baskets, and Christ Church Westshore - Anglican donated 60 $25 Giant Eagle gift cards to go with the food baskets. CRS also used the gift cards it received from the Meijer Simply Give Campaign to purchase the perishable items in the food baskets.

NORTH RIDGEVILLE

Safetyville registration: It was canceled last year due the pandemic, but Safetyville is back on this year from the North Ridgeville Police Department. Registration begins April 12 for those students entering kindergarten in the fall. Students entering first-grade in the fall will have the opportunity to attend Safetyville as they missed out last year. Registration for first-graders begins May 10. Sessions are in June. Cost is $30. Students will learn various safety guidelines with regards to traffic, school bus, bicycle and pedestrian activity, stranger danger, 911, and drug, gun, and fire safety. Information is available on the citys website, go to nridgeville.org/parksandrec or go to the citys parks and recreation department office, 7327 Avon Belden Road.

Coffee chat: Join Mayor Kevin Corcoran for his monthly Coffee & Conversation from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. April 23 in council chambers at city hall, 7307 Avon Belden Road.

Water main project: Construction season is underway. Survey work for the water main project along Lorain Road from Bliss Parkway to Lear Nagle Road will begin this week. IBI Group was hired by the city to design the new water main. Businesses along the road currently receive water from the 30-inch transmission water main that Avon Lake Regional Water owns in the area. The project includes installing approximately 2,200-linear-feet of new water main with new valves and hydrants. Work will also include re-establishing service laterals in the area. Construction will begin in fall after the design work is completed this summer.

Virtual Career Week: Lorain County Community College (LCCC) will host a virtual Career Connection Week from April 12 through April 16. The free event will offer participants information on resume assistance, the University Partnership program, academic programs, transfer opportunities, and employers. A Career Fair will take place April 14-16 to connect students to employers for internships and jobs Sessions begin at 10 a.m. each day via Zoom. To register, go to bit.ly/LCCC-Career-Connections. For more information, contact LCCCs Career Services at careers@lorainccc.edu or 440-366-4076.

Summer programs: Lake Ridge Academy Summer Program is open to all area students grades 1-12. There are more than 30 camps to choose from where kids can get in touch with nature, create art, learn to play a new sport, practice reading and writing skills, or other activities. The program runs June 7- July 16. Lake Ridge accepted kindergartners are also able to participate. To register, go to bit.ly/lrasummer.

Shout-out: The North Ridgeville Lions Club has been collecting used eyeglasses for many years (all Lions clubs collected glasses). Recently, Lions Bill and Carol Shaffer, and Leo (young members of Lions Club) Trent, drove four boxes of used eyeglasses to the Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (SVOSH) at Ohio State University. SVOSH helps provide vision care and eyewear to underserved nations. According to information posted on the SVOSH website, Students spend time sorting, measuring, and packaging used eyeglasses donated by the Lions Clubs International and other organizations within the community. Their work leads up to an annual week-long trip to conduct free eye exams, dispense glasses, and provide ocular health education abroad. Countries visited in the past include Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Kenya, Mexico, Tanzania, and Venezuela. Thank you for the donations.

Time off: I am taking some time off for Spring Break. Short Takes will not publish next week on cleveland.com or in the April 15 edition of the Sun Sentinel.

If you have news/information or a story idea youd like to share or a shout-out, please send an email to jshortavon@aol.com.

Read more from the Sun Sentinel.
New mom Gigi Hadid had a very happy Easter Sunday with baby girl Khai.

The model, 25, got into the spring spirit as she dressed her daughter in a darling grey bunny rabbit onesie which came complete with a puffy tail and floppy ears.

'Our little bunny! first Easter!' Gigi cooed in the caption.

Bunny baby! Gigi Hadid shared a snap of daughter Khai dressed in a cute-as-can-be bunny onesie on Easter this Sunday

Gigi gave birth to Khai back in September, reportedly at her mother Yolanda Hadid's farm in rural Pennsylvania, where she stayed with her sister Bella throughout much of 2020.

Partner Zayn Malik seems to be loving life as a father, and he gushed about how 'amazing' parenthood has been for him on the iHeartRadio show Valentine in the Morning.

'Honestly, it's amazing,' he said. 'A lot of people that I was speaking to, obviously, before she was born and stuff were like, "It's a big adjustment, and it's going to be a massive change and stuff."

'But honestly, she's an amazing baby. It's been really easy for me and Gig to kind of just ease into it. She kind of made it easy for us, she sleeps really well, she loves her milk. It's just feeding and changing diapers at the moment. It's wicked. I'm enjoying it, for sure.'

Loving it: She's been over the moon about motherhood since welcoming her girl last September

So sweet: The model reportedly welcomed her baby at her mother Yolanda Hadid's farm in rural Pennsylvania, where she stayed with her sister Bella throughout much of 2020

Gigi and Zayn have been dating since 2015, though they were rumored to have broken up briefly in late 2016, and they officially broke up in March 2018.

Yet the two were seen together only a month later and resuscitated the relationship later in 2018.

The two reportedly broke up again in January 2019, but after hints of a reunion (including a cooking post in which Gigi made a recipe from Zayn's mother) the two confirmed their romance was in good health again in January 2020.

The lovebirds announced just two months later that they were expecting their first child together.

Although Gigi has been careful to preserve her infant daughter's privacy, she has shared several sweet photos of herself caring for little girl since giving birth.

Earlier in March, the daughter of Yolanda Hadid made her return to the runway when she appeared with her sister at the Versace show for Milan Fashion Week.
The debris of SpaceXs Falcon-9 rocket that did not have a successful deorbit burn on March 25 has been recovered from a private property in Washington state. Washingtons skies were lit-up with bright meteor-like objects last week but the specifics were not immediately clear. It was later reported that the objects were debris from the Falcon-9 rocket that did not burn properly upon re-entry into Earths atmosphere. Seattles National Weather Service said that unofficial information indicates the widely reported bright objects were debris from SpaceXs Falcon-9 rocket.

While we await further confirmation on the details, here's the unofficial information we have so far. The widely reported bright objects in the sky were the debris from a Falcon 9 rocket 2nd stage that did not successfully have a deorbit burn.  NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) March 26, 2021

Pressure vessel confused as meteor

On Friday, the Grant County Sheriff's Department noted that a part of the debris has been recovered from a property in the southwest. According to the Grant County Sheriff Department, the debris has been collected by SpaceX. The five-feet tall debris fell on the property and left a 5-6 inches deep mark. Grant County Sheriffs public information officer informed that no person was harmed and no damage has been reported after the incident. The object found on the private property appears to be the pressure tank that contains helium.

SpaceX recovered a Composite-Overwrapped Pressure Vessel from last weeks Falcon 9 re-entry. It was found on private property in southwest Grant County this week. Media and treasure hunters: we are not disclosing specifics. The property owner simply wants to be left alone. pic.twitter.com/dEIQAotItY  Grant County Sheriff (@GrantCoSheriff) April 2, 2021

SpaceXs Falcon-9 rocket is a reusable two-stage payload delivery shuttle that puts objects into space. Falcon-9 rockets first stage is designed to return back to the ground after pushing the second stage into orbit to deliver the payload. However, it is believed that the first stage of the rocket did have a successful deorbit burn and could have given an impression of meteor-like objects shining bright in the night skies. SpaceX has not commented on the matter as of yet.

SpaceX had launched 60 Starlink satellites on March 24 using a Falcon-9 reusable rocket. The company has not confirmed if the debris found at a private property in Washington belongs to the Falcon-9 rocket. According to The Associated Press, the debris was found on a farm, the owner of which reported it to the police. The sheriff department then contacted SpaceX and the company confirmed it to be part of the rocket.

(Image Credit: Twitter/GrantCountySheriff/AP)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-04 17:02:22|Editor: huaxia

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A resident shows a box of CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine, made by Sinovac Biotech, after being inoculated at a vaccination site in Manila, the Philippines on April 4, 2021. The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 11,028 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 795,051. The death toll climbed to 13,425 after two more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 11,028 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 795,051.

The death toll climbed to 13,425 after two more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

The Philippines, which has about 110 million population, has tested over 9.7 million people since the outbreak in January 2020.

More Filipinos will receive the jabs as the government ramps up its COVID-19 immunization drive this week, urging frontline medical workers and senior citizens with underlying conditions to get inoculated.

The DOH said it is speeding up the vaccination of its over 1.7 million healthcare workers.

Manila City Mayor Francisco Domagoso got his Sinovac jab on Sunday after the government allowed the vaccination of mayors and governors in Metro Manila and areas with high infection rates.

Domagoso vouched for the safety of the Chinese vaccine. "It's an approved, safe product (approved) by our regulatory agency," he told reporters after getting the vaccine, urging his constituents to take the shots.

Metro Manila and its four adjacent areas remain under strict lockdown measures for another week as infections continue to surge.

The Philippines began vaccinations on March 1, a day after the first batch of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine donated by China arrived in the country.

The government aims to inoculate up to 70 million Filipinos this year to achieve herd immunity, starting with health care workers and the elderly. Enditem
New book reveals sorcery in Premadasa-era parliament By Amal Jayasinghe View(s): View(s):

President Ranasinghe Premadasa used Malayali sorcery to consolidate his power four years before his 1993 assassination, according to a new book published by a key official who was at the top-secret ritual in parliament.

Less than a handful of officials, including the officer-in-charge of the parliament police, shielded the elaborate black magic carried out in the chamber of the House and outside at the dead of night, ostensibly to bless all members of parliament.

The sorcerer and his assistant were smuggled into the parliament complex in the OICs vehicle which was not subjected to any security checks a few weeks before the 1989 inauguration of parliament by the newly elected President Premadasa.

Among those chosen to keep an eye on the charmer duo was Vijaya Palliyaguruge, who later retired as Serjeant-at-Arms. In his memoirs,

 (I Protected the Mace),

published this week,

Mr. Palliyaguruge recounts this and other anecdotes of real stories behind speculation and rumour.

Mr. Palliyaguruge recalls how the Malayali sorcerer asked for a golden sword to dig a hole inside the parliament complex to place an oil lamp in it. However, he says, it was not possible to find even a kitchen knife at that ungodly hour. Instead, they produced some other sharp object to scoop out a hole.

The chanting Malayalis cut limes at every corner of the sprawling building and paid keen attention to the chairs of members of parliament. The possessed chief shaman sliced more limes at some chairs, suggesting they could be seats of key opposition figures.

The challenge for parliament staff was to get the charmers and their paraphernalia, including ash plantains, pumpkins and three sacks full of sliced limes out of the complex before first light and dump the evidence in the Kelani River at a location in Kaduwela.

It is possibly the only known occasion when sorcery and black magic were used at the Sri Lankan legislature, but it didnt prevent President Premadasa facing an impeachment two years and seven months later. However, rumours at the time that Mr. Premadasa used sorcery again to defeat the impeachment are untrue, according to Mr. Palliyaguruge.

When Mr. Premadasa prorogued parliament to head off the impeachment and re-summoned the assembly, staff found white dust on the red carpet of parliament. That fuelled the speculation of sorcery.

Three decades later, Mr. Palliyaguruge reveals that the white dust was actually from white chalk sticks he had to use to mark the exact location where Mr. Premadasa was supposed to stand, where the pots of plants and flowers were to be kept.

Mr. Premadasa was a stickler for perfection and visited the parliament complex a day earlier to work out the positions of people at the inauguration ceremony. He even marked the place for the vase of flowers on the Speakers table.

However, cleaning staff of parliament spoke about the white dust they had noticed and it went even to the then opposition leader Sirima Bandaranaike who told international journalists that Mr. Premadasa had rubbed charmed oil and sprinkled human ash in parliament to ward off the impeachment!

Palliyaguruge has put together an extremely readable and gripping 31 chapters in his memoirs that not only recalls some of the historic events in the legislature, but also some facts about the new parliament building many may not have known.

It is clear from the book that Mr. Palliyaguruge, who was the Serjeant-at-Arms for 10 years, may have been privy to many more state secrets. At the official launch of the book at the Sri Lanka Foundation on April 1, he revealed that at least 20 other chapters were axed on the advice of former assistant secretary-general of Parliament, the late C. W. Pannila. There are some things I cannot reveal and I will have to take them to my grave, Mr. Palliyaguruge said.

He said he had maintained a diary throughout his career, noting events at the end of each day, which had helped him compile this account.

Colossus is parliament

Palliyaguruge was a towering figure, both literally and figuratively, and was seen as a strong ally of the media, although during his tenure, he was scrupulously guarded. At the launch of his book, he demonstrated his political neutrality by not inviting a single politician except D. E. W. Gunasekara, a Communist Party stalwart who had encouraged him to write the book. Mr. Gunasekera is the first old boy of the Vijitha Madhya Maha Vidyalaya, Dickwella where Palliyaguruge also studied. There were many journalists invited apart from Parliament Secretary-General Dhammika Dassanayake and three of his predecessors, Nihal Seveniratne, Dhammika Kitulgoda and Priyani Wijesekera.

Serjeant-at-arms Palliyagurgue was not just a friend of the media, but he also treated them as MPs. After all, journalists are Members of the Press (MPs) he would often say while opening his office and its facilities to parliamentary reporters and the occasional visiting foreign correspondent.

The Sinhala language book is available at Sarasaviya Book shop and is priced at Rs. 950.
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The Ekiti Police Command on Sunday in Ekiti confirmed the kidnapping of one Agbanigo Isaac from his farm, bringing to 10 the number of persons so far kidnapped in similar circumstances in the state, in the last few months.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that kidnapping has always ended in the release of the victims, although two deaths were recorded at the scene of action, during the period.

Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Sunday Abutu, in a statement in Ado Ekiti, on Sunday, stated that Mr Isaac, who resides in Ikere Ekiti, Headquarters of Ikere LGA of the state, was abducted on Saturday, at about 1600hrs on his farm, along Ajegbende- Ise Ekiti road.

He said that on the fateful day, at about 1845hrs, information got to Ilupeju-Ikere Ekiti Divisional Police Headquarters that some unknown armed men had abducted the man from his farm.

Upon receipt of the information, a combined team of Police personnel from Ikere Ekiti Area Command and Ilupeju-Ikere Divisional Police Headquarters, mobilized to the scene where they met only the wife and children of the victim.

 Recounting the incident, the wife of the victim said the family were about entering their vehicle to return home, after finishing the days work on the farm, when they were suddenly accosted by seven masked armed men who ordered them to lie down facing the ground or risk loosing their lives.

According to her, after the suspects had asked them series of questions, they escorted her and the children to the main road, but took away her husband to an unknown destination.

She revealed that her husbands family members had been in dispute over the same farm with a lot of threats, before the incident happened, hence, she suspects that the feuding family members must be behind the abduction of her husband, as the abductors were all speaking in Ikere Ekiti dialect, the PPRO quoted her as saying.

Mr Abutu disclosed that the Command had already invited three persons for interrogation and for further investigation.

 We hereby implore everyone to remain calm, as the Command will do everything possible to rescue the victim and apprehend those behind the abduction.

 We have commenced a serious manhunt and investigation to unravel the identities and apprehend those behind the abduction.

 The Command, therefore, enjoins anyone with useful information that could assist the Police in apprehending the suspects to visit the nearest Police Station or call 08062335577, he said.

(NAN)
Brasilia: Corona epidemic cases continue to increase, with the United States being the most affected country with the highest number of cases and deaths in the world, Brazil is in second place, stating that Brazil's conditions are very bad and deaths there The number is so high that old tombs are being dug up again for burial of dead bodies, that is, the skeletons are being removed from these graves.

The situation of Brazil from the fact that more than 60 thousand people have died due to coronavirus in the month of March only. The pictures of the new Kashoirinha Cemetery of Sao Paulo will distract you, here the staff is removing old skeletons from the tomb and making room for newly dead bodies. According to an estimate, the death rate of Carona in Brazil is extremely high so far, 3 lakh 25 thousand people have died from Corona here.

While skeletons have been exhumed from several hundred graves in a cemetery, records are being brought to the cemeteries of Sao Palo every day in large numbers. Two new strains of the virus have been detected in Brazil, raising further concern. Please tell that in February there were about 30 thousand deaths in Brazil. There is no room for patients in hospitals, suggesting that the Brazilian government has completely failed to control the coronavirus.

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The Biden administration has hailed a potential breakthrough in deadlocked efforts to revive the Iranian nuclear deal after Tehran agreed to talks through European allies.

Britain, the EU, China, Russia, France and Germany will meet separately with the US and Iran for negotiations in Vienna this week - marking the first major progress in attempts to return both countries to the 2015 accord.

US president Joe Biden has promised to rejoin the agreement on condition Iran first returns to respecting commitments it abandoned after Donald Trump pulled out of the deal and reimposed sanctions.

Tehran, however, has said Washington must end the sanctions before it will make any moves to get back in line.

The US is trying to use Europe as an intermediary with Iran after the Islamic Republic refused to join direct talks.

The Vienna meeting will aim at drawing up two separate agreements, one with the US and one with Iran on which steps they will take when to return to compliance with the agreement. The two sides will not meet directly.

The US would not insist on retaining sanctions, believing the previous "maximum pressure" campaign waged by the Trump administration was ultimately futile. Ned Price, US State Department spokesman, said Washington "remains open" to a direct encounter with Tehran.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said he was optimistic the US was willing to compromise. He added: "I very much hope that the anti-Iranian inertia that was observed at first will give way to common sense."

It comes after a year of quiet diplomacy that has failed to produce much headway. The aim is to reach an agreement within two months, said a senior official with the EU, the coordinator of the deal.

Signatories to the deal are hoping to make headway before Iran holds presidential elections in June, which could lead to a new Iranian negotiating team and more delays. However, any return of the US would involve complications. Since the US withdrawal from the pact, Iran has been steadily violating its restrictions, including the amount of enriched uranium it can stockpile.

At home, Mr Biden has to contend with opposition from Republicans in the Senate, most of whom opposed the deal - which was signed by the Obama government - in the first place.

 Telegraph Media Group Ltd (2021)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]
Kanpur : , April 4 (IANS) The auxiliary nursing midwife (ANM), who gave two successive jabs of Covid-19 vaccine to a woman at a primary health centre in Akbarpur area of Kanpur Dehat district, was allegedly busy on a phone call which made her commit the lapse.

Kanpur Dehat Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Rajesh Katiyar , who probed the incident, said, "From now onwards, every vaccinator has been asked to deposit his/her mobile phone prior to giving Covid vaccine shot to people." According to reports, Kamlesh Kumari, 50, wife of Vipin, a native of Madauli village, had gone to a Primary Health Centre under Akbarpur block on Thursday to get her first vaccine shot.

The ANM Archana, who was busy on a phone call, instead administered her two doses of Covid vaccine.

As soon as the woman's family members came to know about it, they created ruckus and demanded strict action against the ANM.

When Kamlesh tried to question ANM about two back-to-back jabs being given to her, Archana misbehaved with her and even threatened her, the family alleged.

Senior health officials immediately swung into action and after pacifying the agitating family members of the woman, apprised senior officials, including the district magistrate and chief medical officer, about the alleged negligence.

Kamlesh's hand developed swelling but there was no other serious side-effect.

Kamlesh was then made to stay back for surveillance for nearly one-and-a-half hours by PHC's senior medical officer Dr. Rakesh Kumar.

"She was only allowed to go after proper monitoring. Fortunately, she had developed no other serious symptoms," said Dr. Kumar.

District Magistrate Kanpur Dehat Jitendra Pratap Singh on Saturday said, "I have taken serious note and we are making sure that such incidents are not repeated."
In a first, NASA's interplanetary helicopter 'Ingenuity' which flew to Mars tucked into the belly of the Perseverance rover, is set to take flight on April 11. Ingenuity is to date the first controlled and powered flight to traverse through another planet's atmosphere. Perseverance that landed on the red planet on February 18, has dropped a protective shield which helped Ingenuity to endure the perilous descent through the atmosphere of Mars.

When will the #MarsHelicopter drop? Soon! First we need to charge it to 100%. Once it's no longer connected to @NASAPersevere, the craft must survive surface temperatures down to -130F (-90C) on its own.



Check out the chief engineers blog for more: https://t.co/UDgQPkMSRl  NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 2, 2021

'Once Ingenuity take flight, NASA to operate drones on Mars'

Taking the announcement to Twitter, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory wrote:

Come fly with us. #MarsHelicopter is preparing to do something that's never been done: controlled, powered flight on another planet. Takeoff is now slated for no earlier than April 11, with data arriving on Earth on April 12. https://t.co/TNCdXWcKWE pic.twitter.com/JSep5lcKhR  NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 1, 2021

Earlier, NASA had scheduled the take-off for April 8, but it was postponed to a few days later due to certain technical changes required.

The helicopter Ingenuity is also responsible for the flights of drones that the NASA team aims to fly within 30 sols (about 31 Earth days). However, the helicopter will take some time to unfold and formally deploy for the flight while the activity will approximately take six sols or six Martian days, according to NASA's statement on the development.

Primary goal of Ingenuity is to understand flying mechanics on Mars

The team of Perseverance which is responsible for smooth operations of the helicopter had last month tweeted, "It [the helicopter] is stowed sideways, folded up and locked in place, so there's some reverse origami to do before I can set it down. First, though, I'll be off to the designated 'helipad,' a couple of days' drive from here."



Meanwhile, the primary goal of the 'Ingenuity marscopter' is to define the mechanics of flying on Mars. Basically, the developers of this helicopter that weighs around 1.8 kilograms aim to establish an understanding of how well technology can help them in flying a chopper in the atmosphere of the red planet. MiMi Aung, the Ingenuity project manager at NASA's JPL had hinted "After Perseverance has landed successfully on Mars, the next major milestone will be when [the] Perseverance rover delivers Ingenuity to the surface of Mars."
J&J Takes Over Baltimore Vaccine Plant Where 15 Million Doses Were Contaminated

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson said on April 3 that its taking charge of a Baltimore manufacturing plant where 15 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine were spoiled last month.

The move came after workers at the facility of Emergent BioSolutions, a Maryland-based biotech company that has been manufacturing both the Johnson & Johnson and the AstraZeneca vaccines, accidentally swapped materials for the two vaccines.

While the AstraZeneca vaccine has yet to be authorized for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Biden administration has entered loan deals to send 2.5 million and 1.5 million U.S.-manufactured doses to Mexico and Canada, respectively.

In a statement, Johnson & Johnson said it is assuming all responsibility for the manufacture of the drug substance for its COVID-19 vaccine at the Emergent BioSolutions Inc. Bayview facilities.

Johnson & Johnson is adding dedicated leaders for operations and quality, and significantly increasing the number of manufacturing, quality, and technical operations personnel to work with the company specialists already at Emergent, according to the statement.

The company added that the doses distributed to date have complied with the rigorous quality standards of the company and the regulations, and that it expects to deliver about 100 million single-shot doses of its vaccines to the U.S. government.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca confirmed April 3 in a statement that its relocating the production of its vaccines from the Baltimore facility.

The company will work with the U.S. Government to identify an alternative location for domestic drug substance production, AstraZeneca said, adding that its currently progressing submission to the FDA for an Emergency Use Authorization.

Emergent said last week that the single contaminated batch of the drug component was identified and properly disposed of before it was shipped.

Importantly, the quality control systems worked as designed to detect and isolate this single batch, Emergent said. Discarding a batch of bulk drug substance, while disappointing, does occasionally happen during vaccine manufacturing, which is a complex and multi-step biological process.

President Joe Biden last month announced his intention to order another 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnsons one-dose, refrigerator-stored vaccines. The company has supplied about 4 million doses to the U.S. government since the vaccine received FDA approval in February.

Im doing this because, in this wartime efforts, we need maximum flexibility, Biden said at a White House meeting with J&J CEO Alex Gorsky and Merck CEO Ken Frazier. There is always a chance that well encounter unexpected challenges or wellthere will be a new need for a vaccine effortor vaccination effort.
France is cutting it's GDP growth forecast to 5% from 6% as the country enters a four-week national lockdown aimed at slowing a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Bloomberg reports.

Why it matters: The lockdown, France's third since the start of the pandemic, comes amid a surge in new COVID-19 cases across much of Europe that has seen some countries reimpose restrictions.

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Between the lines: French President Emmanuel Macron had been hesitant to impose new restrictions following an 8.1% GDP contraction last year, per Bloomberg, but the country has seen more contagious variants of the virus have spread. Meanwhile, its vaccine rollout has been underwhelming.

Beginning Saturday, people in France were restricted to traveling within six miles of their home, except for essential reasons. The nation has also imposed a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, per the Guardian.

What he's saying: Closing education establishments and 150,000 stores is essential to slow the spread of the virus, but these measures will have an impact on the French economy, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

This estimate is both sincere and cautious.

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After raising nearly $9,000 through a GoFundMe campaign, Clay and Charity Cadwalader accomplished the first step of their dream to open a new craft brewery in the Back Mountain.

The Sweet Valley couple plans to open Back Mountain Brewing Company below Instanbul Grill in the Twin Stacks Center in Dallas later this year.

They signed a lease for the space Wednesday and closed on a business loan Thursday after raising the funding they needed.

Clay Cadwalader, 40, a Harveys Lake native, graduate of Lake-Lehman High School and former Green Beret, said they received private donations from family members, area residents and people he met throughout the country through his military background to help start the brewery and tasting room.

Their goal is to open a nano-sized brewery with a one-barrel system that can brew 31 gallons of beer per batch.

We just wanted to start small, Cadwalader said. Ive seen this work in Washington where one of my favorite breweries started off with less than a 31-gallon system and upgraded. Our plan is to get our foot in the door and get people drinking our beer.

The husband and wife team are doing all the leg work on their own to open the brewery without investors, a legal team or corporate partners.

Cadwalader recently moved back to the Back Mountain with his wife, a Sweet Valley native, after more than 20 years of service with the Army.

He joined the Army in 1999 immediately after graduation. He was initially stationed in Germany and thats where he said he experienced his first world class beer.

He got married in Pennsylvania in 2002 and he and his wife later moved to Georgia and continued to move around, sampling beers everywhere they went.
Hong Kong: Internships nurture future talent

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global economy.

When it comes to job prospects, young people are feeling some of the harshest impacts as internships have been eliminated across a wide range of industries.

To provide more hands-on experience and learning opportunities for students to prepare themselves for a future career, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) launched the 2020 Winter Internship for the first time.

Vanora Chan is one such intern who benefited greatly from the programme. She studies at the University of Science & Technology, majoring in biotechnology and business.

I worked in HKPCs Green Living & Innovation Division. I had two to three projects that I worked on with my colleagues. One was related to wastewater treatment.

During the wastewater treatment project, I gained hands on experience from working in the lab and doing some chemical quick tests to monitor the status of the bioreactors.

Miss Chan attained valuable advice from her mentor and co-workers. She said the experience is one that broadened her horizons in the field of innovation and technology.

In the past, I also joined some internships. During those internships, I got some experience in the research and development of drugs. However, during those internships, I only helped to assist the supervisors on their ongoing projects and did not have the chance to apply what I learnt and my ideas for their projects.

She described her HKPC colleagues as very open-minded because they allowed her to apply what she learnt at university to the R&D project. They also helped her understand how to commercialise such technologies and add more value to society.

The scheme ran for six weeks, from December 2020 to January 2021. A total of 25 local and overseas tertiary students joined the programme.

Additional support

The councils Chief People & Culture Officer Eliza Ng said their internships offer students an excellent chance to gain practical work experience while exploring career options.

They also helped overseas students who had to stay in Hong Kong due to the pandemic.

During the current situation, I think the economic situation is not so good. So we want to create more opportunities to give youngsters the opportunity to work in the commercial area, so that they can have more opportunities to prepare themselves for when they select which career they would like to develop, especially in the innovation and technology area.

Ryan Yu and Brian Wong, who are students from the University of Cambridge in the UK and Yale University in the US, are taking a gap year because of the global pandemic.

This internship prompted their interest in innovation and technology development.

Mr Yu said: One of the main reasons why I decided to take a gap year was due to the current situation with the pandemic.

So being in Hong Kong, I was actually really fortunate to be able to find a winter internship because not many other companies are actually open to doing so, especially in the current situation.

This is also the reason why I decided not to go to the UK for any internships because, in fact, with the current situation a lot of companies are also not open to such opportunities for first-year students like me.

Eye-opening experience

As an engineering student, Mr Yu said he would be open to doing anything engineering related which includes R&D and more innovative options.

I am currently open to exploring my future, whether it be in Hong Kong, Mainland China or the UK. So I think gaining this kind of exposure really helps me with that.

Fellow intern Mr Wong said he gained exposure to a variety of different fields by way of the scheme.

I worked in the APAC division, which stands for the Automotive Platforms & Application System R&D Centre. I worked on a consulting project for the Government where we studied land requirements for the vehicle maintenance industry. So what I was responsible for was conducting data analysis and data processing for a bunch of vehicle maintenance workshops.

It also piqued my interest in fields such as data analytics, artificial intelligence and robotic technology development and it makes me want to pursue these fields further in the university.

I feel like learning about these fields will help contribute to Hong Kongs development as an influential information and technology hub.

The Hong Kong Productivity Council is already preparing for its annual summer internship programme. Ms Ng is confident another round of the winter internship will take place this year.

This story has been published on: 2021-04-04. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
New Delhi, April 4 : Amid massive surge in coronavirus cases in the national capital, the hospitals are now witnessing increase in admissions of patients, with Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital administration asserting that more patients with 'severe' infection are now getting admitted.

The capital city has recorded a nine-fold spike in coronavirus cases in the last three weeks. It recorded over 3,500 new cases in the last 24 hours, as opposed to 407 cases on March 15. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has admitted that the fourth wave of the pandemic is raging, but ruled out imposition of a lockdown.

"Hospital admissions have increased in the last three to four days. Most of the patients which are now visiting our hospital are severe cases. However, it cannot be said that the deaths are also increasing in the hospital," said Dr. Ritu Saxena, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of LNJP.

The Chief Medical Officer further said that the hospital, which was one of the largest Covid-19 hospitals last year, has proper infrastructure in place to deal with the increase in admissions of Covid-19 patients. "We currently have 300 beds," she told IANS.

After the cases in the national capital came down in December, various hospitals in the city, including LNJP, were turned into non-Covid facilities. LNJP earlier had 2,000 Covid-19 beds. "The beds will further be scaled up if there is a massive surge in coronavirus cases in the capital," said Saxena.

Besides LNJP, another Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital is also witnessing a surge in admissions. However, only those with severe and moderate symptoms are being admitted, those with milder infection are being sent to home for isolation.

"There is a huge spike in admission in the last few days. There are, however, no queues being formed in the hospital. There are less deaths -- one per day. Before this surge, the hospital was recording zero deaths per day," Dr. Chhavi Gupta, spokesperson of the hospital said.

RML Director and Medical Superintendent Dr. Rana Anil Kumar Singh also said that the hospital is ready to tackle the increase in the number of admissions in the coming days.

Currently, 434 Covid-19 beds out of 500 beds are available in the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital, while 202 out of 300 are vacant in the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital. RML has 138 vacant beds out of 172 in total.

According to 'Delhi Corona' application, 48 per cent of the Intensive care unit (ICU) beds with ventilators, which are extremely crucial for patients with severe disease, are occupied in the city.

About 404 Covid ICU beds with ventilators out of 791 are vacant, 784 ICU beds without ventilators out of 1,293 and 3,527 normal Covid beds out of 6,023 are available, as per the data on April 3 at 6 p.m.

Besides this, 52 out of 78 private hospitals are running low on ICU beds with ventilators. Only four beds are available in Delhi Government's Burari Hospital. This shows that the city is unprepared to deal with a major surge at the moment.

The positivity rate also mounted to 4.48 per cent from 4.1 per cent a day before. The recovery rate is 96.47 per cent, whereas the death rate is 1.65 per cent. Positivity rate is the percentage of samples that test positive for disease out of the total samples tested.

At present, there are 12,647 active coronavirus cases in Delhi. Over 6.48 lakh patients have recovered from the virus. This includes 2,904 patients who have been discharged in the last 24 hours.

(Aakanksha Khajuria can be contacted at aakanksha.k@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Chinese construction adds beauty to Zambian town, says official

Xinhua) 12:02, April 03, 2021

Six modern housing units whose construction had been undertaken by a Chinese contractor in Chongwe, a town in Lusaka Province of Zambia, have been handed over to the Zambian government.

Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo, who represented the Zambian government, provided Chongwe police station with the houses -- living quarters and an office space -- Thursday, commended the Chinese contractor, China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic & Technical Cooperation, for executing the project within schedule, and said he was impressed by their works, praising the Chinese company for its commitment to delivering the project according to design specifications.

The Zambian official said that the houses had also added beauty to the Zambian town.

Kampyongo disclosed that the six housing units were in phase one of the project which also includes a police station and more houses. He noted that this was a great achievement for the Zambian town which needed to increase the number of police officers due to the growing population.

He believed that the construction of the police station and houses would provide for accommodation for increased manpower in the district which has a below-minimum number of police officers to maintain law and order in the growing town.

Zhang Zuolei, the project manager with China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic & Technical Cooperation, reiterated the company's commitment to executing quality works at Thursday's handover ceremony.

Zhang hoped that the partnership between the government and contractor would continue to strengthen development ties, saying the company was ready to participate in the second phase of constructing more houses and a police station at the same site.

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Damian Aspinall once courted controversy when he filmed his baby daughter Tansy resting in the arms of a gorilla. More than 30 years later, hes at it again  only this time it was all for TikTok!

Damian recorded youngest daughter Freya, 17, cuddling up to an ape named Joshie before releasing him into the wild in the Congo.

In a bid to show off the good work done by his Howletts animal park, Freya, left, whose mother is TV presenter Donna Air, shared the video on TikTok, the trendy social media platform favoured by Generation Z.

Damian Aspinall once courted controversy when he filmed his baby daughter Tansy resting in the arms of a gorilla. More than 30 years later, hes at it again  only this time it was all for TikTok!

After news that Bridgerton is to bid adieu to Rege-Jean Page as the Duke of Hastings, I hear there was much arm-twisting to try to keep the star. Im told Netflix chiefs offered him more money and then fewer filming hours before finally begging for him to make a cameo in series two  but all requests were rejected. Is Rege-Jean keeping his schedule free to play Bond?

Are Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds tightening their belts? I only ask because after being teased last month for ordering in 12,500 worth of organic food boxes from upmarket Daylesford, the couple appear to have switched to cheaper option Gousto. Its boxes start at 24.99 a week for two people.

A Tulsa fire pit arrived at No 10 along with the Gousto recipe box so it must be barbecue time. I wonder if Boris and Carrie will invite neighbour Rishi and his family over to help celebrate Alfresco April?
A man died and his wife was in a critical condition after their car veered off the road and smashed into a tree on the Sunshine Coast during the Easter long weekend.

Emergency services, including specialist critical care paramedics, were called to the scene on Ocean Drive in Pacific Paradise, a suburb of Maroochydore, about 7am on Sunday.

Police said the couple, aged in their 60s, were rushed to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in critical conditions, but the man later died.

His wife suffered severe chest and pelvic injuries and remained in a critical condition, according to the Queensland Ambulance Service.
Indonesian Trade Minister M Lutfi (Photo: antaranews)

Addressing an online press conference on April 2 with Indonesias Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir during his working visit to China, Lutfi said that, to that end, the two countries will explore the Bilateral Economic and Trade Cooperation (BETC), signed in 2011, to turn it into a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

He said that during his visit, the two sides discussed measures deepen trade activities of the two countries with the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and also discussed low-hanging fruit in order to improve the trade balance between the two countries.

During this visit, at least five Chinese companies signed deals to import swallow's nests from Indonesia for more than 1.13 billion USD, and also add exports and investments for furniture products from Shandong Wood and Furniture, with an amount of more than 200 million USD.

Further, 150 Chinese companies will bring in investment of 1.38 billion USD into West Kalimantan and employ more than 3,000 workers, he added.

China is currently Indonesias largest trade partner with two-way trade hitting 71.4 billion USD last year./.
CDC Eases Guidance, Says Vaccinated People Can Travel Safely Within US

Southland residents anxious to travel got some good news from federal health authorities, who issued new guidance stating that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely travel domestically. You do not need to get tested or self-quarantine if you are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 in the past three months, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said Friday. You should still follow all other travel recommendations.

People who are not vaccinated are still urged to delay any travel,because travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. Despite the CDCs relaxing of its guidelines, many local jurisdictions still have travel rules in place. Los Angeles County requires travelers who enter or return to the county from other states or countries to self-quarantine for 10 days.

Los Angeles County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said local officials are reviewing the CDCs guidelines, and we plan to issue an updated travel advisory and guidance for Los Angeles County on Monday. It was not clear if that revised county guidance will fully align with the CDC.

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According to the CDC guidance, people who are fully vaccinated do not need to get tested for COVID-19 before or after travel unless their destination requires it, nor do they need to self-quarantine. Vaccinated travelers, however, still must follow safety guidelines while traveling, including wearing a face covering, maintaining six feet of social distancing and frequently washing hands or using hand sanitizer.
Siddhant Chaturvedi's Attempt At Finding Out The Title Of His Next Ends Painfully: 'Till Then Well Just Call It Shakun Batras Next'

Shakun Batras next starring actors Sidahant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Deepika Padukone has been in the works for several months now. Despite working on the project for so long, looks like the markers havent settled on a title for the project yet.

Well, it seems fans are not the only ones losing patients wanting to know more about the project. Actor Sidahant Chaturvedi on Sunday shared video of a hilarious action face-off between him and filmmaker Shakun Batra. The actor is seen slamming choking the filmmaker wanting to learn the title of the project.

If you wondering whether his imposing technique worked then youd be sad to know it didnt. The whole thing ends rather painfully for Siddhant and in laughs for those around them. The Gully Boy filed the encounter as, Another failed attempt, and added, Till then well just call it Shakun Batras next, I guess...

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Siddhant Chaturvedi (@siddhantchaturvedi)

The film began shooting in Goa last year and later switched locations to Alibaug. While most details about the project are still under wraps, Deepika Padukone had in an interview told Hindustan Times about the project, The overall genre of the film is something we havent seen much in Indian cinema, its called domestic noir. I dont think thats a genre we are very familiar with, but at the same time the audience is completely ready for it, as we have been exposed to that genre in different ways, whether through Hollywood films or OTT platforms.
(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
Its a matter of trust. Dont find customers for your products, find products for your customers."

ShopSmartAutos Founder and CTO, Richie Bello announced the launch of its pilot program which allows qualified dealers the use of its full media platform along with exclusive VIN-specific leads at no cost to the dealer. The company intends to show how the ShopSmartAutos platform achieves better overall performance than traditionally expected. The platform includes the development of exclusive, VIN-specific leads for its dealers and features components that keep consumers interested linking them exclusively to one dealer. The dealer gets these one-on-one opportunities of new, used and/or certified pre-owned buyers. The consumer enjoys a seamless journey that takes them directly to the dealers database through the ShopSmartAutos search engine. Its become a one on one with the buyer. All leads are VIN-specific and exclusive to the participating dealers inventories.

The free trial allows the dealer access to the full platform, along with exclusive leads from the ShopSmartAutos search engine. The company believes that once dealers see the difference in what it provides that has helped achieve its high conversion, dealers will commit to the program. The company currently charges $2950 per month, a fraction of what other third-party providers charge. Dealers who were active before the pilot program will receive a comparable addition to their current plan.

The platform has advantages over traditional third-party providers. ShopSmartAutos has proven results in audience growth and dealer lead to close conversion. Alexa ratings are ranking high with the fastest uploads and strong consumer stickiness.

Concern about mega dealers entering markets in strategic locations has created cause for some dealers to sell, while others are looking to strengthen their group position. ShopSmartAutos claims to put everyone on the same playing field because the car buyer is going to the dealer for a specific vehicle. The site also spotlights what the best deals are being offered each day, can inform the shopper if the price drops, offers Kelly Blue Book trade-in appraisals, monthly finance calculators, dealertrack for financing support, and more which all help dealers have the same opportunity because it is promoted vehicle by vehicle. More recently it launched its mobile app that has all the full site features, including Kelly Blue Book and dealertrack.

The limited-time free introductory pilot program is available by reaching out to Richie Bello by going to info@shopsmartautos.com for a demo and more information on the full platform.
New Delhi:

Army officer martyred. BSF jawan slained. CRPF personnel killed. J&K Police soldier lost life. Militant shot down. Terrorist encountered. Civilian caught in the crossfire. Villager burnt with the house in the bombing.



Headlines that hog permanent spots on your newsfeed or newspaper front page amount to a staggering 41,000 lives lost in past 27 years in Jammu and Kashmir's battle against militancy.



According to government data accessed and processed by Hindustan Times, at least 14,000 civilians, 5,000 security personnel and 22,000 militants have been killed between 1990 and March 2017.



The figure translates to an average of 4 deaths per day in the state or 1519 casualties every year, according to the latest available government data quoted by the media house.

Latest casualty in J&K: One militant killed in ongoing Uri encounter



The data reveals that there have been 69,820 militancy-related incidents during the period - 2586 militancy incidents every year, with surges in casualties during 1993-1997, 1999-2003 and 2014-2017 periods.



First peak in casualties: 1993-1997



Between 1993 and 1997, 6522 militants were eliminated in Jammu and Kashmir, while 4910 civilians and 1012 security personnel lost their lives. That amounts to average 982 civilian deaths per year. And this was the only second most tumultuous phase in the state post 1990.



Second peak in casualties: 1999-2003



Militancy had reached its peak during the previous BJP-led NDA government when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, the report said. From 1999 to 2003, 7820 militants, 2055 security personnel and 4519 civilians were killed in Jammu and Kashmir.



As per the data, 2001 has been reportedly the most volatile year and saw the killing of the highest number of militants and security forces. While 2020 militants were gunned down, 536 security personnel 996 civilians were also killed in the year that registered the highest number of 4522 militancy related incidents as well.



But in terms of civilian casualties, 2002 has been the worst with 1008 deaths. Besides 1707 militants, 453 security personnel were also killed that year, the newspaper said.



The decline in militancy: 2004-2014



The data says, that the militancy declined steadily from 2004 onwards till 2014 with a sharp decrease in the number of killings.

In 2013, there were only 170 militancy-related incidents in the strife-torn state in which 67 militants, 15 civilians and 53 security personnel were killed.

Read | Rahul Gandhi in US: Divisive politics threatening peace, tolerance in India

Resurgence under current NDA government



Although not on the same scale as in the 1990s or early 2000s, militancy-related incidents have been increasing after 2014, the HT report said.



The data analysed by the paper says that from 2014 to March this year, there have been 795 militancy-related incidents in which 397 militants were killed while 64 civilians and 178 security personnel lost their lives.



Compared to 222 incidents in 2014, there were 322 incidents in 2016. In 2014, 28 civilians and 47 security personnel and 110 militants were killed in these incidents. In 2016, these numbers were 15, 82 and 150.



Who to blame

Cross-border terrorism:



The successive Indian Governments have blamed the Pakistan-sponsored terrorism for insurgency and unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. The issue has remained the key point of contention between the two nations.



In the recent spar, the two neighbours ripped through each other coined terms like 'Terroristan' and 'Mother of Terrorism'. Pakistani PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi called out India for supporting terrorism in Pakistan and demanded a referendum to settle the dispute over the Kashmir region.



In response, India lambasted Pakistan and termed it 'global terror exporter'. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in her UNGA address, said India has produced professionals through IITs, IIMs, AIIMs and Pakistan has produced terrorists through JeM and LeT.

Read | Sushma Swaraj at UNGA: India produced scholars, scientists, Pakistan created terrorists



Union Government



Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, in his recent address at UC Berkely, claimed that UPA regime had broken the back of terrorism in the northern state, but current Modi Government brought it back.



When we started, terrorism was rampant in Kashmir, when we finished there was peace, we had broken the back of terrorism. By 2013, we basically broke the back of terror, he said.



He blamed PM Modi for 'massively opening up the space for the terrorists in Kashmir' and allowing the resurgence of terrorism.



On the other hand, the Modi cabinet claims to be working day and night to eliminate terrorism from the Valley. The defence minister has authorised the Indian army to carry out an extensive Cordon and Search Operation to weed out militancy.

Read | BJP hits back at Rahul Gandhi, says absence of peace in Kashmir was cumulative of Congress misrule

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Ankara, April 4 : Turkey has tightened its restrictive measures against the Covid-19 pandemic after witnessing a recent resurgence in the number of fresh cases.

According to a statement by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca issued on Saturday, the resurgence was mainly due to an increase in cases of the Covid-19 variants, reports Xinhua news agency.

On Friday, the country registered 42,308 new cases, the highest single-day spike since the onset of the pandemic in the country more than a year ago.

Turkey's overall caseload has reached 3,445,052, while the death toll stood at 31,892.

The number of infected patients in critical condition currently stand 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 the contagion last November, reopening businesses such as restaurants, cafes and tea houses amid a gradual return to in-person education.

But that normalisation process is now on hold.

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 Ankara, told Xinhua.

She confirmed that a majority of coronavirus patients in hospitals were suffering from the variant, which also affects younger people.

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.

Since Turkey began a mass Covid-19 inoculation campaign on January 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.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Researchers from Cambridge University and UCL have built a website called Emojify to help people to understand how computers can be used to scan facial expressions to detect emotion - University of Cambridge/PA Wire

The public has been asked to pull faces at their smartphones by Cambridge University in a bid to expose "flawed" emotion recognition technology.

A new website called Emojify has been designed by Cambridge and University College London researchers to help people to understand how computers can detect emotions by scanning faces.

Users can pull faces at the camera on their phone or laptop as part of a game which tries to make the technology recognise six emotions - anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness and surprise.

Visitors to the website are also asked about their views on whether the technology is something they have previously used, and if they believe it is helpful or worrying.

Similar equipment is already used across a number of areas of Chinese society to monitor the behaviour of schoolchildren and track the facial movements of suspects in police interviews.

Project lead Dr Alexa Hagerty, who has described the technology as powerful but flawed, hopes the site will stimulate conversations around whether automatic facial recognition is a good thing, and how - if at all - it should be deployed.

Dr Alexa Hagerty playing a game on the Emojify website - University of Cambridge/PA Wire

Many people are surprised to learn that emotion recognition technology exists and is already in use, she said.

Our project gives people a chance to experience these systems for themselves and get a better idea of how powerful they are, but also how flawed.

Responses gathered by the website, which does not save images or user data from people who are taking part, will be used in a future academic paper on approaches to recognising emotions.

Facial recognition technology, which enables gigabytes of data to be processed in just fractions of a second, has received mixed responses where it has been rolled out in practice.

It was banned altogether by San Francisco in 2019, on the grounds that it was considered too intrusive.
Israel is the smallest nation in the world to design and build its own tanks. This was the result of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, which took Israel by surprise and inflicted heavy losses before Israel counter-attacked and defeated Egypt and Syria and their larger number of modern Russian tanks. Israel carefully analyzes the results of each war it fights and makes changes to deal with problems encountered. The 1973 war prompted Israel to start designing and building its own tanks.

By 1979 the 61-ton Merkava entered service and 250 were built by 1983. That was the year the first of 580 62-ton Merkava 2s entered service. Production of Merkava 2 ended in 1989. The first two Merkava models were similar in design with both using a 105mm gun. The Merkava 2 had additional armor, a five percent more powerful 950 HP engine and a 20 percent higher top speed of 55 kilometers an hour. The external 60mm mortar, mainly for firing smoke shells, was moved inside for the Merkava 2. There were a lot of other mechanical and electronic upgrades. By 1989 all the active-duty armored brigades had Merkavas and many of the reserve armored brigades as well.

Using lessons learned from the 1982 fighting in Lebanon, Israel developed a much improved 63.5-ton Merkava 3, which entered service in 1990. By 2002 680 Merkava 3s were built. The main improvements in Merkava were a 120mm main gun and much more powerful 1,200 HP engine that produced a 60-kilometers an hour top speed, faster acceleration and a more maneuverable and nimbler tank. All the armor was of a modern composite design. Fewer main gun shells could be carried; 46 120mm ones compared to 60 105mm shells in the Merkava 2. Merkava 3 could load shells faster because of a five-round mechanical drum. The fire-control system was also upgraded, as were many other components. The Merkava 3 is still used, mainly by reserve armor brigades.

In 2003 the current model, the 65-ton Merkava 4 was introduced. So far 360 of these have been produced and most have already undergone several major upgrades. Merkava 4 has improved armor, a 25 percent more powerful 1,500 HP engine and a top speed of 65 kilometers an hour. Merkava 4 is even more nimble and maneuverable than Merkava 3. Merkava 4 carries 48 rounds of 120mm shells and uses a 10-round electric powered drum for quick loading. Merkava has a smoother ride because of an improved suspension system. There are also improved protection for the crew against mines and roadside bombs. So far 550 Merkava 4s have been built.

All Merkavas feature a unique design feature; the engine is in the front. This adds more protection for the four-man crew and any passengers in the large rear compartment. That compartment can hold more 120mm shells or other supplies or up to eight passengers. Usually six infantrymen are carried, providing Merkava with its own infantry support. This is especially useful in built-up areas.

Merkava 4 has undergone several major upgrades. In 2012 Israel completed equipping all the Merkava tanks in an armor brigade with the Trophy APS (Active Protection System). In 2010 the first battalion of Merkavas was so equipped. In 2011 Trophy defeated incoming missiles and rockets in combat for the first time. This included ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missile), possibly a modern Russian system like the Kornet E. This ATGM was introduced in 1994, and has been sold to Syria, who apparently passed them on to Hezbollah and Hamas. A few weeks before the ATGM intercept, Trophy defeated an RPG warhead, an unguided rocket propelled grenade fired from a metal tube balanced on the shoulder. As it was designed to do, Trophy operated automatically and the crew didn't realize the incoming RPG warhead or missile had been stopped until after it was over. That is how APS is supposed to work.

In 2017, a ground vehicle VR (Virtual Reality) system called Iron Vision was introduced and Merkava 4 was the first tank to get it. Iron Vision meant a tank could largely dispense with the traditional dependence on the tank commander spending a lot of time with his head sticking out of the turret to get a better view of the situation. The VR helmet display worn by crew does not just show real-time video of what is outside but also an overlay of other information or even a map. Israel pioneered the development and use of these helmets and the F-35 stealth fighter was designed to use such a helmet. Most modern tanks are equipped with these small external digital vidcams but Iron Vision makes the external cameras much easier to use.

In 2020 Fire Weaver fire control network software was first installed in Israeli tanks and will soon be installed in warplanes, artillery and other armored vehicles. In 2021 at least two of the four active-duty armored brigades will have Fire Weaver. Once all the active-duty armor brigades have it, the six active-duty infantry brigades will receive it. Some of the 22 reserve brigades, nine of them armored, may get the system as well.

Fire Weaver takes data from existing sensors on tanks and other armored vehicles as well as artillery and warplanes and rapidly (within five seconds) lets vehicles, warplanes and artillery know which available target each combat system should fire at. This eliminates a common battlefield situation where too many weapons fire on some targets while other targets are not initially fired on at all. Currently, tank crews and artillery spotters (troops who call back to tell artillery which targets to hit) have manual procedures for picking which targets they should fire at. That often works quite well, especially during a situation where a tank unit encountering the enemy has an opportunity to fire first. Fire Weaver automates these decisions and makes more effective choices more quickly. The troops and pilots can override the Fire Weaver selected target but tests have shown that Fire Weaver is usually quite effective in selecting the best targets for each tank, artillery unit or aircraft.

Fire Weaver is easy to implement in the Israeli military because the Israelis have already been providing their troops with better sensors and battlefield networks. For example, in mid-2019 three Israeli firms, responding to an IDF proposal, showed off their versions of the proposed Carmel Concept for future armored vehicles. Three different armored vehicles; the Merkava 4 tank, Namer IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) and the Eitan 8x8 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) had proposed versions of Carmel installed. Carmel involves several existing technologies plus proposed new ones that would turn an armored vehicle into a combat system that would operate with, a crew of two or a robotic vehicle operated remotely (like a UAV) or autonomously, to benefit from more information about where friendly and suspected enemy forces were. This information would often be delivered in real-time. This sort of thing provides a tremendous advantage in combat.

The best example of similar (to Carmel) existing tech is used in the F-35 where numerous sensor and communications systems are controlled by software that uses data fusion. This is merging data from many sources and presenting it to the pilot in a comprehensible fashion to provide the F-35 pilot with unprecedented situational awareness. That means an accurate picture of where the pilot and everything else in the vicinity is. It had long been known that superior situational awareness was the key to victory in combat be it in the air, at sea or on land. Carmel proposes that manufacturers find ways to effectively combine existing tech with improved software. This would include more AI (Artificial Intelligence) to analyze sensor and situational data at high speed and either act autonomously (as ADS, or Active Defense Systems, do) or present options to the vehicle operators.

Although the Merkava was introduced in 1979 it wasnt until mid-2006 that Israeli tanks saw their first heavy combat in 24 years. It was also the first combat for the then new Merkava 4. Actually, it was the first heavy combat for the Merkava 2 (introduced in 1983) and Merkava 3 (1989). In 1982, 180 Merkava 1s saw action during the war with Lebanon. Until 2006 Merkavas had only been used in peacekeeping and counter-terror operations with the Palestinians.

The Israelis, as they have in all past wars, collected detailed information on each tank that was hit by enemy fire. Israel won't, for obvious reasons, release all this information. But they have provided some data. "Several hundred" Merkavas sent into southern Lebanon in 2006. Of those, ten percent were hit by enemy fire, including mines and roadside bombs. Merkava faced modern ATGMs for the first time in 2006. Only 18 tanks were seriously damaged, and only a third of those were from several hundred ATGMs fired by Hezbollah. Only two of the 18 heavily damaged tanks were destroyed, and both of those were damaged by roadside bombs. In those two cases, the tank was over the bomb when it was detonated.

The experience in Lebanon again proved that ATGMs tend to be overrated. Israel first encountered ATGMs during the 1973 war, and quickly adapted. ATGMs were much less effective in the 1982 war, and didn't do all that well in 2006 either. The Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah quickly learned that the Merkava frontal armor was impervious to their Kornet ATGMs. Getting side and rear shots was more difficult, and not a lot more successful. While the ATGM warhead often penetrated, the Merkava was designed to take this kind of hits and survive, and survive it did. In addition to fire extinguisher systems, the ammo and fuel are stored in such a way that secondary explosions are rare. The crew normally survives these hits, as does the tank.

One of the biggest problems with Israeli tanks in Lebanon had to do with the crews. Because of the heavy use of Israeli troops in counter-terror operations since 2000, most tank crews have spent a lot of time without their tanks, serving as security troops (light infantry). The lack of training in their tanks reduced the effectiveness of the Merkavas in Lebanon. This was not a critical factor, but it annoyed the tank crews quite a lot.

The tankers were also peeved at the lack of protective devices, like smoke grenades on some tanks, or active defense systems, like the Trophy. This was because so much money was diverted to counter-terror operations. While only six tanks were destroyed in Lebanon, over a hundred tank crewmen were killed or wounded by ATGMs. Hezbollah would often use a missile just to get the vehicle commander, who often was standing up, with his head and chest out of the turret hatch to get a better look at what's going on. Tank commanders would like to see some money spent on sensor systems (cameras) that enable the tank commander to get a good look around the tank, from inside the tank. The Lebanon operation was a wakeup call for the Israeli government, to stop shortchanging efforts to improve their tanks.

As good as the Merkava is, there not a lot of export customers. There is apparently only one export customer and Israel did not reveal who it was and no other public information about a foreign user has appeared so far. One difficulty with export orders is that Israel builds the Merkava itself and cannot afford large production facilities. Moreover, many key components come from the United States, which gives the Americans a veto power over who exports go to. Merkava is also is very expensive, with the most modern Merkava 4 costing over $5 million each.

Israel cannot afford to keep all its Merkava in service. Currently 220 of 550 Merkava 4s are in storage, while only 160 of 730 Merkava 3s are in use, the rest in storage. There are still 370 Merkava 2s available, but all are in storage. If there is a major war, the stored Merkavas can be ready for combat in a few days, or less. These storage tanks would be used to replace tanks out of action for combat or non-combat reasons. Because the Merkava is designed to reduced crew casualties, most of the crews of damaged or destroyed tanks are available for duty within hours. While storage tanks dont get many of the upgrades, the basic controls of Merkava were kept the same or similar from one model to another to make it easy for crewmen who started out in a Merkava 4 could operate in a Merkava taken out of storage.
Issues like conversion of the ancient Hagia Sophia church in Turkey to a mosque, incidents of 'Love Jihad' and 'harassment' of nuns in a moving train in Uttar Pradesh, will be reflected in the April 6 assembly polls, say voters in dominated Central Kerala constituencies.

Several heavyweights,including senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Kerala Congress(M) leader Jose K Mani, a key partner of the CPI(M)-led LDF, two Rajya Sabha BJP MPs K J Alphons and Suresh Gopi are trying their luck from the constituencies, spread across Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam and parts of Thrissur.

Central Kerala is considered a stronghold of the Congress led UDF, but the LDF put up a strong show in the December 2020 civic polls, winning many local body seats.

BJP-led NDA is also trying to make inroads in these areas by reaching out to the Catholic Church, raising the issues like "Love Jihad" and "Hagia Sophia".

Their campaigns saw senior BJP leaders, including union ministers, supporting the Church's views on the issue.

Both the rival fronts, the LDF and UDF are concerned over BJP's growing proximity to the Church on these matters, but have remained silent, fearing a Muslim backlash in the polls.

Their campaigns focus on attacks in the country against people of the minority communities, allegedly by right wing outfits under the BJP rule.

Both CPI(M) and Congress have sought to corner the BJP over the alleged harassment of the nuns.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, addressing a poll rally in Thrissur last week, flayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'silence' on the matter.

M Alexander, associated with activities of the Catholic Church in Pala, said the faithful have strong views on "Love Jihad", conversion of Hagia Sophia church in Turkey to a mosque and the harassment of nuns in a train in Uttar Pradesh, allegedly by activities of Sangh Parivar.

"People discuss these issues in various platforms, including in our families. But we don't know how these issues are going to get reflected in the elections," he told PTI.

He said the community is also not satisfied with BJP in view of alleged attacks on minorities in many parts of the country.

Tony P Emmanuel, a regular churchgoer from Elanji in Ernakulam distract, said there was resentment against the stand taken by political parties, including the UDF and the LDF, on the issue of "Love Jihad".

Citing a recent statement by Chandy Oommen, son of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, reportedly justifying conversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque, Emmanuel said they never expected such a statement from the son of a senior Congress leader.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council had also come down on Chandy Oommen for his statement.

Oommen, addressing a function organised by the Youth League,the youth outfit of IUML,had said thousands of churches were converted into dance bars and no one had any issue.

Emmanuel alleged that Congress leaders were even silent over an article penned by Muslim League leader Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, hailing conversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque by the Muslim administrators of Turkey.

"All such issues still remain unaddressed. We are keeping silent now because we don't want to divide people along religious lines during the elections," a Church official, who did not wish to be named, told PTI.

He said the Church is also equally worried about the growing clout of the Muslim League in the Congress-led UDF and the stand of the CPI(M)-led LDF on the issues like

It was Kerala Congress(M) leader Jose K Mani, contesting from Pala Assembly seat as the LDF candidate,who first raked up the "Love Jihad" issue at an election programme this week.

He said the matter should be addressed if the public has any apprehensions about it, drawing support from the influential Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, which claimed that " is a reality" in the state.

However, Mani withdrew his statement a few hours later, apparently sensing that it did not go down well with other constituents of the LDF, including the CPI and CPI(M).

CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran had termed the remark as Mani's personal opinion, while Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sidestepped queries on the topic.

Hitting out at Mani for withdrawing his statement even after KCBC extended support to him, Kerala Janapaksham leader and Poonjar MLA P C George said " is a reality" and alleged that Mani changed his stand as he was scared of some forces with extreme views.

While UDF and LDF remain largely silent over the issue, BJP has promised a law against "Love Jihad" if voted to power.

BJP state general George Kurian,who is also former vice- chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, said the issue is a matter of serious concern and the community is a "soft target".

He said both Fronts have not said anything about the matter though certain investigations revealed that it has connection to terror activities.

"We have taken a strong stand against it.If we are voted to power, we will definitely bring a law against Love Jihad," he told PTI.

However, BJP's bid to win the support of the Church in the polls on these issues had not yielded the desired results.

The Church has criticised BJP in an article on the organ of the Thrissur archdiocese, saying some forces are trying to make India a country based on religion.

It has also cautioned voters against those trying to woo them, raising religious issues.

The article also hit out at the ruling LDF over alleged corruption and nepotism during its rule, but however, did not mention anything about UDF.

Though things appear to be calm on the surface, political parties fear the issues may cause undercurrents in the central Kerala constituencies, where heavyweights are in the fray.

Oommen Chandy, who completed 50 years as representative of the Puthuppally Assembly constituency, is contesting the polls from the same home turf in the Kottayam district.

While UDF constituent Kerala Congress's leader P J Joseph is fighting the polls from Thodupuzha, his sitting seat, Jose K Mani is seeking mandate from Pala constituency, held by his father K M Mani, for 50 years till his demise in 2019.

The BJP has fielded its Rajya Sabha MPs K J Alphonse and Suresh Gopi from Kanjirappally and Thrissur assembly constituencies respectively.

(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.)
Turkey is again putting forward stories of reconciliation with Israel in the media. The latest attempt by Turkey to influence the so-called reconciliation was the articles that appeared in the Turkish and Israeli media, which spoke about the exchange of ambassadors. However, on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Turkey did not ask Israel to consent to the exchange of ambassadors, the Jerusalem Post writes.

"This is not the first time Turkey has done this under the ruling AK Party and its leader President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the spring of 2020, Turkey said it wanted reconciliation around the time that France, Greece, Egypt, Cyprus and the UAE were all condemning Turkish threats in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkeys attempt to push for a largely mythical reconciliation was underpinned by Ankaras attempt to block an Israel-Greece-Cyprus deal on a pipeline and to stop Israel from joining the Eastern Mediterranean gas forum," the editorial said.

"Turkey again claimed it wanted reconciliation after US President Donald Trump lost his election last year. Turkeys Erdogan was close to Trump and had gotten the US to allow Turkey to invade and ethnically cleanse Kurds in Syria. Turkey used the Trump administration to threaten NATO allies, harass France, encourage Islamist extremism and send mercenaries to Libya and Syria. Trumps loss led Turkey to decide that the only way to decrease an emerging Israel-Greece-UAE-Egypt alliance was to try to isolate Israel away from its new friends. Turkey had even threatened to break relations with the UAE if Abu Dhabi normalized relations with Israel. How can a country pretend to want normalization with Israel at the same time that it tries to isolate Israel and ruin Israels friendships with Greece, Cyprus and the UAE?"

"The real Turkish regime agenda was set out in an article in Turkeys state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation that reflects Turkeys government thinking. In it, the author denied that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and claimed that Israel needs Turkey and that Israel must compromise. Turkey never has to compromise. Turkey never does anything for Israel. This is the real agenda. Turkey wants Israel to beg and come to Ankara on a bended knee and this attitude has always underpinned Ankaras recent treatment of Israel. It thinks that it can host Hamas terrorists, host plans to murder Israelis, give a red carpet to the Hamas commanders who have blood on their hands, who are welcomed with hugs by Erdogan, and also threaten Gulf countries against normalization with Israel, try to destroy Israels links to Greece and Cyprus and then order Israel to compromise."
Driver says fatigue caused accident View(s):

The lorry driver who was beaten up brutally in public by a police constable for knocking down his superior on a main road said that it was fatigue that caused the accident.

Praveen Kalaimagan ( 24 ) who works for a vegetable market in Dehiwala confessed that he had dozed off while waiting at the colour lights .

He said that the side mirror of his vehicle had only grazed the shoulder of OIC Maharagama who was standing in the median strip dividing the oncoming and outgoing vehicles.

The side mirror touched his right shoulder and he jumped to the other side of the road. He was not badly hurt as the vehicle was only then beginning to move, he said in his defence.

Praveen comes from Haputale and this is his first job as a driver.

He said that he had a sleepless night the day before the incident and had been driving for several hours breaking rest.

His job required him to travel to Bandarawela every other day from where he collected the vegetables and fruits only to drive back within hours.

He had started from Colombo at 6 pm on March 28 reaching his destination 11.30 pm the same day.

Following which he had left Bandarawela within hours after loading the vegetables around 1 am the next day.

He had driven non stop and had reached Pannipitiya around 8.15 am when the accident occurred.

Fatigue had made him doze off while waiting for the signal light to change.

It took so long to change I dozed off, he said .

I was beaten mercilessly by the constable and also by an onlooker who joined forces with him, he said.

The video footage of the traffic constable pushing the driver down and beating him in the middle of the road went viral on social media causing wide spread condemnation among the public prompting the Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekera to order the suspension of the constable.

Praveens licence was suspended immediately.
She is in the throes of romance with electrician James Green.

And Lisa Armstrong cut a laid back figure as she stepped out for a break during filming of Alan Carr's Epic Gameshow in Mediacity in Manchester on Sunday.

The makeup artist, 44, opted for a casual look for the day, sporting a dark green jumper along with a pair of black tracksuit bottoms.

Casual: Lisa Armstrong cut a laid back figure as she stepped out for a break during filming of Alan Carr's Epic Gameshow in Mediacity in Manchester on Sunday

Also sporting black and pink trainers, Lisa put safety first as she wore a white face mask while on her break.

Lisa, who is the ex wife of Ant McPartlin, had her makeup bag filled with the essentials around her shoulder.

The media personality let her blonde locks fall loose for the outing.

It comes after Lisa shared a loved-up snap with her electrician beau James late last month.

Outfit: The makeup artist, 44, opted for a casual look for the day, sporting a dark green jumper along with a pair of black tracksuit bottoms

She fixed the camera with a smile as she cosied up to James, 37, in the snap, and sported a dark rose smoky eye.

Proving she had plenty to be smiling about, the beauty simply captioned the snap with three love heart emojis.

Lisa and father-of-two James went public with their relationship last August, a few months after he separated from his wife Kirsty.

In February, she shared snaps on Valentine's Day with her boyfriend, who is believed to be spending the UK's third lockdown with Lisa.

Relaxed: Also sporting black and pink trainers, Lisa put safety first as she wore a white face mask while on her break

Work: Lisa, who is the ex wife of Ant McPartlin, had her makeup bag filled with the essentials around her shoulder

Loved up: It comes after Lisa previously appeared to be in great spirits as she posted a loved up snap with partner James Green on Twitter

Simply captioning the post with 'HVD', Lisa cuddled up to James in the images, with him planting a kiss on her cheek as she pulled a cute face, in her first romance since her 31million divorce with the TV star was finalised.

Lisa, the head of make-up for Strictly Come Dancing, finalised her divorce with Ant back in April 2020 after their split in January 2018 following 12 years of marriage.

Earlier this year, the Saturday Night Takeaway co-host was reported to have handed over 31 million to Lisa, including their 5 million home in West London, following his highly documented battle with painkillers and alcohol.

The former couple also have joint custody of their Labrador Hurley following the settlement.

While she remains on good terms with him, Lisa is understood to have felt that Ant 'got away with a lot' following their split.
Week 13 in review: Xiaomi drops 6 new phones, two laptops, one band, new logo

Xiaomi's blockbuster announcement week is done, so let's recap what happened. Xiaomi announced a bunch of phones - Mi Mix Fold, Mi 11 Ultra, Mi 11 Pro, Mi 11i, Mi 11 Lite 5G, Mi 11 Lite - two laptops - the Mi Smart Band 6 and a new logo and brand identity.

The foldable Mi Mix Fold has an 8.01-inch inner display and a 6.52-inch 90Hz outer display, it's powered by the Snapdragon 888 and it will be available in China from April 16.

The Mi 11 Ultra and Mi 11 Pro both have 6.81-inch 120Hz AMOLED displays, 50MP main cameras and 5,000mAh batteries and are available from April 2. The Mi 11 Ultra adds a large sensor ultrawide and periscope camera and a secondary display on the rear.

The Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G and 4G (which are both here at the office, under reviewing) offer Snapdragon 780G and Snapdragon 732G, respectively, identical 6.55-inch displays of 90Hz refresh rate and main 64MP cameras. The pair will be priced 299 and 369 when they become available.

The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 is here with 50% more screen estate thanks to the 1.56-inch AMOLED display. The band's other major innovation is the addition of blood oxygen level tracking - SpO2. The Mi Smart Band 6 will come to China first, before going global as the Mi Band 6.

The final two devices Xiaomi delivered are the Mi Laptop Pro 15" and 14". The 15-incher uses an E4 AMOLED with 600 nits of peak brightness, while the 14-incher has a 120Hz-capable LCD. The pair use 11-th gen Intel Core-i5 or i7 processors and the NVIDIA MX450 GPU. Pre-orders for the pair kick off in late April.

Now moving focus to two former heavyweight smartphone makers that are far from their former glory - LG and Sony.

A report surfaced that LG may announce an exit from the smartphone market next week. This isn't the first time we're hearing this, but the reports have increased of late.

Contrarily, Sony will hold an event on April 14 at which it could announce the Xperia 1 III, the Xperia 10 III and possibly the Xperia 5 III. The Xperia 1 III will likely finally add a periscope lens. It will retain its 6.5-inch 4K OLED display and move to the Snapdragon 888 chipset.

Finally according to a Ming-Chi Kuo report, Apple will give the iPhone 13 Pro Max a slightly brighter lens than its counterparts. The iPhone 13 Pro Max will have an f/1.5 lens on its main camera, while the rest of the iPhone 13 models will use the 12MP f/1.6 that's currently in the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 and 12 mini.

Those were the biggest stories of the week. See you next one!



Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra brings massive camera sensors and two screens, Mi 11i also announced The phone features 67W wireless fast charging developed in house, which can fully fill the battery in 36 minutes.





Xiaomi's foldable Mi Mix Fold brings the first liquid lens with 3x magnification The internal OLED display measures 8" in size (4:3), the external display is 6.5" (27:9). The phone is powered by the S888 and has a desktop mode.





Xiaomi announces 15" laptop with E4 OLED display, 14" model with 120 Hz LCD follows These two will be powered by Intel Core 11th generation processors, but the 15" one is getting a Ryzen 5000H version soon too.





Oppo Reno6 appears online with a Dimensity 1200 chipset The phone will have a 65W fast charging and a 90 Hz screen refresh rate.





Sony Xperia phone launch scheduled for April 14 It's time for Sony to show out its 2021 phone lineup.





Samsung Galaxy Galaxy A Quantum 2 leaks on Google Play Console This appears to be the rumored Galaxy A82 which might turn out to be a rebranded Galaxy A72 5G.





Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite specs and render surface It's expected to arrive in June this year alongside the Galaxy Tab S7 Lite.





New Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 4G surfaces on Geekbench with Snapdragon 865 Until now, the 4G version of the S20 FE had an Exynos 990 chipset - if you wanted the Snapdragon, you had to buy the 5G model.